Peter Brown, the vicar of the Anglican Church of the Epiphany in Masterton, said this was more visible in Anglican numbers because it was one of the largest traditions in NZ.
He believed there were fewer religious Kiwis because of two reasons.
"I think modern people see themselves as more self-sufficient and self-capable and feel they don't need something greater than themselves to fall back on.
"I also think people feel some kind of spiritualism but don't see that organised religion fills that for them."
Mr Brown said the falling away of the idea of Christianity was "peculiar to NZ".
"I think that organised religion has its time and place.
"I don't think we should get terribly worried if its time and place is not New Zealand 2015, elsewhere in the world it's growing."
Mr Beown said the trend was not reflected in his parish.
"We are completely bucking the trend, our parish is actually growing."
His theory for this was that other Anglican churches had modernised and tried to be "cool" while his parish had done the exact opposite.
"I think some groups have tried too hard and tried to bring in the drum kits, the guitar ... they haven't really attracted anybody new but they have driven away the older people.
"We provide the authentic Anglican traditional services which have served the church for 500 years and our numbers are rising."
Mr Brown said the new people were mostly returning Anglicans.
He had noted a growing interest in a course they run which explored making sense of God and religion intellectually, rather than "mindless worship".
"I think as people become better educated, they expect a more intellectual experience of religion."
The vicar for the Anglican Parish of Masterton, Stephen Kimberly, said with other Christian groups, "we are holding our own in numbers and, in some instances, increasing.
"Under the new Bishop of Wellington, a great deal is being done in the Anglican Church to arrest the downward trend and be more relevant and engaging with the community."
He said the "church" hadn't kept up with the evolving culture of the Western world which generally found its meaning and purpose more in more in wealth.
FACTS AND FIGURES
-Nationwide, the number of Catholics has overtaken Anglicans for the first time, but not in Wairarapa.
-In the region, there are just over 7000 Anglicans, 4000 Catholics, and almost 2000 people who identify with an undefined type of Christianity.
-About 16,500 people have no religion.
-Wairarapa's richer area had more Christians.
-Greytown, the least deprived town according to the NZ Deprivation Index, was the most godly, with 53 per cent saying they had a religion.
-The most religious suburb was Homebush/Te Ore Ore with 61 per cent of residents saying they were Christian.
-The number of people practising other religions has grown from 2006 to 2013.
-Hinduism was the choice for 33 Carterton residents and New Age appealed to people in Greytown, Featherston and Eketahuna. Martinborough has 18 Buddhists.
-Masterton has just over 11,000 Christians versus 9161 non believers.
-About five person of Wairarapa people objected to answering the Census question.
-Nationwide, Haupiri in the Grey district has the highest percentage of Christians thanks to the Gloriavale community.
-The number of Wiccan and witchcraft covens have fallen from 2082 to 1452 followers in the last Census.
-The number of people who say they worship Satan has fallen from 1167 to 843.
