Astonishing decline of Christianity in Britain (page 2)

OUTLAW

Now you see what happens,when you eat too much fried food...OUTLAW

slimboyfat

And what is my single message? Whatever the message, I suppose, if you don't like the message - shoot the messenger.

Christian groups are in rapid decline in Britain. Jehovah's Witnesses are stagnant or growing quite slowly. Yet to read what you do on this board sometimes you would think it was the other way round! Just a bit of reality here: compared to Christian groups as a whole Jehovah's Witnesses in Britain are doing surprisingly well.

These are brand new statistics I quoted above showing the continued decline of Christianity in Britain - I just thought I would share.

Slim

fullofdoubtnow

Actually, those figures include all Christian groups, only excluding non-Trinitarians: Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and a handful of others

So therefore, some christian gropus could have experienced growth, while others decreased. There is no way of saying for certain that all christian groups have declined in numbers.

Alpha is a failure, and the other initiatives too. They brought some into the churches for novelty value, but most of those have since stopped attending

Any figures to back that assertion up?

The jws may have 1% growth overall (lots of kids being baptised is a likely cause), but they baptised 2535 in the UK in the last service year, but only grew by 1346, so what happened to those 1189 people? I suppose some will have died, but most will have left or become inactive.

jgnat

Yes, I'd like some hard data showing that Alpha is a "failure". The link I posted showed a 68% increase in some (non-mainstream) churches.

I would concede that organized religion as a whole is failing to convince modern society that they are needed or relevant. But I sense an emerging need for spirituality, and depth. Churches that are flexible enough to respond to that demand, I believe, will do well.

slimboyfat

There is no way of saying for certain that all christian groups have declined in numbers.

Well there is, since the figures are very detailed. But if you want to read them all you will need to buy the book. The small groups that are increasing are almost exclusively entirely immigrant based and centre on London, like The New Testament Church of God. But their only real effect on the numbers as a whole is to make the bottom line number look a little less bad than they really are. After all, were it not for some of the small increases shown in some black churches comprising people who have newly moved to this country, then the overall rate of decline would have been even worse.

So therefore, some christian gropus could have experienced growth, while others decreased.

Yes, there are a few (very few) small churches that had modest increases. But even taking those into account the overall trend is, as I have shown above, dramatic decline.

In other words, the figures above are not simply for the declining churches - they are the figures for all the churches comblined, including the small ones with modest increases.

but only grew by 1346, so what happened to those 1189 people? I suppose some will have died, but most will have left or become inactive.

No doubt - but it is still far better than the other Christian denominations, no matter what way you look at it.

Talk about all those Witnesses who became inactive and multiply the problem by 10 or more, and then you are starting to approach the kind of difficulties Christian groups in general in Britain are facing with rapid decline.

Slim

tetrapod.sapien

hi jgnat! long time no see!

But I sense an emerging need for spirituality, and depth.

yes, i agree. and i bet so would carl jung.

:)

tetra

slimboyfat

Jgnat,

Read the figures at the start of the thread again - that is your proof that Alpha is a failure! Christian churches as a whole are in rapid decline. If Alpha was having any success at all it would at least make some small dent on the rate of decline, but the decline progresses full steam ahead. Not even asking for them to produce a reversal or a 'revival' or anything! But there is no evidence that such initiatives have even slowed down the rate of overall decline - which would be on the modest end of the spectrum of hoped-for-results, surely.

And if continued sharp decline in all churches as a whole is not enough proof that initiatives like Alpha are not working, then I really have to wonder what you would consider proof?

Slim

lovelylil

jgnat,

I agree with you. There is a rise in churches that are non-traditional such as house churches. And ministries like the Plain Truth Ministry which is religion "without the walls" of a church building seem to be growing too. The church is really the body of believers in Christ anyway. So I wonder if these polls are counting Christian religious institutions OR individual Christians? For where 2 or 3 are gathered together in Christ's name - that is a church.

Also I know many missionaries in other countries and they are reporting new converts to Christianity every day. Lilly

slimboyfat

"New Churches", "House Churches", Evangelicals, Pentecostals... you name it - they are all included in the figures!

Even including those churches that are not doing as bad as the older liberal churches, Chrisitian groups as a whole are in rapid decline.

Slim

lovelylil

slim,

I find it hard to believe that "house churches" are included in those figures. No one takes a census of home churches nor do they keep records of how many members attend. I just started attending one here in the States myself and they have a few regulars but the number ov people who attend can vary widely on any given day.

The same is true for ministries like the Plain Truth. They do not keep records of the people who attend their online services, so how could they have been included in those figures?

Personally I think they are looking at mainstream churches only and we can all agree they are at a decline. But non-traditional churches (not religious institutions) seems to be on an upswing in many countries. As more people are realizing that "church" is not a building nor a denomination. Lilly

Astonishing decline of Christianity in Britain

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