An international team of leading researchers, based at Cranmer Hall, Durham, have just published a study entitled Church Growth in Britain from 1980 to the Present. Here are just a few of the extraordinary statistics that have been unearthed:
– There are 500,000 Christians in black majority churches in Britain. Sixty years ago there were hardly any
– At least 5,000 new churches have been started in Britain since 1980 ”“ and this is an undercount. The true figure is probably higher
– There are one million Christians in Britain from black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities
– The adult membership of the Anglican Diocese of London has risen by over 70 per cent since 1990.
Interesting review http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2012/church-growth-in-britain-since-1980/
[blockquote] “Some parts of the mainline churches are seeing growth – Anglican growth centres on the Diocese of London (the one Anglican diocese which has consistently grown over the last 20 years) and new Anglican churches/fresh expressions.” [/blockquote]
Surprise, surprise. The bishop of London for the last 17 years has been Richard Chartres, a traditionalist who does not believe in Womens Ordination and maintains a strong disciplinary hand, yet is acknowledged to deal fairly with all, regardless of whether he shares their particular ecclesiastical viewpoint or not. Orthodox clergy can work under him without fear of harassment, and orthodox parishes tend to enjoy the best growth. So it is hardly surprising that his diocese is the only one in CofE to see consistent growth.
[blockquote] “The Church of England may have a black archbishop, but black Christians are much more frequently found outside, rather than inside the Church of England. How can the CofE change to release the gifts of non-white Anglicans ? Perhaps we need to import some leaders and humbly learn from those parts of the wider Anglican Communion that have seen serious church growth?” [/blockquote]
Very good point. As events have proved, Anglicanism is quite attractive to people from other continents, particulalry Asia, Africa and South America, if it is maintains a strong grounding in its roots.
This is true, and +Hope (as he then was) is a courageous man, who was prepared to admit to homosexual tendencies, yet maintain a celibate lifestyle, and was accordingly pilloried by the LGBT lobby. Courage and forthrightness are qualities which all people respect in a bishop.
But we should also remember that ++Hope was only bishop of London for 4 years. A greater focus should be on +Chartres, under whom the growth has been maintained for a further 17 years.
The fact that it is the Diocese of London which is experiencing this kind of growth indicates that one cannot leave out (which the article did) the effect of Holy Trinity Brompton and the Alpha program.
Agree with #3, I bet HTB and Alpha are a big part of the growth.