See attached PDF.
Open the PDF for full text of Devotional Guide.
The Guide expands on the daily verse and prayer published each day during the week days in Lent 2024.
It includes an outline for discussion with a small group of your friends.
Click on the video presentation to view the opening addresses of a conference to progress the formation of an Open Baptist association to reflect baptistic style of association between autonomous local churches.
Open the PDF to read the Constitution
View attachments for detail.
The death of religion was the conventional wisdom in the social sciences during most of the twentieth century. Turns out, they were wrong. Religion is not dead. It’s still here. Actually, it’s growing.
Listen to the Podcast for more fact-based information on global and local religion.
The latest results from the 2021 National Census, which show an increase in Australians ticking the ‘no religion’ box, come as no surprise to researchers at NCLS Research.
This fresh data from the Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2021) suggests religious affiliation is on the decline. But we say there is more to the story.
The church and Christianity have appeared to be on a decline trajectory, particularly since ‘no religion’ was first offered as an option in the 1971 Census. The trajectory was impacted even further in 2016 when ‘no religion’ became the first option on the Census form.
Interestingly, as the question about religion is voluntary, in the past few decades around 10-12% of Australians have not answered it. In 2021 however, only 7% did not provide a response. (ABS, 2021)
Our research suggests that choosing ‘no religion’ is just one form of measuring our religiousness. It does not reflect other aspects of the issue, such as whether or not Australians are spiritual or believe in God.
Follow the link to read the full article.
‘No religion’ part of ongoing trend, but not whole story - NCLS Research
About the Webinar presentation of the 2021 NCLS Community Survey
This webinar includes research findings on the perspectives of Australians on Jesus and the Christian Church. Find out which groups of Australians are most open and engaged, the difference that age and gender can make, and how that impacts you, your community and the Church's mission.
Speakers are Dr Ruth Powell, Director of NCLS Research and guest speaker Karl Faase. Dr Ruth Powell shares latest results from the Australian Community Survey while Karl Faase provides his reflections on the implications of these findings for ministry and mission.
Insights are based on the latest Australian Community Survey results run by NCLS Research. The Australian Community Survey compares the attitudes of church attenders and the wider community on a range of social issues, tracks spirituality and religiousness, and evaluates how the Australian community views churches in society.
The webinar was held on Thursday 9th June 2022, at 11am or 7pm (AEST). It was recorded and is now available for viewing (see video above).
More information:
In this webinar you’ll discover:
- which groups of Australians are most open and engaged
- the difference that factors like age and gender can make
- what this means for the mission of your congregation and the broader Australian church.
Insights are based on the latest Australian Community Survey (ACS) results run by NCLS Research.
Follow this link to webinar and slides from presentations What Australians really think about Jesus and the church today - NCLS Research
Research objectives
McCrindle partnered with Baptist Financial Services to prepare the Faith and Giving in Australia report. Christian Super has also been a gold partner in the preparation of this report. The report summarises the giving trends of regular churchgoers to inform strategic decision making for Christian organisations, Not-for-Profits and Church leaders in Australia.
The purpose of this research is to:
- Give insight into the giving habits of Australia’s regular churchgoers
- Identify churchgoers’ motivations and blockers to giving
- Explore perspectives around tithing and giving to the church among churchgoers
Report methodology
The Faith and Giving report is the collation of data obtained through a quantitative survey conducted through an online panel.
Online survey
The survey of regular churchgoers was in field from the 22 July to 19 August 2019. It was completed by a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Christian regular churchgoers. Regular churchgoers are defined as those who identify with Christianity (Catholic/Orthodox) or Christianity (Protestant/Evangelical) and attend church weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
Research objectives
Commissioned by Olive Tree Media, Christian Media and Arts Australia*, Christian Schools Australia, Ministry Training Strategy, and the Titus Foundation, the 2017 Faith and Belief in Australia study explores the state of Christianity in Australia. The purpose of this research is to investigate faith and belief blockers among Australians and to understand perceptions, opinions, and attitudes towards Jesus, the Church and Christianity.
Research methodology
This research employed qualitative and quantitative methods to explore Australian perceptions and attitudes towards Christianity, the Church, and Jesus. These methods included a nationally representative survey of Australians, a series of focus groups with individuals who do not identify as Christians and analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
National survey of 1,024 Australians
This survey was developed and deployed to an online panel and completed by 1,024 Australians, who were representative of the national population by gender, age, and state. The survey was conducted from 13th January to 18th January, 2017.
Focus groups with 26 non-Christians
Three focus groups were conducted to explore the attitudes and experiences of Australians who do not identify as Christians. The purpose of the groups was to understand their perspectives, experiences, and attitudes towards religion and spirituality.
The groups were held in Sydney from 15th March to 16th March 2017. The 26 participants were segmented by age (generations).