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[At first glance, this article seems to take us rather far afield from Thailand and Thai church history. It deals with significant changes that are taking place in religion in Australia and, apparently, in the rest of the Western world. The article raises, however, important issues that need to be thought about in the contexts of Southeast Asia. Are the changes Philip describes taking place here as well? If not now, what about the future? If so, how should the churches respond? With these questions on the table and thanks to Philip, I turn things over to him. Herb]

There is substantial evidence that a huge change has occurred in Anglo-Celtic societies and, perhaps globally, in the very nature of religion since the 1960s. This paper seeks to define the nature of this change, summarise the evidence for it and to indicate how churches might respond to it.

From the churches point of view a change has been evident in the major down-turn in attendance. This is particularly true of those denominations which have been established, if not by government degree, then by the culture in which they have been embedded. It is less true of the rigorous churches, those which have been identified by the rigour with which they have kept the faith. The rigorous churches, such as the Baptists, the Brethren, the Salvation Army, the Seventh-day Adventists, to name just a few, have tended to maintain their numbers, although in Australia, most are experiencing a decline in the percentage of the population relating to them. It has been tempting to describe the change as a process of secularisation. The material

world is taking over peoples attention. There is less interest in spiritual things. Peoples minds are dominated by science, economics and secular politics.

However, the picture has not been as uniform as the theory of secularisation would suggest. While attendance at many churches has been dropping, the Pentecostal churches have experienced an explosion. From tiny beginnings early in the 20th century, and without roots in any particular culture or political system, the Pentecostal churches have grown. For fifty years, their growth was fitful at best, strong enough to form some denominational structures, but not sufficient to be noticed by the majority of people. But from the 1960s on, they exploded. In Australia, they grew from 16,000 people identifying as Pentecostals to 176,000 in just 25 years. This is not a picture which corresponds with a process of secularisation.

While the Pentecostal churches have experienced a great influx of people, they have also found that many only stay a short while. They come, but many also go again. The National Church Life Survey found in 1996, that of all the people attending a Pentecostal church in Australia, 38% had either transferred in from another denomination or had come in without a recent history in church involvement. But in that same period of five years, 15% moved out of the Pentecostal churches into churches of other denominations, and another 17% moved out of the churches into no attendance at all (Kaldor et al, 1999, p. 55).

Other denominational groups have experienced some movement from time to time. When people have moved home and there has not been a church of their denomination in their new locality, they may have changed denomination. When people have married, they have sometimes moved. Occasionally, there have been conflicts in churches which have led to movement from one denomination to another. But what the Pentecostal churches are experiencing is something quantitively and probably qualitatively different. People are trying the Pentecostal church out for a little while, and then moving on, perhaps to try out something else. Individuals make the decision to join, and the decision to move on. In the past, religion was a community affair. Religious beliefs were owned by a community. Religious rituals were celebrated by a community. The individual made the decision how active they wanted to be in the community. But it was primarily the community which determined the nature and expression of faith. Experts in the community set out the

beliefs in propositional form. The liturgists determined how the community should worship.

Most people saw themselves as born into a religious community. Gradually they learnt the ways of the community, the beliefs, the practices, the expectations and the consequences of disobedience. The communities established a range of mechanisms through which the traditions of the community could be taught to the children: through schools or Sunday schools, through processes of catechesis, of baptisms and confirmations.

Pentecostal churches have never made much of such processes. When people have responded positively to what they had to say, to their ethos, they have been baptised and welcomed in, often on the very same day. They have bothered little with doctrine and ritual in any formal way. There has been little to teach and much more to experience.

In some ways, Pentecostal churches have had a stronger place for the individual. Harvey Cox describes speaking in tongues, at the heart of Pentecostal worship, as being "radically democratizing" (Cox, 1995, p.95). The fact that all contribute equally when speaking in tongues, and the fact that no one can judge the quality of that contribution to worship, gives every individual a similar place.

This individualism, however, is now being seen in a different form: in the movement of people in and out of the Pentecostal churches. Underlying this is a real sense among many attenders that they, as individuals, rather than the community, retain the ability to say what they will believe and how they will relate to God. The individual measures and evaluates how helpful a church is, the sense of community, its worship, and even its beliefs.

This individualism has many other expressions in contemporary Western societies. It is seen, for example, in the number of people who fail to identify with any religious community at all. Since 1960, there has been a huge rise in Australia of the numbers of people who have described themselves as having no religion. In 1971, the Census first stipulated that if you have no religion, then you should write "no religion". In that year, a little less than 7% of the population responded to that invitation. Every year, there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of the

population describing themselves as having no religion. In 1996, it reached 16.8% of the population, a total of almost 3 million people (Hughes, 1997, p.72). The Census does not require an answer to the religion question and another 10% of the population prefer not to answer. However, in sample surveys, the proportion say they have no religion is much higher than in the Census: as much as a quarter of the population.

Does the fact people tick the no religion box on the Census mean they are secular or that they are atheists or agnostics? Not necessarily. Some are, but others tell us in the sample surveys that they believe in God. Indeed, about half of all who say they have no religion say they believe in God. And about the same proportion, although not necessarily the same people, say that a spiritual life is important to them. So no religion is not necessarily a denial of spirituality. Primarily, no religion means that people do not identify with any particular religious community or organisation. In that regard, no religion is an expression of religious or spiritual individualism. It means, again, that the individual has made herself or himself the measure of what is good and true in religion.

A third expression of this individualism in religion is seen in the growth of the neo-pagan movement and New Age religiosity in general. The New Age groups vary somewhat. However, most them appeal very largely to the individual. They focus on dealing with the needs and interests of the individual. The group is secondary. One can be a witch within the Wiccan movement without contact with any other witches. It is fine if one practises by oneself. If one finds a coven helpful, then by all means become part of one, or form one. But covens are not essential to the Wiccans (Adam Possamai, Neopagan Organisation).

Those who advocate New Age religion spread their ideas through festivals and exhibitions, in market places and through bookshops. They work not primarily by inviting people to become part of communities, but bidding people to taste their resources, read their books, partake their, mostly individualistic, practices.

In Habits of the Heart, Robert Bellah noted the existence of profound religious individualism adopting the label Sheilaism. He named it after the person who called her religion after herself. This said Bellah, suggests the logical possibility of over 220 million American religions, one for each of us (1985, p.221).

Sheilaism has now become rampant in the Western world. Most people would not maintain they had their own personal religion, but many would describe themselves as being on a personal spiritual journey. Among most younger people, throughout the Western world, the individual has become the measure of faith. Individuals are very aware that they have choices. They exercise that right of choice. They do not see themselves primarily as part of religious communities. If they choose to be part of a religious community it is because they want to be, rather than because they are.

Another significant piece of evidence about the individualism of religious practice was provided by the Australian Community Survey. The Australian Community Survey was conducted in 1997 and 1998 by NCLS Research and Edith Cowan University among a random sample of adult Australians. A total of 8500 completed the posted survey, 50% of those who had received a copy.

Among the questions were a variety on attendance at church services. While 20% of the sample said they attended a church service at least once a month, just over 40% had attended a service of one kind or another in the preceding year. The survey also asked whether people had tried Eastern Meditation within the preceding 12 months. About 12% of the sample responded positively. Then people were asked whether they had used psychic healing and crystals within the preceding 12 months. Around 9% of the population responded positively. The significant finding was that around 10% of the population responded positively to more than one of these three options. And more than 2% responded positively to all three. In other words, a significant part of the population had actually used resources drawn from quite different religious origins within the previous 12 months.

Of those who said that they often practised Eastern Meditation, only 9% identified themselves as Buddhists or Hindus. Many more of them said they were Anglican, Catholic, or had no religion. People are not necessarily converting to Buddhism or Hinduism, but are using Buddhist or Hindu practices and resources.

The importance of being loyal to a particular denomination has faded. Of those aged 60 years and over, 26% said agreed it was important to be loyal to ones

own denomination. Among those 40 to 59, 14% said it was important. Among Australians under 40 years of age, only 9% saw it as important.

One of the most helpful frameworks for understanding this change is that of Anthony Giddens. Giddens argues that Western societies have moved from being traditional to post-traditional in the last 30 years. He says that a traditional society is one in which the culture is largely handed on from one generation to the next. In a post-traditional society, however, culture is developed reflexively by individuals drawing on a range of resources (Giddens, 1994, p.5).

We have seen this change in a great variety of forms. It is evident in peoples eating habits. Eating habits had been handed down from one generation to the next. They changed a little. Cultures are always in flux, and there is a certain open-weave within them which means that individuals make some choices within a limited range. However, within the last 30 years, eating habits have changed greatly in the Western world. Individuals have begun drawing on cuisines from around the globe. They have absorbed into their regular eating habits Chinese and Indian food, Lebanese and Italian food, Greek and Thai dishes, and food from many other cuisines.

The patterns of relationships has also changed although perhaps not so consciously drawing on different cultures. For centuries, the patterns of marriage and the general expectations that the women would prepare food and look after the children and the home while the men would conduct the business and bring home the finance has been the dominant hope, if not always the reality. In poor families, women have long had to help make financial ends meet.

However, within the last 30 years, the patterns of relationship have been blown wide open. Marriage cannot be assumed at all. Relationships take a great variety of forms, some more and some less permanent. Some involve ceremonies of commitment, while others do not. Most still involve a couple, but not necessarily one male and one female. Some couples live in one house, while others chose to get together from time to time. I know of a married couple who decided to get married while living in different countries without any intention to live in the same country. Over several years they have maintained that arrangement, meeting only for holidays.

How then should the churches respond? Most of their patterns have been oriented to passing the faith on from one generation to the next. They have been aware that these have not been working well. Most children who go to Sunday School in contemporary Australia go with their parents, and thus experience reinforcement for their religious practice at home. Yet, the drop-out rate from Sunday School is just as high as it ever was. More than 50% of all who attend Sunday School in Australia fail to go on to adult attendance of church services.

The situation is little better in relation to schools. Of those who have been raised as Catholics and attended Catholic secondary schools, about half attend once a month or more often, according to data gathered in 1993 (National Social Science Survey, 1993).

Most patterns of church life assume that people begin by attending the community first. After that, they may begin drawing on the range of resources which the church offers. For example, churches advertise their Bible study groups primarily

to people who attend the church. While they may welcome a few friends of members who join a craft group, the focus and the core of the group is often members who attend church services.

There are other activities run by the churches for people outside, but many of these are not well integrated with the life of the church. Thus, in many churches the sporting clubs have become increasingly independent from the church. Counselling services may offer counselling to people with no connections with the church, but neither do they necessarily draw people into the life of the church.

If churches are to respond to post-traditionalism, they must be willing to offer resources to people before requiring attendance. In particular, they must allow people to begin to explore faith without necessarily become a member of the community. The most prominent example of this has been the Alpha Groups. These have been deliberately established so that people can explore faith without making any prior commitments. Their success has been, in part, due to the fact that they have been marketed to people outside the churches and that they have not required any prior involvement or commitment.

There are many other resources which churches could offer. As the numbers exploring Eastern Meditation indicate, many are interested in meditation. Adult education classes in religion are often well attended. Other people are more oriented to action groups: to exploring the implications of faith through a social justice or an environmental group. The counselling environment is well suited to developing support groups, through which dimensions of faith may explored.

Part of the underlying change for Australian churches is that most people do not have much to do with the localities within which they live. They neither work nor shop there. Their children may well not be educated there, and their sporting and leisure interests may be pursued in other places. Thus, for a church to depend on local networks make the task of serving a local area very difficult. It is unlikely that local communities will remain the major unit for building church in the future. There will be large and small regional churches, churches serving a great variety of networks, and churches serving highly specialised groups. There will be increasing numbers of little networks of people, often oriented around a particular task or interest.

The church does not have to exist at local community level. It may also exist in small and less permanent networks, such as a support network, or an adult education class. It may exist in a group of parents meeting in a home, or in a computer club which organises classes for people with few computer skills. It may exist in the large festival, the city-wide celebration, as well as groups or three or four meeting in a home.

The task for religious organisations is to begin to build the church in a variety of new ways: in festivals and networks, as well as local communities. Churches must find ways of advertising their resources and activities where local communities do not exist and people do not share stories with their neighbours over the back fence. They must find ways of drawing people together who do not know each other, through providing opportunities for sharing common interests and addressing common concerns. They must learn to create community, not only to serve it.

Such new forms of church life beg the question of what is the essence of the church. It is certainly not found in buildings, nor professional clergypersons. Rather, I would argue, on theological grounds, the essence of the church is found where people are: [1] honouring God; [2] learning together about how to live in the context of the traditions of faith; and [3] seeking to serve each other and others beyond the group. Where there is honour, learning and service in the context of God, there the church can be found.

In every new situation, the theological principles must be re-worked and re-expressed. So it is here, that the theology of the church must be re-worked. At the heart of this re-working will be the notion that the expressions of the church will always be on a journey. The pathway to faith cannot be measured by the extent to which the individual has identified with the community. The pathway is found in the journey of every network in its grappling with how it might honour God, learn and serve.

Conversion has become less evident in the post-traditional world. For people are constantly building and changing their alliances and allegiances. In relation to these journeys of faith, the critical concerns is the direction in which people are travelling. The church describes the end of the journey rather than the entry point. For

commitment to the whole of faith and identification with the community of Gods people lie at the end of the road rather than being the entry point.

It will be hard to keep track of individuals in the post-traditional world. Membership and the transfer of membership will mean little. People will come and go. Flexible means of communication will be important. While the Internet is forming new types of communities, it is also providing new facilities for building community, global in nature, of which church organisations might make fuller use.

A major challenge for church organisations to recognise the existence of church life in the multitude of networks and groups to which people already belong. They may need to spend more time and effort keeping track of these networks, rather than keeping track of individuals. They need to put resources into building networks of networks, so that these networks themselves can draw on a range of resources and find stimulation in links and cooperative ventures with other networks.

Financially, there must be some major changes too. The current systems are creaking. The strains are increasing, and some denominational organisations are close to breaking point. They cannot keep up the maintenance of high cost systems which are no longer relevant to this mobile, fluid, post-traditional world. It will not be as easy to draw finances from these networks as it was from the stable, weekly congregations. Part of the solution is to move more into user-pays systems whereby people pay for the use of resources. The churches failure to do that, for example in relation to weddings, often means that elderly church attenders subsidise the use of church resources by young people with lots of money, something that seems to me quite immoral.

Church organisations need to move more into the contract for service mode so that networks, large and small, may buy in the services that they need. At the same time, there may be a great variety of projects which churches undertake and to which they invite people to contribute. People will give to support particular projects, either long-term or short-term, rather than support organisational structures.

The changes required of the churches are substantial and require imagination, creativity and initiative. This may seem daunting. However, such changes can be made in the faith that God will not abandon the work of creation, redemption and

sanctification which has been occurring over the millennia. God will continue changing people and bringing people into the community of Gods people. The communal and organisational forms through which we participate in this divine work is the challenge we face.

Bellah, Robert N., 1985, Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life, New York: Harper and Row.

Cox, Harvey, 1995, Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century, Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Giddens, Anthony, 1994, Beyond Left and Right: The Future of Radical Politics, Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Hughes, Philip, 1997, Religion in Australia: Facts and Figures, Melbourne: Christian Research Association.

Kaldor, Peter, et al., 1999, Build My Church, Sydney: National Church Life Survey.

Possamai, Adam, 2001, "Neopaganism," in Philip Hughes (editor), Australia's Religious Communities: A Multimedia Exploration, CD-Rom, Melbourne: Christian Research Association.

Note: The 1997-8 Australian Community Survey, conducted by researchers from Edith Cowan University and NCLS Research, was made possible by a grant from the Australian Research Council, the support of ANGLICARE (NSW) and the Board of Mission of the Uniting Church (NSW). The research was jointly supervised by Alan Black and Peter Kaldor. The research team included John Bellamy, Keith Castle, and Philip Hughes