LONDON (Reuters) - The number of Britons who describe themselves as belonging to the Church of England has fallen to a record low with more than half now saying they have no religion, according to a survey published on Friday.
Just 14 percent of Britons identified themselves as Church of England, down from 31 percent 15 years ago, the British Social Attitudes survey found. The number saying they had no religion rose from 41 to 52 percent.
Church of Scotland numbers also fell from 31 percent in 2002 to 18 percent.
“Our figures show an unrelenting decline in Church of England and Church of Scotland numbers,” said Roger Harding, Head of Public Attitudes at the National Centre for Social Research.
“This is especially true for young people where less than one in 20 now belong to their established church. While the figures are starkest among younger people, in every age group the biggest single group are those identifying with no religion.”
The sharpest decline in those saying they were Church of England was among 45 to 54-year-olds while 70 percent of those aged between 18 and 24 said they had no religion, according to the survey, based on 3,988 interviews.
However, the research found that the number of Britons who described themselves as Roman Catholic (8 percent), of ‘other Christian affiliations’ (10 percent), and non-Christian faiths (8 percent) had remained fairly stable.
Roman Catholics also went to church more regularly, with 42 percent attending at least once a month compared to 21 percent of Church of England members.
Churches that prohibit contraception, premarital sex, and divorce tend to have growth rates that are at least stable.
Wyatt Phillips
Henry VIII BTFO
haha
Jackson Barnes
Divorce church btfo
Grayson Torres
The more liberal the Church, the emptier the pews
Luke Smith
I wonder what the monarchy is going to do when their divorce church finally dies
Henry Hernandez
No surprise there, everyone who values Christian tradition and doesn't see it as a social club moved/is moving to the Catholic Church in droves. Especially after the allowing of female ordination, trad ministers have been dropping out like there's no tomorrow
Anthony Jones
They better have a revival or the sword of Muhammad will punish their godlessness old testament style.
Jeremiah Diaz
Pretty much this…
Brandon Butler
APOSTOLICS YES!
Josiah Cox
CoE is not apostolic. They wish
Liam Allen
What's going to happen to their church buildings? Are they all going to be mosques and condos?
Juan Bell
Yeah, a lot of mosques are former churches. I've also heard quite a few churches have been turned into nightclubs.
Joshua Hall
Aw gee, Rick, there's got to be a logical r-r-reason for this, right?
Jesus Christ what the hell are you guys doing over there? Unironically asking. And btw. i can just feel this almost palpable tension in the air. It's like people seem to just be afraid to make a move. It's like they can't move. Seems like the only ones over there that are making moves is Orthodoxy, Islam, And maybe some roman Catholics in eastern Europe. I mean honestly, have many people do you meet on the streets that believe in materialism, naturalism, etc? Or, is it all just media bashing/concern. I'd really love to believe it's just that latter, and it may very well be.
Tldr: What the hell have you guys been doing for the last 50 years?
A: Very winnie the pooh badly Ameribro. Europe is fading fast, I wish I could say that there was something good going on, but you know it's bad when Salvini is more Catholic than the Pope.
Luke Mitchell
This. Henry VII must be rolling on his grave.
Nicholas Cox
Yes. There is that sort of feeling, isn't there. It's gone up especially in the last year or so. I haven't felt this way since about 1998-99, and that was only a year or two before 9/11, which was a major change in affairs.
In all honestly, it seems like more and more people are too wild to have cogent beliefs. If that answers your question.
The word/phrase "self-destruct" comes to mind.
Chase Rivera
Stop the boomerposting
Jose Jenkins
I love the Church of England because it's the perfect example of why tolerance and ecumenicism simply dont work
