TOP STORY: Churches battle to save their flocks

By Katherine Hoby
Bay churches are marketing themselves more aggressively as local clergy acknowledge many people have been completely put off religion.
Data released to the Bay of Plenty Times from this year's census shows a huge variety of religions and faiths among Western Bay people.
But those who nominated no religion have rocketed in the Western Bay. While 2001 saw 37,737 people in this category, last year's figure was 49,023.
Yesterday was Easter Sunday, one of two times a year many people enter places of worship for formal services.
The services themselves, however, are becoming more flexible and open in order to be inclusive of interested parishioners.
For those who continue their affiliation to religion, they are becoming more picky - often "shopping" for a church before settling on one.
Brian Hamilton conducted his last service at Tauranga's Holy Trinity last month.
Churches were changing the way they presented themselves, he said.
"The church itself has put a lot of people off and has often been quite narrow in its approach to life, quite judgmental," he said.
"In some ways I'd say the church is on the back foot as a whole. It's generally acknowledged not a lot of people are being converted to Christianity in New Zealand. As a total church we're not actually making a lot of progress in bringing people to faith."
Even seemingly small things were changing to keep pace with a modern world. Language was one example.
"One of the things I've started doing is calling myself a follower of Jesus. Christian has a negative connotation and is getting to be no longer a positive word," he said.
"Religion has begun to have negative connotations. It was quite neutral, in fact quite a good word. Now it's used in a derogatory way."
And churches across the denominations were facing issues when their priests retired, Mr Hamilton said.
"We're not seeing a lot of people coming through to take their place," he said.
"It's not necessarily bad but it means churches will have to change and lay people will have greater roles. We're just into a different era. I think God's doing something with His church."
The census data has not always been captured the same way, or in the same categories, and it is therefore difficult to compare the latest figures with previous ones.
Tauranga and the Western Bay generally follow national trends.
The most noticeable rises both in the Western Bay and Tauranga and nationally, are from churches such as Ratana and Ringitu, and in religions such as Hinduism.
There are 121 religions nominated in the 2006 census for Western Bay and Tauranga believers. Many of these are cultural branches of one faith, similar but distinct.
Others sound similar but live very differently - Open Brethren and Exclusive Brethren being one obvious example.
Tauranga Ministers Association chairman Russell Embling said churches were having to employ marketing tools, including being selective with language.
"Brethren ... we are as a group struggling with that name," he said, acknowledging the name Greerton Bible Church deliberately held no mention of the Brethren faith.
Mr Embling is a senior pastor at the church, and has been there for 10 years.
"It is a bit about marketing. Marketing is not an expression most pastors are comfortable with but it's a reality," he said.
People were now looking at different churches before they decided on one, he said.
"We use that term 'shopping' for a church," he said.
"People are now moving within their denominations. A few years ago you'd never move. Now you shop around like you would for a school."
"Auditioning" a church might involve going to a service, checking a list of services and events, and talking to priests, pastors, or lay people.
"We can't become complacent. We have to make sure we're meeting the needs of people.
"One of the things I have noticed is the church wanting to become more relevant. They're wanting to connect more with where people are at," Mr Embling said.
"They're starting to recognise they have to adapt the method without changing the message."
Some of these changes see special youth-focused services, often on Sunday evening.
"They're accommodating youth in a way older people are not comfortable with. They're communicating the message in a medium young people appreciate."
Ten years ago his congregation was an ageing one, with fewer than 20 children involved.
That number has trebled in a decade, and more younger families were attending.
"It comes back to where churches are saying, 'we've got to move out of traditional mindsets'. They've got to know about Generation X-ers and how they can relate to church."
Tauranga's South Pacific Bible College dean of academics, David Nelson, said the become younger. The college had two diploma programmes, with 14 students in each.
"Churches are having to learn to market themselves. From my perspective there's good and bad in that but if we want to continue making an impact we have to market ourselves."