(Worthy News) – A large coalition of churches has launched a new initiative to share the Gospel across Australia as the number of Australians who identify as Christians is declining at a significant rate, Christian Daily International (CDI) reports. A network of more than 260 churches, the Reach Australia association hopes to plant 300 churches nationwide by 2030.
Reach Australia launched its initiative in response to reports confirmed by the Australian Census that an increasing number of Australians consider themselves of no religion, CDI reports. In 2021 the Census showed that just 44% of Australians identify as Christian, a decrease of 8% from 2016.
Addressing a gathering at Reach Australia’s national conference in May, Derek Hanna, director of Plant, confirmed the association has already planted 145, leaving 155 churches to be planted by 2030 to reach the coalition’s stated aim.
“You might be thinking that’s impossible but we are sitting in a room where every one of us believes God raised Jesus from the dead,” Hanna asserted. “That’s impossible! Every one of us is convinced that we were dead but we are now alive in Christ.”
“The lie is, ‘We believe in a God who can but probably won’t,’” Hanna added. “Look across this room. There are 1,300 people here this week across denominations with a shared Gospel conviction about reaching Australia,” he said.
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