Scholars have sorely neglected the subject of religion in British Columbia during the
interwar years. This thesis will address this gap through a study of the relationship
between Protestantism and society in the province's major urban centers, Vancouver and
Victoria. I will approach the issue through a new window into the role of churches in
British Columbia - the church taxation debates of the 1920's.
This work begins with a review of the literature that sets the historical context of the
church tax issue and reveals gaps in our knowledge of the role of religion in British
Columbia. Primary source material is derived largely from newspapers, magazines, and
archival material including private correspondences, City Council documents, pamphlets,
and booklets.
The church taxation issue illustrates the agenda of British Columbia's urban churches
in a rapidly changing and secularizing society. In order to remain relevant, they were
forced to consider their purpose and persuade society to agree. Exemptionists employed
different strategies to convince the public of their indispensability. In Victoria, churches
clung to tradition, while in Vancouver churches responded by redefining the relationship
between church and state. Victoria's churches wanted the role of churches to remain
unchanged while Vancouver churches sought to harmonize the churches' agenda with that
of the state. In both cities, the exemptionists won their cases. However, their victories
did not permanently define or secure the future role of churches.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11514 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Cunningham, Kara Lynn |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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