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<\/a><\/p>\nThe age of enrolments, combined with the knowledge that the median age of marriage in Australia is 31-33, makes it unsurprising that two-thirds of enrolments have not been married; which also makes it unsurprising that two-thirds of enrolments do not have children.<\/p>\n
Many of the places where inquirers are coming from are proportionate to the geographic distribution of the Australian population. As expected, disproportionately high proportions are found in Greater Brisbane, home of this catechism course, where 55.6% of enrolments come from 10% of the Australian population. More curiously, other places with higher proportions of enrolments include Adelaide, Perth, \u2018Southeast Queensland (excluding Greater Brisbane)\u2019, and \u2018Western Australia (excluding Perth)\u2019.<\/p>\n Inquiries into Orthodox Christianity have substantially increased. Anecdotally, an uptick could be noticed from 2020, likely as a result of more Orthodox content online during the pandemic. Meaningful data regarding a surge of interest begins to emerge in HAOC Catechism enrolments from 2023 onwards; this is confirmed by gradually increasing numbers of baptism from 2021 and a sharp rise in 2024.<\/p>\n Krindatch\u2019s 2008 study of Orthodox parishioners and parish life in the USA indicated that conversions were from: Protestant, 57%; Roman Catholic, 39%; and Agnostic, 4%. This was consistent with my 2019 study on Orthodox catechism in Australia, where 59% of adult baptisms converted from Protestantism, 37% from Roman Catholicism, and 4% from any other background.<\/p>\n The present sample shows that conversions to Orthodox Christianity are now much more aligned with the Australian population. Compared to previous surveys, proportions of conversions from Catholicism and Protestantism have declined \u2013 though, in the case of Evangelical Protestantism, still well above the general population. This decline in proportions of conversions is not caused by a decline in the raw numbers of conversions, but instead by the surging proportion of conversions from Irreligion and Other Religions. This likely indicates that, with the greater visibility of Orthodox Christianity online, people are more likely to inquire directly rather than via Protestantism or Catholicism.<\/p>\n Curiously, over a quarter of these inquirers were not attending a parish prior to their enrolment. It is possible that a portion of these are experiencing Orthodoxy online while choosing not to attend their local parish \u2013 a phenomenon parallelled elsewhere. For such, it is emphasised that Orthodox Christianity is an embodied faith \u2013 and often, enrolment in the catechism is a \u2018first step\u2019 in exploring Orthodoxy, with attendance to follow. Another difficulty in Australia is the \u2018tyranny of distance\u2019 \u2013 while inquirers could be in any part of Australia, Orthodox parishes outside of state capitals are few and far between.<\/p>\n According to the inquirers themselves, there are four overarching ways that people in Australia learn about Orthodox Christianity: through the priest or the parish, through friends or family, through online personalities, and through reading and other private study. Deliberately evangelistic activities are few and far between for Orthodox parishes in Australia; consequently, it should be of little surprise that the priest and the parish is an unlikely vector for discovering Orthodox Christianity. Given that priests are ordained to pastor, and that traditionally the bulk of the work of evangelism was done by laity \u2013 if anything, the only surprise should be that the number is so high.<\/p>\n A little more commonly, some people learn about Orthodoxy through their friends and family. This is more in keeping with the traditional means of learning about Christ \u2013 that is, Christians would tell other people, and invite them to also become Christian. This is likely a field that has increased, as converts tell other converts about this Pearl of Great Price.<\/p>\n The major addition, particularly after the COVID pandemic, is online personalities \u2013 mostly priests, but also including some laity. Not only is this a new vector, it is now also our largest single vector. Almost all of the people mentioned are overseas (mostly in the USA), which highlights the lack of local Orthodox clergy or representatives with an online presence \u2013 one that, now, necessarily includes short-form video (e.g. YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels).<\/p>\n When looking more specifically, the top 3 pathways to learning of Orthodox Christianity account for more than 50% of all inquiries:<\/p>\n One of the challenges noted through 2025 is that discovering Orthodox Christianity needs to be followed by attending a parish. How is it, then, that a person finds their parish?<\/p>\n Once a person discovers Orthodox Christianity, we would anticipate that they would learn more, and then look for an Orthodox community near them that they can attend, and that they perceive as being willing to accept them \u2013 a \u2018handover\u2019 which has been noted as a challenge to overcome.<\/p>\n Of the three categories of pathways identified \u2013 Friends & Family, Priest or Parishes, or Online Resources \u2013 online pathways accounted for how over half of inquirers found their parish. Further, the single primary way that a person finds their parish is by searching on the internet through search engines, such as Google. No other online pathway was even close \u2013 perhaps surprisingly, the next largest online pathway was Google Maps.<\/p>\n Friends & Family accounted for almost a third of inquirers. Interestingly, these were primarily through friends \u2013 and otherwise, through one\u2019s spouse or romantic partner \u2013 who were inviting to their own parish. Though perhaps initially surprising, the rareness for other family members to be pathways in finding out about one\u2019s parish is well explained by the nature of the data, i.e. collated from adults enrolling in a catechism course. This article has shown that a rising number of Australians are interested in the Church that Jesus founded \u2013 that is, the Orthodox Church. What can we do to receive these inquirers?<\/p>\n Part of the great challenge of the spread of the Orthodox faith is that it has taken place through the internet \u2013 at once a central hub for all the resources on Orthodox Christianity that one could ever want, and a place where the traditional means of authority is frequently frustrated. This can be combatted from three ways. Firstly, a Diocese or a Deanery is able to produce resources, which can be used across their Deanery or Diocese, amplifying the expertise of clergy of the Deanery or Diocese, and providing a local connection for inquirers. Secondly, a Rector is able to produce, provide, and direct towards reliable resources for their particular parish, guiding newcomers to which resources are reliable and trustworthy. Lastly, a parish website should have clear guidance and welcome for newcomers to attend services and otherwise connect with parish life, as well as collating resources for the benefit of parishioners and newcomers alike \u2013 including resources in different formats, in different languages, and for people of different worldviews.<\/p>\n Individual parishioners have a critical role to show the hospitality of a parish. This can begin from welcoming newcomers at the door, offering to accompany them and show them how to be in church \u2013 something that can no longer be \u2018assumed knowledge\u2019. It is beneficial to have a ready answer for why we live with a surpassing hope (1 Peter 3:15). Newcomers will have a diversity of questions, and it\u2019s not necessary for every parishioner to know every answer for complicated topics \u2013 but all are able to introduce a newcomer to someone who can answer the question. For those who wish to go beyond this hospitality, a parishioner is able to share parish events or their own experience of faith on social media, encouraging people to experience it for themselves. Further, parishioners are able to invite those who show interest \u2013 friends, coworkers, neighbours \u2013 to experience church services, and even to coffee or lunch afterwards.<\/p>\n The Rector has a vital role in responding well to inquirers. He must ensure that there is clarity on the process for preparing to be baptised, including regular check-ins for guidance and Q&A, a structured catechism course, and a lengthy attendance as a normative prerequisite to baptism. Beyond baptism, the Rector\u2019s work continues in providing the discipleship and mentoring that typically happens during regular Confession. To best teach newcomers, he needs to create approachable educational series\u2019 in which the Faith is taught clearly, presuming no prior knowledge. Lastly, the Rector is able to connect newcomers with people in the community who are able to be mentors for young adults.<\/p>\n Those responsible for parish management have a great impact on whether a newcomer becomes part of the congregation. It is important to provide for young adults to grow in their faith \u2013 social, service, and mentoring. The newly-made catechumens should be celebrated, while newly-baptised need to be incorporated and made volunteers – with metrics evaluated to ensure no one \u2018slips through the cracks\u2019. Periodically, it would be beneficial for those managing the parish to review the parish\u2019s online presence to ensure that it continues to be accurate and welcoming for non-members.<\/p>\n A Diocese or a Deanery experiencing an influx of inquirers is uniquely able to respond to the challenge at hand. Seeing more people being catechised at a distance from any existing church, the need to establish missions or outreaches is clear. To do this, and to care for newcomers to existing parishes, more priests and deacons will need to be ordained. Over time, some of this problem may solve itself, with today\u2019s newcomers being tomorrow\u2019s ordinands; in the meantime, this will raise questions around the proper formation of clergy, and what requirements ought be met.<\/p>\n It is a great joy that the Orthodox Church in Australia is receiving more inquirers than ever before. We will need more clergy, and parishes in more places. We will need quality resources, accurate websites, clear paths to baptism, and comprehensive catechisms. We will need ongoing discipleship and to assess parish engagement. Lastly, we will need kind individuals to welcome our newcomers, becoming bridges into our communities. As God has granted us this influx, we pray that we be given all that is needed to welcome others to likewise follow Him.<\/p>\n Priest Andrew Smith, M.T.S., is the Rector of Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, and additionally serves the ROCOR Diocese of Australia and New Zealand as Diocesan Statistician and as Chair of the Committee for Diocesan Evangelism. His postgraduate research was on catechism, and he has written and presented on conversion, enculturation, and other missiological topics. His past academic works may be found at: https:\/\/divinity.academia.edu\/FrAndrewSmith<\/a><\/p>\n Inquirers into Orthodox Christianity within the ROCOR Diocese of Australia and New Zealand Introduction The time of the COVID pandemic has provided many aftershocks. Sources have noted that, for the first time in decades, the last few years have seen a general pivot towards religion across the \u2018Western World\u2019. Further,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":17514,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["entry","author-priest-andrew-morgan","post-18562","page","type-page","status-publish"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18562"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18578,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18562\/revisions\/18578"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocor.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nKey Findings:<\/h3>\n
\n
Where are they coming from?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nKey findings:<\/h3>\n
\n
How did they find us?<\/h2>\n
\nThe least of these is reading books or other prolonged accounts of Orthodox Christianity. Formerly a central means of bringing the Orthodox Faith to new horizons, the decline of reading as a pastime makes this a languishing vector.<\/p>\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe remainder found their parish through encounters with a priest or a parish. Most likely, this will be the parish priest, and it includes referrals of the inquirer to another parish that is more in keeping with the needs of the inquirer, including for reasons of distance, language, or predominant culture.
\nThus, the top 4 specific pathways to finding out about one\u2019s parish account for more than 70% of enrolments:<\/p>\n\n
Key findings:<\/h3>\n
\n
What do we need to do?<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
About the Author<\/h3>\n
Footnotes<\/h3>\n
\n
\nSource: Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, \u201cEntering the Kingdom: The Catechetical School of Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church, Brisbane\u201d, as at May 2025, https:\/\/www.HolyAnnunciation.net\/Catechism<\/a><\/li>\n
\nAs a curiosity, men who are aged 15-30, unmarried, and childless comprise the same number of enrolments as all women who enrolled \u2013 albeit a sizeable minority of men.<\/li>\n