Excellent Resource: Theology Topics

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Lessons From Down Under by Lee Grady

Lessons We Must Learn From the Aussie Church

Jack and Carol Hanes were forced to make lots of cultural adjustments when they arrived in Australia in 1987. The couple moved to the Sydney area from Arizona to start a church, knowing that the Christian population was tiny. They soon learned that if they were to be successful in this very secular society they would have to modify their American style and do things the Aussie way.

As it turned out, the Aussie way worked pretty well.

Today, Jack Hanes is the director of missions for the Assemblies of God (AOG) in Australia, and the group has become the largest Protestant denomination in the country. Currently the AOG is planting one new church every four days in the country—an impressive statistic when compared to the sluggish growth of churches in the United States.

Hanes' own congregation, Penrith Christian Life Centre, located 40 miles north of Sydney, has grown to 2,000 members since he and his wife started it 21 years ago with a handful of believers meeting in a hotel. Meanwhile, the massive Hillsong Church, also affiliated with the AOG and located in Sydney, has grown to 20,000 members and is one of the most influential churches in the world because of its popular worship recordings and TV broadcasts.

This week I asked Hanes, who is 55, what he believes American pastors could learn from the Aussies' out-of-the-box approach to church. He gave these seven reasons why churches are growing Down Under.

1. Christians aren't religious. The typical Australian is a lot more earthy and irreverent than his formal British counterpart. Because the country was started as a penal colony, it doesn't have a churchy culture. Hanes says this can be an advantage when you are trying to reach unbelievers with the gospel. People don't dress up, they don't wear hypocritical masks and they tend to be bluntly honest. "It's refreshing," Hanes says.

2. They have a wild, daring spirit. Americans fell in love with Aussie wildlife expert Steve Irwin, the infamous Crocodile Hunter who died in 2006, because of his playful and audacious taunting of dangerous reptiles. Hanes says a similar willingness to take risks characterizes the Australian church, which is less mired in tradition than American church groups. "Aussies don't have to be safe and secure. We know God wants us to risk everything. We could not do that if we weren't crazy," Hanes says.

3. They are aggressive about church planting. Several years ago AOG leaders in Australia began to focus on multiplying their movement rather than just maintaining churches. They did this by eliminating useless denominational bureaucracy. Today every major leader in their organizational structure in Australia is a working pastor who is involved in a hands-on way in church planting. There are no "fat guys sitting behind desks in denominational offices making $300,000," Hanes says with typical Aussie frankness.

Hanes makes a painful comparison between Australia's lean church-planting machine and the multilayered AOG hierarchy in the United States. He says one Aussie minister visited the AOG's headquarters in the U.S. four years ago and learned that leaders were celebrating the fact that they had millions of dollars in the bank—even though church planting was flat. "Can you imagine if Jesus came back and we had millions in the bank?" Hanes asks. "I'd rather we had no money in the bank because we had used all the money for missions."

4. Their worship is fresh and vibrant. Worship from Australia has dominated the Christian music scene since the mid-1990s, after Hillsong Church's band, led by Darlene Zschech, first released their popular chorus, "Shout to the Lord," in 1993. Today Hillsong music encircles the globe, its annual worship conference attracts 40,000 people and their youth band, Hillsong United, is setting trends for Christian teens. Hanes' wife, Carol, says she believes God's anointing has stayed on this Aussie music because it is based in a local church—not in a music industry that is driven by sales, profits and concert schedules.

5. They give sacrificially. Unlike those in the United States, contributions made to churches in Australia are not tax-deductible. Yet many Aussies give extravagantly to missions and church-planting ventures. In 2007 Hanes' church gave more than $1 million to missions and started more than 700 churches in India. "And church leaders here don't ask the people to give what they are not willing to give themselves. We lead by example," Hanes adds.

6. They focus on youth. Australia is a young nation, and Hanes' church mirrors the population: The average age in his congregation is 27. "I don't know of one church in Australia that is filled with old people," he says, "except some of the mainlines." Aussie Christians see the potential of giving young people ministry credentials so they can pioneer churches.

Hanes points out that in Iraq today, 19-year-old soldiers lead squads of 48 men. They are trusted to fight battles for us. "Yet we won't let people that age preach in our pulpits until they are 'proven.' Something is wrong with that," Hanes says.

7. They release their women. "There is a recognition here in Australia that if a woman has a gift, you make room for her in the church," Hanes says, noting that the AOG has many ordained female pastors. The growing list of prominent women ministers in Australia includes Margaret Court, a pastor in Perth; Christine Caine, a Bible teacher based in Sydney; Donna Crouch, a lead pastor at Hillsong; Royree Jensen, a pastor in Brisbane; and Zschech, the Hillsong vocalist who is arguably the most recognizable worship leader in the world.

Hanes dreams of a day when the same innovative approach to ministry that is transforming the churches of Australia will one day sweep across America. After spending this week in Sydney and seeing these innovations with my own eyes, I share his enthusiasm.

Lula Jones, Church Planter

Lula Jones was a pioneer in the early Church of God, planting numerous churches in Florida. Visit the University Church website to view a short video which tells the story of Sister Jones' revival and her arrest for "disturbing the peace". Those who've taken my Women in Pentecostalism class will remember the story and her daughter, Bonnie Brannen's own story of evangelistic work in Tennessee and Louisiana.

Religion and Healing in America

I've been working through this fascinating volume for the last couple of days. It is an interesting collection of scholarly articles on varieties of healing views, practices and theologies within the US. The views/practices represented come from traditions as varied as Pentecostalism, Catholocism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Wicca, Judaism and Native American Religion(s). The practices are as varied as the backgrounds. What has emerged is that in almost all of these traditions, the role of the community is vitally important and the healing itself is often communal in nature. I'm not surprised. In spite of our "rugged individualism" in America, we realize, especially at our most vulnerable postion (as illness often is), how much we need others for our survival and well-being.

21st Century Politics and the 19th Century Protestant Divide

An insightful piece by Diana Butler Bass.

Sabbatical

According to the Association of Theological Schools, "Sabbatical leave should be conceived of by the teacher and the administration as a time for deeper study, research, or writing. Where possible, location in another center of learning will add breadth to the point of view."

As of yesterday, January 2, 2008, I am officially on a sabbatical, my first. For the next semester, I will spend my time doing one of the two aspects of my academic ministry that I enjoy most: research and writing (the other is teaching in a classroom). The eternal dilemma for the academic is that the two activities (research and teaching) are eternally wedded but sometimes work against each other. Hmmmm....marriage seems to be an appropriate metaphor! I suppose the theory is that we research/write for several years and then spend years teaching what we learned, and then the cycle repeats itself. Unfortunately, one is expected to write and publish all along the way, not just every few years. Beyond the guild's expectation is my own. And even beyond that is my heart and desire. When one is called and gifted for a task, it is frustrating not to be able to do so. I can honestly say that the crunch of PhD research, though sometimes overwhelming, was absolutely fulfilling. I love reading the thoughts of theologians, analyzing, interpreting and constructing. I hope these words will encourage my former students, now colleagues, who are beginning this process. Pace yourself, enjoy yourself and see it as your "spiritual worship".

The third element which vies for the attention of the Academic is the committee/shared governance aspect of the Institution. This varies from school to school, I would imagine. Some seem to find their gift and calling here. For those with administrative gifts, committee work is quite fulfilling. For me, to use the marriage analogy again, the committee work is the "budgets, housework, home repair, etc." of my academic life. It's necessary, it supports the other, but it is not THE thing.

I am blessed to work with good colleagues, good administrators and good students. As a result of their support, I plan to have a productive and rewarding semester!

My plans, specifically, are to continue working on my research into early Pentecostal experiences of Spirit Baptism. I began this work over a year ago with a one-hour research seminar and followed-up on that work in a chapter for the Gause festschrift. That piece is titled "O Boundless Love Divine". In addition, I want to "write-up" the research I've done on post-WW2 Healing Evangelists interpretations of the longer ending of Mark. I also plan to work on a couple of ideas I have for lay-level curriculum.

I'll try to remember to come out of the ivory tower from time to time and report on my musings and findings.

My Latest Publication

Publisher's Blurb:

One hundred years after the Azusa Street Revival stunned Los Angeles and changed Western Christianity, Pentecostalism has become the fastest growing religious movement in the world. However, many Pentecostal denominations in the United States are in a slow decline. Will Pentecostalism survive in North American in the twenty-first century? If so, what forms will it take? The Future of Pentecostalism in the United States brings together leading scholars of charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity to discuss and forecast these issues. The book looks at American Pentecostalism from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including sociology, theology, history, and the arts. The book also considers various traditions and sub-movements within U.S. Pentecostalism, such as African American Pentecostal and charismatic Latino churches, urban postmodern charismatic congregations, and the role of Pentecostal institutions of higher education.

I wrote my chapter about 3 years ago and had to update it before publication. I was asked to contribute something on the future of the COG in the U.S. The title, "The Almost Pentecostal", was given to me by Steve Land, based on Wesley's sermon "The Almost Christian". I raise the question are we "almost Pentecostal" and answer it by examining three areas: Doctrine (Holiness), Mission, and Polity (Internationalization, Women).

Other contributors include Frank Macchia, Margaret Poloma, David Daniels, and Arlene Sanchez Walsh.