Based on eighteen surveys exploring the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour of over 100,000 Canadians, Kurt Bowen assesses the state of Christians and their churches in Canada at the close of the twentieth century. Christians in a Secular World argues that the religiously committed still differ from their fellow citizens psychologically and in their family life and political outlook. Bowen warns that as the ranks of the committed continue to shrink, we may begin to witness a weakening in the civility and social fabric of Canada.

Bowen also assesses the role of religion in public education, the financial liability of Canada's churches for abuse suffered by Aboriginals in residential schools, the status of women clergy in Protestant churches, and the debates over abortion and gay and lesbian marriage. He takes issue with those who claim that on-going widespread involvement in various privatized forms of religiousness indicates that religion is changing rather than declining. The book concludes with an assessment of the major challenges that Christian churches in Canada confront today.