An Aussie friend of mine who has been living in the US for the last 7 years and is hooked up with the same mob as Justin is returning to Oz shortly as a missionary/church planter.
He is looking to raise some support in the US before arriving – a good plan indeed. But he needs some info on the state of religion in Australia and Perth specifically. He asked for stats and I have pointed him to the lovely Rachael Barr at NCLS, but I have offered my observations about the state of play in Perth and probably reflected all round Oz.
What I’d like you to do is add to my observations (or correct them if you think they are wrong) in the comments.
– almost complete absence of church planting among conservative evangelical denominations – other than us Baptists haven’t planted a church for 7 years. I know C of C are very similar but both denoms are just getting a little more serious about this issue. There is plenty of ‘talk’ at the moment.
– almost complete absence of young leaders wanting to plant churches. Most want to hit a career path and get a full time salary asap. Church planting perceived as real hard work and little kudos
– the money factor is a big one for many people – don’t want to either raise support or be tentmakers
– Stanley Hauerwas described Aus as the most secular country he has ever been to. (Somewhere on http://gocn.org )
– huge awareness that churches aren’t cutting it
– those coming to faith tend to be of the ‘lapsed catholic’ variety, those with some background, migrants with spiritual awareness eg Africans, but penetrating the core of middle Australia with the gospel is still a mammoth task. Few are taking this on with any seriousness and longevity. Its easier just to ‘grow a church’ than be missionaries.
– Pentecostalism was the great hope, but its wave has broken and now they are struggling too.
– anyone doing mission and church in Oz needs to know how to think like a missionary as it is a state of pure pluralism and pragmatism ‘anything goes if it works for you’.
So…
Help Glenn out and add to these if you are able
Thanks