History
Supporters
Key supporters of the National Church Life Survey are: * Uniting Church NSW & ACT Synod: Uniting Mission and Education and Uniting * ANGLICARE Diocese of Sydney * BaptistCare Participating Denominations also support the NCLS, some by providing a regional survey coordinator. Other research and mission organisations also partner with the NCLS, including Openbook andAims
NCLS research describe themselves as "an immense cooperative research venture designed to resource congregations for mission" that explores "aspects of both church and community life" The purpose of the National Church Life Survey project is to: * Analyse trends into church life comparing with previous surveys * Carry out more detailed analysis of the relationships between factors that are apparent in healthy churches * Provide resources to Churches to assist ministry relevance * Carry out more detailed analysis on effective and sustainable leadershipRecent activities
In January 2008, the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' reported research by the Christian Research Association and the NCLS into religious affiliation in rural areas. The article states that :''(w)heat and sheep farming areas tend to have higher levels of Christian identification than mining boom towns''. The ''Wellbeing and Security'' Survey 2003 was conducted ''in co-operation with Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia and ANGLICARE (Sydney).'' The National Church Life Survey 2001 was conducted in May 2001. The survey was completed by 435,000 church attendees from 7000+ Australian churches, across 19 denominations, representing 80%+ of Australian regular church-goers. NCLS Research claims that NCLS 2001 is ''one of the largest surveys of its kind in the world''. The NCLS ''First Look Report 2001'' states: :''Most attenders are at ease with sharing their faith or even look for opportunities to do so (66%). Some 37% have invited someone to church in the past year, even though many churches don’t seem to have a culture of inviting people to church. It is encouraging that 6% of attenders are newcomers who have joined church in the last five years without a previous church background.'' In contrast, the AD2000 Journal article ''National Church Life Survey: church-going declines further'' summarises the research as follows: :''Statistics from the latest National Church Life Survey (NCLS) indicate that attendances at church services in the large Christian denominations, including the Catholic Church, are continuing to decline.'' Figures from the 2001 survey showed that Catholic mass attendance declined by an estimated 13% and overall weeklySee also
*References
External links
* {{Christianity in Australia Religious organisations based in Australia Christian organisations based in Australia