"Here's the interesting thing," writes Narelle Henson, "a group called simply "Protestants" by Statistics New Zealand grew by 26.4 percent from the previous census in 2006."

A group called "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamental" grew by 11.2 percent.

In a recent interview on RNZ, Graeme Morris from Victoria University said he was fascinated by the fact that the Catholic Church's size as a percentage of the population has remained consistent from the late nineteenth century through to the present day.

Morris suggested three reasons for this phenomenon:

• The inter-linking between the Catholic religion and Irish culture
• The effectiveness of the Catholic education system
• The arrival of immigrants from countries where the Catholic Church is very strong.

He went on to say it is not all good news for the Catholic religion because, in terms of percentages, it is "treading water". It's not growing in terms of the size of the percentage of our population.

On the other hand, as Henson points out in her opinion piece, the evangelical religions are growing.

This growth was the topic for another recently published article, Am I at a rock concert or religious gathering?

The trend has caught the eye of experts around the world because it bucks the secularisation theory made popular in the 1950s which predicted that, in modern, educated societies, devout belief would not survive.

Henson says that the same trend appears to be happening in America.

According to the Pew Research Centre, traditional religion is in sharp decline.

But Chosen Religion (based on conversion) seems to be growing, in countries both modern and modernising.

And secularism's growth is flattening out.

Source

• Waikato Times
• RNZ
• Image: New Zealand Geographic

It was an 18th birthday present, and he wanted to wear it straight away. But, as a teenager "mucking around … wasting potential" in west Auckland, he was dressed up with nowhere to go - but church.

"I just turned up. And I pretty much haven't missed a Sunday since."

It's a "funny story", he knows. "But when I got there, it was just real. I was connecting with God, I felt His presence, and I felt that was what was missing. Out of that, faith became personal for me."

But that service was "nothing like this", Cameron agrees, nodding his head towards the source of thumping bass on the other side of the wall.

We're sitting in a changing room at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua, which is serving as a makeshift green room - complete with a rider of Phoenix juices and scented candles - before Cameron takes to the stage to give his sermon as lead pastor of Arise Church.

"Sermon" may not even be the right word for it. An Arise service is part rock concert, part variety show, part stand-up gig ("To quote from Bruce Almighty…").

It's hard at times - like a five-minute tangent when Cameron pulls a pastor on stage for an impromptu rendition of the Frozen theme - to pinpoint just how and where the Bible fits into this slick, enormous production.

There are volunteers to guide you to a car park and a seat in the stadium; a 14-piece band, featuring seven enviably confident and well-dressed young singers; a camera crew, a smoke machine, a big screen.

God works in mysterious ways, and many of them demand a multi-plug. Continue reading.

Source: The Wireless

Image: Arise Church