for thinking Christianity is declining in the UK because the churches lost credibility and community while other faiths didn’t?

[LoveWFH]

This is not about belief in God versus no God. It is about institutions and what people experience on the ground. The Church of England in particular feels like a faded bureaucracy. Empty buildings. Clergy stretched thin. Services that feel performative or stuck in a time capsule. A lot of talk about tradition but very little that speaks to how people actually live now.

There is also the trust issue. Abuse scandals. Cover ups. Financial mismanagement. A sense that when the church fails it protects itself first and the vulnerable last. You can only ask people to suspend disbelief for so long when the institution itself looks morally compromised. Younger people especially are ruthless about hypocrisy and the church gives them plenty to work with.

Then there is the class and culture gap. Christianity in the UK often feels tied to establishment power and respectability. It does not feel like it belongs to ordinary people anymore. It feels like something you inherit rather than choose. Something you tick at a wedding or funeral rather than something that shapes your life. When belief becomes purely ceremonial it is already on life support.

By contrast other faiths seem to be growing because they are lived not just referenced. They have visible daily practices. Clear moral frameworks. Strong community networks. You see them meeting regularly supporting each other showing up for births deaths crises celebrations. There is structure and discipline but also belonging. For migrants especially faith communities replace the support systems the state no longer provides.

There is also confidence. Other faiths are not embarrassed by themselves. They do not constantly apologise for existing or dilute their beliefs in the hope of being liked. People are drawn to certainty in an uncertain world. Not cruelty or dogma but clarity. Christianity in the UK often sounds unsure of what it even stands for anymore beyond being inoffensive.

So AIBU for thinking this is not some mystery about secularism but a very predictable outcome of an institution that lost its moral authority community roots and sense of purpose while others doubled down on theirs?

https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/news/closing-churches-cuts-worship-numbers-new-opinion-poll-finds

3500 churches closed in the last decade.

Christianity is being polled as on the rise again (the numbers going to church and actually participating in the religion slow decline, they crunched the real numbers on more or less) because they forgot they can use it as an effective controlling and divisive tool towards women and non-Christians.

Back to the good old days, although without the added financial benefits of marching round the world and taking all the good stuff. Which is a dampener for sure, but let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water.

It's a few random people turning up at lots of different churches every week. We consistently have had one or two new people coming each week since last summer and they are staying. Many other churches are saying the same thing. I didn't invent this. I am just passing on info.

@LoveWFH that data is from 2024 which is before the "revival" started.

And don’t forgot Tommy Robinson apparently has found God whilst in prison! Oh ppppllluuurrrrssseeee.

This is a moderate well respected Christian media source.

https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/the-uk-is-experiencing-a-quiet-revival-its-taken-me-by-surprise/19233.article

There isn't any numbers for it yet because it is too early for them to have hit official stats like the census.

Oh yeah, agree here.

How have they lost credibility though what official information do you have on that?

Agreed, but so have many shops and pubs and people are still eating and drinking.
So just how much is structural changes and closures.

@Arlanymor thanks for sharing that. It's always good to have unbiased data. I am pretty shocked about the misrepresentation of attendance by the church of England.

It is bleak that young people feel so lost

There are many reasons and you list some, but not all. There will be stronger negative community and family repercussions for leaving other faiths which are closely tied to ethnic heritage. Islam is not kind to those who leave the faith and great shame will attach to the family.

Evangelical Churches are good at creating the community you describe.

There will be scandals in other faith’s but they may not have the coverage Christian churches received. I suspect we in the west are probably still more open about this and our media is more able/willing to investigate scandals in Christian churches than in other faith groups.

As pp said, white people, especially on the left, are very willing to slag Christian’s and laugh at them ( Christians have had an onslaught of attack) but will not hear a word against Islam. I eye roll everytime I I hear guardian reading friends despise Christians for their anti gay stance ( not even true anymore of many Christians) becore moving seamlessly to gush over Islam ( extremely homophobic religion).

Yes. I do think that in that regard the reformation was a time bomb which has detonated hundreds of years later. It introduced an overwhelming emphasis on personal responsibility re belief, which led a couple of hundred years later to the enlightenment overwhelmingly emphasising the scientific method as the only basis for knowledge, which has led a couple of hundred years after that to us being unable to talk about religion in any other way.

Other religions don’t have that misunderstanding/separation – from what I can tell eg secular Jews with metaphysical doubts would have no difficulty identifying as Jewish. Ditto Muslims. For them the question also means ‘what did your parents believe’, ‘where did you come from’, ‘where is the holy place’, ‘who should you try to emulate’, ‘where would you get married’, ‘who are your people’, ‘what’s the basic rule for living’, etc.

This is Tom Holland’s point in Dominion. By any of those measures we are and remain a deeply Christian society. But we’ve come to understand the question as something like ‘do you accept the trinity’, and because of the time bomb above that has become a really difficult question to answer. I’d imagine the ‘no religion’ box gets ticked by Christians only, and probably overwhelmingly by Protestants at that.

You’re describing the Church of England rather than Christianity. I could tick off a long list of thriving churches with large,
engaged congregations who know and understand what the Bible says.

I always though the CofE continued because it didn't interfere too much in people's lives - people see it as culture rather than religion - especially older people have told me it's a community - they don't believe but they feel they belong.
I can see other religions flourishing through a combination of community, culture and immigration, even as a very lapsed catholic with no belief in god, I turned to religion when I was homesick at uni - it was the feeling of home and familiarity - didn't last long though, as soon as I was feeling more settled I returned to my atheist ways.

There's absolutely no smugness in my statement referring to real meaning. Having spent most of my life without any faith, Jesus changed my understanding of the world so fundamentally that it does now have real meaning. The world makes sense now and I understand why we're here. What a relief that is, praise God. No smugness at all.

You are right with your assessment on why younger people are looking towards religion but wrong that the CofE is one that would interest people who are searching for an anchor in the high seas of hypermodernity. The CofE is over, it just hasn't been formalised yet, it will soon. The churches that interest younger people are Catholic or Orthodox.

I think Christianity is declining because of advances in science.

I agree that there are many reasons. One huge cultural factor I think is the explosion of western consumer and media culture. Cultural focus is on entertainment, instant gratification and individualism, and being drawn away fro ritual, faith and tradition.

The CofE has always been a con. It only exists because Henry took a fancy to Anne Boleyn. Then its place was cemented by two centuries of burning anyone who hadn't "converted" at the stake.

I'm pretty sure there would be more "believers" now if the government reintroduced burning at the stake for non-believers.

So you think the only 'real meaning' available is belief in Jesus?

I can understand believing non-Christians do not have access to the FULL meaning, but surely you can have some degree of real meaning via contributing to the world, improving the lives of others around you unselfishly?

It just seems arrogant to say no non-Christian has any 'real meaning' in their life.

YouGov did a poll in January and 73% of people said they didn't care about the Church of England anymore.

Very specifically the C of E (not Christianity)

Jews are a bit different as they are an ethnoreligion and allow but do not emphasise conversion. So you can remain attached to the culture while not believing in the religion.

So anyone with a Jewish mother is halachically Jewish, and they may well be culturally Jewish, speak Yiddish maybe, celebrate the festivals, be attached to the community. But not religious.

Many non believing Jews do practice to one degree or another. But those who don't may well still feel Jewish as it's also a culture & ethnicity.

There's also the fact that Judaism is an orthopraxy, not an orthodoxy, like Hinduism emphasis is more on action rather than belief. This ties also to Hinduism enduring. So a non believing Jew or Hindu can still practice the actions. The Jewish Commandments assume belief in God (you can't love a God you don't believe in) but on practice an atheist can keep kosher, pray etc

The CoE lost me in November 2012 when the General Synod voted against the ordination of women bishops.

You don't get another crack at telling me I'm of no value.

The fact that later on, that view was rescinded is to me irrelevant. Just like that old saying 'you don't get a second chance to make a first impression' - you guys told me where you're really coming from.

Now, I try to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ but never again will any church garner my presence or allegiance.

Well Protestant magazines have been reporting a revival...