The uncomfortable pew: Christianity, the New Left, and the hip counterculture in Toronto, 1965--1975

The long sixties -- a time period that encompasses the late fifties and early seventies -- was an era marked by generational upheaval. Across North America, radical youth revolted against the social and political structures that underpinned war, economic exploitation, racism, sexism and homophobia, while countercultural youth rebelled against the mores of their parents' generation. For North America's churches -- Roman Catholic, mainline Protestant, and evangelical -- this period was marked by upheaval as well. Larger denominations lost their place of privilege as unofficial religious establishments, and faced declining attendance and revenues. Smaller evangelical denominations faced cultural challenges as a new form of countercultural Christianity emerged.;The argument in this study is threefold: first, that the "generation gap," most evident in the New Left and the hip counterculture, played a role in shaping the churches' crisis of relevance, and hence in the churches' response to that crisis. Second, that the youth movements of the sixties (especially the New Left) were not as divorced from Christianity as popular accounts would lead one to believe. Finally, that both radical and countercultural forms of Christianity emerged in these years, sometimes with ironic results.;The purpose of The Uncomfortable Pew is to explore the profound changes that occurred in Canadian Christianity from the end of the 1950s until 1975, as well the concurrent developments in Canadian youth movements (the New Left and the hip counterculture), as they related to each other. It will examine both the impact that these youth movements had on institutional Christianity, and the role that Christianity (institutional and otherwise) played in these youth movements. Geographically, this study focuses on Toronto: on radical activity at the University of Toronto; on countercultural activity in Yorkville and at Rochdale College; and on the ways that churches and religious organizations (with leading congregations and headquarters in Toronto) interacted with these youth. The Uncomfortable Pew focuses on four denominations -- Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Church of Canada, and Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. It also examines two key examples of intersection between Canadian Christianity and the youth movements of the long sixties: the Student Christian Movement, and the Jesus Movement.