Most avoid church but still believe

More than two-thirds of New Zealanders say they believe in God but less than half of them go to church or pray.

A Herald poll of 1000 New Zealanders carried out last month revealed 67.7 per cent of people said they were believers, but only 20.6 per cent said they often attended church.

Of those surveyed, 26.9 per cent said they prayed often.

Dr Kevin Ward, Dean of Studies at Knox College in Dunedin, said the results were consistent with a trend emerging over the last few years.

"The old paradigm of understanding religion was counting the number of people who went to church," he said.

But as people's lives became busier, they found they did not have time to fit everything in.

"Sports clubs everywhere are struggling; people just don't have time to belong anymore, but they keep practising religion."

Dr Ward said religion in New Zealand was becoming more diverse.

"People are rather eclectic in their beliefs. They construct their own beliefs out of all the religions available."

The Herald poll also revealed more than half of those surveyed, 61.9 per cent, believed in an afterlife.

The president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, Javed Khan, believed New Zealanders were becoming more interested in religion.

"It may be that people have realised that Darwin's theory is just a theory. There are so many things that cannot just be explained away."

He said world events such as the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States were encouraging people to find out more about religion, particularly the Muslim faith.

"You couldn't find a copy of a Koran around that time."

New Zealand Jewish Council president David Zwartz said that regardless of how people observed religion, the poll showed all ages and ethnicities shared common values.

Asian and Pacific Island respondents believed most in God: 84.8 per cent of Asian people said they believed, compared with 76.4 per cent of Pacific Island people and 64 per cent of Europeans.

"The important thing," Mr Zwartz said, "is that through our central beliefs we can agree on the basic rules for a good society."