Note: This is a chapter in my book on "A Yank's-eye View of Australia", written as an introduction to Australian society for Americans living in Australia or planning to do so. This is my chapter on Religion in Australia
In
some ways it’s ironic that, as I work my way chapter by chapter through writing
this book, I began writing this chapter on a day when Christians are observing
Good Friday and Jews are celebrating Passover.
There’s nothing profoundly theological in this comment. It’s merely an observation of an interesting
coincidence between my writing and what’s going on in the wider world.
I
have to state a conflict of interest here.
I’m a person who’s described as a “Minister of Religion” by the people
who license marriage celebrants here in Australia. South of the Mason-Dixon Line in the US, I’d
be called a “preacher”. I’m a retired
minister in the Uniting Church in Australia.
(I’ve also worked as a staff member of an ecumenical agency and have
been a member of interfaith dialogue groups, so I feel I have a good grasp of
what happens in other churches and faith communities as well.)
Some
of the sections in this chapter are oriented to members of particular faith
communities. If you really want to skip
the sections for communities other than your own, you may. However, if you’re interested, please read
the sections on faith communities other than your own, anyway.
As
with the previous chapter on politics
and the following chapter on race and
class, I’ll put up a “pedantry alert!!!” for this chapter.
Some reasons why Australia at least seems
to be a far less religious country than the US
Is
Australia really a far less religious
country than the US?
Personally,
I suspect not. I admit there is a lower
percentage of the population actively engaged in formal religious observances
in any given week in Australia, as compared to the US. Nevertheless, I believe that the typical
Australian is as apt as the typical American to be interested in and engaged with
issues of spirituality.
There
are a number of good reasons why the US seems to be a much more religious
society than Australia:
-
Australians are more apt than Americans to identify with religious denominations (Catholics, Anglicans …) that regard their fringe adherents as part of the church’s community, rather than as people outside the faith (or even as “pagans” needing “salvation”).
- Americans are more apt than Australians to be members of ethnic communities (African-Americans, Hispanics…) with a traditionally high level of personal, active involvement in faith communities.
- Americans are more apt than Australians to be members of denominations (Baptist, LDS …) that regard weekly participation in public worship as a bare minimum level of involvement to be regarded as a fully practicing member of the church community.
Americans are more apt than Australians to be members of denominations that encourage a certain flamboyance in how their members express their faith in the wider world. As a result, Americans who are practicing members of faith communities are more apt than similar Australians to talk about their beliefs.
Conversely, given the lack of stigma existing in Australia (compared to the US) over not being a person of religious faith, Australians of secular world views are more apt than similar Americans to talk about their beliefs.
Many working class Australians tend not to be “joiners”. Their reluctance to involve themselves in religious congregations is matched by their reluctance to be involved with other community groups.
A few differences - historical and
contemporary - in the relation between the faith communities and the wider
society in the US and in Australia
The
early British colonies in what became the US were established in the early
seventeenth century. This was still part
of the era of the Reformation, when people were passionate about religious
issues. In contrast, the early British
colonies in Australia were established in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, at a time when organised religion was somewhat “on the nose” for many Europeans.
Many
states in the US (including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Georgia, Utah) had an overtly religious dimension in the
motivation for their founding. The only
comparable Australian narrative is that of the Barossa Germans, with their
importance in the establishment of the state of South Australia, Australian Lutheranism,
and the Australian wine industry.
In
the convict era, the churches – particularly the Protestant churches - tended
to function as part of the system of social control which kept order among the
unruly convicts. This has led to a
perception of the faith communities as being society’s moral and ethical “cop
on the beat”. I personally experienced
this one afternoon in Launceston, Tasmania, in 1983. Crossing a city street against a red light
while wearing a clerical collar, I was greeted on the other side of the street
by a drunk coming out of a pub who said, “Hold on, mate, I thought your job was
to tell the rest of us to obey the rules.”
Sectarian
tensions between Protestants (largely British in their ethnic background) and
Catholics (largely Irish) continued strongly into the 1950s and 1960s in Australia. (The split within the ALP, which led to the founding of the DLP, was complicated by the fact that most of those who left the ALP for the DLP were members of the conservative wing of the Catholic
Church.) In contrast, most Americans
were largely over this sectarianism by a generation beforehand. (The concerns expressed by some evangelical
clerics over John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism in the 1960 presidential election
were largely seen as saying much more about the mentality of the clerics than
about anything related to JFK.) The
persistence of sectarianism well into the mid-twentieth century in Australia resulted
in the “traditional wisdom” being that religion is socially divisive.
Another
difference between the Australian and US contexts involves the teaching of
religious education (RE) as a voluntary subject in government-operated schools. This is still a possibility in most states, in
contrast to the US, although it is available in fewer schools than it was a
decade ago. The decline in the teaching
of RE in state schools seems largely to be a result of the increasing
predominance of aggressive evangelicals in the leadership of the agencies
offering RE to schools. Nevertheless,
unlike the US, government-operated schools in Australia are not a no-go area
for religion.
Another
area that is not a no-go area for religion in Australia, unlike the US, is entertainment-oriented
television programmes. If it suits the
nature of the character, it is not unusual for a character on an Australian TV
drama or sitcom to be portrayed matter-of-factly as a practicing member of a
faith. (Other than Jed Bartlet in The West Wing, and the Simpson family, I can think of few
characters on US dramas or sitcoms openly portrayed as practicing lay members
of any faith community.) Clergy and
other religious professionals are portrayed matter-of-factly, and usually rather
positively, on Australian TV sitcoms and dramas, while the one consistently positive
portrayal of a cleric of which I can think in a US sitcom or drama is Father Mulcahy in M*A*S*H.
A few differences between churches and
synagogues in the States and those in Australia
Even
if you’re a person who describes yourself as “not all that religious” or as the
increasingly popular option of “spiritual but not religious”, you may still
find it a good idea to establish some links with the local congregation most
closely linked to your own heritage, unless you really see yourself as having
burned all your bridges behind you, religion-wise.
Being
part of a good congregation can be:
-
a source of personal support and encouragement for you, and
- a first step to becoming involved in your community,
even
if you don’t share the congregation’s (or its denomination’s) full “package” of
beliefs.
Please
note, the nearest congregation of your preferred denomination or faith
tradition may not always be the best one for you. Don’t be discouraged if your first visit to a
church, synagogue, or other place of worship is disappointing. Check out a few others. Don’t be afraid to “shop around” for a
congregation in which you fit in.
Whatever
your faith background, you will find a few differences between most
congregations in the US and most congregations in Australia.
- Australian congregations tend to be smaller
than those in the US. The
definition of a small church in many American denominations is a
congregation with a Sunday attendance under 100 people. In Australia, this would be considered a
moderately large congregation.
While Australia has some “megachurches” on the American evangelical
model (including Sydney’s famous Hillsong
Church), it also has many more churches whose average attendance is
under 50 people. The smallness of most
congregations can be more than a bit off-putting to those who prefer to be
anonymous worshippers when they attend church or shul.
- Given that donations to religious
congregations are not tax-deductible in
Australia, Australian congregations generally have less money to spend on
their programmes and staff salaries as congregations in the US. This explains a number of the other
differences between American and Australian congregations.
- Australian congregations tend to have
a smaller range of activities other than weekly worship compared
with the wide range of activities that many congregations in the US have. A
moderately large surburban congregation in the US may have three youth
groups (for different age levels), two women’s fellowships, a men’s group,
and a couples’ club, as well as multiple adult study opportunities. A congregation of the same denominational
tradition in a similar neighbourhood in Australia may have one youth
group, one’s women’s group, and one midweek discussion group.
- Australian congregations are less
dependent on the work of paid staff and more dependent on the work of volunteers
than congregations in the US. A
congregation will have a minister, priest, rabbi, imam, or pastor (if not
full-time, then part-time). Paid
secretaries and caretakers for congregations are fairly rare. Associate or assistant pastors are even rarer. It is possible to find paid organists
and choir directors in Australian congregations with strong classically-influenced
musical traditions (or other paid musicians in churches with a pop music
culture), but the typical church organist or pianist in Australia is an unpaid
volunteer.
- In many denominations in Australia,
two or more smaller congregations may share a minister, priest, or pastor. While this is common in rural areas in
the US, this is also common in urban and suburban communities, as well as
rural communities, in Australia.
And
now, to look at the particular situation found in particular faith communities
in Australia.
If you’re Catholic ….
The
Catholic Church is the largest single Christian denomination in Australia. You’ll find at least one Catholic parish in
most Australian communities, large and small.
You’ll
probably find many of the same arguments over spirituality, worship, and
inclusion going on in Catholic parishes in Australia as in you will in parishes
in the United States. If you want to be part
of a dynamic parish that reflects the values of the Second Vatican Council,
you’ll find at least one in just about every Australian city. It may not be the closest church to where you
live. Don’t be afraid to “shop around”
for a parish where you feel you fit in.
As
in the US, there have been issues surrounding the appointments of a number of
unhelpfully conservative diocesan bishops in recent decades. Most lay Catholics (and most priests) in
Australia have welcomed the appointment of more inclusive (and more pastorally
astute) bishops once Pope Francis has been able to assert his control over the
appointments process.
The
findings of the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse has had a profound impact on many Australian Catholics. While the Catholic Church is not (by any
stretch of the imagination) the only church or faith community affected by this
issue, it has been impacted strongly. As
in the US, child sexual abuse has been a greater problem in some dioceses more than
others, and among some religious orders more than others.
Between
the arguments over liturgy, spirituality, and inclusion in recent years, combined
with the controversies over clerical child abuse, don’t be surprised if some of
the people in your parish seem a bit battle-weary. This sense of conflict fatigue is common
among Australian Catholics today, even if there has been a greater sense of
hope and optimism among Australian Catholics following the election of Pope
Francis.
If you’re Eastern Orthodox ….
The
largest Orthodox Church in Australia is the Greek Orthodox Church. It is found in a much wider range of
communities than the others. (However,
Eastern Orthodox Churches of any background are much easier to find in urban
communities than rural ones.)
There
has not yet been an attempt in Australia to bring together a number of Orthodox
Churches of a variety of ethnicities into a single Church, such as in the
US. Each Orthodox parish and diocese in
Australia has a definite ethnic identity.
Nevertheless,
the different Orthodox Churches are all committed to ministry with Orthodox
Christians of all ethnicities. If you
can’t find your particular strand of Orthodoxy in your community, Orthodox
churches of other ethnic backgrounds will welcome you.
If you’re an Episcopalian ….
The
Episcopal Church has always seemed to me to be one of the brightest spots in
the American religious scene. In my
observation, some groups of people with which it has had a particularly significant
ministry include:
- recovering
evangelicals,
- Catholics
who feel they’ve burned their bridges with Rome, for one reason or
another,
- bored
liberal Protestants,
- classical
musicians, along with others who appreciate classically-influenced sacred
music.
- LGBT+
people who also affirm themselves as reasonably traditional Christians,
- and people who, while not weekly
worshippers (or intending to become so), still want to worship well on
their occasional visits to churches for Christmas, Easter, weddings,
baptisms, and funerals.
The
Australian equivalent of the Episcopal Church is the Anglican Church of
Australia. (Don’t be put off by the
name. It is not linked to the breakaway
conservative groups that left the Episcopal Church.) The Anglican Church in Australia was called
the Church of England in Australia
until 1981. Some people in the community
– including a few communicant Anglicans – will still use this name. Don’t
let this confuse you. (On Norfolk Island, the Anglicans are still
officially called the Church of England.)
After
the Catholics, the Anglican Church is the second largest denomination in
Australia.
Like
the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in Australia (other than a handful of
conservative dioceses) ordains women as deacons, priests, and bishops.
As
a denomination, the Anglican Church of Australia is a bit more conservative
than the Episcopal Church. Most dioceses
of the Anglican Church will have parishes of a variety of styles. Some parishes are very conservative and
evangelical in their approach to worship and belief. Nevertheless, far more parishes will have the
same combination of quality liturgy and a broadly inclusive attitude that
reflects the expectations of the average Episcopalian. (As I’ve said earlier, “shop around” for the
right parish for you.)
There
are a few dioceses that have a predominantly evangelical approach: North-West Australia, Tasmania, Armidale, and
(particularly) Sydney. But even in such
conservative evangelical dioceses as Tasmania and Sydney, there will be found a
few parish churches that function as oases within the general aridity of the
local scene.
In
Tasmania, if you’re looking for an alternative to the evangelical feel of the
local Anglicans try:
Sydney
oasis parishes include:
Both
are located in the centre city, but can assist you in finding parishes closer
to your home.
If you’re a Lutheran ….
Australian
Lutherans tend to be geographically concentrated in South Australia,
Queensland, and western Victoria.
Outside these areas, Lutheran congregations tend to be found mostly in
urban areas.
As
well, most Australian Lutheran congregations tend to represent a rather
conservative style of Lutheranism.
If
you can’t find a Lutheran congregation in your area (or if you find the
congregations in your area are too conservative for your liking), you can
always look for either an Anglican parish or a more liturgically-oriented
Uniting congregation.
If you’re an African-American Protestant
….
If
you’re a person of African-American heritage, and an adherent of an
African-American Protestant church, you may experience some difficulties in
finding a congregation in Australia that does everything that a traditional
African-American congregation does for its members.
I assume
that you’ll be looking for a congregation which:
- has
a generally evangelical approach to belief and worship,
- has
a strong and passionate commitment to social justice,
- provides
a warm and inclusive sense of fellowship for its members,
- provides
unconditional (and non-judgmental) love and support for each of its
members in times of personal crisis,
- sees
no conflict between any of the above points, and
- maintains a unique musical tradition,
alongside everything else.
While
it’s not impossible to find a church like this in Australia, it won’t be
easy. You’ll definitely need to “shop
around” for a congregation, and please don’t be discouraged. (Particularly if you’re in a bigger city, I’m
sure that congregation is out there somewhere near where you live.)
If you’re a middle-of-the road to liberal Protestant
….
In
the United States, there is a cluster of churches including the United Church
of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, the
Reformed Church in America, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the
American Baptist Churches, and the Moravian Church. These are all churches whose congregations
exhibit a diverse pattern of beliefs, a wide range of worship styles, a
teaching-learning approach to congregational life, and a generally middle-class
and suburban “feel”.
In
Australia, the situation is much simpler.
You won’t find a range of seven different denominations for this
grouping on the Christian spectrum.
The
equivalent to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Australia is the
Churches of Christ. They’re more part of
the “evangelical” scene here in Australia, but are among the more ecumenically-minded
evangelicals. I’ll mention them again
under “evangelicals” in the next section.
There
is only one major Baptist group in Australia, the Baptist Union of
Australia. They’re less conservative
(and far less politicised) than the Southern Baptists in the US, but somewhat
more conservative than the American Baptists.
As with the Churches of Christ, I’ll mention them again under
“evangelicals” in the next section.
(There are also independent Baptist and independent Churches of Christ
congregations, which are generally ultra-conservative.)
There
is a Presbyterian denomination. There’s
also a Reformed denomination. Both are
strongly conservative evangelical. I’ll also
get back to them in the next section on “evangelicals”.
Australia
has no Moravian Church.
The
one denomination in Australia which consistently reflects the “mainline”
Protestant tradition is called the Uniting Church in Australia (UCA). (Personal note: I’m a retired minister in the UCA. Any comment I make about it, either positive or
critical, should be taken with the proverbial “grain of salt”.)
The
Uniting Church was founded in 1977 by a merger of Congregational, Methodist,
and Presbyterian churches (with some conservative “continuing” movements
choosing not to enter the UCA). The UCA
is the third largest denomination in Australia.
As is the case with “mainline” churches in the US, a wide (and sometimes confusing) diversity
exists from one congregation to another in terms of worship styles, patterns of
belief, etc. As I said with other
denominations, shop around for a congregation in which you feel you can fit in.
The
Uniting Church is strongly committed to its relationship with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Island people and has many indigenous congregations. As well, the UCA has a variety of immigrant
congregations worshipping in languages other than English.
The
Uniting Church ordains and commissions women to every ministry within the
church, lay and ordained. The Uniting
Church also ordains LGBT+ ministers (at least in some presbyteries) and has
committed itself to be a safe place for LGBT+ people. (However, the UCA has not yet – as of April 2018 - authorised its
ministers to celebrate same-gender marriages.)
If you’re an Evangelical ….
Evangelical
churches in Australia are far less politicised than evangelical churches in the
US. Evangelical churches in Australia
haven’t yet sold their soul to the far Right.
The Faustian bargain between evangelical churches and the far Right in
the US has not been duplicated here. Of
course, most members of evangelical churches here still hold to very
conservative views on such issues as gay marriage, abortion, and euthanasia,
and their churches will express these conservative views. However, evangelical churches in Australia haven’t
got to the stage of endorsing candidates or parties in elections.
People
of an “evangelical” style of Christian faith will find a wide range of churches
to suit their needs.
- Those who want an evangelical style
of faith, but combined with a more formal approach to worship (and some
decent intellectual content), will normally find this in Reformed or
Presbyterian congregations, as well as in evangelical congregations within
the Anglican or Uniting Churches.
- Those who like their evangelical
worship to be a bit more casual, and with a “warm and cuddly”
congregational life will find the Baptists to their liking.
- Those who want to add an ecumenical
attitude and a commitment to social justice to congregations that are
evangelical, casual, and “warm and cuddly” will normally look to the
Churches of Christ.
- If you’re an evangelical with a thing
for brass bands or military-style uniforms (or if you want to become part
of an Australian cultural icon), there’s The Salvation Army.
- If you want to go for a full Monty evangelical church, with
a rock band playing for the service and with a “motivational speaker”
style of preaching, there’s the various Pentecostal groups. As well, there are some Baptist,
Churches of Christ, and even a few evangelical Uniting congregations which
also do the full Monty
evangelical thing. (By the way, speaking of Pentecostals,
the Assemblies of God here are called the Australian Christian Churches.)
If you’re a Latter-Day Saint ….
That
most quintessentially American of
conservative Protestant churches, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
(a.k.a. the Mormons), is active here
in Australia. The Mormons here are very
committed to relating to members of other faith communities, but sadly have met
mostly with mistrust and prejudice.
If
you’re a practicing member of the LDS Church in the States, your transition to
becoming a practicing member of the Church in Oz should be almost
seamless. Show up on Sunday at your new
local chapel and you’ll receive a warm welcome and probably a few dinner
invitations (as well as a job or two to do in the Ward). Don’t be surprised if your old Ward in the US
has already contacted your new Ward in Australia and told them to expect
you. (With almost every other
denomination in Australia, I’ll say “shop around for a congregation that suits
you”, but not with Mormons.)
If you’re a Quaker …..
The
Religious Society of Friends (a.k.a.
Quakers) tends to be an urban community here in Oz. If a town is big enough to have a Friends
Meeting, it’s usually also big enough have a Greek Orthodox Church.
Meetings
for Worship among Australian Quakers follow the traditional Quaker pattern of a
silent meeting in which worshippers who feel led to break the silence and speak
may do so. In the US, this is the
prevailing practice among Friends in the Quaker heartland around Philadelphia
and elsewhere in the Northeastern US.
This is also the prevalent pattern among Friends in the British
Isles. (The practice among Midwestern
Quakers of a spoken worship service led by a pastor is unknown among Friends in
Australia.)
Australian
Quakers are strongly committed to the Peace Witness of the Society of Friends
and actively teach pacifism. They also view
themselves as a conscious bridge between Christianity and other world faiths.
Along
with the Progressive and Masorti strands of Judaism, the Religious Society of
Friends is part of a small handful of faith communities in Australia that will
celebrate same-gender marriages at present.
Quakers
maintain one school in Australia, the Friends’
School in Hobart.
If you’re Jewish ….
Jews
have been part of Australian life since the earliest colonial days. Australia has had two Jewish
Governors-General, Sir Isaac Isaacs and Sir Zelman Cowen. General Sir John Monash commanded the
Australian forces in the First World War.
Numerous cabinet ministers, both in ALP and Coalition governments, have
been Jewish.
Australia’s
Jewish community is smaller than the vibrant Jewish community in the United
States, both in real terms and in terms of a percentage of the wider
population. The Australian Jewish
community tends to be concentrated in the larger cities. As a result, most synagogues of any tradition
are in or near state capitals, mostly in the metropolitan areas of Sydney and
particularly Melbourne.
The
equivalent of Reform Judaism in Australia is the Union for Progressive Judaism,
with congregations in the six state capitals plus the ACT, as well as
Queensland’s Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
The
equivalent of Conservative Judaism, occupying a position between Orthodoxy and
Reform, in Australia is called Masorti. The Masorti community in Australia has
congregations in Melbourne and in Sydney.
The
largest number of synagogues in Australia relates to Orthodox Judaism. As with the other strands of Judaism, Orthodox
synagogues in current use are also found mostly in the larger cities, although
there are some unused, colonial-era synagogues in smaller towns.
The
historic synagogue in Hobart, the oldest synagogue in the Southern Hemisphere,
is used both by Progressive and Orthodox congregations.
Progressive
and Masorti rabbis will celebrate marriages for same-gender couples. Orthodox rabbis will not.
If you’re a member of any other faith
community ….
Other
faith communities (Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Baha’i, and others) are also
found in Australia. Most members of
these communities are comparatively recent immigrants, or the children and
grandchildren of immigrants. A growing
number of western converts can be found among these communities, particularly
among the Buddhists and Baha’is.
The
communities, and their places of worship, are mostly found in the larger
cities. However, there are some Muslims,
the descendants of Afghan camel drivers who came to Australia in the 19th
century, living in central and northern Australia, often in isolated areas.
The
Muslim community in Australia has found itself living under political pressure
from extremist groups since 2001, as in the US.
The Sikh community has also experienced some political pressure because
of being confused with Muslims (largely because of the turbans worn by the
men).
