Australia: Pentecostal revolution in the suburbs
Linda Morris Religious Affairs Reporter
June 28, 2007

WHEN pastor John McMartin told friends 25 years ago that he would be leading a new Pentecostal church deep in the heart of Sydney's south-west, he was told that he was crazy.

"Back in those days Liverpool had a bad reputation," he recalled yesterday. "Friends said, 'Don't got to Liverpool, it's a preacher's graveyard'. Churches had tried to start here and it was really tough and hard to grow them. People weren't responsive. There was a lot of hurt and wounded people hardened to the gospel."

Times have changed. Liverpool's demographics are very different, and the census shows NSW is at the heart of a revival in Pentecostalism. the rest


Most Australians are Christian: census
June 27, 2007
Christianity remains the religion of choice in Australia, but Hinduism and Buddhism are growing at a greater rate. the rest