As part of her MA research in 2003, the Rev Joan Ross interviewed 26 church newcomers from 14 different Presbyterian churches spread throughout New Zealand and explored the reasons why they were attracted to church. Her research sought to understand newcomers’ underlying beliefs and assumptions, as well as explore what lead them to attend church either for the first time in their lives or by returning after a gap of at least three years.
Her research found that some returnees assign more significance to their attachment to God than to a church. They understand God as a constant, benign presence and guiding force in their lives, present even when they are not part of a church.
For other newcomers, including those who were starting to attend, belief in God is more provisional, a “leaning into” the collective faith of a church community with the possibility of faith arising from this belonging rather than preceding it. One comments: “All my life I’ve been an atheist, and am probably still struggling along that road. What I value about going to church, and what’s kept me there, is the emotional response I had to going, and spending time, and listening to the sermon and what people were saying. This is the first time it’s been meaningful for me.”
The newcomers give different reasons for going to church. Some cite personal experience of loss through bereavement, marital separation, ill-health and loss of mobility. Others talk of initiating personal change. Seeking out support in parenting young children is another motivator, as are contributing to a local community and adapting to a new country and culture.
Most returnees speak of going to church as a child or adolescent with family, or at school, as having shaped their adult capacity to see church positively. However, when their childhood family had been critical or left church, adult returnees are concerned about the church’s expectation of belief, lifestyle, and levels of participation.
One says: “One thing has changed for me going to church from when I was younger. Then it was more of a guilt thing. If you didn’t meet certain standards you felt guilty. Now it’s changed to something to strive for, to believe the best and give the best.”
Most of the newcomers in this study who begin attending church with little background do so initially for their children’s benefit.
Another newcomer wants to learn about the Bible. All speak of the benefits of becoming part of a church community, a “leaning into” the positive beliefs of a good God that spilt over into their lives. The research also suggests that men tended to start or return to church in the company of their partner or family, while women tended to do this singly, or with their children.
The newcomers’ research does not include migrant ethnic churches, but does find migrant newcomers attending Presbyterian and Uniting churches of primarily New Zealand European ethnicity. Belonging to a church gives newcomers a way of assimilating to NZ European culture.
The newcomers had Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Open Brethren, Pentecostal and Baptist backgrounds to their current attendance at Presbyterian or Uniting churches. Only three people had a Presbyterian background. Some recall two or three church “leavings”, usually in connection with teaching on divorce or remarriage, or lack of good relationships in the church. One says: “I had a strong Catholic background, but when I left home I put God ‘on the back burner.’ I got to him 20 years later. I’d felt empty for about five years, felt the need to sort out my spiritual life. I finally went to an Alpha programme where I live. Going back to church was so scary, all the pews, just knowing where to sit.”
None of these newcomers identified their current beliefs and practices as Presbyterian or Uniting, that is, denominational. They joined the local church that best welcomed them, and met their needs for belonging as well as believing.
Returnees prioritise their freedom to believe and be part of church in ways that make sense and worked for them. They look for welcome without pressure to return, support with discretion, acceptance without judgment, and recognition of the many things people try to balance in their lives.
Younger returnees, who may recall former church conflict or feeling isolated as reasons for leaving church, are alert to how people relate. This can make them feel welcome or rejected.
Bringing newcomers through the front door Returnees expect to believe and live as they choose, since belonging to a church can make them an exception in their family or group of friends. Some voiced discomfort at being between two worlds; with the risk of judgment from church norms, perhaps for cohabitation not marriage, and of criticism from their family for going to church: “For me, the people who have the same beliefs as me and are generally good people, they don’t go to church. My own peer group in the church, I can’t relate to, because they’re very full on, a very judgmental type of attitude. Do I want to carry on with the church?”
A warm welcome is extended to several new congregations that have recently been formally recognised as part of the Presbyterian Church:
The Korean Manawatu Development Congregation Parish. This congregation is based at St Alban’s Presbyterian Church in Palmerston North.
Several other parishes have also recently changed the way they live out God’s call, and have made the decision to amalgamate: