Joel Thiessen, PhD

I am a sociologist of religion who specializes in religion in Canada, religious nones, congregations, millennials, and more recently death and dying. I am also Director of the Flourishing Congregations Institute. Since joining the Ambrose faculty in 2008, I have (co)authored six books and over 20 articles, plus delivered over 135 invited public lectures with scholars, church, and denominational leaders across Canada and the United States. I am also regularly interviewed with different media outlets. My "sociological imagination" follows me in my "leisure" activities that include watching and playing sports, travelling, reading, playing the drums, and spending time with family and friends. 

Current Research

On the heels of recently published research related to mental health in congregations, religious transmission in Catholic contexts, as well as congregations flourishing in the face of transition and change, my current research centres on the following subjects: (a) death and dying; (b) religious transmission; and (c) vocation, calling, and career. Below is a select list of my (co)authored books. For a more exhaustive list of my publications and media appearances, or to make a speaking/consulting request, please visit my personal website at www.joelthiessen.ca

Publications

Thiessen, Joel, Arch Wong, and Mark Chapman, eds. 2024. The Stories Congregations Tell: Flourishing in the Face of Transition and Change. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

McAlpine, Bill, Joel Thiessen, Keith Walker, and Arch Wong. 2021. Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada. Toronto, ON: Tyndale Academic Publishing.

Thiessen, Joel and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme. 2020. None of the Above: Nonreligious Identity in the US and Canada. New York, NY: New York University Press.

Bibby, Reginald, Joel Thiessen, and Monetta Bailey. 2019. The Millennial Mosaic: How Pluralism and Choice Are Shaping Canadian Youth and The Future of Canada. Toronto, ON: Dundurn Press.

Thiessen, Joel. 2015. The Meaning of Sunday: The Practice of Belief in a Secular Age. Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen's University Press.

Dawson, Lorne L. and Joel Thiessen. 2014. The Sociology of Religion: A Canadian Perspective. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.