THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY National Church Life Survey attenders 7000 local churches leaders 2011

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY This material was originally presented at a “Church, Mission and Ministry” class guest lecture, at Tabor College Victoria, 25 May 2011, drawing on NCLS research, especially what was later published in Darren Cronshaw, Ruth Powell and Sam Sterland, NCLS, ‘Local churches in mission through word and deed: A case study of Baptist Churches in Victoria using the National Church Life Survey’, Australian Journal of Mission Studies,Vol.5, No.2 (December 2011), 12-22, accessible athttp://repository.mcd.edu.au/1140/; and Darren Cronshaw, “The Shaping of Things Now: Mission and Innovation in Emerging Churches in Melbourne” (MCD DTheol thesis, 2009) for slides

TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF MISSION FOR THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY What have you been learning in class over the last month – what How would you describe the mission of the (local) church in Australia today? What are the implications of missio Dei for the mission of the church in Australia today? Where else have you seen missio Dei developed or practised at its best?

Where have you seen the reign of God developed or practised at its best? What are the implications of the Kingdom or Reign of God for the mission of the church in Australia today? TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF MISSION FOR THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY

What forces are working against an impetus for proclamation? Where have you seen proclamation at its best? What is your response to ‘mission as prophetic dialogue’ as a helpful model for mission for the church in Australia? TOWARDS A THEOLOGY OF MISSION FOR THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY

THE MISSIONAL CONTEXT OF THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY THE MISSIONAL CONTEXT OF THE CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA TODAY What is the situation for the church’s mission in Australia today?

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY Religious identification: Source: 1947 to 2006 Five-yearly National Census of Population and Housing

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY AND BELIEFS Belief in the existence of God or some kind of higher power Then: > 90% (1950’s – 60s) Now: 69% (2009) Sources: Various sample surveys of population

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY and PRAYER Frequency of prayer: Praying - Then: > 74%(1966) Now: 57% (2009) Praying daily - Then: > 34%(1950s) Now: 15% (2009) Sources: Various sample surveys of population

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY and ATTENDANCE Church attendance: At least monthly - Then: > 47%(1950s) Now: 15% (2009) At least weekly - Then: > 23%(1950s) Now: 13% (2009) Sources: Various sample surveys of population

Figure 5: Adult age profile – church and community

 SOCIAL SERVICE & ACTION IN VICTORIAN BAPTIST CHURCHES  “In what sense are community services part of the church? We must have this conversation in the next decade”  “We have restructured…Our community services (and schools) must serve the mission of the whole Church”.  “I don’t say this too loudly, but I believe that our community services are the face of the church in the future”

Figure 6: Informal acts of helping in the Victorian Baptist Church

In Australia 54% of church attenders helped others in three or more ways from this list of eight possible acts in the twelve months prior to completing the survey. AUSTRALIA: 2006 NCLS Informal acts of service by church attenders

Figure 7: Attenders involvement in groups of the wider community

Table 1: Any activities related to service or justice in Vic Baptist Churches

Table 2: Types of service activities run by local churches at least occasionally, across Australia in 2006 (ranked from most common to least common)

Table 3: Physical Care Activities Taking Place in Vic Baptist Churches

Table 4: Empowering and Equipping Activities Taking Place in Vic Baptist Churches

Table 5: Other activities related to service or justice in Vic Baptist Churches

Programs related to physical care to the vulnerable (e.g. aged care, disabled care, accommodation, material assistance, etc) E.g.Some 80% of churches provide emergency relief or material assistance Services that equip or empower people (eg counselling, children and youth support, migrant support, activities for the unemployed, etc) E.g. 56% of churches provide counselling services Other activities related to service or justice (eg political and social justice activities, community development, environmental and other activities) E.g. 26% of churches are engaged in political or social justice activities (eg human rights) Some 92% of all local churches in Australia provide community service activities Source: 2006 NCLS Operations Survey

Figure 8: Percentage of Baptist Church VIC local churches sharing property and joining public events with the local community

Summary – Community Service Widespread service: Most local churches provide practical services to their communities (92%). Serving informally: Church attenders take action as individuals in many informal ways. Serving in groups: The levels of volunteerism by attenders in both church-based and community-based groups is a great strength. Serving in many ways: There is an extremely wide range of types of activities run by local churches, from practical care for physical needs, counselling, equipping, political activism and more. Change in service over ten years. Across Australia, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of churches that offer community service activities.

Figure 9: Ten years of Service: Summary of churches in Victorian Baptist Churches involved in any kind of service in 1996 and 2006

4. FAITH SHARING

Figure 10: Attender attitudes to sharing faith

Figure 11: Attenders inviting others to church

Table 6: Reasons given by Vic Baptist Church attenders for not inviting others

Table 7: Evangelistic Activities Taking Place in Vic Baptist Churches

Table 8: Published outreach programs used in Victorian Baptist Churches, 2006 In the past 2 years, did this congregation/parish conduct any of the following outreach or evangelistic activities? Bap VIC Denom Ang/Prot An Alpha Course Christianity Explained Introducing God Another evangelistic program At least one of the above Based on 2006 NCLS Operations Surveys responses from the following number of locations:

Figure 12: Church attender involvement in congregational outreach activities

Table 9: Percentage of local churches providing training in outreach/ evangelism in the previous 2 years (by denomination) Baptist Church VIC 14% Anglican13% Baptist (Aus-wide)24% Catholic11% Churches of Christ21% Lutheran12% Pentecostal28% Presbyterian25% Salvation Army15% Uniting 5% All Churches17%

Table 10: Percentage of local churches with planned procedures designed to help integrate new people.

Figure 13: Ranking faith-sharing and acts of service against other core qualities for Vic Baptist Churches What are the implications of these relative strengths and how would the Baptist Union of Victoria best respond?

Future implications for church, mission & ministry?