Church attendance in Australia has risen each year since Covid reaching 1,305,200 in 2024 according to a new report from NCLS. Church Pulse Check 2021 to 2024 records a bounce back from a low of 1,025,200 in 2021.
The data reflects attendance for the 21 denominations who took part in the 2021/22 church survey by NCLS, which means some small hard to track groups are not included. NCLS conducted online surveys, denominational data, phone calls to key churches and use of average congergational size data to produce the recent figures.
NCLS reports “By 2024, weekly attendance had returned to 86% of the 2001 estimate.”
Denominations
Catholics remain the largest group of Australian churchgoers with a weekly mass attendence of 572,000 in 2024. That represents 44 per cent of Australian weekly attendence.
Pentecostals were the second largest group at 245,600 or 19 per cent.
The NCLS “mainstream Protestant” category was close behind with 236,800 weekly attendees or 18 per cent The NCLS places the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Uniting churches in this group.
The “other Protestant” group (Baptist, Christian & Missionary Alliance, Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, Churches of Christ, Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), Nazarene Church, Salvation Army, Seventh-day Adventist, Wesleyan Methodist) was on the NCLS count at 250,800 or 19 poer cent.
However The Other Cheek would like to revise the boundaries – thinking of the Other Protestant groups as evangelical, we could add 55,000 evangelical Anglicans to that group and 35,000 Presbyterians.
This makes the mainstram Protestant group 146,000, and the other Protestant group 342800. This is not a perfect division, one could ask what about thr Open Baptists and the Hope network in the Uniting Church.
Fastest growth
The Church Pulse Check 2021 to 2024 records ” “Pentecostal church attendance in 2024 has grown to 252% of estimated attendance in 1991.
Denomination league table
The NCLS reports “Australian Christian Churches (ACC, previously Assemblies of God) is the largest Pentecostal movement in Australia. When located in the context of all denominations, they moved from being the fifth largest denomination in 2001 to second largest in 2016 and continued to hold this position in 2024.
“The Anglican Church moved from having the second largest weekly attendance in 2001 to being third in 2016 and fourth in 2024.
“The Baptist Church moved from having the fourth largest attendance in 2001 and 2016 to third largest in 2024, changing ranking with the Anglican Church.
“The Uniting Church, formed in 1977 from Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian churches, was the third largest denomination in 2001. By 2016 and 2024 they had moved to fifth place.”
The NCLS report is available for free at https://shop.ncls.org.au/products/church-pulse-check-2021-to-2024
Main image: Scots Church Melbourne