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THRIVING TOGETHER: Dr Ian Duncum

Writer's picture: Ian DuncumIan Duncum

GROWING HEALTHY MISSIONAL PASTORS, CHURCHES  & DENOMINATIONS


For many years I have shared both the pain and the joys of those who work with churches. Like many of you, I have asked many times whether there are better ways forward to thrive together and have missional impact on our world. And in sustainable ways - it's not about trying harder - but doing different things in different ways. Interrupting and reflecting on practice. That is what I do as a pastoral supervisor/mentor. What I do as a church and non-profit consultant. And what I endeavour to do as a blogger and writer. I hope what is posted here is water, God willing, for those planted in churches that we may thrive together.

Please let me know what you think in the comments. Or you can contact me through my website: www.ianduncum.com.au



Fast planting multisite churches
Fast planting multisite churches



Church Trends in 2025: the Role of Fast-Planting Multisites

Introduction

The landscape of church life in Australia is undergoing significant transformation in 2025. Several key trends are shaping the vitality of religious communities, impacting how congregations engage with faith, worship, and outreach. The rise of secularism, changing demographics, technological advancements, and evolving evangelism strategies are influencing the way churches function and grow. A particularly significant development is the increasing role of fast-planting multisite churches in sustaining and expanding Christian presence in Australia. While these churches currently represent a smaller proportion of churches in Australia, I expect their growth to mirror their growth in the USA over coming years.  This article explores seven major trends in Australian church life and examines how multisite church models are responding to these changes.

1. Generational Shifts in Faith Engagement

Australia is witnessing a generational transformation in religious engagement. While Baby Boomers and older generations maintain a relatively stable church attendance, younger Australians, especially Gen Z and Millennials, demonstrate a more fluid relationship with organized religion. Studies indicate that many younger Australians are spiritually curious but hesitant to engage in traditional church settings. Instead, they seek faith expressions that are interactive, digitally integrated, and socially relevant.

Fast-planting multisite churches play a vital role in reaching these younger demographics. By establishing smaller, more agile worship communities in urban and suburban areas, multisites provide an alternative to the traditional single church model. These churches often incorporate contemporary worship styles, digital engagement strategies, and outreach programs tailored to younger generations.

2. Decline in Regular Church Attendance

Statistics reveal that only around 7% of Australians attend church weekly, continuing a decades-long decline. Many factors contribute to this trend, including shifting cultural values, increased weekend activities, and perceptions of irrelevance in traditional church models. However, rather than signalling the demise of church engagement, this shift encourages churches to rethink their approach.

Multisite churches, which often operate multiple smaller locations under a unified leadership structure, offer a solution to declining attendance. Like church plants, they are more effective at reaching both unchurched and dechurched people. And instead of expecting congregants to travel to a single, centralized location, multisite churches bring faith communities closer to where people live and work. This localized and contextualised approach fosters stronger community bonds and increases accessibility for those who might otherwise disengage from church life.

3. Evolving Evangelism Practices

Traditional evangelism methods, such as street preaching and door-to-door outreach, have become less effective in contemporary Australia. Today’s society values relational and experiential engagement. Many Australians prefer to explore faith within trusted relationships rather than through formal institutional channels.

Fast-planting multisite churches adapt to this reality by emphasizing relational evangelism. Instead of relying solely on large-scale events, they encourage congregants to invite friends and family into small, relational, community-based experiences. Many multisite churches also incorporate social initiatives—such as support groups, marriage & parenting programs, playgroups and community service projects—that allow people to experience Christian values in action before committing to a church.

4. Church Closures and New Church Plantings

A significant trend in 2025 is the rate of church closures outpacing new church plants. Many older churches struggle to maintain attendance and financial viability, leading to closures. However, this challenge presents an opportunity for revitalization through church planting or re-planting.

Fast-planting multisite churches counteract this trend by rapidly establishing new locations in areas where traditional churches are closing. This may be through an adoption merger. Unlike traditional church plants that may take years to establish, multisites leverage existing resources, shared leadership, and streamlined administrative structures to launch new locations quickly. This approach allows churches to maintain a presence in communities that might otherwise lose their local faith community.

5. Integration of Technology in Worship

The integration of digital platforms into worship services has become an essential trend in 2025. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online services, and while some have ceased to offer this, many churches have since maintained or expanded their digital presence. Livestreaming, virtual small groups, and social media engagement have become standard practices.

Multisite churches, by design, are well-equipped to leverage technology. Administration and compliance are increasingly burdens that smaller churches are finding difficult to carry, so centralising them makes sense. While multisite models vary, utilising the same message or sermon across different sites is also more efficient. This hybrid approach allows churches to maintain theological consistency while fostering localized engagement.

Furthermore, digital tools enable multisite churches to scale more efficiently. Online platforms facilitate leadership training, discipleship programs, and volunteer coordination across multiple campuses, reducing logistical challenges associated with expansion.

6. Focus on Social Issues and Community Engagement

Australian churches in 2025 are placing a greater emphasis on social justice, and community service. Multisite churches are particularly effective at mobilizing resources for community engagement. Their decentralized structure allows for hyper-local outreach initiatives tailored to the needs of specific communities. Whether through food banks, disaster relief programs, or refugee support services, multisite churches often serve as hubs of social action, demonstrating faith in tangible ways that resonate with modern Australians.

7. Clergy Shortages and Leadership Multiplication

One of the growing challenges facing Australian churches in 2025 is a shortage of clergy. Many denominations are struggling to recruit and retain ministers, leading to increased workloads and burnout among existing clergy members. Seminaries are seeing declining enrolment, and fewer young people are pursuing full-time ministry as a vocation. Those who are pursuing full-time ministry are drawn to more entrepreneurial areas such as church planting or NGOs.

Fast-planting multisite churches offer a potential solution to this crisis. By adopting team-based leadership models and lay-led ministries, these churches reduce the dependency on a single full-time pastor per congregation. Instead, multisite churches often employ a mix of senior leadership overseeing multiple campuses, supported by trained lay leaders who handle pastoral care and discipleship at local levels. This distributed leadership model alleviates the burden on clergy while empowering more members to take active roles in church life, and builds an effective leadership pipeline that is not capped by “filling the roster” in a single location. In other words, having a vision to plant more sites lifts the lid on leader development, which may see more entering vocational ministry through agile apprenticeship pathways rather than four to five year theological training.

The Future of Fast-Planting Multisite Churches in Australia

Given these seven trends, the role of fast-planting multisite churches is expected to grow significantly in Australia. By addressing declining attendance, adapting evangelism strategies, leveraging technology, and engaging with social issues, multisite churches provide a dynamic model for sustaining and multiplying Christian vitality.

One of the key advantages of the multisite model is its scalability. Traditional churches often struggle with the financial and logistical burdens of expansion, but multisite churches benefit from shared resources and centralized leadership. This allows them to plant new locations quickly, responding to demographic shifts and emerging opportunities with agility. The five year survivability of new sites is 80%, compared with 50% for a new church plant.

Additionally, multisite churches foster leadership development. Rather than relying on a single senior pastor, these churches cultivate multiple leaders across different campuses, ensuring a steady pipeline of trained ministers equipped to serve diverse communities.

Conclusion

The Australian church landscape in 2025 is shaped by shifting demographics and technological advancements. While traditional church models (well maybe not so much the model as the application of it) face challenges, fast-planting multisite churches offer an adaptive, scalable solution to maintaining and expanding Christian engagement. By aligning with contemporary trends—such as relational evangelism, digital integration, and community-focused outreach—multisite churches are poised to play a pivotal role in the future of Australian Christianity.

As Australia continues to navigate these changes, the success of church vitality will depend on the ability of faith communities to innovate, connect, and remain relevant to the diverse and evolving needs of the population. Fast-planting multisite churches provide a promising blueprint for doing just that, ensuring that the church remains a dynamic and impactful force in Australian society.



© 2025 Ian Duncum. All rights reserved. No reproduction without written permission.

Rev Dr Ian Duncum is a trained and accredited church consultant with over 20 years experience of working with non-profit enterprises and churches across a number of denominations. This has also included denominational leadership in church health/church planting/church consultancy training and church research in the tertiary education sector. An accredited minister with a track record of growing churches, Ian also trains church consultants, facilitates training for ministers and leaders, and supervises pastors and other leaders. He can be contacted at ian@ianduncum.com.au

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(C) Ian Duncum 2017 & 2021. All rights reserved. Reproduction of website or its contents is forbidden without written permission.

(C) Ian Duncum 2017 & 2021. All rights reserved. Reproduction of website or its contents is forbidden without written permission.

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