Canadian Churches and the First World War

Essays on the responses of the Canadian churches to the First World War, providing an introduction to a neglected area of Canadian social and religious history.

Most accounts of Canada and the First World War either ignore or merely mention in passing the churches' experience. Canadian Churches and the First World War addresses this surprising neglect, exploring the marked relationship between Canada's 'Great War' and Canadian churches in intricate detail.

The authors of this volume provide a detailed summary of various Christian traditions and the war, both synthesising and furthering previous research. In addition to examining the experience of Roman Catholics (English and French speaking), Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Mennonites, and Quakers, there are chapters on precedents formed during the South African War, the work of military chaplains, and the roles of church women on the home front.

Reprinted in the centenary year of the conflict's outbreak, Canadian Churches and the First World War acts as a sobering reminder of the devastating impact the Great War had on Canada - and the rest of the world - in the early twentieth century. It will inspire those with a keen interest in theological, military and women's history, along with academics and students whose areas of research cover the monumental events of 1914-18.

Gordon L. Heath is Associate Professor of Christian History at McMaster Divinity College, the Director of the Canadian Baptist Archives, and Centenary Chair in World Christianity. His publications include 'A War with a Silver Lining: Canadian Protestant Churches and the South African War, 1899–1902' (2009) and, as editor, 'Canadian Churches and the First World War' (The Lutterworth Press, 2014).