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Thread: Do many families attend church in NZ?

  1. #1

    Default Do many families attend church in NZ?

    Ok- I know this is a thread that has been visited at some point but I haven't see anything lately. Our relo person said that mostly only "old" people attend church in NZ. Is this true? Do kids go to sunday school and do families attend church regularly? I'm not talking about religion in politics, or any of the huge "mega" churches. I noticed that the curriculum in the private school incorporates religion a bit...

    Happy Easter!

  2. #2
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    I live in Devonport, Auckland and quite a few families seem to attend church here. I often hear talk of whether it is acceptable to feed the kids snacks to keep them quiet.

    The children also seem to go to Sunday School. This is mainly an expat crowd though and I don't know how typical it is of New Zealand.

    Cheers

    Tia

  3. #3
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    Christchurch
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    Hi Seattle: My observations are that not many people 'go to church' here, not compared to the U.S. or even compared to the U.K. I've heard Christians estimate that only 10% do.

    As a Christian myself, I find this refreshing in one sense--you don't have near as much social 'christianity' as in the U.S. It is in fact unpopular to be a Christian here. People seem more honest--if they aren't Christians they know they aren't and state it.

    After being in 'churches' all over the U.S. (and world) and finding them mostly unbiblical and mainly tradition or entertainment centered, we've been quite pleased simply to meet with a handful of other Christian families in our area (Christchurch) in their homes without any preset format. Not perfect, but much more in line with the description in Acts of meeting house to house and having a meal together in celebration. We've been here just two weeks and already have a handful of solid friends based not on 'common interests' but on being children of the same Father.

    Don't know what you are looking for really, but since modern christianity is more of a supermarket than Christianity as described in the bible (obedience to God following on true repentance from dead works), most people can quite easily find what they are looking for. Just don't expect to be a majority here. But then Christianity was never supposed to the 'majority' in this age.

    -Rob

  4. #4
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    Hi Seattle, there are some of the "mega-church" size churches around Auckland. Too big for us, but friends of ours go to one in Mt Eden that has 600 kids attend their "Youth". We seem to have met lots of Christians here, lots of our friends are Christians and it seems quite common.
    On a personal note, we haven't yet found a church where we feel really comfortable but have been made very welcome at the ones we have visited.
    There seem to be a lot of churches in this area, compared to where we lived in the UK and yes, they all have Junior Church activities and the families are definitely not just older age group.
    Gil

  5. #5
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    According to a program on tv last week, 10% of the NZ population go to church regularly.

  6. #6
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    from personal experience(catholic), mass numbers vary from parish to parish. i have a friend who is trainingthere is still the "old crew" that are there every sunday and a good few families too. some parishes have family masses that are a bit shorter or that have a time during the mass where kids go and do more kid friendly stuff like making collages of bible stories or something. the youth aspect of catholicism is really strong at the moment, most parishes have thriving youth groups and if yours doesnt, you can usually go along to anothers. i know i did. youth camps and young adult retreats were always really great to go to, and i was involved in music ministry a lot before i moved overseas. a lot of my close friends were made through youth group so i think if you've got kids and have just moved here its a great way for them to make a different group of friends.

  7. #7

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    Can anyone recommend a Catholic Church in Christchurch that has mass on Saturday's ? back in the U.S. we attended the Saturday evening mass which was actually considered Sunday mass but I don't know if that's offered here.

  8. #8
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    Sep 2006
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    Wellington, NZ
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    Quote Originally Posted by constablechuck View Post
    Can anyone recommend a Catholic Church in Christchurch that has mass on Saturday's ? back in the U.S. we attended the Saturday evening mass which was actually considered Sunday mass but I don't know if that's offered here.
    st gregorys bishopdale and st peters beckenham both have them..they were the two parishes i attended when i lived in different areas of chch. my friends parish, st pauls dallington has one too as far as i can remember. most parishes seem to have them now..i know i used to go to mass with my friends before i went out on a saturday night! lol..st annes in woolston often has charismatic mass too.

    the chch catholic diocese website should have more info too... http://www.chch.catholic.org.nz

  9. #9

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    Thanks

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