The director of the National Church Life Survey, Keith Castles told a Fairfax publication that the average age in many local churches was over 70. Senior researcher Dr. Ruth Powell was reported by the Fairfax publication as saying that in a decade although the congregation would shrink the churches themselves would have a clearer vision and purpose.
Gary Hill, the Executive Director for The Crusader Union of Australia, told Christian Today Australia that although there has been a decline in church attendance overall but 'vast opportunities' still exist in the schools to 'be seized.'
The Crusader Union of Australia, a Christian youth ministry, has a particular focus on independent schools in NSW. It is now established in around 130 out of 395 independent schools in NSW. The ministry's sole focus on school students has a good justification to it explained Mr. Hill.
Reaching school students when they are young is critical, said Mr. Hill. He uses statistic to indicate that 70-80% of Christian adults from across Australia, the United State of America and the United Kingdom became Christians before they turned at the age of 18.