The End of Christianity in Great Britain is Near?
May 12, 2008 — Andrew FordTyndale, Wycliffe, and Spurgeon must be spinning in their graves.
A recent report predicts that Christianity in Great Britain (in its present form) will continue on a steep decline making us wonder what Tyndale died for? You can read an article by about the report here.
A few key quotes from Gledhill:
Church attendance in Britain is declining so fast that the number of regular churchgoers will be fewer than those attending mosques within a generation . . .
Muslims will have increased from about one million today to 1.96 million in 2035 . . .
Hindus will come close to outnumbering churchgoers within a generation. The forecast to 2050 shows churchgoing in Britain declining to 899,000 while the active Hindu population, now at nearly 400,000, will have more than doubled to 855,000. By 2050 there will be 2,660,000 active Muslims in Britain - nearly three times the number of Sunday churchgoers . . .
By 2050 there will be just 3,600 churchgoing Methodists left in Britain, Christian Research predicts. Anglicans will be down to 87,800, Catholics to 101,700, Presbyterians to 4,400, Baptists to 123,000 and independents to 168,000 . . .
The crisis is particularly acute for Methodists and Presbyterians, as many worshippers are aged over 65. The report predicts that these churches might well have merged with others by 2030. “The primary cause of the decrease in attendance is that people are simply dying off,” . . .
The Church of England is disputing the findings. We shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that the incoming Muslim population is to blame - Christianity in Great Britain (and Europe) has been in trouble for many years. Nominal Christianity will never endure.
The question we all should be asking: Will the North American church follow in her footsteps?
H.T. Crunchy Con
May 13, 2008 at 8:02 am
From a human perspective it seems inevitable that NA will follow England. We consume their TV shows, their culture, their worldview, and eventually, their faith patterns. However, we all know that God can do anything!!
If England continues in this direction, here are two predictions: 1) Asia and Africa will send more missionaries to the west and 2) the church in England will be purified and as a result, will grow again!
May 13, 2008 at 6:30 pm
“The question we all should be asking: Will the North American church follow in her footsteps?”
God, as a North American I certainly hope so.