Growth Of Evangelical Christianity In New Zealand

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Rutland Street Church, Christchurch, New Zealand.

According to New Zealand census data, from 2013 to 2018, the number of "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist Christians" grew from 15,381 individuals to 38,127 individuals from 2013 to 2018.^[1]

An evangelical Christian is a Protestant who is Gospel-centered. During the Reformation of the 16th century, "Evangelical" was a favorite term, especially as used by Lutherans. Evangelical Christians are often zealous when it comes to evangelism and evangelical Christianity has seen rapid growth in the world (see: Growth of evangelical Christianity).

In addition, according to New Zealand census data, from 2013 to 2018, the number of "Evangelical, Born Again and Fundamentalist Christians" grew from 15,381 individuals to 38,127 individuals.^[2] In addition, according to New Zealand census data, from 2013 to 2018, the number of Pentecostal Christians increased from 74,256 to 81,624.^[3]

Stuart M. Lange, author of the book A Rising Tide: Evangelical Christianity in New Zealand 1930–65, wrote that evangelical Christianity saw a resurgence in New Zealand in the 1950s/1960s.^[4]

According to Christianity Today, evangelical Christianity grew from approximately 13,800 followers in 2006 to 15,400 in 2013."^[5]

The Christian organization Operation World indicates there are now 784,015 evangelical Christians in New Zealand (18.2 percent of the population) and that the evangelical population in New Zealand is growing at an annual rate of 0.5 percent.^[6]

According to the New Zealand Christian Network:

“

We are the NZ member of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and are committed to representing evangelical faith positions. But we recognise also that the term ‘evangelical’ has different meanings in different countries and contexts, so we are very careful in its usage. NZ evangelicalism seeks to be faithful to scripture and is broad politically and socially.

We offer an opportunity for a visible expression of unity which connects us beyond ourselves, across ministries, towns, cities, local churches, and denominations.

Reliable figures suggest 14.5-15% of New Zealanders attend church weekly. 18-19% ‘regularly’. Approximately 500,000 of these Christians are evangelical. This represents a significant constituency that NZCN seeks to serve and represent in different ways.^[7]

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1 Expected future growth evangelical/born again/fundamentalist Christianity in New Zealand
2 See also
3 External links
4 Notes

Expected future growth evangelical/born again/fundamentalist Christianity in New Zealand[edit]

"I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious."- Eric Kaufmann^[8]

Evangelical Christianity is growing in the world - even in irreligious/nonreligious regions (See: Growth of evangelical Christianity and Growth of evangelical Christianity in irreligious regions).

On December 23, 2012, Eric Kaufmann wrote:

“

I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious.

On the other hand, the secular West and East Asia has very low fertility and a rapidly aging population... In the coming decades, the developed world's demand for workers to pay its pensions and work in its service sector will soar alongside the booming supply of young people in the third world. Ergo, we can expect significant immigration to the secular West which will import religious revival on the back of ethnic change. In addition, those with religious beliefs tend to have higher birth rates than the secular population, with fundamentalists having far larger families. The epicentre of these trends will be in immigration gateway cities like New York (a third white), Amsterdam (half Dutch), Los Angeles (28% white), and London, 45% white British.^[9] ^[10]

”

Regarding the Western World as a whole and the growth of the religious population in the West, Kaufmann wrote:

“

...this paper claims that the developing world will not only never catch up, but that, ironically, it is the West which will increasingly come to resemble the developing world. Committed religious populations are growing in the West, and will reverse the march of secularism before 2050. The logic which is driving this apparently anti-modern development is demography, a shadowy historical force whose power multiplies exponentially with the modernisation process. Demography is about raw numbers, and, in an age of low mortality, its chief components are fertility and migration.^[11]

”

At a conference Kaufmann said of religious demographic projections concerning the 21st century:

“

Part of the reason I think demography is very important, at least if we are going to speak about the future, is that it is the most predictable of the social sciences.

...if you look at a population and its age structure now. You can tell a lot about the future. ...So by looking at the relative age structure of different populations you can already say a lot about the future...

...Religious fundamentalism is going to be on the increase in the future and not just out there in the developing world..., but in the developed world as well.^[12]

”