An Aussie Perspective

So my wife and I went to two Aussie (Ozzy, NOT Ossy!) churches last weekend. It seems there is a variety of churches here just as in America. Different styles and methods are used by different churches to reach different people.


Our first stop was in Canberra - the capital of Australia. This city is smaller than Colorado Springs and is not close to any other major metropolitan center. The city struck us as a huge suburb in that there is virtually no industry beyond the government in Canberra. In fact 48% of the population is in some sort of public service and another large percentage are private contractors who have been contracted by the government. Because it is the capital, there are many internationals living in Canberra and the diversity for a city of about 300,000 is striking.



We met with the president of the Alliance Church of Australia. His goal and objective for the Alliance churches in Australia is to move every church to be missional in its philosophy and practice. The desire to reach lost people is understood by the Australian Church because they have seen their nation's church attendance and adherence to the faith dwindle with each passing year to the lowest point in the nation's history. At this point only 5% of Australians attend church regularly, while only 20% indicated "Christian" in the latest census conducted by the government. (If you are wondering, all of these are but a fraction of the United States figures.) Therein is why the Australian Church recognizes that if they do not focus on lost people - then the church will cease to exist within the next 50 years. Still, there is a conflict stemming from resistance to the mission of Christ within the church of Australia.