In January 2025 the ACR emailed out a survey to all Sydney Anglican Rectors – numbering just over 250. The survey was short and uncomplicated to ensure a good number of respondents. Below are the results for the survey and the questions that were asked.
The catalyst for the survey followed some anecdotes about preaching frequency amongst our Rectors, especially amongst those Rectors who serve in what might be called a large church.1 The anecdotes suggest that Sydney Anglican Rectors are preaching less often than they used to, and that the frequency lowers as the church or staff team becomes larger. Anecdotes suggested that almost all Rectors of large Sydney Anglican Churches preached no more than 50% of the time.
In light of these anecdotes, our survey was conducted to get a sense of how often in reality our Rectors preach. Respondents were also asked to report on the size of their average Sunday adult attendance and number of full-time staff. These questions were asked to observe any correlation between preaching frequency and size of church/staff team.
As you read and interpret the data for yourself, please remember that the questions asked were simple and unspecific. Some Rectors fall in between suggested ranges (that is, they preach more than 3 times out of 5 on average per year, but not as much as 4). Respondents therefore had to either ‘round up’ their answer, or ‘round down’. One suspects that most would round up. Furthermore, there was no definition given in regard to ‘full-time staff’. Is it only pastoral staff who are in view, or administrative staff, or ministry apprentices? What about part-time staff? Would calculating the ‘full-time equivalents’ be acceptable? Again, the survey was kept simple by design. These things, amongst other such considerations, need to be kept in mind when reading and interpreting the data.
One final consideration is the human tendency to overestimate. The survey relied on the accuracy and honesty of the respondent. Some would have been overly diligent, calculating throughout 2024 how often they preached, and dividing by 52 to provide an accurate response. Others would have made a quick educated guess, but not taken into account things like annual leave. As an example of overestimating, it is fascinating to the ACR that out of the 185 respondents we have 21 large churches of 400+ adult weekly attendance. In the 2024 Synod Attendance Patterns report, there were only 10 such churches.2 Praise the Lord if this is indeed the case! But most likely, in reading such self-reporting data, we are wise to remember our human tendency to overestimate.
We leave the data below for your consideration.
Results by staff size
| On average, how often do you preach? | ||||||
| How many full-time staff are at your church? | One week in every five | Two weeks in every five | Three weeks in every five | Four weeks in every five | Five weeks in every five | Average |
| 1 | 1 | 8 | 27 | 30 | 4.3 | |
| 2 | 2 | 25 | 18 | 5 | 3.5 | |
| 3 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 3.2 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3.0 | |
| 5+ | 2 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 3.0 |
Results by number of church attendees
| On average, how often do you preach? | ||||||
| On the average Sunday, how many adults attend your church? | One week in every five | Two weeks in every five | Three weeks in every five | Four weeks in every five | Five weeks in every five | Average |
| Less than 50 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4.1 | |
| 50-100 | 8 | 24 | 22 | 4.3 | ||
| 100-200 | 3 | 31 | 21 | 8 | 3.5 | |
| 200-300 | 17 | 5 | 3.2 | |||
| 300-400 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2.9 | |
| 400+ | 2 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 |
