Author Archives: Clive D. Field

Reflecting on the Papal Visit

More than three months afterwards, the state and pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland and England last September continues to engender mixed views. That is the core finding of two recent online surveys released by ComRes on 1 … Continue reading

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Religious Trends Online

Seven printed editions of Christian Research’s Religious Trends were published between 1997 and 2008, under the editorship of Peter Brierley. They appeared as a companion to the UK Christian Handbook, which had developed incrementally since 1973, predating the formation of … Continue reading

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Converts to Islam

Conversion to Islam by Britons is a centuries-old phenomenon but has only become numerically significant in recent decades. Mostly, the process passes relatively unnoticed by the public, but there have been occasional high-profile conversions, including recently that of the journalist … Continue reading

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Who Worked on Christmas Day? Not All the Clergy!

Christmas Day may be both a religious festival and a secular public holiday in Britain, but many people have to, or choose to, work on the day, according to newly-released data from the Government’s Labour Force Survey, which interviews a … Continue reading

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I Believe in Angels – The Reality Behind the ABBA Lyrics

It can often be an uphill struggle to engage the news media in positive stories about religion, especially where statistics are also involved! However, the Bible Society and Christian Research were clearly on to a real winner with their press … Continue reading

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Top of the Christmas ‘Pops’

Silent Night is the nation’s favourite Christmas carol, according to a YouGov poll released today. Online interviews took place with 1,162 adult Britons aged 18 and over on 21 and 22 December. The data table is available at: http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-YouGov-Life-Christmas-Carols-221210.pdf Silent … Continue reading

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Not Ashamed – Christianity in Britain

Some sections of British evangelical Christianity feel increasingly beleaguered in the face of what they perceive as the progressive marginalization of their faith, at the hands of the law, the media, government and employers. Christian Concern is one organization seeking … Continue reading

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Thumbs Up to Religious Education?

We reported on 29 August (http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/?p=512) about the importance which the British public attached in a YouGov poll to religious education (RE) relative to other school subjects. On 13 December the RE Council (REC) of England and Wales, an umbrella … Continue reading

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Back to Church Sunday 2010

‘Onward Christian Soldiers: Churches Resurgent’ proclaims the headline in Jonathan Wynne-Jones’s article in today’s Sunday Telegraph, referring to the case advanced by Christian Research over the past three months that the relentless decline in churchgoing may be coming to an … Continue reading

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Today’s News – (1) ‘Islamic Extremism’, (2) Religion at Christmas

The regular weekly YouGov poll for The Sunday Times, published today, includes questions on a couple of topics which will interest BRIN readers. Interviewing was online on 16 and 17 December, among a representative sample of 1,966 adult Britons aged … Continue reading

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