Pointer One: Dodgy Data
Before anything can be said about Christianity in Britain, there is one key caveat; many of the data are seriously dodgy. A good example is the national data of the Church of England. Recent research commissioned by the Church of England on its ”˜greater churches’ had to discount two-thirds of the statistical data due to its poor quality. Overall, Anglican data contain flaws that are serious, widespread, systemic and long-standing.[2] A different example is wider data-sets such as large-scale opinion polls. These have a habit of producing contradictory results ”“ such as the national survey which purported to show a dramatic rise in the number of those espousing ”˜no religion’, which also showed that many who now espouse ”˜no religion’ also like to pray from time to time.[3] All is not lost. We can say some things. But we need to be keenly alert to the limits of what can be said. Any picture of religion in Britain which treats uncritically such surveys or the national data of major denominations, will be substantially incorrect. Multiple measures and data taken from local studies as well as national datasets are essential to obtain a meaningful picture.
Pointer Two: Ethnic Diversity
The ethnic diversification of Britain is one of the key shifts in recent British Christianity. It is often assumed that as Britain gets more ethnically diverse, it gets less ”˜Christian’. But the reverse is the case. Around 500,000 people are members of black majority churches. Roman Catholicism is being significantly boosted due to migration. The Christian communities in key centres, such as London, are now predominantly outside the ”˜white British’ sector of the population.[4] Ethnic diversity has provided a marked boost for British Christianity. By contrast, that segment of the population who, in census terminology, are most secular, the ”˜white British’, are also a decreasing proportion of the population. This shift is likely to become more marked in coming years.
David is a well-respected colleague here at Durham (I’ve written a chapter for a volume that he’s editing on church growth and decline in the Anglican Communion – on TEC as it happens).
The trends that he identifies paint a fascinating picture of post-establishment British Christianity, with a healthy dose of “reverse mission” thrown in.
“It is often assumed that as Britain gets more ethnically diverse, it gets less ‘Christian’. But the reverse is the case.”
We have had a similar experience in Australia. When it comes to issues of public morality, including the civil rights of churches, the many ethnic Christians mean that the Christian voice speaks even more loudly to the politicians.