When the Rev Geoff Bates got up to address Synod the first thing he did was to thank God for a bounceback in church attendance after COVID-19.
But as chairman of the Sydney Diocese Attendance Committee, Mr Bates – the rector of Quakers Hill – then made an impassioned plea to members in the face of attendance figures that have fallen behind population growth in the past decade.
Attendance by adults in Sydney Anglican churches declined 6.7 per cent between 2013 and 2023. Numbers at 189 church centres declined, while 110 centres grew.
“We need not to be embarrassed or competitive with our numbers,” Geoff Bates (pictured above) told the Synod. “We all need to talk about this, friends. We need to move out of each of our small corners and learn from each other and support each other.
“We are not silos or solos. We all have something to offer others and we need to learn from those around us. So let's all take the first step… start talking, which is what we're doing tonight.”
Mr Bates called on “missionaries, regional councils, training colleges, diocesan organisations – and that includes schools and Anglicare, senior ministers, parishes and bishops – to refocus their efforts on how we can align to the purposes of contributing to seeing sinners saved and growing the number of newcomers in our local churches and collaborating together.”
Earlier, the Rev Dominic Steele from Village Church Annandale had outlined data the committee had used to come to its recommendations, saying the number of newcomers was a particular concern: “12.4 per cent of our membership called themselves new in 2001, that is down to 5.4 per cent in 2021”.
“The key ways to see a collective rise in the number of adults in our churches is, one, to see that rise in the number of kids coming to faith and growing up to become Christian adults, but two, to see the increase in the number of adults professing faith in Christ,” Mr Steele said.
The Synod voted to ask parishes and mission areas in the Diocese to “prayerfully consider the data and recommendations of the report, to decide on appropriate steps to take”, asking Standing Committee to do the same and bring a report to the Synod in 2025.
On the final night, Synod voted in favour of a related motion, moved by the Rev Zac Veron of Bayside parish, requesting that parishes and the Standing Committee also consider “how parishes might be encouraged to strategically allocate financial, property and human resources so that ministry to children and youth is prioritised, even over other important ministries, for the future health of our churches”.
