Religion in the United Kingdom
Diversity, Trends and Decline

	Adherents	% pop
Christian3	42 079 000	71.6
No religion (inc. Jedis)3	9 104 000	15.5
Muslim11	1 546 626	2.7
Hindu11	552 421	1.0
Jedi Knight3	390 000	0.7
Sikh11	329 358	0.6
Jewish11	259 927	0.5
Buddhist11	144 453	0.3
Spiritualist	32 404
Pagan	30 569
Jainism	15 132
Wicca	7 227
Rastafarians	4 692
Baha'i	4 645
Zoroastrians	3 738
Christadelphian	2 368
Druidism	1 657
Pantheism	1 603
Satanism	1 525
New Age	906
Eckankar	426
Raja Yoga	261
Native American Church	234
Vodun (Vodoo)	123
Occult	99
Ancestor Worship	98
Free Church of Love	49
Amish	24
Other3	179 000	0.3
Total religious	45 163 000	76.8
No answer3	4 289 000	7.3

With over 170 distinct religions counted in the 2001 Census, the religious make-up of the UK is diverse, complex, multicultural and surprising. Less than half of the British people believe in a God, yet about 72% told the 2001 census that they were Christian, and 66% of the population have no actual connection to any religion or church, despite what they tend to write down on official forms. Between 1979 and 2005, half of all Christians stopped going to church on a Sunday. Religion in Britain has suffered an immense decline since the 1950s, and all indicators show a continued secularisation of British society in line with other European countries such as France.

Contents:

1. Organized Religion in England
2. The Importance of Religion to the British public
3. Christianity is the Established Religion in the UK
4. Belief in God
5. Ignorance of Religion
6. Church Attendance in the UK
7. 2001 National Census results on religion
8. Belief in Various Religious and Spiritual Things
9. Minority Religions in Britain
   1. Heathens
   2. Jedi Knights
   3. Satanism
10. Faith Schools
11. Church of England
12. Table: Sunday Attendance
13. Table: Church Membership
14. Table: Number of Ministers
15. Table: Churches | Congregations
16. Table: Religious Adherents 1975 to 2001
17. Table: Change over time
18. Table: Anglican Baptisms
19. Table: Confirmations
20. Table: Church of England Colleges & Schools
21. Table: Cremations

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1. Organized Religion in England

The comprehensive professional research in 2006 by Tearfund found that two thirds (66% - 32.2 million people) in the UK have no connection with any religion or church₁₀. In 2003 August, 18% of the British public said they were a practicing member of an organized religion, 25% they were members of a world religion₉. According to these results, one fifth of self-declared members would also not describe themselves as practicing that religion. Presumably the others remain members for traditional reasons or due to social pressure.

“This secular majority presents a major challenge to churches. Most of them - 29.3 million - are unreceptive and closed to attending church; churchgoing is simply not on their agenda.”

Tearfund (2007) on 2006 research₁₀

The percent who:	1964	1970	1983	1992	2005
Belong to a religion, attend services	74	71	55	37	31
Does not belong	3	5	26	31	38
Source: British Social Attitudes (2006/7)25

Those who 'do not belong' have first shed the practical and theoretical underpinnings of their religion, before finally overcoming social pressure to state 'your' religion. There are many who are not at the later stages of this secularisation process, so they still say they 'belong', although they are in the process of forgetting & discarding the physical and mental aspects of what they say they belong to. Sociologists know that if they count heads and ask about beliefs, more people say they belong to a religion, and say they have the beliefs of a particular religion, than actually do. People over-state their own religiosity; that's why statistics from polls will often give higher percentages of 'believers' than will head-counting and deeper investigations.

In a large 2006 August poll of year 9 and 10 teenagers in Cornwall, only 19% said that they 'have a religious faith'₁₃. It seems certain that if these teenagers reflect the future (only 22% said they believe in God), religious affiliation is going to continue to drop. A wider mori poll commissioned by the British Library found that nearly half of teenagers in Britain are atheists (2007)₂₆.

Organized religion in the UK has severely declined to the point where it is generally overlooked and ignored. The cultural attachment to Christianity in general lives on, but Monica Furlong in her 2002 comprehensive review of the state of English religion summarizes the English in the same way as Grace Davies who wrote "Religion in Britain since 1945" by saying the English "believe without belonging" to our religions. That is, many profess belief but do not take part in organized religion. Subsequent scholars (and we will see supporting evidence on this page) have doubted whether we believe; one said we "don't believe, and don't belong". The Catholic Church has shouldered the main part of this decline, as well as the Church of England as can be seen in the rest of the historical stats on this page.

“In the twenty years between 1980 and 2000 the Church of England suffered a 27 per cent decline in church membership. The Roman Catholic Church suffered a similar decline in the same period in mass attendance. Methodists, Baptists and others suffered decline too, though in all the churches, it must be said, there have been significant successes in certain churches and particular enterprises. The only institutional church which has continued to grow has been the Orthodox Church - Greek and Russian - where demand for churches exceeds supply, mainly because of immigration from Orthodox countries.

There is a rather touching footnote to all this, which is that people questioned about how much they go to church, give figures which, if true, would add up to twice those given by the churches.”

"C of E: The State It's In" by Monica Furlong, p216

“'Catholics', the largest group, estimated to number about a million by the year 2000 are declining the fastest, but what demands notice is that charismatic Evangelicals, still one of the smaller groups in the Church, are growing rapidly - by around 6,000 every five years. Evangelical Christians, according to the nomenclature of Religious Trends, are also growing and moving up towards the half million mark. These last two groups are undeniably success stories numerically.”

"C of E: The State It's In" by Monica Furlong, p216-217

Year 2000 snapshots:

• In 2000, 60 per cent of the population claimed to belong to a specific religion with 55 per cent being Christian. However, half of all adults aged 18 and over who belonged to a religion have never attended a religious service.₆
• 48% of people in the UK claim to belong to a religion, compared with 86% of people in the US and 92% of Italians. ["UK is 'losing' its religion" from BBC News 2000 Nov]
• Church attendance in 1999 was 7.5% on an average Sunday, down from 10% in 1989 and 12% in 1979. [uk.news.yahoo.com 2000]

A strange cultural phenomenon that occurs when a state religion dies is that many families will state that their religion is the common religion, ie, Christian, despite not believing in the basics of that religion. My essay "Numbers of world religions tend to be exaggerated" expands on this phenomenon.

2. The Importance of Religion to the British public

Religion is unimportant to most British people:

• 17% of the population responded that religion was one of the most significant factors in their lives. A persons' own experience, parents, education and friends come first₉. (2003)

• 33% of the British public consider that 'religion is important'₇.

• 33% describe themselves as religious - 63% say they are not₁₉. (2006)

Those who do profess religion in the UK are largely inactive. A 2007 poll commissioned by the British Library found that 50% of them "do not practise religion very much, if at all"₂₆, with Christians being the most inactive. A running theme of all the statistics we have seen on this page affirm that although many say they are religious they frequently admit they are not practicing.

Compared to other countries:
Of 41 countries polled, 16 most developed countries have less than 40% of the populace who think religion is important in their lives. The rest (including the US at a very high 60%, and nearly all developing countries) had at least 57% of their populace who said so. Out of all the countries where the majority of the people do not consider religion important, Northern Ireland is the only country which experiences a conflict closely tied with religion. The USA stands as the only developed country that is generally religious.₇

3. Christianity is the Established Religion in the UK

One single general trend can be brought out of all the statistics of religious belief in the UK: Our population is mostly irreligious, innocent and ignorant of religion, and despite some defaulting to calling themselves "Christian" (71%), the country is not Christian despite a vague 50% lingering belief in a God of some sort. Just over 6% of the population go to church on a Sunday₁₃ (for every 6 who do, 94 do not).

“Many people are brought up, as part of their family, to say that they are Christian despite only having a precursory knowledge of Christ and only a vague belief in God. Frequently only a single parent figure has any interest in the Church, but insists that the household each calls themselves a Christian, and sometimes this continues for generations.

An implicit Christian is one who calls themselves Christian out of ease or habit, not due to belief. From personal experience, most self declared Christians in the United Kingdom confuse believing in God with being a Christian. Many think that if you believe in God, you are therefore a Christian. In a predominantly Christian (Western) context, that assumption suits only demographics, and is not useful for discerning what beliefs people actually have.”

"There are fewer Christians than there appear to be" by Vexen Crabtree (2001)

Despite this, the historical rule of Christian authority in England led to the full institutionalizing of Christianity. Although much of this infrastructure has been removed - public offices are no longer restricted to members of Catholic or Protestant denominations, some oddities still remain. A strange artefact of that history is that Bishops still sit in the House of Lords (the UK's second chamber of government). "Britain is the only country left in the democratic world that allows clerics to sit in its legislature as of right"₂₇. As the public do not know much about religion nor can they be roused to either oppose or support it, such anachronisms are sometimes left unchallenged: The government tends not to devote much time to actively dismantling such apparatus, because even though it is an democratic embarrassment for a country, the public themselves don't often notice.

4. Belief in God

Many large-scale polls indicate that less than half the British public believe in God:

Date	Details	Belief in God
2008	1000 people were polled both in the UK and the USA and asked "Do you believe there is a God?". Less than 40% in the UK said yes, compared with 80% in the USA.28	<40%
2006	12507 people were polled, finding that only 35% in Great Britain believe in any kind of God or supreme being, compared to 27% in France, 62% in Italy, 48% in Spain, 41% in Germany and 73% in the USA.18	35%
2006	Poll of 4000 older teenagers in Cornwall found that only 22% could affirm that they believed in God, and 49% said they didn't.12	22%
2003	1001 British adults surveyed9	60%
2003	55% of the British public do not believe in a higher being1	45% inc. those unsure

If the the poll of 4000 year 9 & 10 teenagers₁₂ indicates what the future holds, then we can expect belief in God to continue to fall over the next few decades.

5. Ignorance of Religion

The British public, both adults and children, are almost wholely ignorant of the basic facts surrounding Christians and other world religions. The Ofsted report on Religious Education (RE) in schools (2007) states that there is a problem even with teachers' insufficient knowledge of RE at primary school level₂₂ and likewise with recruiting the correct specialists at secondary school level₂₂. Not many people seem to mind, as religious education is seen as easy, and the lessons themselves often used for discussions of current affairs rather than religious studies. There is a pandemic innocence of knowledge about religion.

“Children who do not come from churchgoing homes - as I did not - now grow up largely ignorant of Christian ideas in a way unimaginable half a century ago. [...] The comments about religion by journalists in the press and on television [...] suggest that even the basic Christian ideas are no longer understood by university-educated people, still less by others. Indeed even churchgoers can reveal an ignorance of the main elements of Christian belief.”

C of E: The State It's In by Monica Furlong, Introduction p3

In data revealed in a Mori poll from 2003 Aug, only 55% of the English population could name one of the four Christian gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John). Slightly more, 60%, could name the sacred book used by Muslims; The Koran.

Religious education seems all round to be shunned, and this goes hand in hand with the obvious lack of concern the average British person has for religious matters.

“When I asked the Very Reverend David Edwards, the author of over thirty books on modern Christianity, for his assessment of the state of spirituality in England, he just told me bleakly that 'The English have lost any sense of what religion is'”

"The English" by Jeremy Paxman, p105

6. Church Attendance in the UK

In 2007, Tearfund published the following results of their comprehensive review of British Christian religion in 2006:

• 10% of the UK adult population go to church at least weekly.
• 15% attend church at least monthly.
• 26% attend church at least yearly.
• 59% never or practically never go to church.

Self-disclosure polls of church attendance are generally twice as high as reality. Actual measures of church attendance have shown that Church attendance in 1999 was 7.5%, down from 10% in 1989 and 12% in 1979 (declining by about an absolute 2% per decade)[uk.news.yahoo.com 2000]. This trend predicts that in 2007, the rate will be close to 6% who attend, not the 10% who think they do according to Tearfund. This estimate was backed up by the English Church Census 2004.

The Christian Research group's fourth English Church Census (2004) is another professional census whose authors have never shied away from reporting honest statistics, no matter how painful they have been for British Christianity. 37500 churches were invited to take part, and about half did. Some stark truths of Church attendance between 1998 and 2005:

• Between 1998 and 2005, half a million people stopped going to church on Sunday₁₃.

• Daily Telegraph's religious affairs correspondent, Jonathan Petre, says "While 1,000 new people are joining a church each week, 2,500 are leaving"₁₄.

• 6.3% of the population go to church on an average Sunday, compared to 7.5% in 1998₁₄.

• 29% of churchgoers are 65 or over, compared with 16% of the population₁₄.

• Sunday churchgoing is declining at 2.3% per year, slightly slower than the 1990s rate of 2.7% per year₁₃.

• Nearly all Church 'growth' is due to immigrants. A massive influx of Polish workers have filled some churches₁₃.

• "The Roman Catholics have recorded the largest drop [...], it has halved over the past sixteen years"₁₆.

• The drop in the 20-29 age group was 29%₁₆.

"The fastest rates of decline were among Roman Catholics and Methodists; whereas the Pentecostal Churches showed significant growth over the period. As a result, Methodism has dropped to fourth place behind Pentecostalism. If these rates continue, the C of E will overtake the RC Church within the next four years"₁₅.

"London has 11 per cent of all churches in England, and 20 per cent of all churchgoers. It has 53 per cent of all English Pentecostalists, and 27 per cent of all Charismatic Evangelicals. Also, it caters for 57 per cent of all worshippers in their 20s. "I couldn't believe that figure myself, and had to check it again," said Peter Brierley, the director of Christian Research"₁₅.

• See the full Chart of Sunday Attendance 1989-2005, further down this page.

7. 2001 National Census results on religion

The 2001-April National Census optional question on religion was answered by 92% of the population. The Office for National Statistics today (2003 Feb 13) released some brief analysis of statistics pertaining to religion:

• Religion in Britain - brief look at major religions.

• Religion: Detailed information including regional comparisons

Statistics quoted and stated below are taken from the above two pages.

Religion in England and Wales:
"There are 37.3 million people in England and Wales who state their religion as Christian. The percentage of Christians is similar between the two countries but the proportion of people who follow other religions is 6.0 per cent in England compared with 1.5 per cent in Wales. In England, 3.1 per cent of the population state their religion as Muslim (0.7 per cent in Wales), making this the most common religion after Christianity. For other religions, 1.1 per cent in England and 0.2 per cent in Wales are Hindu, 0.7 per cent in England and 0.1 per cent in Wales are Sikh, 0.5 per cent in England and 0.1 per cent in Wales are Jewish and 0.3 per cent in England and 0.2 per cent in Wales are Buddhist.

The English region with the highest proportion of Christians is the North East (80.1 per cent). [...] Outside London, the counties with the highest proportion of Christians are Durham, Merseyside and Cumbria, each with 82 per cent or more. The districts with the highest proportions of Christians are all in the North West: St Helens, Wigan and Copeland (Cumbria) each have 86 per cent or more. In Wales, the highest proportion of Christians is found on the Isle of Anglesey (79 per cent) and the fewest in Blaenau Gwent (64 per cent)." ₄

Religion in London:
"London has the highest proportion of Muslims (8.5 per cent), Hindus (4.1 per cent) Jews (2.1 per cent) Buddhists (0.8 per cent) and people of other religions (0.5 per cent). [...] Fifty-eight per cent of people in London gave their religion as Christian, with the highest proportion in the borough of Havering (76 per cent). Thirty-six per cent of the population of Tower Hamlets and 24 per cent in Newham are Muslim. Over one per cent of the population of Westminster are Buddhist, while Harrow has the highest proportion of Hindus (19.6 per cent) and Barnet the highest proportion of Jewish people (14.8 per cent). Over eight per cent of the populations of Hounslow and Ealing are Sikh.

Sixteen per cent of the population of London say they have no religion, including 25 per cent in the City of London.
"₄

8. Belief in Various Religious and Spiritual Things

In 2003, 18% said they were a practicing member of an organized religion, 25% they were members of a world religion₉. According to these results, one fifth of self-declared members would also not describe themselves as practicing that religion. Presumably the others remain members for traditional reasons or due to social pressure.

24% said they were spiritual but do not belong to an organized religion, 12% said they were sure there was no God and another 14% said they're unconvinced that one exists₉. Between them, it looks like 26% are agnostic or atheist, and in a similar question (phrased differently) 29% said that they do not believe in God, and 60% said they did (but doesn't inquire as to which God they believe in). Most other large, modern polls indicate that less than 50% of the British believe in a god.

Although in 2003, 60% believed in God, only 52% believed in Heaven₉ so it is clear that many theists are neither mainstream Muslims or Christians. 32% still believe in hell (2003)₉, although a 2008 poll puts that value at under 20%₂₈. 68% believed in souls in 2003₉, meaning that there are many spiritualists who are not theists - something that does not surprise me.

Close friends (46%), a walk in the country (41%), music or poetry all are more inspirational than Jesus (24%) or Nelson Mandela (20%), and all those plus Princess Diana (13%) are more inspirational than "a sacred text" with a mere 6%.₉

9. Minority Religions in Britain

Britain follows more than 170 distinct different faiths or belief systems₁₁.

“The South-East emerged as the capital of fringe faiths and sects, with London and the South-West not far behind. The census found that spiritualism, the belief that the dead can be contacted through mediums, was the eighth largest faith group, with 32,404 people claiming allegiance. The first spiritualist church was established in England at Keighley in Yorkshire in 1853.”₁₁

“Suzanne Evans, a writer on paganism, said the figures confirmed that it is one of the fastest growing religions in the country. She said it was environmentally friendly, treated God as both male and female and regarded sexuality as something to be celebrated”₁₁

“[Outside London] The district with the highest proportion of Sikhs is Slough. One person in seven of the population of Leicester is Hindu. One person in nine of the population of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire, is Jewish. Over one per cent of the population of Cambridge are Buddhist. Brighton and Hove has most people stating other religions (0.8 per cent).

The districts with the highest proportions of people with no religion are Norwich, Brighton, Hove and Cambridge; all with over one-quarter professing no belief.

[In Wales] Rhonnda, Cynon, Taff has the highest proportion with no religion (25 per cent). Cardiff has the highest proportion of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. Ceredigion has the highest proportions of Buddhists and people of other religions.”₄

9.1. Heathens

Interestingly, the 2001 Census officials included "heathens" in the "no religion" category. Heathenism is a set of distinct religious beliefs, one of the religions generally called Pagan, along with Druidism, neo Paganism and Wicca. Although some may put heathen when they do mean "no religion", some will not. I do not know if it is more correct to list Heathens as "no religion" or "other religion". Asatru, Odinism and other Northern religions are likely to have followers who identify themselves as heathens. So, like you get Christians who are Protestant and Catholic amongst others, you also get Pagans who are neo Pagan, Wicca, etc, and Heathens who are Asatru, Odinists, etc. Listing these as non-religious is probably a mistake, unlike the Jedis.

"The main spiritual paths of Paganism to be found in the UK and the United States are Wicca, Druidry, Shamanism, Goddess Spirituality, Sacred Ecology, Heathenism and various magical groups"

"Pagan Pathways" by Harvey & Hardman, 2000 edition
Introduction Page 10-11. More quotes from this book

During email correspondence, the Office for National Statistics revealed further information about the 'Heathen' category. They said: "Responses of "Heathen", with a number of other responses that either indicated no clear religion or faith, or where there was some ambiguity in the term written in, were put in the category of 'No religion'. There were less than 300 people included in this way in the 'No religion' category".₈

9.2. Jedi Knights

"About sixteen per cent of the UK population stated that they had no religion. This category included agnostics, atheists, heathens and those who wrote Jedi Knight."₃ "At the time the Census was carried out, there was an internet campaign that encouraged people to answer the religion question "Jedi Knight". The number of people who stated Jedi was 390,000 (0.7 per cent of the population)."₄ An urban myth developed and some people believed that this many votes would make Jedi an official religion, however this is not true.

"Just over 390,000 of the 52,000,000 people in England and Wales wrote in 'Jedi' on their census form. The 'Jedi' response was most popular in Brighton and Hove, with 2.6 per cent of Census respondents quoting it, followed by Oxford (2.0 per cent), Wandsworth (1.9), Cambridge (1.9), Southampton (1.8) and Lambeth (1.8).

It was least popular in Easington, on the north-east coast of England between Sunderland and Hartlepool, where it was quoted by only 0.16 per cent of respondents. Sedgefield, Knowsley, Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr Tydfil and Wear Valley all show less than 0.2 per cent of respondents quoting 'Jedi'.
"₅

9.3. Satanists

Although 1525 are counted on the 2001 Census, the numbers of Satanists is notoriously difficult to estimate. In 2001 and 2002 I enquired at London Satanists meetings and found that only half identified themselves as a Satanist on the census. Others put "atheist" or even Christian denominations as their religion. This is a significant under-representation. Therefore, an estimate of 3050 would be sensible. Most Satanic groups are informal, temporary and ad-hoc (so congregation numbers cannot be counted), and the mainstream Church of Satan does not publish membership numbers but also many Satanists are not members of the COS. Hence, estimates of numbers of Satanists have varied wildly according to authors' imaginations and paranoias.

10. Faith Schools

The following is the final summary on my text on faith schools in the UK, the full text delves into many of the issues introduced below:

“In 2001 there were 7000 state faith schools in the UK (of 25000). The worst teach creationism (that the world is only 6000 years old, against all scientific evidence) and some, although they excel at religious education and Koranic studies, fail on everything else from science to fitness. Reports on the race riots of 2001 criticized faith schools for creating the segregation that increases racial and religious sectarian tensions. Over 800 studies by social psychologists have found that cooperating and extended contact between racial groups is a very good way of producing positive race relations. Faith schools sometimes produce better-than-average results, but they also select students based on ability (despite attempts to stop them), whereas state schools accept poorer students in the first place. The Home Office, National Union of Teachers, Chief Schools Inspector, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers have all spoken out against faith schools. The United Nations Human Rights Commission and the European Union's Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia both recommend non-sectarian education, especially of children, as a means to reduce intolerance. The National Secular Society has long campaigned for the government to reverse the creation of faith schools (100 new ones since 1997), and instead convert faith schools back into all-inclusive secular schools where religion and race do not define the children. Abolishing faith schools will decrease social tension between ethnic and religious groups, increase the fairness of the schools system (as religious schools accept fewer poor and disadvantaged students), and reduce the scope for religious extremism and indoctrination.”

"Sectarian Faith Schools" by Vexen Crabtree (2003)

11. Church of England

The English have produced world-class religious clerics and scholars. Universities and Christian centers of learning proliferated in England. However the depth of the religious convictions of most "Christians" is seriously questioned. From historical "Celtic Christianity" to the modern-day liberal Church of England, many have questioned whether Britains now, or our ancestors in the past, ever really took to Christianity the same as others and whether or not we really were ever in sync with the rest of the Christian East. Jeremy Paxman in his book studying English personality, history, religion and identity, comments:

“[In history, the English] were not in any meaningful sense religious, the Church of England being a political invention which had elevated being 'a good chap' to something akin to canonization. On the occasions when bureaucracy demanded they admit an allegiance, they could write 'C of E' in the box and know that they wouldn't be bothered by demands that they attend church”

"The English" by Jeremy Paxman, p6

Paxman observes that the Church of England is how it is because "that is how the English like their religion - pragmatic, comfortable and unobtrusive". Although in recent years evangelical, extreme and fundamentalist Christianity has been slowly catching on. However the Church of England still remains a "power" within the UK, which can exert pressure through the media. It is still given press attention although there admittedly more scandal and shock, than awe or reverence.

“The only sensible conclusion to draw from the uniquely privileged position of the Church of England - its official status, the bishops' seats in the House of Lords, the Prime Minister's right to appoint senior clerics and so on - is not that it represents some profound spirituality in the people, but that it suits mutually convenient purposes for state and Church”

"The English" by Jeremy Paxman, p99-100

The absolute, institutionalized and symbolic strength of the Church of England has disappeared. The history of the English finding their identity after the two world wars is a history of the realisation that there is no Christian Britain. The Church of England, as the following mass of reports, stats and charts show, has recovered from its historical hollow bloat: The bubble of English commitment to a Christian Church has popped.

“It is not exaggerated to conclude that between 1960 and 1985 the Church Of England ... was effectively reduced to not much more than half its previous size.”

Quoted by "Religion in Britain since 1945" by Grace Davie

"The number of people who say they are members of the state religion has dropped by 40% since 1983, according to a poll by the National Centre for Social Research (NCSR)."

UK is 'losing' its religion from BBC News 2000 Nov

"The Church of England is between a rock and a hard place, and there are bitter pills to be swallowed. The most painful fact with which it has to deal (along with other churches) is the all-round drop in numbers: churchgoers, those on the electoral roles, numbers of baptisms, confirmation, church weddings - all have dropped steadily since the 1930s, with consequential loss both of morals and of income. Much is made of the increase in the numbers of ordinands (those training for the priesthood), but this, the only good news on the table at the time of writing, seems an odd criterion of renewed life - many chiefs and few Indians will scarcely solve the problem."

C of E: The State It's In by Monica Furlong, Introduction p1

C of E: The State It's In

"A report on youth published for the General Synod Board of Education in 1996, which says that 'the total Sunday attendance at Anglican Churches amongst 14- to 17-year-olds is 60,739', a drop of 34.9 per cent since 1987. [...] If the same rate continues to apply, there may be no young people at all in the Church in twenty years time. The report goes on to say that this does not just apply to church services - a similar drop has also been observed in church organisations."

C of E: The State It's In by Monica Furlong, p210

“In 1994 there were 86,000 weddings in Church of England churches - a third of all weddings.”

C of E: The State It's In by Monica Furlong, p213

The following charts and data show a consistent decline across several decades. Most data show a peak in the 1930s of Church membership and participation. The decline from then to the 1960s was marked, but slow. The decline since the 1960s has been rapid and shocking. The 90s saw the rate of decrease begin to decrease. I believe that the data of the next decade or two will show us the true numbers of Church of England affiliation. What I see is that a bubble has burst: The public are no longer deferring to the Church of England. As a result, stats have dropped sharply as this change in behaviour occurs. We will now see real participation data! We will also see a continued genuine decline in numbers.

The Financial Situation shows a Doomed Church:

“Between 1990 and 2001, the Church [of England] lost 18% of its Sunday communicants, 17% of its clergy (none of them bishops) and 1% of its buildings. The Church Commissioners' gradually shrinking endowment of £3.5 billion, is about half the value of, say, Yale University's investments. [...] Last year, 70% of gross endowment income went on paying pensions alone. [...] Donations per head have increased steeply in recent years, in part because the disappearance of working-class believers has left congregations older and wealthier”

The Economist (2003)₂₁

The overall picture is of a Church that has lost most its membership and is losing the rest. Its financial situation is poor and getting worse, with a top-heavy organisation with less and less income for more and more pensioners. This is a bleak picture, and I do not know that anything will reverse it. The Churches financial hope is that all the pensioners die before the Church Commissioners' funds dry up completely. Drastic measures yet to be introduced, but which I expect, is a culling of bishops and staff. I do not forsee much building-selling as there are not many buyers who can do anything with old, semi-derelict Churches or huge Cathedrals! The government, in the future, will need to step in and take ownership or control of decaying Church buildings (for demolition & conversion to useful buildings?) as the Heritage Fund cannot cope (and wouldn't be justified) in paying the costs associated with maintaining these anachronistic structures.

Sunday Attendance

	1989	Annual Change	1998	Annual Change	2005	1989-2005 Total Change
Roman Catholics (England)	1 703 800	-3.2%	1 217 800	-4.2%	875 600	-49%
Church of England	1 260 800	-2.6%	975 900	-1.6%	867 400	-31%
Pentecostals	236 700	-0.1%	214 600	+4.9%	287 600	+22%
Methodists	512 300	-2.9%	379 700	-3.4%	289 400	-44%
Baptists	270 900	+0.2%	277 600	-1.2%	254 800	-6%
New Churches	167 000	+2.2%	200 500	-1.2%	183 600	+10%
Independent Churches	298 500	-4%	191 600	-0.2%	190 500	-36%
United Reformed	149 300	-2%	121 700	-6.2%	69 900	-53%
Total of above:	4 599 300		3 579 400		3 018 800	-34%

The Christian Research English Church Census, 2005_{13, 14, 15, 16}

National Attendance
1979	12%	[17]	-0.20/year
1989	10%	[17]	-0.28/year
1998	07.5%	[13, 14]	-0.17/year
2005	06.3%	[13]

These figures only reflect Sunday attendance; some denominations and churches have experienced increased numbers mid-week, but only involving small numbers compared to the overall decline.

Church Membership

“A key element in the fall of church membership which started in the 1950s was an alarming failure to recruit even the offspring of adherents... between the mid-1950s and 1980, the number of Church of Scotland Sunday-school pupils almost halved, and a spectacular fall in church baptisms followed; between 1967 and 1982, they fell by half in the Church of Scotland and by almost 40 per cent in the Catholic Church.”

"A Social History of Religion in Scotland since 1730" by C. Brown (1987)₂₀

Grace Davie 1997:

	1975	1980	1985	1990	1992
Anglican	2 297 571	2 180 108	2 016 593	1 870 429	1 808 174
Baptist	236 212	240 211	243 736	232 118	230 772
Independent	252 172	252 991	308 258	342 319	356 921
Methodist	596 406	540 348	500 702	475 440	458 773
Orthodox	196 850	203 140	223 686	265 918	275 805
Other	155 835	138 948	127 632	129 823	130 703
Pentecostal	104 648	126 743	138 316	158 695	169 782
Presbyterian	1 641 520	1 505 290	1 384 997	1 288 505	1 242 406
Roman Catholic	2 518 955	2 337 853	2 204 165	2 167 994	2 044 911
Total	8 000 169	7 525 632	7 148 085	6 931 241	6 718 247
% Population:	18.5	16.8	15.6	14.9	14.4
% changed per year:		-0.24	-0.24	-0.14	-0.25

Persons on the Church Electoral Roll. Total on the roll, in millions, and the enrolement rate (in percent) of the population, from Bryan Wilson 1966:

Year	Millions	% Enrolement
1925	3.6	14.3
1930 (peak)	3.7	14.7
1940	3.4	12.0
1950	3.0	9.6
1960	2.9	8.9
1964	2.7	8.1

Ministers

	1975	1980	1985	1990	1992	1992 female
Anglican	15 911	14 654	14 064	14 137	13 920	820 ( 5.9%)
Baptist	2 418	2 469	2 648	2 803	2 936	85 ( 2.9%)
Independent	1 575	1 483	2 022	2 786	2 903	67 ( 2.3%)
Methodist	2 726	2 632	2 617	2 668	2 657	246 ( 9.3%)
Orthodox	126	160	187	241	249	0 ( 0.0%)
Other	1 884	1 850	1 922	2 324	2 321	1 054 (45.4%)
Pentecostal	1 605	2 243	2 580	3 359	3 462	532 (15.4%)
Presbyterian	3 776	3 632	3 412	3 159	3 060	324 (10.3%)
Roman Catholic	8 892	8 854	8 408	7 980	7 798	0 ( 0.0%)
Total	38 913	37 977	37 860	39 457	39 306	3 120 ( 7.9%)

"The turn of the century has seen a decline in the numbers of clergy, though there has been a recent small upturn. By the year 2000 the Church [of England] will have around a thousand less clergy than it had in 1980 - around ten thousand."

C of E: The State It's In by Furlong, 2000, p140

Churches | Congregations

(denominations in 1992)	1975	1980	1985	1990	1992
Anglican (7)	19 783	19 366	18 892	18 340	18 236
Baptist (9)	3 619	3 344	3 375	3 627	3 614
Independent (27)	4 536	4 611	5 331	5 932	5 898
Methodist (6)	9 066	8 492	7 954	7 591	7 401
Orthodox (19)	135	150	179	207	218
Other (43)	1 992	2 004	1 998	2 064	2 148
Pentecostal (69)	1 655	1 935	2 041	2 143	2 215
Presbyterian (13)	6 177	5 897	5 650	5 489	5 450
Roman Catholic (15)	4 104	4 132	4 222	4 297	4 290
Total	51 067	49 931	49 632	49 690	49 470

Religious Adherents 1975 to 2001

(in millions)	19752	19802	19852	19902	19952	20013
	Trinitarian Churches:
Anglicans	27.2	27.1	27.0	26.9	26.7
Baptist	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6
Independent	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.8	0.7
Methodist	1.6	1.5	1.3	1.3	1.3
Orthodox	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.5
Other	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Pentecostal	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4
Presbyterian	1.9	1.7	1.7	1.6	1.5
Roman Catholic	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.6	5.6
	Non-Trinitarian:
Church Of Scientology	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.4
Other	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.9
Hindus	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.5
Jews	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Muslims	0.4	0.6	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.5
Sikhs	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.6
0.3
Total Trinitarian	38.2	37.9	37.8	37.9	37.6
42.1
Total non-Trinitarian	2.0	2.5	3.0	3.4	3.7
Total Religious	40.2	40.4	40.8	41.3	41.3
45.1
% population Trinitarian	68	67	67	66	64
71.6
% population Other	4	5	5	6	7
Total % of nominal adherents	72	72	72	72	71	77.2

Davie (1997) provides most of the historical data, but, I am not sure that her "Trinitarian" is exactly equal to the 2001 Census' "Christian" category. There are certainly non-trinitarian Christians. Nonetheless, I have transpositioned the numbers of 'Christians' in the 2001 column for ease of comparison. More importantly, the Census would have been a radically different context for people to answer as to their religion.

Percentage rate of change per year

	of members 1975-1985	of members 1985-1995	of ministers 1975-1985	of ministers 1985-1995	of churches 1975-1985	of churches 1985-1995
Anglican	-2.6	-3.1	-2.4	-1.3	-0.9	-0.8
Baptist	+0.6	-0.9	+1.8	+2.4	-1.4	+1.8
Independent	+4.1	+3.0	+5.1	+7.6	+3.3	+2.3
Methodist	-3.4	-2.6	-0.8	0.0	-2.6	-2.0
Orthodox	+2.6	+5.1	+8.2	+7.8	+5.8	+5.3
Other	-3.9	+0.6	+0.4	+4.3	0.0	+2.0
Pentecostal	+5.7	+5.9	+10.0	+7.9	+4.3	+2.0
Presbyterian	-3.3	-2.9	-2.0	-3.1	-1.8	-1.2
Roman Catholic	-2.6	-2.4	-1.1	-1.9	+0.6	+0.5
Total	-2.2	-1.9	-0.5	+0.4	-0.6	-0.1

17. Percent of Anglican Baptisms of Newborn

Year	Grace Davie 1997	Steve Bruce 1996	Bryan Wilson 1966
1885			62.3
1895			64.1
1900		65	65.0
1910			68.9
1930 (peak)		71 (1927)	69.9
1950	67.2		67.2
1960	55.4	55	55.4
1970	46.6	47
1980	<40
1990	27.5
1993		27

The decline in this number from the 1930s was slow, from a peak of about 70%, but the decline in the number of Anglican baptisms from the 1950s has been rapid. In the 1990s, 3 out of 10 newborns have been baptised. Infant baptism has always been an important source of recruitment for Anglican churches, the slight increase in adult baptisms has not made up the numbers.

The Pagan Federation offers baby blessings, as does The National Secular Society and the Family Covenant Association. So worried is the Church of England, that in 1999 we saw a Church offer its own version for newborns with parents who are not religious.

“Terry Sanderson, a spokesman for the National Secular Society, said the church seemed to be losing its "core business", - the "hatch, match and despatch" trilogy of births, marriages and deaths. He said: "People want to welcome their child into the world without welcoming them into the church.”

BBC News (1999)₂₄

Percent of C of E Confirmations Within Population

Year	Grace Davie 1997	Bryan Wilson 1966
1900		29.0
1920		29.3
1930 (peak)		31.3
1940	25.1	25.1
1950	27.9	27.9
1960 (peak)	31.5	31.5

The percent of 15 year olds confirmed in the Church of England has never been much more than 30% of the population of England. Between 1960 and 1982 the actual number of confirmations taking place each year declined by more than 50%. It's not just that people are being confirmed at an older age. Total confirmations in the age group 12 to 20 years have also decreased from the 1960s [Bryan Wilson 1966].

Church of England Colleges & Schools

Year	Sunday School Teachers
1910	206 000
1920	171 000
1930	163 000
1939	127 000
1953	98 000
1960	85 000
Bryan Wilson 1966

Year	Colleges	Places
1961	26	1 663
1977	15	769
Grace Davie 1997

Given that the quicker decline of numbers has been since the 1960s, I dread to think what the present numbers of Sunday School Teachers are.

Percent Cremated in the UK

Year	Source: Davie (1997)	Source: Cremation Society
1884	Legalized
1930		0.87
1939 (WW2)	3.8	3.51
1945	7.8	7.80
1950		15.59
1960		34.70
1966	50	46.89
1970		55.41
1980		65.26
1991	70	69.54
2000		71.50

“From 1939 cremation rapidly overtook religious coffin funerals as the preferred postmortem arrangement for bodies. England was the first Western country to adopt cremation as widely. Secular government should rightly have control over such matters as it is wrong to force particular rituals on a populace consisting of multiple faiths and varied beliefs.

England has acute problems with space to bury the dead, most formal burial grounds are full and rotate slots, smashing the bottom of old coffins and putting new ones on top. There are few other options, as such, religions that have impractical dogmas telling people how they should behave towards the dead have become obsolete and largely ignored by many, especially professionals.”

"The Funeral Ritual Instinct" by Vexen Crabtree (2002)

From 2000 the rapid increase in cremation rates has ended, and provisional statistics for 2004 show that it has stabilized at about 71%.

Also see:

• "Cremation or burial? Contemporary choice in city and village" by Peter Jupp in "The Sociology of Death" compiled by David Clark, 1993
• The Cremation Society of Great Britain, total UK cremations. Website: www.cremation.org.uk