The landscape of North America is beautiful, pristine and wonderful. The land has majestic mountains such as the Rocky Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains, and freshwater lakes such as the Great Lakes of North America and Lake Tahoe. North America is surrounded by the world's two largest oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic. The vast continent is covered by deserts, forests, prairies, meadows, forests, canyons and wilderness. It has countless small towns as well as highly populated metropolitan cities. The land was first inhabited by Native Americans and First Nations, who lived off the land and in harmony with creation. It is a magnificent land, composed of only five countries, Canada, the USA, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Greenland and Bermuda.

Just as the land is diverse and bountiful, so are the people who live in these five countries. Though their history is short compared with countries in such contexts as Asia, South America, Africa and Europe, it has been filled by devastation, horror and suffering. With the European conquest of Native land, the terror began for many Native and First Nations peoples as genocide was committed against them. The large-scale enslavement and importation of Africans brought further injustice, horror and suffering. During this horrific history, Christianity had a large presence and was part of the very fabric that caused the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans. Christian adoption of the Doctrine of Discovery and the perception of Africans as heathens made it theoretically justifiable to enslave them. In addition, Asians were viewed as heathens and foreigners, a perception which white Americans used to indenture them. Throughout this history of immigration, enslavement and conquest, Christianity was deeply implicated in colonialism, subjugation and domination.

Due to increased immigration and the entrance of refugees during the last 70 years, North America is a very racially diverse place. This diversity means that various languages are spoken and different cultural customs are lived out. Many people who came from difficult situations found opportunities to build a new life in North America. Some refugees were able to start fresh lives and contribute to the wider society. Coming from many different backgrounds, they have formed an enterprising people who have built one of the world's strongest economies.

The table that begins overleaf provides a quick-reference, country-by-country listing for Christianity and its major traditions for all the countries that appear in this volume. These statistics are found in the World Christian Database (see Methodology and Sources) and all figures relate to 1970 and 2020. Small numbers are left unrounded to distinguish known small populations from zero but do not represent precise estimates.

The columns are as follows:

• • Country (name of country in English)

• • Region in which country is located

• • Total population of country (United Nations estimate, 1970, 2020) and total numbers and percentage of population in each tradition

• • Percentage mean annual growth rate, 1970–2020.

The last page of the table presents regional totals.

This volume attempts a comprehensive examination of Christianity in North America, which includes a large land mass (Canada and the USA are the second and fourth largest countries in the world, respectively). However, North America includes only five countries: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the USA. Since some 90% of the region's population lives in the USA, this book focuses its major themes and issues within that country, while also taking account of Canada and the small nations to the east of the American mainland. The modern nations in North America were founded relatively recently, compared with European or Asian countries that are built on many centuries of history. However, North American countries are prominent in innovation and have become economic leaders, with influence around the world. The USA, in particular, wields great political and economic influence globally. As a result, how Americans practise or understand Christianity has a worldwide impact.

Christianity in North America is a vibrant, informative and challenging volume as it traverses various regions of North America to understand the origins, rise and impact of Christianity in the different areas. This volume examines pertinent themes and issues, such as gender, ecology and racism, as well as the different forms of church life in North America such as Anglicans, Independents, Protestants and Catholics. Through these various lenses of exploration and research, this volume seeks to challenge preconceived understandings of Christianity and to discern emerging trends in a land thirsting for spirituality, reconciliation, growth and flourishing.

Christianity in North America has taken on some distinctive cultural characteristics of the region. Some have argued that it is a highly individualistic culture. The Western culture of individualism has created churches and a theology that are highly individualistic in nature and less communal than in other parts of the world such as Asia and Africa. This individualism has consequences for our faith practices, as it tends not to promote communal worship and fellowship. The COVID-19 pandemic has not helped in building communities as, since March 2020, much interaction has moved online. This tends to isolate people further, especially the elderly, single people and other groups on the margins of society. Furthermore, COVID-19 has also led to an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans as some in white society (following former US President Donald Trump) have continued to call COVID-19 the ‘Chinese virus’, which perpetuates racism and xenophobia.

While a number of compendia have recently been produced on the study of worldwide Christianity, the distinctive quality of this series arises from its examination of global Christianity through a combination of reliable demographic information and original interpretative essays by local scholars and practitioners. This approach was successfully pioneered by the Atlas of Global Christianity 1910–2010, published by Edinburgh University Press on the occasion of the centenary of the epoch-making Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference.

Using the same methodology, the Edinburgh Companions to Global Christianity take the analysis to a deeper level of detail and explore the context of the twenty-first century. The series considers the presence of Christianity on a continent-by-continent basis worldwide. Covering every country in the world, it maps patterns of growth and/or decline and examines current trends. The aim of the series is to comprehensively map worldwide Christianity and to describe it in its entirety. Country-specific studies are offered, all the major Christian traditions are analysed and current regional and continental trends are examined.

Each volume is devoted to a continent or sub-continent, following the United Nations classifications. Through a combination of maps, tables, charts and graphs, each of the successive volumes presents a comprehensive demographic analysis of Christianity in the relevant area. Commentary and interpretation are provided by essays on key topics, each written by an expert in the field, normally an indigenous scholar. By the use of these various tools each volume provides an accurate, objective and incisive analysis of the presence of Christian faith in the relevant area.

The volumes (published and projected) in the series are:

• 1. Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa (published 2017)

• 2. Christianity in North Africa and West Asia (published 2018)

• 3. Christianity in South and Central Asia (published 2019)

• 4. Christianity in East and Southeast Asia (published 2020)

• 5. Christianity in Oceania (published 2021)

• 6. Christianity in Latin America and the Caribbean (published 2022)

• 7. Christianity in North America

• 8. Christianity in Western and Northern Europe

• 9. Christianity in Eastern and Southern Europe

• 10. Compact Atlas of Global Christianity

As series editors, we rely heavily on the regional expertise of the dedicated third editor who joins us for each volume. Furthermore, each volume has its own editorial advisory board, made up of senior scholars with authoritative knowledge of the field in question.