MICHAEL WILKINSON

Professor of Sociology

ABOUT ME

My Background

I’m a sociologist based at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. My research focuses on cultural analyses of religion. I have written about immigration and religion, evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, and globalization. I teach courses on the sociology of religion, religion and culture, globalization, and theory.

Explore this site to see the projects I've worked on and feel free to contact me with any questions you have about my research and teaching.

EDUCATION

PHD, UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

1999

My doctoral research assessed the impact of migration from Africa, Asia, and Latin America on Christianity in Canada.

MA, WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY

1993

My master's degree focused on social scientific approaches for understanding religion and culture.

BA, CARLETON UNIVERSITY

1992

I completed my bachelor's degree in the department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Projects

GLOBAL PENTECOSTALISM

2023-2026

I am working with 16 editors from around the world on supplemental volumes from Brill's Encyclopedia of Global Pentecostalism. The project will expand on the encyclopedia with detailed material from eight regions.

FLOURISHING CONGREGATIONS

2019-2023

Flourishing congregations is a multi-year and multi-funded project from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities. Joel Thiessen at Ambrose University is a leader in the study of Canadian congregations and together we are working to understand how congregations flourish among Roman Catholic, historic Protestant, and evangelical Protestant churches.

RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY, SECULARITY, AND SOCIETY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

2017-2020

This project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to study the growing rates of "no religion" in the Pacific Northwest. I worked with project team leader Paul Bramadat at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society. The book Religion at the Edge: Nature, Spirituality, and Secularity in the Pacific Northwest is one outcome of the project.

AFTER THE REVIVAL: PENTECOSTALISM AND THE MAKING OF A CANADIAN CHURCH

2015-2020

I worked with Linda Ambrose, Laurentian University to conduct a cultural analysis of Pentecostalism in Canada. The result was the book, After the Revival, published by McGill-Queen's University Press. Our book project was funded by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Awards to Scholarly Publications Program.