EFAC

The main stream Protestant churches in Australia are in serious decline and have been for some time. To give but one example: attendance at worship on an average Sunday in the Anglican Church in Melbourne has dropped from an estimated 50,000 in 1981 to 21,000 in 2006. How did we get to this point so quickly?

As accelerating secularism began to hit Australian society in the 1960’s the churches were not only unprepared they were also weakened by several trends that had been developing for some time.

One of the most significant was the trend in clergy training to become overly focused on pastoral maintenance rather than pastoral leadership, ministry skills and growth. The times called for new initiatives, new models of ministry, the ability to initiate change, new styles of worship that related to the rapidly changing culture. The training of clergy has properly always had a strong pastoral care element but three influences exaggerated this: the psychological counseling movement that developed momentum post war; the Christian Education movement; and the undermining of preaching and teaching by Liberal theology. As secularism and rapid social change hit these influences coalesced to fatally weaken pastoral leadership.

(This article originally appeared in Essentials: The Journal of EFAC* it has recently been revised 11/09)

We are living in a time of enormous and rapid change at every level of our lives. Hugh Mackay in his book Re-inventing Australia describes it as the Age of Redefinition. The church is not immune to this change. The Anglican Church of Australia (ACA) is, along with the rest of society, experiencing profound changes. Experiments with new congregational models following the Fresh Expressions discussions; the new liturgically  minimalist contemporary style of services in many places now;  the ordination of women as Presbyters and Bishops; the strains within the Anglican Communion as a result of the willful and heterodox decisions by the American Episcopal Church and the response of splits in ECUSA and a whole new independant N. American diocese formed and the GAFCON conference saying ‘enough is enough’; ageing and declining congregations; many parishes moving below the line of viability; the growth of ethnic congregations; theological challenges from within to fundamental doctrines like the uniqueness of Christ as Savior and Lord; stable parish life threatened by urban mobility and social changes – these are just some of the more obvious changes.

What are Anglican core values?

As we attempt to evaluate, respond and adapt to the pace and extent of change it is essential that we review our foundational prin­ciples and theological roots. We need to redis­cover our ‘core values’ if we are to respond constructively.