Geelong, Australia
Just one per cent of Australian churches are planting another congregation in any one year, according to data from NCLS Research.
That startling statistic was among factors which have led to a new initiative between the NCLS Research and church planting catalyst organisation Exponential Australia.
Dr Ruth Powell, director of NCLS Research, addresses the Exponential Australia conference in November, 2023. PICTURE: Courtesy of Exponential Australia
The three year initiative, which was officially launched at Exponential Australia’s inaugural conference on the Gold Coast last month, involves asking churches to report their church planting experiences at a new website – new.churches.org.au – on an annual basis.
Dr Ruth Powell, director of the NCLS Research, said the initiative aims to “put a spotlight on new churches in Australia”.
Powell said the data showed that just five per cent of churches had engaged in church planting in the five years between 2017 and 2021, down from 11 per cent in the five years to 2002.
And asked what impact the coronavirus pandemic had on the figures, Powell said the numbers had already been declining prior to the pandemic. She cited data showing that while, prior to 2017, 2.2 per cent of Protestant churches had planted a church in any given year, the figure had dropped to an annual rate of just 1.5 per cent between 2017 and 2019 (prior to the coronavirus pandemic).
“And of that 1.5 per cent, one per cent was in Australia and 0.5 per cent overseas,” Powell said. “So every year, just one per cent of our Protestant churches have planted another church. That’s the current rate in Australia.”
Tim O’Neill, director of Exponential Australia, said the collaboration with NCLS is aimed at understanding “what the true situation of church multiplication, church planting, in Australia really is”.
“And then we want to be able to track it. We want to be able to track it to see if there is an uplift or if there’s a continuing downward spiral, to bring that to the attention to people – denominational leaders as well as anyone in the Christian space who’s listening – and work with them to try and bring about change.”
O’Neill believes that the NCLS church plant database, which was initially created drawing on information from the NCLS as well as Exponential and church-planting organisations, is the first of its kind in the world. There are at present about 350 church plants included on the database.
Tim O’Neill, director of Exponential Australia. PICTURE: Courtesy of Tim O’Neill
Exponential Australia was launched in Australia in 2020 (the organisation operates autonomously from the US organisation Exponential which has been running for almost 20 years). O’Neill said the organisation did not plant churches, fund church plants or compete with church planting organisations but instead described it as a “catalyst to ignite church-planting multiplication”.
“We want to try and create a healthy environment for church planting to really take-off within our country,” he said, adding that statistics show church plants are much more likely to reach people than an established church.
The news on the decline in church planting comes amid a broad decline in church attendance.
NCLS data shows that between 2016 and 2021, seven in 10 Protestant congregations were in decline, 13 per cent were stable and 18 per cent were growing.
While Powell points out that there are “definitely movements or whole sectors of the church that are holding their own or growing”, the figures do represent a stark contrast with those from the previous five year period – 2011 to 2016 – which show that, at that time, 50 per cent of Protestant churches were in decline, 19 per cent were stable and 31 per cent were growing.
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Powell, meanwhile, says she’s seeing some positive signs with regard to church planting in Australia.
“[I]t feels to me that there is a swing in terms of focus and attention – and Exponential Australia are one example of that – where there is a new wave of commitment to church planting.”
Powell said she believes the “ongoing attention” on church planting will help change the data over the next few years and added that not only are churches generally signalling that they’re open to new ideas – data shows eight out of 10 churches were open to new ideas, denominational bodies are taking a more active role in church planting. There is also a growing number of parachurch organisations – such as parachurch groups like City to City Australia and Reach Australia – which have focused their attention on the issue.
“Hopefully this is the bottom of the curve…” she said.
