Abstract
Religions and religious organisations are key sources of meaning in life through beliefs, values, ritual and experiences. As affiliation with religious institutions is in decline in Australia, the question becomes what role does it continue to play. This research explored this question through interviews with 71 retired Australians about how faith does or does not contribute to meaning in life. Forty-five interviewees had frequent connections with religious organisations, and some described meaningful experiences of God, faith-based values and religious rituals. However, the data indicated that social connections were key to meaning-making, especially in contexts in which interviewees were personally valued and felt they could contribute value. Significantly for religious organisations, these findings suggest that meaning in life is frequently found by religious and non-religious Australian retirees in ‘mattering’ rather than through the ritual or belief dimensions of religion.