Overview

Who

IS THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA?

Pentecostals belong to a millennia-old belief that the Holy Spirit can be experienced by all regardless of ethnicity, gender, creed, or social class, as an expression of God’s love. Part of the Australian religious landscape for over 150 years, there were reports of gatherings as early as 1853.1 The first enduring Pentecostal denomination was founded by a former Methodist lay preacher, wife, and mother to seven children, Sarah Jane Lancaster. She opened Good News Hall, in 1909, in Melbourne and her circle soon pioneered assemblies across Australia.2 By 1930, 20 of the 37 Pentecostal churches in Australia were established and led by women. They opened schools, medical clinics, missions, soup kitchens, and other social services, often in the tidelands of Australia’s cities. Among early figures were people such as Mary Querro and Sterling Minniecon, some of the first ordained Australian Indigenous ministers. Though small in number, Pentecostals presented innovative futures to mainstream culture.

The worldwide renewal of the 1960s and 1970s led to dynamic church growth. In Australia, Pentecostals increased from less than 40,000 people in 1976 to almost 175,000 in 1996.3 Hillsong and other growing churches became models for real world faith, community engagement, and contemporary worship. Between 2006-2016, Australian Pentecostalism grew some 30% despite a broader decline (-4%) in the general Christian population.4 According to the National Church Life Survey over 400,000 Pentecostals attend church weekly, placing them as the largest single Protestant grouping, and second largest Christian grouping, after Catholics. A dynamic, aspirational, and relatively young movement, Pentecostal and charismatic Christians worldwide now number more than half a billion.5 Amid the pandemic, Pentecostals continue to show agility and adaptability in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rev Prof Denise A. Austin

Deputy Vice President Research and Standards Director of the Australasian Pentecostal Studies Centre Alphacrucis College