The Future of the Church in Australia The Future of the Church in Australia report is produced by: McCrindle Research Pty Ltd Suite 105, 29 Solent Circuit Norwest NSW 2153 AUSTRALIA mccrindle.com.au
[email protected] +61 2 8824 3422 Authors: Mark McCrindle, Shannon Wherrett Data visualisation and design: Hendrik Zuidersma, Ben Duffin Title: The Future of the Church in Australia Publisher: McCrindle Research — mccrindle.com.au URL: cityinfield.com ISBN: 978-0-6486695-8-6 © McCrindle Research Pty Ltd 2020 This report was commissioned to help Christian leaders to understand and respond to the changing social and religious landscape in Australia. This publication is copyright. Fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review is permitted under the Copyright Act. In addition the Publisher grants permission to use images and content from this publication, up to 10%, for commercial and non-commercial purposes provided proper attribution is given such as ‘The Future of the Church in Australia’ By Mark McCrindle and Shannon Wherrett used by permission McCrindle Research. 02 The Future of the Church in Australia Contents Introduction 04 Christian leaders interviewed 06 Executive summary 08 01 Cultural relevance 12 02 The future of the church 18 03 Digital opportunities 26 04 Going and growing 32 05 Leadership pipeline 38 Recommendations for leaders 42 A final word 48 The Future of the Church in Australia 03 Introduction Australia has a rich history of faith and spirituality. Although the history of the Christian church in Australia began in 1788 with the arrival of the first fleet, God was already present in Australia as the creator and sustainer of the universe1.