National Church Life Survey
Australian National Church Life Surveys (NCLS) have been performed every 5 years from 1991 to 2001, to study Church Life in Australia. The NCLS Research partnership administers these surveys. NCLS Research has also conducted surveys on community values, well-being, and security.
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[edit] Supporters
Key supporters of the National Church Life Survey are: [1]
- Uniting Church NSW Board of Mission
- ANGLICARE Diocese of Sydney
- the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
Participating Denominations also support the NCLS, some by providing a regional survey coordinator.[1][2]
Other Research & Mission Organisations also partner with the NCLS:[1]
- Openbook
- Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI)
The 2001 NCLS was conducted in international partnership with organisations from the following countries:[1]
- Australia
- England
- New Zealand
- USA
[edit] Aim
According to the National Church Life Survey's website: [1]
- NCLS Research represents an immense cooperative research venture designed to resource congregations for mission. Involving millions of participants over a number of years in different countries, surveys have explored aspects of both church and community life.
The purpose of the National Church Life Survey project is to:[3]
- Analyse trends into church life comparing with previous surveys
- Carry out more detailed analysis of the relationships between factors that are apparent in healthy churches
- Provide resources to Churches to assist ministry relevance
- Carry out more detailed analysis on effective and sustainable leadership
[edit] Recent activities
In January 2008, the Sydney Morning Herald reported research by the Christian Research Association and the National Church Life Survey into religious affiliation in rural areas.[4] The article states that
- (w)heat and sheep farming areas tend to have higher levels of Christian identification than mining boom towns.
The Wellbeing and Security Survey 2003 was conducted in co-operation with Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia and ANGLICARE (Sydney). [5]
The National Church Life Survey 2001 was conducted in May 2001. The survey was completed by 435,000 church attenders from 7000+ Australian churches, across 19 denominations, representing 80%+ of Australian regular church attenders. NCLS Research claims that NCLS 2001 is one of the largest surveys of its kind in the world. [3]
The NCLS First Look Report 2001 states: [6]
- 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 6% of attenders are newcomers who have joined church in the last five years without a previous church background.
In contrast, the AD2000 Journal article National Church Life Survey: church-going declines further summarises the research as follows: [7]
- Statistics from the latest National Church Life Survey (NCLS) indicate that attendances at church services in the large Christian denominations, including the Catholic Church, are continuing to decline.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Sponsors and Partners, http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=4543, retrieved 2010-06-19
- ^ Regional Contacts, http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=5969, retrieved 2010-06-19
- ^ a b National Church Life Survey 2001, 2001, http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=93, retrieved 2010-06-19
- ^ Morris, Linda (2008-01-21), "Spirit strongest in wheat and sheep country", The Sydney Morning Herald, http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/spirit-strongest-in-wheat-and-sheep-country/2008/01/20/1200764081377.html, retrieved 2010-06-19
- ^ Wellbeing and Security 2003, 2003, http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=98, retrieved 2010-06-19
- ^ NCLS First Look Report 2001, 2001, http://www.ncls.org.au/default.aspx?sitemapid=2983, retrieved 2010-06-19
- ^ Gilchrist, Michael (2004-04), National Church Life Survey: church-going declines further, http://www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2004/apr2004p3_1581.html, retrieved 2010-06-19
