Growing Healthy Missional Pastors, Churches & Denominations: The Role of Fast-Planting Multisites

Church Trends in 2025: The Rise of Fast-Planting Multisites

For many years, I have shared both the pain and the joys of those who work with churches. Like many of you, I have often wondered if there are better ways to thrive together and make a missional impact on our world. It’s not about trying harder; it’s about doing different things in new ways. This involves interrupting our routines and reflecting on our practices.

As a pastoral supervisor, mentor, and consultant for churches and non-profits, I strive to provide valuable insights. I hope my posts serve as refreshing water for those planted in churches so we can thrive together.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments. Or you can reach out to me through my website: www.ianduncum.com.au.

Fast planting multisite churches

Church Trends in 2025: The Rise 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. These trends impact how congregations engage with faith, worship, and outreach. The rise of secularism, changing demographics, technological advancements, and evolving evangelism strategies all influence how 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 here, I expect their growth to mirror what we have seen in the USA in the coming years. This article explores seven major trends in Australian church life and examines how multisite church models respond to these changes.

1. Generational Shifts in Faith Engagement

Australia is witnessing a generational transformation in religious engagement. Baby Boomers and older generations maintain relatively stable church attendance. However, 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 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. They establish smaller, agile worship communities in urban and suburban areas. This model provides an alternative to the traditional single church. These churches often incorporate contemporary worship styles, digital 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. This marks a continuing decline over decades. Several factors contribute to this trend, including cultural shifts, increased weekend activities, and perceptions of traditional church models as irrelevant. Yet, this shift encourages churches to rethink their approach instead of merely signaling the demise of engagement.

Multisite churches, operating multiple smaller locations under a unified leadership structure, offer a solution to declining attendance. Like church plants, they effectively reach both unchurched and dechurched individuals. Instead of requiring congregants to travel to a centralized location, multisite churches bring faith communities closer to where people live and work. This localized approach fosters stronger 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 today’s Australia. Many prefer to explore faith within trusted relationships rather than through formal institutional channels.

Fast-planting multisite churches adapt by emphasizing relational evangelism. They encourage congregants to invite friends into small, community-based experiences instead of relying solely on large-scale events. Many multisite churches also incorporate social initiatives—like support groups, marriage and parenting programs, playgroups, and community service—that let people experience Christian values in action before fully committing.

4. Church Closures and New Church Plantings

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

Fast-planting multisite churches counteract this trend by quickly establishing new locations where traditional churches are closing. This may happen through an adoption merger. Unlike traditional plants that 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

In 2025, integrating digital platforms into worship has become essential. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift toward online services. While some churches have ceased offering this, many now maintain or expand their digital presence. Livestreaming, virtual small groups, and social media engagement are standard practices.

Multisite churches, by design, are well-equipped to leverage technology. Centralizing administration and compliance eases the burdens smaller churches face. Many multisite models utilize the same message across different sites, maintaining theological consistency while fostering localized engagement. Furthermore, digital tools enable efficient scaling. Online platforms facilitate leadership training, discipleship programs, and volunteer coordination across campuses, reducing logistical challenges associated with growth.

6. Focus on Social Issues and Community Engagement

In 2025, Australian churches emphasize social justice and community service. Multisite churches effectively mobilize resources for outreach. Their decentralized structure allows hyper-local initiatives tailored to community needs. Whether through food banks, disaster response, or refugee support, multisite churches serve as hubs of social action. They demonstrate faith in tangible ways that resonate with modern Australians.

7. Clergy Shortages and Leadership Multiplication

A growing challenge for Australian churches in 2025 is the shortage of clergy. Many denominations struggle to recruit and retain ministers, increasing workloads and burnout among existing clergy. Seminary enrolment is declining, and fewer young people pursue full-time ministry. Those who do often are attracted to entrepreneurial areas such as church planting or NGOs.

Fast-planting multisite churches may provide a solution to this crisis. They adopt team-based leadership models and lay-led ministries, reducing dependency on a single full-time pastor. Multisite churches typically employ a mix of senior leadership overseeing multiple campuses. This is supported by trained lay leaders managing local pastoral care and discipleship. The distributed leadership model alleviates burdens on clergy, empowering more members to role in church life. Plus, it fosters an effective leadership pipeline that is not limited to filling rosters at a single location. This vision for planting more sites encourages leader development through agile apprenticeship pathways rather than four- to five-year theological programs.

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 present a dynamic model for sustaining and multiplying Christian vitality.

A key advantage of the multisite model is scalability. Traditional churches often struggle with financial and logistical hurdles in expansion, but multisite churches benefit from shared resources and centralized leadership. This allows rapid planting of new locations, responding to demographic shifts and emerging opportunities. The five-year survivability rate for new multisite sites is 80%, compared to only 50% for new church plants.

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

Conclusion

The Australian church landscape in 2025 is shaped by evolving demographics and technological advancements. While traditional models may face challenges, fast-planting multisite churches offer adaptive, scalable solutions for maintaining and expanding Christian engagement. By aligning with contemporary trends—like 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 shifts, the success of church vitality will depend on faith communities’ ability to innovate, connect, and remain relevant to the diverse and evolving needs of the population. Fast-planting multisite churches provide a promising blueprint for 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 of experience with non-profit enterprises and churches across several denominations. This includes denominational leadership in church health, church planting, consultancy training, and research in the tertiary education sector. An accredited minister with a track record of growing churches, Ian trains church consultants, facilitates training for ministers and leaders, and supervises pastors and other leaders. He can be contacted at ian@ianduncum.com.au.