Secularisation in Britain

• 6.3% of adult population attended church on Sundays in 2005.
• Sunday school attendance has fallen futher.
• The English Church Census
  • Larger organisations have declined more than smaller denominations.
  • Some smaller groups have remain stable or grown.
  • Growth of smaller organisations does not account for decline in larger ones.
  • Overall trend is downwards.
• Church weddings and baptisms are also in decline.

• More people claim to have religious belief than actually belong to or attend church.
• Religious belief is declining in line with church attendance and membership.

GILL ET AL:

• Reviewed 100 national surveys on religious belief 1939-96.
  • Showed significant decline in belief in traditional teachings.
  • People describing themselves as belonging to no religion rose from 23% to 43%.

• Church still has some influence on society.
  • e.g. 26 Bishops sit in the House of Lords.
• However, state has taken over many of the functions that the church used to perfom.
• Religion has been relegated to the private spheres of individual and family life.
• Number of clergy has fallen from 45,000 in 1900 to 34,000 in 2000 while the population has almost doubled.
• Lack of clergy means day to day influence of church has reduced.