MELBOURNE: 3.6 million people (2006), 248 Nationalities, 289 languages,128 religious faiths
THE CHURCH
THE CHURCH
- 300,000 people attend church weekly, another 300,000 attend about once a month.
- There are over 1700 local churches of more than 30 denominations and over 80 nationalities
- There are 60 Chinese, 52 Greek, 41 Italian, 35 Samoan, 30 Vietnamese, 24 Korean churches
- "NO RELIGION" up 20% in 10 years
- Under 34s: 1.2million (48%) in population BUT only 48,000 (4%) attend church(=16% of attenders)
- Over 55s: 819,000 (22%) of population and 20% (122,000) attend weekly (= 54% of attenders)
- About 5000 people come to faith each year, about 9000 people leave the Church
City population increasing at 90,000pa, here is a net loss of 4,800pa from church attendance.
The churches make a major contribution to the city in education, welfare, health and aged care
BUT without spiritual regeneration this support will not be sustainable.
Jesus weeps for our city…The All Melbourne Matters research gives us a glimpse of how God sees the Church and our city. He is urgently calling His people to cry out and join in intentional mission to claim the future of our city for Him. All Melbourne Matters to our Father.
Posts
4 comments:
I've not long discovered the site. I'm a maps & numbers nerd, always interested in how the Kingdom is going in different places. I might buy the report when it comes out, although I'm over in Adelaide.
I've studied the situation in Adelaide mostly using public ABS & NCLS data, looking particularly about how different parts of Adelaide compare. http://geomiss.wordpress.com
Biggest surprise in the list is only 4% attendance in the under 34s - I didn't realise the age profile in the Church is that skewed.
This is interesting Eric. You can get your own copies of the research project report online by going to the TM website:
http://www.transformingmelbourne.org.au/
It is my considered opinion that the following two steps are crucial in lifting the under 34's percentage up from its present disturbingly low level:
#1 - a concerted church-wide effort to instill a basic knowledge of practical apologetics in every lay member. Put simply, these days young people need reasons to believe, and become incredibly frustrated if such reasons are not provided to them. Their cultural milieu has conditioned them to flatly reject any truth handed down to them as 'tradition' or 'dogma'. If the church can't provide them with up-front, clear, good reasons why they should accept its teachings as true, young people simply won't bother with it.
#2 - a wholescale church commitment to grassroots social justice, poverty alleviation and environmental stewardship is required, and more importantly - making sure these efforts are highly visible to the wider community. Young people are desperate to 'make a difference', yet often are wholly unaware of the church's role as a primary conduit for the dispensing of such charity. Young people need to know that the church is 100% behind the poor and the helpless, and that our motivation in doing so is a direct response to Christ's explicit teachings.
We need to provide a vision of Christianity that has both intellectual and spiritual integrity. We need to engage their hearts and capture their imaginations. It's essential.
cheers,
James
Great insights James!!
Post a Comment