Turning from the Lord to ‘Saint Jordan’?

The results of the 2021 Census in Australia showed, as expected, continual decline in the number of those who state that their religion is Christian.

Although Christianity is still the largest religious grouping at 43%, this has shown a decline of some 1 million in the past decade. The largely middle-aged white liberals who inhabit most of Australian media were quick to proclaim this as being the result of young people leaving the church.

The irony is that, counter intuitive as it may seem, precisely the opposite is the case. The most recent research according to the 2021 Australian Community Survey (2021 ACS) by NCLS Research shows that 1 in 3 young adults aged 18 to 34 (32%) say they attend religious services at least once a month. Those aged 65 and over, and those aged 35–49 are both at 19% – with the lowest rate of attendance being in the 50–64 age group – where only 1 in 10 attend. I have written a more extended analysis of this here.