Note from Rowland: The Barna Research people told us a couple of years ago that for the first time in history a majority of Western ‘confessing Christians’ are not in church on any given Sunday.

My theory: it’s complex, but something to do with our commercial culture, and especially pastors who can’t compete with TV.

See something I wrote on this a decade ago: TV OR NOT TV: THAT IS THE QUESTION – http://jmm.org.au/articles/4861.htm

Rowland Croucher

March 27, 2010

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Christians who don’t go to church? There’s lots and lots

24th March 2010

Last month this column said 70% of Australians claim religious affiliation, most of them Christian. But only a small proportion go to church regularly.

The reality in 2010 is that more believers don’t go to church regularly than those who do. Why have people left? Reasons vary according to the individual, but research1 and anecdotes reveal these reasons: child abuse by church people; fussy liturgy; no respect for women; church is non-participative; sermons are irrelevant to work-life balance; denominations are obsessed with orthodox belief; there is no passion for causes like indigenous health; church life is boring; youth no longer seek a meta-narrative for the whole of life. Some of these can be fixed up; some like child abuse are irreversible.

So for many, the nexus between believing and belonging2 has broken. Tom Frame in his recent book argues that believing, which most Australians do, does not necessarily lead to belonging.

People have so many choices, and they have mobility to pursue their individual choices. This can be hedonism, endless entertainment, or it can be service in the community. Frame says: “There is a moral sense within, even if Australians are indifferent to organized religion.” 3 David Tacey supports this view: “People are rediscovering the sacred.” 4 If many Australians are believers, but non-churchgoers, how do they maintain a spiritual life?

We probably all know Christians who find their nurture and fellowship in small groups, meditation groups, with private spiritual directors or mentors, or in discussion groups of likeminded people. I personally now have about as many friends who used to go as those who still go to church every Sunday.

Does the decline in regular church attendance mean the collapse of morals and virtue, and the end of altruism in our society? No, volunteerism in Australia is still strong, at both adult and youth level5. One reason governments will never close down the tax-free and rate-free status of churches is that, if they did, most community services across Australia would cease.

It would be very expensive, for example, for local councils to pay for the Meals on Wheels Service to shut-ins in their local community. But as well as volunteerism, Australians with religious faith, whether they are regular church attenders or not, tend to choose careers which are people-oriented.

Philip Hughes of the Christian Research Association6 says: “Religious organisations have been highly involved in running welfare programs, as well as hospitals, aged care homes and schools. Consequently those with religious faith are more highly involved in these people-oriented sectors.” CRA’s research7 shows that people who grew up attending church who went into technical or skilled trades professions were more likely to drop out of church life. Church has become irrelevant.

In terms of mission strategy for Churches, Tom Frame argues8 that we can no longer rely on the connections between believing, belonging and behaving.

Each might be an entry point for people to a new church experience. Each needs a separate strategy, especially for the new generation of youth whom McCrindle calls “Generations Y and Z”.

Frame says: “The struggle for souls will be house by house.” His predictions on the future of churches is quite gloomy: Pentecostals will become city-based sects; Left-leaning Liberals in the main churches will disappear; Roman Catholics and Orthodox will maintain themselves.9 The rest? It all depends on movements like Fresh Expressions, and on local churches being more flexible in their strategies.

Alan Nichols, AM, is a Melbourne-based Anglican minister and writer.

1 Mark McCrindle, 1 June 2009 presentation to Melbourne Anglican Ministry Conference, includes some relevant research, for example youth seek participative experiences. Also Philip Hughes: Youth: The Church’s Primary Challenge, June 2009.

2 Tom Frame, Losing My Religion: Unbelief in Australia, UNSW Press, Sydney 2009. page 102

3 Page 118.

4 Tacey, Edge of the Sacred: Transformation in Australia, Harper Collins, Melbourne, 1995, page 2.

5 See my column in the February issue of Eternity (eternity.biz) for figures of youth volunteerism in the Oak Tree Foundation, REACH Foundation and White Lion programs in Melbourne.

6 Pointers, March 2009

7 Australian Community Survey 1998

8 Page 298

9 Page 299

http://eternity.biz/news/christians_who_dont_go_to_church_theres_lots_ and_lots/1003240100/