How Can We Best Reach People Of Other Cultures Here In Australia?
Just recently I had the privilege of being part of a weekend service in an Indian church. The church was having its third anniversary from being planted and was celebrating with baptisms.
It was exciting seeing how this new church had grown over the last three years. They were passionate in their faith and their worship and excited about what God was doing in their midst.
My colleague and I were the only people present who weren’t Indians. It was truly a mono cultural church, and it was in Melbourne.
The demographics got me thinking and I did some research and was surprised to discover that there were estimated to be 240,000 Indian immigrants in Melbourne and 970,000 in Australia. Not only that, but for the first time in history, England doesn’t have number one place, trailing just behind India.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that the top 10 countries of origin in respect of migrants in Australia by are as follows:
India: ~971,020 people
England: ~970,950 people
China: ~732,000 people
New Zealand: ~638,000 people
Philippines: ~412,500 people
Vietnam: ~318,000 people
South Africa: ~224,000 people
Nepal: ~197,000 people
Malaysia: ~183,000 people
Sri Lanka: ~172,000 people
What I saw in this Indian church was Indian people reaching Indian people in Australia in a way that I as an Aussie of European descent could not hope to do.
The question also sprung to mind as to whether God had a missionary purpose in sending some of the team in this and other migrant churches to Australia. Perhaps His divine plan involved sending disciples, ministers and church planters to Australia to reach the multitudes that were here but unreached?
Jossy Chacko in his soon to be released book “Dare to Partner; The West and the Rest: A New Era for the Great Commission” brings these observations:
While many of us migrated seeking safety and opportunity for our families, I believe the Church has a responsibility to teach, challenge and equip migrants to see migration not only as provision—but as purpose.
We know the early Church spread along migrant and trade routes. Movement has always been part of God’s redemptive story.
There is a growing mission field in our Nation comprising of non-Anglo migrants. There is also a growing missionary force comprised of non-Anglo men, women and children. And at times the churches they plant will look different and feel different to what many of us are used to.
NCLS Research has put out some research entitled “Ethnic Diversity In Australia” and commented that:
“The proportion of church attenders born overseas has risen over time, up to 37% in 2021. About a quarter of churchgoers speak a language other than English at home.”
They went on to say that:
“Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, second only to Luxembourg according to the OECD. It is also a relatively cohesive society, compared with other western nations. Community surveys show consistent and strong patterns of support for multiculturalism. Churches often form a social support network for people newly arrived in Australia offering friendship, hospitality, material aid and assistance.”
I found it fascinating that NCLS also reported that attenders born in non-English speaking countries were more likely to be younger and more highly educated.
They also reported that:
Most Australian churches can be described as “mono-cultural Anglo”.
However, compared with other nations, Australia has a very high proportion of multicultural churches.
In 2016 around 23% of Australian churches were ‘multicultural’—where no one ethnic group accounts for 80% or more of the membership. This compared to 14% in the USA.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells just that in 2025 about 32% of Australians were born overseas and that roughly 70–75% of overseas born Australians come from non-English-primary-language countries.
That has enormous ramifications for the church and church planting in Australia.
Whilst traditionally the majority of churches and church plants in Australia have been mono ethnic (English speaking), and a growing number are multi-ethnic, in times to come a growing number will be non-English speaking mono ethnic.
I am reminded that it will take all kinds (and cultures) of people to reach all people, and that as Jesus said in Luke 10:2:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
The harvest is growing and changing, and so too are the harvesters and the churches they will plant in the harvest.
An important question is whether we will recognise and support what is needed to reach the different segments of the harvest and the culturally adaptive methods needed to do this?
