We Need More Churches

Posted on September 17, 2026 
Filed under Opinion

Murray Campbell in Melbourne writes,

“An all-too familiar sight caught my attention this morning as I scanned the papers: yet another church building had been sold. Restaurant Aptos in Stirling, South Australia, with a $495 17-course degustation menu, recently opened in the historic building. It is being touted as one of the most audacious fine dining ventures in recent times. For every story that makes the news, many more churches are closing their doors and lay dormant for years before an entrepreneur snatches up their property. Just in the small part of Melbourne where I live, several churches have shut in the last decade. Reasons for closure vary: a dying congregation in an ageing community, a dead church void of the gospel, or the harsh reality of economics.

We need more churches. More evangelical churches, to be precise: churches built on the apostolic testimony, preaching Christ crucified, and living out the faith in love and godliness. …”

– From his Substack, republished at The Gospel Coalition Australia.