We are taking the pulse of Australian churches with a Church Pulse Check which tracks simple estimates of attendance and faith commitments. What has happened since COVID-19?
In late 2025 a sample of Australian churches have been selected to provide estimates for their church. Those churches have been emailed with a link direct to their survey, which will take just a few minutes to complete. Note: this local church information will not be made public.
About the Church Pulse Check
We have collected estimates of church attendance for a long time. Then, following the pandemic disruptions, post COVID, we caught up with a Church Pulse Check survey, designed to provide a quick way that churches can provide their estimates of attendance and faith commitments.
Now we are going to check in more regularly. In 2025, a random sample of churches has been asked to complete a Pulse Check to represent the diversity of churches. In 2026, we will integrate it into the National Church Life Survey. In 2027 and 2028, we will ask a random sample of churches to provide an update again.
The survey asks a sample of select churches to provide:
- Average weekly attendance at their church
- Number of Christian faith commitments*
Who is invited?
Australian churches across more than 20 Christian denominations and movements, as well as independent churches, have partnered with us over the past 35 years to complete research into church health and vitality. This national research snapshot provides valuable data for church leaders, researchers and many others who resource and support church health around the country.
- In 2025 a randomly selected group of churches from across the country has been invited to take part in the 2025 Church Pulse Check.
Their responses will form a 2025 national sample of churches. So check your church's email to see if you have received an email invitation from NCLS Research and click on the link to complete the survey.
What information will each church provide?
- Name and location of your church
- What has been the average weekly attendance at your church over the past few years? We just want your best estimates.
- How many, if any, Christian faith commitments* were there during 2025? Again, an estimate is all we need.
*By 'faith commitments' we mean baptisms, confirmations or other sacraments/rites of passage or moments of public commitment.
Confidential
- Not to sell the contact details for your churches to a third party
- Not to publish estimates of attendance or estimates of faith commitments for
- local churches (e.g. congregations, parishes, campuses, clusters)
- denominational church regions (e.g. presbyteries, dioceses or state-level associations).
Were you invited to take part in 2025?
In late 2025 a randomly selected group of churches from across the whole country has been invited to take part in the 2025 Church Pulse Check.
Those select churches have been emailed an invitation with a direct link to their survey. So check your church's email to see if you have received an email from NCLS Research and click on the link to complete the survey.
Related information
Results from the Church Pulse Check 2021-2024
Results from previous years of the Church Pulse Check are available in the 2021-2024 Church Pulse Check report below.
Read the free 2021-2024 Church Pulse Check report
This report covers the period since COVID-19 and includes church attendance estimates and faith commitments (baptisms, confirmations, public professions of faith). Like previous NCLS Research reports it contains estimates across the nation, for each state, for denominational types (e.g. Mainstream Protestant, Pentecostal etc) and for individual denominations - where possible.
Snapshot of findings from the 2021-2024 Church Pulse Check
