Bridgefolk participant and liturgist Sarah Kathleen Johnson recently shared findings from her research on occasional religious practice and its contributions to grassroots ecumenism in a lecture at the Centre for Christian Engagement at St. Mark’s College in Vancouver.

Johnson has introduced the concept of occasional religious practice as a novel yet intuitive way to describe, analyze, and respond to widespread patterns she has observed in three years of ethnographic fieldwork in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto. While church leaders often see the pattern as a problem, Johnson notes ways that it can contribute to grassroots ecumenical dialogue. In her lecture Johnson explored these dynamics in dialogue with Roman Catholic priest Fr. Nick Meisl and Anglican deacon Rev. Alisdair Smith.

Occasional religious practice is a way of relating to religion that is characterized by participation in religious practices occasionally rather than routinely, most often in connection with certain types of occasions, including holidays, life transitions, and times of crisis. In a North American religious landscape characterized by declining participation in religious institutions, increasing uncertainty about matters of faith, and a growing population who identify as nonreligious, occasional religious practice is a primary way that people continue to relate to religion.

The lecture and panel discussion were grounded in Dr. Johnson’s recent book Occasional Religious Practice: Valuing a Very Ordinary Religious Experience. 

An interview of Johnson by the Centre´s director John W. Martens is also available on his What Matters Most podcast, entitled “We are the Church Together: A Conversation with Dr. Sarah K. Johnson.