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Australian Christian Resources |
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The churches in Australia are an important social institution. Every week church services are held across Australia at which people meet to worship God and to be nurtured in the Christian faith. While churches conduct a range of other activities, including welfare activities, school education and health care, the provision of public worship through church services remains a central role of the churches.
The research in this book identifies the likely importance of a variety of social and cultural influences on the choices of Australian adults regarding church attendance. The possible influences examined in this book include:
church contact as a child
social relations, particularly spouse and close friends
competing leisure activities
religious beliefs, both Christian and non-Christian
moral and other values
attitudes towards the churches
The premise of this book is that it is important for the churches to listen to the voices of those who are not closely involved with the churches. The ACS is an important way for the community to speak to the churches. The feedback it provides raises issues for reflection such as:
This book springs from the belief that local churches are important to the healthy development of the Christian faith, a belief that is supported by the information provided through the ACS. It is our hope that, if church attenders can better understand the reasons why Australians are not involved in churches, they can work towards improving the contact that they have with other Australians and can also better fulfll their role as communities that nurture people in the Christian faith.
