Up to two thirds of Adelaide’s Anglican churches are in danger of disappearing over the next few years. In a frank assessment, Adelaide’s Archbishop Jeffrey Driver reported to his Synod (church parliament) that “a rough analysis of our parishes at this time suggests to me that about a third– something like 20 parishes– are relatively secure. Another 20 are fragile and another 20 are really struggling. The trajectory and demography of many of those parishes tells me that in five years’ time, or even less, a number of those communities of faith will be at a point from which recovery will be difficult.”

Adelaide Anglicans got some positive news. St Barnabas Theological College is returning to North Adelaide in a new stand-alone campus. Archbishop Driver believes if his diocese can take on the challenge of reinvigorating local churches it could be a “kairos” moment – a time of opportunity. Adelaide is also the setting for one of the more successful Anglican church planting efforts, with the conservative evangelical Holy Trinity Church planting five suburban congregations to become the Trinity network.

In New Zealand, a plan to close half the congregations in the far-south diocese of Dunedin has been put forward by Bishop Kelvin Wright. In May 2012 he warned local Anglicans were “two years out from a crisis.” The plan to close half the local churches, Wrights plan for survival, was put to the Dunedin synod in September.

In Melbourne, a similar financial stress was expressed in concerns at the viability of clergy payments. “Over the last 30 years, the total number of licensed clergy in the Diocese has remained the same, if not slightly increased, even though the number of people attending Anglican churches and the number of churches have been falling,” a senior clergyperson Revd Dr David Powys told their synod, Melbourne’s Anglican Media reports.

“The proportion of attending Anglicans in the paid workforce is also falling. The same number of clergy are being supported, possibly more and more generously by a group with less and less capacity to do so.”

Powys said there was a reduction in ministry households where the stipend was the main source of income, and that there was an increase in ministers working part-time. The Melbourne Synod passed Powys’s motion “to review how the living requirements of clergy in the Melbourne Diocese were met”.

In Sydney, financial pressure has come from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis on an adventurous investment policy rather than attendances. The retiring archbishop Peter Jensen reported a healthy seven per cent increase in attendances over the last 10 years. The synod imposed a new levy on local churches to pay for land for new churches in new suburbs. In the past, the diocese had been able to make generous gifts from its investments.