Story & Document Analysis by Becky Arthur
Video & Interviews by Alix Lee
Slideshow & Video Recording by Luke Faithfull
Christianity in Australia is on the decline. Census data indicates that Australians are drifting away from traditionally popular religion with a 7% decline in those identifying with a Christian denomination from 2001-2011. This trend is even stronger in younger age groups with almost a third of people between the ages of 15 and 25 identifying as irreligious. However one Christian denomination stands out as an anomaly in the seemingly dire outlook of Christianity in Australia. The Pentecostal church was the only Christian sect to increase its number in the last census, its percentage of the population going from 1% to 1.1%. The actual number of worshipers increased by one fifth over this same period. The Pentecostal church also maintains a distinct hold on the younger generation with a study in 2004 finding that over a third of Christians in the 15-25 year old age bracket attended Pentecostal services. This data clearly indicates that this particular denomination is succeeding in attracting young followers at a time when this age group is abandoning religion in droves. One of the biggest Pentecostal influences in the nation is Citipointe, a global church community that was founded in Brisbane and which boasts thousands of members. Citipointe is very different to most traditional Christian churches and appears to be successfully targeting young people despite their recent statistical rejection of God.
The original Citipointe church in Carindale is more like a satellite city than a place of worship, consisting of a day care centre, higher education facilities, a ministry college, residential units and a school with over 1500 students. This community is touted excessively on the Citipointe website, described as “people of all ages and races who are unmistakably influencing the world for good and for God”. The website is highly professional and image driven, presenting an attractive and modern church that does not shy away from using technology and social media to their advantage. The religious services on offer are numerous and varied, with 5 different services held every weekend, each with a focus on a particular age or ethnic group. The Sunday night service specifically caters to youth with “regular themed nights, guest bands, productions” and “relevant and inspirational preaching” promised every week.
Citipointe Campus Map. Source: http://bris.citipointechurch.com/sites/default/files/site.pdf
A Sunday night service at Citipointe does not fit the stereotype of a fire and brimstone speech from an aging pastor, held in an ancient church with silent worshipers huddled together on hard wooden pews. The venue is a massive 2500 seat auditorium which is filled to the brim with fashionably dressed young people, who chat excitedly as they wait for the night to begin in earnest. The noise only increases as a pop rock band begins to play, their enthusiastic audience singing and dancing along. Already the attraction for the teenagers is clear; you could easily mistake this Pentecostal church service for a local concert. The music continues throughout the night, only interrupted by incredibly professional re-enactments of popular bible stories and a few short sermons from a young minister. The overall vibe is incredibly relaxed and enjoyable, but a true fanaticism shines throughout the night, with enraptured audience members often losing themselves in their praise of the lord. The incredibly high production values of the music and the play seem to indicate that Citipointe enjoys a substantial amount of funding, most of which appears to be drawn from a tithing system easily accessed online. It is clear from the service that this Pentecostal church has cultivated a true “scene” that their young followers can easily and readily identify with. Rather than simply holding your average weekly church service, Citipointe has deliberately tailored their youth evening to combine Godly teachings with the modern teenage desire for social inclusion and excitement.
Beyond church services, Citipointe also provide a myriad of activities and groups that further entwine young people into their greater church community. One of these groups, the Red Frogs, is very well known across Queensland as a service that is ever present at events such as Schoolies and music festivals. According to their website the Red Frogs aim to “provide a positive peer presence in alcohol-fuelled environments where young people gather” and “promote and provide non-alcoholic and/or diversionary activities that engage young people in these environments.” However, the religious nature of this organisation is not clearly stated on their website, as it is buried in their “history” section and otherwise not directly referred to. The program accepts direct donations from the public and is also funded by the State Government, receiving $129,000 in 2012-2013, yet only members of Christian churches are able to participate.
Logan Telfer is a Red Frog and the university coordinator for Citipointe Brisbane. He believes that his church is popular with young people because it is “a very modern contemporary church, [with] short services, interactive music, a quick preach you know a half an hour preach just to get short and sharp to the point.” Logan is an active member of the Citipointe community and goes beyond just attending regular services and helping with the Red Frog Crew. “The 6pm Sunday service is where I help out, so its where a lot of the young people come” he says, “that’s when we are just involved in making sure new people feel welcome and connected.” The role of peer groups in establishing relationships with potential members seems to run throughout the Citipointe community. A number of girls at the 6pm service emphasised that they were involved in Citipointe because it was “fun”, “enjoyable” and “everyone just came up and introduced themselves, they seemed to like us straight away”. They did not mention religion as a driving force behind their attendance, instead focusing on the social aspects of the night and the exciting entertainment.
The Citipointe church distributes these professional looking business cards to encourage attendance at their services
This casual attendance is not necessarily the norm for Citipointe, with many young people drawn to the religiously devoted aspect of the church. Joash Barnes was introduced to Citipointe Brisbane after he encountered a young Red Frog member named Patches on a drunken night of partying. “I went up to Patches and asked him to pray for me.. he stepped out and did it and then he invited me to Citipointe the next day.” Joash believes that the modernisation of the church has been key to attracting young followers, saying that Citipointe “is keeping up with the times” and actively “creating environments that are fun to be at”. He compares attending Citipointe to his early childhood experiences at other Christian denominations, recalling that he never looked forward to these services or enjoyed them in any way. It appears that Citipointe has modernised just enough in order to to set themselves apart from traditional notions of religions and in doing so has created an environment difficult for young people to resist.
The Brisbane Citipointe church is just one of the many Pentecostal churches across the nation that is attracting new followers. Citiepointe itself has expanded from a single church with 25 members to a worldwide movement of 1000 churches in 31 countries. This expansion confirms the undeniable appeal of a place of worship that incorporates traditional forms of worship in a modern framework of pop music, social media and the utilisation of new technology. The community funding that the church has access to and the tax breaks afforded to all Australian religious institutions have likely aided the Citipointe community in achieving this evolution in how they conduct their services and subsequently spread the word. However, the power of this organisation is obvious and their influence is likely to only increase alongside the slow decline of religious piety in Australia. Only time will tell if the Pentecostal church will continue to appeal to the young people of the nation and so preserve their religion for future generations.
Citipointe Brisbane: An Investigation 