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This article examines the decline of organized Christianity in Britain by analyzing historical and current religiosity data.

January 1, 2001

Christianity in Britain, R. I. P.

Key Points

This article examines the decline of organized Christianity in Britain by analyzing historical and current religiosity data.
Comparative analysis of religiosity data from 1851, 1900, and 2000.
Presentation of recently gathered data on church membership and attendance.
Focus on major British denominations' vitality leading to projected extinction by 2030.
Evidence shows a clear and dramatic decline in church membership and attendance over the selected years.
Projections indicate that without a reversal of trends, major denominations may cease to exist by 2030.
The article challenges the view that secularization is exaggerated, affirming the serious troubles facing organized Christianity.

Abstract

Rodney Stark has again claimed that secularization is a myth based on exaggerating the religious vitality of the past and under-estimating that of the present. This article takes issue with the first point briefly but concentrates on showing that, in the case of Britain, even if we confine ourselves to comparisons of religiosity in 1851, 1900 and 2000, the evidence is of clear and dramatic decline. Recently gathered data on church membership and church attendance are presented. They show that unless long-stable trends are reversed, major British denominations will cease to exist by 2030. While we may legitimately argue about the causes and timing of secularization, no amount of supply-side revisionism will change that fact that organized Christianity in Britain is in serious trouble.

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