The Church in Australia: A Ray of Hope

Hundreds of millions of years ago, geological evidence reveals that Australia was part of southern Asia's land mass but floated away when the continents split. When it severed its land connection, it developed its own evolutionary pattern. We identify this land with kangaroos, koala bears, and wallabies--marsupials seen nowhere else in the world. The aboriginal population in Australia was so unique that when this land was discovered by Europeans, the native people offered scientists an opportunity to study primitive human life in what seemed to be an almost perfect prehistoric setting.

Australia also has a unique history after Europeans arrived. When the American Revolution ended, the English could no longer use Georgia as a place to deposit their criminal population, so Australia was nominated to meet that need. Australia went on to develop as a European nation in the Southern Hemisphere and remains today part of the British Commonwealth. As a progressive democracy in the Pacific, Australia is magnetically attractive to Pacific people looking for a better life. Today, Australia's population, though still predominantly European, is becoming more and more diverse, as Indians, Pakistanis, Malays, Burmese, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians, East Timorese, and Polynesians migrate to this land.

There are three main Christian bodies in Australia: Anglicans, who reflect the English heritage and frequently act as if they are "the established" church; Roman Catholics, who represent primarily Irish and Southern European immigration; and something called the Uniting Church of Australia, which is made up of various Protestant groups, the most significant of which are Presbyterian and Methodist. There are also some independent Protestant churches, usually fundamentalist, and some niche groups, like the Unity Movement, the Unitarian Universalists, and the Metropolitan Community Church, which is a primarily gay and lesbian denomination. Australia has a small Jewish community, and there are also Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims.

In my travels here recently, I noticed two apparently contradictory trends. First, much of Christianity in Australia is caught in a time warp. Second, more than any other Western country, Australia seems to hold the best, brightest hope for a new and vital Christianity. Let's look at some of the evidence:

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