Church of England staring at oblivion as just 2% of young Britons say they identify with it

Anthony2019

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Woah! Hold on a minute.
I was brought up as an Anglican but now go to another denomination.
I'm not a fan of institutionalised church in general; there is much wrong with the 'we need to get people into our church buildings, so that these buildings, and church as we know, it will continue', type of attitude.
But "shutting God out" is way too strong. I know many lovely people who have attended Anglican churches, heard the Gospel, become Christians and been ordained, become missionaries or continued to serve God as Christian GPs or whatever. My husband's CofE church is thriving, and he serves there as a lay reader. People are continuing to offer for ordination each year - not as many as maybe the powers-that-be would like - but God is clearly still calling people to, and blessing them in, this denomination.

There are also many faithful Christians, in this denomination and others, that pray for the future of our country.
When I was orphaned as a child, the Anglican church taught me about the love of God.
When I had a housing crisis in my mid twenties, an Anglican couple took me into their own home.
When I went through a crisis of faith and stopped going to church, I stayed with some brothers in an Anglican friary and found my faith reignited.
If it wasn't for my brothers and sisters in the Anglican church, I don't know where I would be today.
 
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dqhall

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When I was orphaned as a child, the Anglican church taught me about the love of God.
When I had a housing crisis in my mid twenties, an Anglican couple took me into their own home.
When I went through a crisis of faith and stopped going to church, I stayed with some brothers in an Anglican friary and found my faith reignited.
If it wasn't for my brothers and sisters in the Anglican church, I don't know where I would be today.
There is an Anglican church inside the Joppa Gate of Old Jerusalem. The church was built in the 19th century on land donated by the Turks after the British helped them in a battle against the Russians. I stayed at their guesthouse. I met the pastor who had legal troubles for giving a Bible to some Jewish youth who asked for one. The Israeli Jews have a law against proselytization. Israel has a small Christian minority of Jewish and Arab Christians. Some Christians living in Nazareth left the country.
 
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inquiring mind

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When you accept every sort of foreigner into your country, in large numbers; promote, encourage and support any kind of ‘freedom of expression,’ regardless of its morality and influence on the youth; your base culture and religion are soon to go… simple as that.
 
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James Honigman

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Church of England staring at oblivion as just 2% of young Britons say they identify with it

The number of people who identify as belonging to the Church of England has dropped to a record low in an “unrelenting decline” that could threaten the denomination’s future, research suggests.

CofE affiliation has fallen to just 2 per cent among adults aged 18 to 24, while the majority of every age group now has no religion, the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey found.

View attachment 261435

The number of Britons who describe themselves as part of the church has more than halved since 2002, from 31 per cent to 14 per cent. The number who actually attend sermons is far lower.

The sharpest drop was among 45- to 54-year-olds, only 11 per cent of whom identify with the CofE compared to 35 per cent in 2002.


The strongest affiliation with the church was among over-60s, but even there a minority of 30 per cent say they belong to the denomination.


More than four times as many 18- to 24-year-olds – 9 per cent – said they belonged to the church 16 years ago.

The drop comes amid a trend towards a secular society. Fifty-two per cent of people now say they belong to no religion, up from 41 per cent in 2002.

In Scotland an even higher proportion – 56 per cent – say they have no religion, and only 18 per cent belong to the Church of Scotland, according to the BSA.

Roger Harding, head of public attitudes at the National Centre for Social Research, which conducts the survey, said: “Our figures show an unrelenting decline in Church of England and Church of Scotland numbers.


“This is especially true for young people where less than one in 20 now belong to their established church.

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Hi Red. You are right, and it is not just the Church of England but Christianity everywhere. It's important to point out though, this is just as it's supposed to be. The Lord told us in 11 Thessalonians 2 there is to be a great falling away before we see the antichrist in Jerusalem claiming to be God. In Amos 8 we are told there will be a famine in the land for hearing the words of the LORD. These are just two examples of the world falling away from Christ; there are many more.
 
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Athanasius377

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There are a lot of really good points in this thread. I would point out that as Christians the majority of us are uncomfortable with the role of being truly countercultural. The modern western liberal (in the classical sense) ideal was marinated in the classical Christian worldview. Slowly at first and now picking up steam that train is shedding that worldview in favor of a militant secular one so much so that we will not be tolerated in the future. Our Roman Catholic friends have a point when it comes to state churches becoming tools of statecraft and not so much tools of the Gospel. In other words there will soon be a time where there won’t be room in the secular sphere for even mainstream (read secular or worldly) Christians. Those of us who are faithful will be lumped in with the Westboro Baptist cult and these state churches will not be able to offer any quarter to us that remain.

So my point is we should embrace our label as being countercultural and subversive and stop soliciting the secular world’s approval.

End rant. Sorry, that my two cents.
 
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redleghunter

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There are a lot of really good points in this thread. I would point out that as Christians the majority of us are uncomfortable with the role of being truly countercultural. The modern western liberal (in the classical sense) ideal was marinated in the classical Christian worldview. Slowly at first and now picking up steam that train is shedding that worldview in favor of a militant secular one so much so that we will not be tolerated in the future. Our Roman Catholic friends have a point when it comes to state churches becoming tools of statecraft and not so much tools of the Gospel. In other words there will soon be a time where there won’t be room in the secular sphere for even mainstream (read secular or worldly) Christians. Those of us who are faithful will be lumped in with the Westboro Baptist cult and these state churches will not be able to offer any quarter to us that remain.

So my point is we should embrace our label as being countercultural and subversive and stop soliciting the secular world’s approval.

End rant. Sorry, that my two cents.
That’s a keeper. Well said Bro.
 
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Not David

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I don't know why people consider "Hispanics" a devoted group. Where I am now, most of the young people (around my age) support gay marriage, transgenderism, and abortion. The adults and seniors at least pretend to be Catholic and try to go to church (clear exceptions, of course).

In the US, most of the Hispanics were cultural Christians or atheists.
 
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Athanasius377

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I don't know why people consider "Hispanics" a devoted group. Where I am now, most of the young people (around my age) support gay marriage, transgenderism, and abortion. The adults and seniors at least pretend to be Catholic and try to go to church (clear exceptions, of course).

In the US, most of the Hispanics were cultural Christians or atheists.
Good point. Like most demographic groups they are not monolithic. The ones I know locally are about as divided as any other group.
 
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redleghunter

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In the US, most of the Hispanics were cultural Christians or atheists.
Some are, some are remaining faithful Catholics, some are becoming Evangelical or Pentecostal.

Have a buddy who follows faith/religion polls closely and will ask him to share.
 
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Not David

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Some are, some are remaining faithful Catholics, some are becoming Evangelical or Pentecostal.

Have a buddy who follows faith/religion polls closely and will ask him to share.
Well, I am talking mainly about college student age.
 
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Athanasius377

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Some are, some are remaining faithful Catholics, some are becoming Evangelical or Pentecostal.

Have a buddy who follows faith/religion polls closely and will ask him to share.
Good point as well. I read an article documenting the trend of Latin American Catholics converting in droves to Pentecostal church bodies. If I had link at my fingertips I would paste it. Like most stats the real meat is in the details like what is being considered a Catholic.
 
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redleghunter

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Good point as well. I read an article documenting the trend of Latin American Catholics converting in droves to Pentecostal church bodies. If I had link at my fingertips I would paste it. Like most stats the real meat is in the details like what is being considered a Catholic.
It has been a common pattern since a long time, my grandparents are Evangelicals (one of them used to be a Pastor), my parents and their siblings are Evangelicals, my siblings are Evangelicals and I grew up Evangelical.
 
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Aussie Pete

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Woah! Hold on a minute.
I was brought up as an Anglican but now go to another denomination.
I'm not a fan of institutionalised church in general; there is much wrong with the 'we need to get people into our church buildings, so that these buildings, and church as we know, it will continue', type of attitude.
But "shutting God out" is way too strong. I know many lovely people who have attended Anglican churches, heard the Gospel, become Christians and been ordained, become missionaries or continued to serve God as Christian GPs or whatever. My husband's CofE church is thriving, and he serves there as a lay reader. People are continuing to offer for ordination each year - not as many as maybe the powers-that-be would like - but God is clearly still calling people to, and blessing them in, this denomination.

There are also many faithful Christians, in this denomination and others, that pray for the future of our country.
There are exceptions, of course. But that is in spite of the Anglican hierarchy, not because of it. It seems that 98% of 20 year olds see the Church of England as irrelevant.

To me, this could be a good thing. It should stir God's people to action, praying and fasting and repenting. We've seen an amazing miracle in Australia. A party with an anti Christian agenda was guaranteed election. Except for God. Many Christians got together and prayed and fasted and repented of division over a period of over a year. A Christian is now Prime Minister. The opposition party is still wondering how they could have lost. One day, the Church will cease to be a corporation and become the Body of Christ that God intended it to be. I hope to be alive to see that day and I am doing what I can to bring it to pass. Lord Jesus is returning for a glorious Church.
 
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I remember researching different denominations years ago. I had settled on Anglican or Episcopal paths. But the latter has crossed lines I can’t sanction spiritually and the former is following suit. At least in my neighborhood. Most of the places of worship are very liberal. Its a sad state.
 
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creslaw

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There are exceptions, of course. But that is in spite of the Anglican hierarchy, not because of it. It seems that 98% of 20 year olds see the Church of England as irrelevant.

To me, this could be a good thing. It should stir God's people to action, praying and fasting and repenting. We've seen an amazing miracle in Australia. A party with an anti Christian agenda was guaranteed election. Except for God. Many Christians got together and prayed and fasted and repented of division over a period of over a year. A Christian is now Prime Minister. The opposition party is still wondering how they could have lost. One day, the Church will cease to be a corporation and become the Body of Christ that God intended it to be. I hope to be alive to see that day and I am doing what I can to bring it to pass. Lord Jesus is returning for a glorious Church.
Pete, I sat glued to the tv all that Saturday night ... and the next day I couldn't stop smiling. The look on Penny Wong's face was priceless. Morrison saying "I've always believed in miracles" ... how good was that!

Even so I think it might take a bit of serious persecution to get the Church back on track ... and that is most likely to come from the Left.
 
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Aussie Pete

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There is an Anglican church inside the Joppa Gate of Old Jerusalem. The church was built in the 19th century on land donated by the Turks after the British helped them in a battle against the Russians. I stayed at their guesthouse. I met the pastor who had legal troubles for giving a Bible to some Jewish youth who asked for one. The Israeli Jews have a law against proselytization. Israel has a small Christian minority of Jewish and Arab Christians. Some Christians living in Nazareth left the country.
My understanding is that very few Christians now live in areas controlled by Arabs, including Bethlehem. Talmudic Jewish belief is as hostile to Christianity as Islam. Worldly religion is hostile to Christ now as it was during His time on earth. The one thing that unites the world is its hostility to Christ. (Psalm 2). God gets the last laugh. The Kingdoms of the world will be overthrown and replaced with the Kingdom of God.
 
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Paidiske

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Frankly, I didn't find either of the major parties in the last election to be presenting much of a Christian agenda. I found Labor's traditional concern for the poor and marginalised slightly more in line with the values of the reign of God.

The idea that Christians might align neatly with one party or the other doesn't really do justice to either the gospel or the breadth and diversity of the genuinely devout Christian community.
 
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Aussie Pete

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Pete, I sat glued to the tv all that Saturday night ... and the next day I couldn't stop smiling. The look on Penny Wong's face was priceless. Morrison saying "I've always believed in miracles" ... how good was that!

Even so I think it might take a bit of serious persecution to get the Church back on track ... and that is most likely to come from the Left.
Yes, we are not "there" yet. It was evidence of what God can do. I was very much reminded of Gough Whitlam's overthrow in 1975. That was prefaced by much prayer. Unfortunately it became "business as usual" a few years later. The church has to be shaken and the false removed. Some estimates are that 95% of church attenders are not born again. It varies, of course, but the gospel preached is so shallow that its hardly surprising.
 
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