Table 8. Percentage and Estimated Numbers of Religious Groups Indicating Involvement in Public Religious Activities Monthly or More Often (of people aged 18+) Religious Group Percentage Indicating Involvement Monthly or More Numbers Involved Monthly or More Often Anglicans 6% 214,378 Baptists 63% 170,178 Catholics 18% 1,003,443* Churches of Christ 47% 18,932 Eastern Orthodox 25% 110,750 Jehovah’s Witnesses 87% 59,357 Latter-day Saints 80% 31,885 Lutherans 38% 75,756 Pentecostals 87% 148,914
Presbyterians and Reformed 20% 105,655
The Salvation Army 55% 27,189
Seventh-day Adventists 86% 40,919
Uniting Church in Australia 19% 167,715
All Christians 24% 3,120,863
Other religions 23% 355,657
Population 16% 3,476,520
involved are calculated using the percentages and numbers identifying in the Australian Census 2011.
Social Survey Program.
Census, it is calculated that approximately 63 per cent or 170,178 adults attended a which are part of the International Social Survey Program. This level of involvement is much higher than for mainline denominations such as the Uniting Church in Australia (19%), Catholics (18%) and Anglicans (6%). The only groups with higher involvement are Latter-day Saints (80%), Seventh-day Adventists (86%), and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Pentecostals (both 87%).
The high level of involvement arises out of the nature of the Baptist community. Baptists make an individual, adult commitment to their faith, and either maintain their involvement or drop out of the Baptist community, often relinquishing their sense of the nature of the church among the Baptists: that the church consists of those who make a commitment to be part of the community, rather than those who happen to be born into a family which has a particular heritage. There are strong expectations about involvement in church attendance and in other groups and activities. People who fail to
community, at least in terms of taking positions of responsibility or leadership.
The high levels of involvement mean there are fewer “nominal” Baptists who do not attend, or “fringe” members who have infrequent contact, than in many other denominations, but this also means there are fewer people who identify as Baptists that can be invited to return to their denomination/Baptist church.
According to the 2011 National Church Life Survey, 85 per cent of the people attending Baptist churches on a typical Sunday said they attended worship services weekly or more often. Another 10 per cent said they attended “usually every week”. However, pastors would probably say these 95 per cent of attenders who attend “usually weekly” or more often have a higher self-assessment than church attendance rolls would suggest. Pastors report a contemporary trend for a majority of attenders to attend less regularly than weekly, perhaps most commonly two or three times per month when there is nothing else on or when they are at home for the weekend. The 95 per cent of attenders who say they attend usually weekly or more might be thinking they are at church every Sunday “unless there is something else on or I am somewhere else”. Interestingly 3.6 per cent of attenders on the day of the NCLS survey reported that they Membership is taken seriously in most Baptist churches. Only members are able to vote at church meetings and thus take an active part in the decision-making of the community. Yet the criteria for membership are stringent. Many people who are active in Baptist churches are not willing to go through the process of the public ceremony of baptism by immersion which is required prior to membership. This is particularly a problem for the many people who have come from other denominations which baptise infants. Such baptism does not satisfy criteria for membership in many Baptist churches. Thus numbers of attenders surpass the numbers of members. In 2011, Baptist churches associated with the various state Unions around Australia had a total of 62,719 members, just 37 per cent of the number who attend services monthly or more often.
In general, Baptist communities tend to be small, excluding people who are not willing to make the high level of commitment required of them. At the same time, they tend to have high levels of involvement and activity. According to NLCS, nearly three-quarters of Baptist church attenders (71%) were involved in groups during the week. Just over half (54%) of all Baptist attenders regularly attended a small group, prayer meeting, discussion group or Bible study group. These groups may take a wide variety of forms, but usually involve some prayer and Bible study. Many churches are experimenting with different approaches to encourage greater participation and to make groups more accessible to people without a church background.
Social groups are not quite as popular as small group Bible studies, although the NCLS reported that 37 per cent per cent of Baptist attenders also attended fellowships, clubs, social or other groups such as a men’s or women’s group at the church on a regular basis. This pattern is quite different from many other denominations in which social groups are generally more popular. Overall, the picture is that a large majority of attending Baptists participate in church groups other than Sunday services.
“Soup & Soul” small group, AuburnLife, Melbourne (Photo by Darren Cronshaw)
Moreover, the NCLS found that 26 per cent of attenders were involved in evangelistic or outreach activities, and 26 per cent of attenders (not necessarily the same people) were involved in community service, social justice or welfare activities. These expressions of mission involvement also provide opportunities for members to build relationships with other people in the church community.