Sermon Illustrations

According to the Australian Bureau of statistics

Australian society in 1901

40% of the population being Church of England,

23% Catholic,

34% other Christian

1% professing non-Christian religions.

2001 Census question,

27% Catholic,

21% Anglican,

21% other Christian denominations

5% non-Christian religions.

Just over one-quarter of all Australians either stated that they had no religion, or did not adequately respond to the question.

Between 1996 and 2001,

Catholic affiliates increased by 4%

Baptist affiliates by 5%.

However, as the Australian population grew by 6% during this period this is not enough.

The most notable decreases in Christian affiliation occurred for Churches of Christ (decreasing by 18%), the

Uniting Church (decreasing by 7%), and

Presbyterian and Reformed (decreasing by 6%).

An increase was seen for Pentecostal affiliation, which increased by 11% between 1996 and 2001 (from 174,720).

A substantial increase, associated with immigration from South Eastern Europe, was also seen for the Orthodox Churches, with the number of Orthodox affiliates increasing by 7% (from 497,015).