SECULARISATION IN BRITAIN

SECULARISATION IN BRITAIN

• Crockett (1998) estimates that from the 1851 Census of Religious Worship, 40% or more of the adult population of Britain attended church on Sundays
• This is a higher figure than today, and major changes have occurred in religion in the UK since then:

- Decline in the proportion of the population going to church or belonging to one

- An increase in the average age of churchgoers

- Fewer baptisms and church weddings

- Decline in the numbers holding traditional Christian beliefs

- Greater diversity, incl more non-Christian religions

• Secularisation is defined by BRYAN WILSON (1966) as 'the process whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions lose social significance'.
• Church attendance in England and Wales had fallen from 40% of the population in the mid 19th century to 10-15% by the 1960's.

CHURCH ATTENDANCE TODAY

• By 2015 around 5% of the adult population attended church on Sundays.
• Churchgoing has more than halved since 1960.
• Sunday attendance in the CofE fell from 1.6 million in 1960 to under 0.8 million in 2013, Sunday school attendance has declined further, and only a small proportion of children now attend.
• English Church Census (2006) shows attendances at large organisations like the CofE and Catholic Church have declined more than small organisations, some are still remaining. Growth of these small ones havent made up…