Olive Tree Media recently launched the results from their Australian Communities Report conducted by McCrindle Research to discover what Australians really think of Christian faith, Christians and the Church. Held in Sydney on 4th November, the research was launched by Archbishop Peter Jensen. Mark McCrindle, Principal of McCrindle Research presented the findings to 50 church leaders and business people. Click here to watch excerpts of the presentation and here to download a summary of the research results or purchase a copy of the full report.
The Research was commissioned in preparation for a new Apologetics Series being produced by Olive Tree Media in 2012 which will tackle the issues arising from the research.
Some interesting insights from the research include:
- Overall, 1 in 2 Australians do not identity with a religion. 40% consider themselves Christian. 31% do not identify with a religion or spiritual belief, while another 19% consider themselves spiritual but not religious.
- Parents and family have a strong influence on people's perceptions of Christians and Christianity.
- There is significant "warmth" towards Christianity by a large proportion of Australians.
- The church's views on homosexuality, hell and science were seen as potential faith blockers.
- There was a surprisingly high awareness of some of the core teachings of Jesus, although 6% of Australians believe that "Such is life" was a statement made by Jesus (actually it was Ned Kelly!). More surprisingly, 28% of those surveyed had no idea when Jesus lived and 27% believed he lived in ancient times (BC).
We live in a land of great opportunity. Although only 10% of Australians attend church on a weekend, many are open to a real and living faith, especially when modeled by their peers and friends. Let's continue to pray and believe that the Australian church will reach many more Aussies with the good news of Jesus Christ in these next few decades.