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New Kinds of Churches Are the Hope of the Future

hope of the future

Here are two news stories from different Anglican dioceses on opposite sides of the world. One story illustrated why new kinds of churches really are the hope of the future. It heartened me greatly.

New Kinds of Churches Are the Hope of the Future

PART ONE: DECLINE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

The first story wasn’t the one that heartened me. It was from the Diocese of Sydney entitled “Behind the decline in Church attendance”, and in it, Anglican priest, Antony Barraclough tried to make sense of the dropping rate of attendance at Sydney Anglican church services.

It caught my eye because even though falling religious affiliation is routinely reported across Australia, I often hear people holding up Sydney Anglicanism as a last bastion of growth and vitality.

Not so, it turns out.

Back in 2011, in an article entitled “Why Aren’t We Growing?”, Tony Payne reported that, based on weekly average service attendance data of all ages, Sydney Anglican congregations were barely growing at around 1.4% per annum. He then pointed out that the population of Sydney itself was growing at around 0.9%.