29
Aug

The US church culture does not work in Oz

Category: Myth Debug

Add Comment

Like what you see? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get daily updates!
Or hear for an explanation about RSS, thank you for visiting.

As you can see Aussies are different than Yanks

As you can see Aussies are different than Yanks

A PR from a Baptist church in Melbourne raised some good points about forcing a different church culture onto the Australian churches.

So many churches around the world model themselves on American churches (many in Australia included). And yet, our culture down here and I would say the same for the English culture is far less overtly Christian than many parts of the U.S. In fact, the majority of the culture down here is very much anti-institutional Christianity. They like Jesus, just not some Christians and the church. People seem to have been burnt too many times.

How right is that? I am not knocking American churches or even churches that have come from America as many are great and awesome and have good impact. But the problem lays when you try and force the American culture of the church onto Australia. It wont work!

It may work for a while but at the end of the day, if you aim to reach Americans, you will only reach Americans and like minded people.

Lets look at some good examples..

…..Oh God, …..Oh God

One of the things that gets me as an Aussie is the ……Oh God, ……Oh God, ……Oh God people who are the most blokey Ocker you can get but then they pray, they tang and Oh God at the end of every line like the yanks.

Suited up like a penguin

I have been in a church were they force the ministers and leaders to were inappropriate clothes for appearance. I am all for appearance but when you see a preacher sweating like a stuffed pig in a suit on a 40 odd degree day, that is plain silly and dangerous.

You have to dress for the conditions of where your preaching.

Street Witnessing: Yelling to get your point across

Yes it works in the US and i’ve seen it work in Oz but the majority of the time it does not especially in Australia. The reason it works in the US is because it is apart of their culture and Constitution were the JW’s took the country to court to be able to preach on the streets.

More wrong culture Examples?

If you have any examples of church cultures that do not work in another place, let us know them below via comments.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Print this article!
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • Bumpzee
  • Furl
  • TwitThis

Related Posts

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS Feed

13 comments so far

Armen
 1 

I TOTALLY agree!

There has been the same issue all over. Even in the past, there have been those who have tried to make Australian’s like the Northern Irish, or have preached about stuff you’d get away with in N.I. but you wouldn’t in Australia. It’s very ignorant.

Armen’s last blog post..Preparing for the future

March 15th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
GermWorks
 2 

Australia like North Ireland? Man thats funny…
Only similar themes would be the Irish AFL Players :lol:

My best example is that Street Whitnessing and playing music on the street works great in America but over hear in Australia it does not have as much impact. Not saying not to try it but you have to be aware and open to the spirit on how to impact the community. Australia is different to America (Thankfully!).

Thanks Armen for your comments.

March 17th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
GermWorks
 3 

Another example of Americans forcing their culture…

and please read my response (which links hear)
http://mondaymorninginsight.com/index.php/site/comments/john_macarthur_on_respect_in_the_pulpit/

April 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 am
Ariana
 4 

Very good article

October 30th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Caleb
 5 

Jentezen Franklin, when he was over here in Australia, mentioned that Australians were more like sponges and less likely to be vocal like Americans.

Church culture is stronger in the US, however Australian culture is very secular, and you said, anti institutional Christianity.

It presents an interesting challenge to the way we promote our faith, seeming that American culture is pervasive so much in Australia as it is.

However I do find this post a little bit redundant. I mean, you could have another post that heads ‘Why Australian church culture won’t work in the US’?

What is the real point here? Is it a comment on culture, or a comment on our genuine faith?

October 30th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Jermayn
 6 

I have not heard of Jentezen Franklin before but I like his comment about how Australian’s are more like sponges. Very wise and makes a lot of sense.

It presents an interesting challenge to the way we promote our faith

That does raise a very good point.
For me, my testimony and the way I conduct myself is the best way I can show God, for others its different.

Thanks Caleb for your views and the real point of this post is not a common on our faith or even our culture, its more of a thought provoking comment that will hopefully get people thinking about how they reach the lost/ unsaved/ sinners (what ever we call them).

October 31st, 2008 at 9:11 am
Jon
 7 

How about mega-churches like Hillsong and Riverview? Looks like American church culture is working just fine in those congregations…

January 15th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Jermayn
 8 

You raise a good argument Jon but if you read my article I use examples of US church culture that even Hillsong and Riverview do NOT do. Like in your face street witnessing, dress up like penguins in suits on 40 degree days – Hillsong and Riverview almost never have their Pastors, ushers and musicians in suits, they always wear (smart)casual clothes.

So imo Hillsong and Riverview just show that they are popular among the Australians because they are no Americianised and prove what I am trying to say.

I however am not an expert on Hillsong and or Riverview (been to a few services but NOT attended regularly) so if you have examples of how they are Americianised, I would love to hear them Jon. Thanks also for taking the time to comment :D

January 16th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Jon
 9 

Thanks Jermayn, how about these examples:

- prosperity gospel
- focus on “entertainment” eg long worship services and light gospel messages
- mega-church structure
- overt tlerance of sin within the body eg fornication
- high-profile business arrangements eg music, television, books

You’ll find that these features were common in the USA well before they appeared over here.

And I’ve never seen anybody in Australia wear a suit on a 40 degree day.

February 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Jermayn
 10 

Yes I would agree that the five you gave are all very good examples. Thank you for these great examples, I will add them to the original post (credited to you).

and you have never seen anyone wear a suit on a 40 degree day? I have and its quite sad. Even wearing a tie, long sleeve shirt tucked in and standing like a London guard gets a bit much at times…

February 4th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Tellitubbi
 11 

I think each church is different and they need to be able to create their own ‘culture’ within the church to reach out to the people that are the target audience of that church – whether that be a youth culture or a culture for the missions. Each church is different and operates different in order to meet and reach the needs of different people who are searching for christ.

This is an article that makes you really think about the different types of churches there are out there.

February 7th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Jermayn
 12 

and they need to be able to create their own ‘culture’ within the church to reach out to the people that are the target audience of that church

Very good and I totally agree. Church is a lot like Ice Cream, I may like Spearmint but you may like Chocolate.

February 9th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Property
 13 

We don’t need a Church full of people but a Church full of Good People. Ten practicing Catholics are much more influential than ten thousand not practicing.

Remember when you go to be judged you will not be judged by how full your hands are but how clean they are.

May 23rd, 2009 at 7:15 pm

Leave a reply

Name (*)
Mail (will not be published) (*)
URI
Comment
Back to top