Youth on the rise

Sydney Anglicans are getting younger, with more young people being integrated into church life.

Last month the 2006 National Church Life Survey (NCLS) results for Sydney Diocese were released, showing the number of teenagers moving into church life rising from 3 per cent of total attenders in 2001 to 4 per cent last year.

This is a benchmark figure for Australian Churches, equalled only by the Pentecostals and Baptists.

Overall there has also been a significant rise in the number of Sydney Anglicans aged between 20 and 40, up 2 per cent to 31 per cent of total attenders.

Retention of young adults had been identified as a weak point in previous surveys and Dr Philip Selden, Archbishop Jensen’s Executive Officer, described the latest result as “very encouraging”.

However he acknowledged more needed to be done, with a third of Sydney Anglicans aged between 19 and 25 not satisfied with their church.

The percentage of newcomers in Sydney Anglican congregations is slightly down with more growth coming from people who have switched churches.

However with overall demographic data to be released later in the year, it is not yet possible to determine whether the raw number of newcomers is less than previous surveys.

Dr Selden said he has internal data which makes him confident that overall church growth will have at least matched Sydney’s population growth. 

Click here to comment on this article for the next edition of Southern Cross

Latest articles in sydney stories
- Public education: Have we dropped the ball? - 5 hours, 52 minutes ago
- Jesus fest rocks Syd Uni - 2 days, 17 hours ago
- Countdown for Jesus - 3 days, 5 hours ago