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In a new edition of the book, 'Religious Bodies in Australia', authors Robert Humphreys and Rowland Ward supply data which shows that about 2 million of Australia's 18 million people are in church on a typical Sunday. Nearly half of these are Catholics. Those who attend the 40 or so different Pentecostal groupings total about 183,000, over 20,000 more than the number who attend the Uniting Church and not much less than those attending Anglican churches.

This book provides a great deal of detailed information on some 300 religious groups in Australia. For example: * only a minority of Arabic-speakers in Australia are Muslim and the majority are Christians; * most adherents of the Baha'i faith come from Iran; * the first woman minister in the Churches of Christ was ordained in 1931. And if you've ever wanted to know how many Exclusive Brethren there are, the cost of Scientology courses, or the size of the Serbian and Croatian communities, this book will tell you. They even calculate a figure of 3,000 witches in 220 covens throughout Australia. Contact addresses are given for most groups.

It's a valuable resource for anyone interested in Aus.religions. Comparing this volume with my copy of the 1988 edition (431 pages vs. 311 pages), a lot more data (and corrections) have been added. It's more professionally produced. The new book also has some valuable statistical data (like Religion of Population by Place of Birth etc.) in appendices drawing information from the 1991 census.

In a subsequent post or two I'll supply some snippets to file under the heading 'Australian religions: trivia you always wanted to know but which won't change your life one little bit!'

Available from Christian bookstores or from the publisher, 'New Melbourne Press', 358 Mountain Highway, Wantirna 3152 (Tel/fax 03 9720 4871) at $27.95.

Footnote: I asked for a review copy of this book, and although I know my Christian-namesake personally, I have no financial or other interest in its promotion, other than to encourage Australians to 'get their facts right' when discussing religion. This book is unique in that respect.

P.S. If you'd like to 'phone Rowland Ward you'll find him an engaging fellow. He's happy to talk about his data: tell him I sent you!