Eleven years ago Kennon Callahan stated in his book Effective Church Leadership (Harper and Row, 1990) that "The day of the unchurched culture is over. The day of the mission field has come." He was right then and he's even more right now. The culture in which we live in the west is less and less churched. You may have heard the story about the man who went into a jewellers to buy a cross and was offered a choice of two by the young female assistant: "There's this nice gold cross and this other one with the funny little man on it." I'm probably becoming more focusse on mission as I have just been appointed to the position of the state director of CMS in Victoria, effective February 1st next year, but we need urgently to make this mental shift as Christians. Too many churches still labour under the myth that what we believe is somehow acceptable in our society. The church is now outside the gate of public acceptance, as indeed Jesus was not accepted by so many in his day. Callahan suggests that this is a time for rejoicing, not a time for a churched culture romanticism: "God has given to us a great new day. This is not a time for despair. This is an Easter time - a time for great rejoicing and excitement. God has planted us on one of the richest mission fields on the planet." While Callahan was describing Amercian society we can apply this to any western country. While Christianity no longer has a place of special acceptance in our world the post-modern revolution means that there is now an opennness to the gospel, indeed to anything spiritual that has not existed for fifty years. People are open to hearing and talking about spiritual things and we need to use every ounce of creativity we have, under the Spirit of God, to communicate the Gospel to them in a way that connects with our culture. As Peter Corney pointed out to the tasmanian Clergy Conference last week in Launceston "We need to tap into the longings of human beings in news ways, because deep down in people's hearts these longings are really longings for a relationship with God."

NCLS 2001: first look reveals the churches preparing for the future In May 2001 over 435 000 church attenders in more than 7000 Australian churches across 19 denominations, took part in the National Church Life Survey (NCLS) making it one of the largest surveys of its kind in the world. The survey is an opportunity for churches to reflect on their life and mission, leadership and connection with the community.

The survey was also translated into Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tongan and Italian. A new addition was a version of the survey for those aged 10 to 14 years, which was undertaken in some denominations. Around 10 000 of these survey forms have been returned.

In the Year of the Volunteer, Operations Manager, Sheridan Reilly gave credit to the many volunteers, without whom the project would have been impossible. "Our volunteers put in over 4000 hours, packing 20 tonnes of survey forms into 10 000 postpaks. The success of the survey is in part of the fruit of their generosity and quality of service."

Unique church profiles for every congregation/parish will be sent out in early 2002. To help congregations and parishes get the most out of their survey results, NCLS Research has prepared the Connections for Life kit. Its aim is to assist churches to evaluate their life and mission, identify key priorities for the future and to develop a clearer sense of purpose and call. Resources will also be available online at http://www.ncls.org.au.

A first look at national results The emerging national profile has been organised to look at key issues across four dimensions; Vision and Purpose, Faith and Worship, Our Life Together, and Community Connections.

NCLS researcher Ruth Powell warns that, "While they are unlikely to change much, these are preliminary results only. We need to finalise figures in the coming months after taking into account the level of response from each denomination and region". She also noted that "Catholic involvement in 2001means that immediate comparisons with 1991 and 1996 national results are not valid. Time change information for Anglican and Protestant denominations will be available at a later date".

Vision and Purpose: Vital churches have a clear vision for the future, to which attenders are committed, and a focus beyond themselves. These first results suggest that there is work to be done in this area. Some 28% of attenders are strongly committed to the vision or directions of their congregation and a further 19% are partly committed. While few are unhappy with the directions of their church, others feel they cannot see clear directions or a vision (41%).

However, it is evident that many churches are open to trying new possibilities. Some 62% of attenders feel their church is always willing to try something new (13% strongly agree; 49% agree). Half of all attenders describe their congregations or parishes as moving in new directions. This willingness to find new ways forward will require an even greater emphasis on empowering and inspiring leadership. Currently 56% feel their leaders put a priority on helping to develop gifts and skills. Some 13% say their leaders tend to take charge and 46% feel their leaders inspire people to action.

Faith and Worship: There are many ways that attenders grow in their faith. Around 43% have experienced much growth in their faith in the past year and 22% say this is mainly a result of their church involvement.

Dissatisfaction with worship is a major reason why attenders change churches. Yet most current attenders appear to be satisfied with the worship life at their church: 74% always or usually experience a sense of God's presence in worship, 62% experience joy and 55% experience inspiration.

Our Life Together: The 2001 preliminary results suggest that, in general, churches appear to be doing a good job at nurturing a sense of community. Some 46% of attenders say their sense of belonging is strong and growing and a further 27% say they have a stable sense of belonging. There is also evidence of attenders making others welcome with 39% of attenders always or mostly welcoming new arrivals.

Some 28% of 15 to 18 year olds are highly satisfied with activities offered by their churches for youth and a further 44% are satisfied. Similar proportions of 19 to 25 year olds are satisfied with what is offered for young adults. While younger people who still go to church are generally satisfied, these age groups continue to be underrepresented in church life.

Community Connections: Connections with the wider community can be made through individual friendships. For 41% of attenders, most or all their close friends attend church on a regular basis.

Most attenders agree that their congregation or parish is focussed on serving the wider community (74%). About 24% strongly agree this is their focus.

Attenders make a strong contribution to community service, social justice or welfare activities. A third (32%) of attenders say that they are regularly involved in such activities.

Most attenders are at ease with sharing their faith or even look for opportunities to do so (66%). Some 37% have invited someone to church in the past year, even though many churches don't seem to have a culture of inviting people to church. It is encouraging that 7% of attenders are newcomers who have joined church in the last five years without a previous church background.

This first look at new results for Australian church attenders suggests that while the churches need to continue to work at nurturing faith, caring for the young, strengthening community connections, empowering attenders, and developing clear directions for the future, there are solid foundations to build on. Ruth Powell comments, "It is encouraging that so many are willing to consider new possibilities and identify clear directions, or have already begun to move purposefully toward the future."

NCLS RESEARCH is a research agency that seeks to assist churches to move forward in mission and ministry in Australia, and to encourage the wider community to reflect upon its spiritual journey and the churches' place within it. It is a partnership between the Uniting Church Board of Mission, ANGLICARE (NSW), and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

For more information or to arrange an interview contact: Dr Ruth Powell, Researcher and Communications Manager NCLS Research:

>From Paul Arnott November 2001