News |

British Social Attitudes, 2013

Posted on June 21, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Results have recently started to emerge from the 2013 British Social Attitudes (BSA) Survey, although it will still be some time before the full dataset is available at the UK Data Archive. Meanwhile, the best available source for rather more limited online statistical analysis is the British Social Attitudes Information System, which can be found at:

http://www.britsocat.com/

BSA has been conducted by NatCen Social Research on an annual basis since 1983 (except in two years), and on behalf of the Economic and Social Research Council and a consortium of Government and charitable funders.

Interviewing is face-to-face, supplemented by a self-completion questionnaire. For the 2013 survey (undertaken between June and November) the sample comprised 3,244 adults aged 18 and over living in private households in Britain. However, many questions were only put to one of three sub-samples.

This post is confined to reporting the headline results for the religion questions posed in the 2013 BSA, with trend data for previous years, where extant. The British Social Attitudes Information System also permits, as a standard feature, analysis of all other questions by religious affiliation, and we hope to provide additional coverage from this perspective in due course.

Religious affiliation

BSA has routinely asked: ‘do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?’ This was question Q857 on the main BSA questionnaire in 2013. Results at ten-yearly intervals are shown in the following table:

% down	1983	1993	2003	2013
No religion	31.4	36.8	43.4	50.6
Christian – no denomination	3.2	4.6	6.6	11.8
Christian – Church of England	39.9	32.6	26.8	16.3
Christian – Roman Catholic	9.6	10.8	8.9	8.8
Christian – other	14.0	11.8	8.2	4.8
Non-Christian	2.0	3.5	6.0	7.7

It will be seen that the proportion professing no religion has steadily climbed, from 31% in 1983 to 51% in 2013, with a rise also in the number of non-Christians (from 2% to 8%). All forms of denominational Christianity have lost ground, but notably the Church of England (from 40% to 16% over the three decades) and other Protestant Christians (the Free Churches and Presbyterian Churches, down from 14% to 5%). Although the number of non-denominational Christians has virtually quadrupled, the increase has not stemmed the overall fall in Christians, from 67% to 42%.

BSA also asks about religion of upbringing (main questionnaire Q866). Setting religion of upbringing alongside current affiliation, in the table below, emphasizes the extent of loss of faith over the life-cycle, with the Church of England losing half its original constituency but even non-Christian faiths subject to a modest ‘leakage’.

% down	2013	2013	2013
	Upbringing	Current	Change
No religion	19.0	50.6	+31.6
Christian – no denomination	16.7	11.8	-4.9
Christian – Church of England	31.3	16.3	-15.0
Christian – Roman Catholic	14.5	8.8	-5.7
Christian – other	10.4	4.8	-5.6
Non-Christian	8.0	7.7	-0.3

Religious attendance

It should be noted that BSA does not ask the entire British cross-section sample about attendance at religious services other than for the rites of passage. This question (main questionnaire Q868) is only put to those declaring some religion at the time of interview and/or reporting a religion of upbringing. It is important to interpret the statistics in this light. Self-reported attendance dropped considerably between 1993 and 2003 but seems to have been more stable over the past ten years, albeit the majority of this sub-sample (58%) never worship.

% down	1993	2003	2013
Once a week or more	18.9	13.9	13.1
At least once in two weeks	3.2	2.4	2.5
At least once a month	9.0	5.8	6.4
At least twice a year	16.6	10.1	8.4
At least once a year	8.5	5.8	4.2
Less often	6.1	4.3	5.5
Never	36.7	56.7	58.4
Varies	1.0	1.1	1.4

Christianity and Britishness

Respondents were given a list of attributes which potentially define what it means to be ‘truly British’ and asked to rate their importance. One of the factors was ‘to be a Christian’ (self-completion questionnaire, Version A, Q2e). This question had been included in three previous BSA surveys, although the 2008 data are omitted from the published discussion by Zsolt Kiss and Alison Park, ‘National Identity: Exploring Britishness’, British Social Attitudes, 31, 2014 Edition, eds Alison Park, Caroline Bryson, and John Curtice (London: NatCen Social Research, 2014), pp. 64-5, which is at:

http://www.bsa-31.natcen.ac.uk/media/38202/bsa31_full_report.pdf

The results from all four surveys are shown below. It will be seen that the proportion thinking ‘to be a Christian’ is important to Britishness has reduced from just under one-third in 1995 and 2003 to just under one-quarter in 2008 and 2013. However, between 2008 and 2013 the number believing a Christian profession to be very important to British identity has doubled, while those deeming it unimportant have reduced by four points, from 75% to 71%. These changes coincide with greater public concern about Muslims (see the next item) and Christianophobia.

% down	1995	2003	2008	2013
Very important	18.5	15.1	6.2	12.5
Fairly important	13.5	15.6	17.4	12.0
Not very important	27.3	23.7	37.3	26.2
Not at all important	35.1	39.0	37.7	45.0
Can/t choose/not answered	5.7	6.6	1.4	4.4

‘To be a Christian’ came last in the 2013 list of nine factors defining what it means to be ‘truly British’, well behind sharing customs and traditions in eighth place on 50%. The top three attributes were an ability to speak English (95%), having British citizenship (85%), and respecting institutions and laws (85%).

Attitudes to Muslims

Q467 in the main questionnaire repeated a question asked in 2003 about whether Britain would begin to lose its identity if more Muslims came to live here. Far more agreed with the proposition in 2013 (62%) than in 2003 (48%), with the number who agreed strongly doubling. The growth perhaps exemplifies greater anxieties about Muslims after 7/7 and about immigrants in general. Dissentients reduced from 30% to 22% over the decade.

% down	2003	2013
Agree strongly	17.1	35.3
Agree	31.0	26.8
Neither agree nor disagree	17.0	15.0
Disagree	26.1	16.7
Disagree strongly	4.1	5.2
Don’t know/not answered	4.6	0.9

Respondents were also asked about the scenario in which a close relative married a Muslim, from two perspectives, the perceived reaction of most white people in Britain if one of their relatives was involved (main questionnaire Q656) and the likely reaction of the respondent if it was one of his/her relatives (Q659). The results are tabulated below:

% down	2013	2013
	White people	Own reaction
Mind a lot	34.0	23.4
Mind a little	36.3	21.0
Not mind	22.7	51.5
Other/DK/refused	7.0	4.0

As so often happens in sample surveys, respondents claimed a greater degree of tolerance for themselves than they were inclined to see in others. Whereas 70% thought that most white people would mind about a relative marrying a Muslim, only 44% felt that they would object themselves.

This particular question has not been asked before, in exactly the same words, but the 2003 BSA did pose a similar one, about reactions to a close relative marrying or otherwise forming a long-term relationship with a Muslim. At that time, just 25% voiced unhappiness at the prospect, 19% less than in 2013, suggesting a growth in Islamophobic attitudes over recent years.

Posted in church attendance, Historical studies, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged British Social Attitudes Survey, Britishness, Christian, church attendance, Immigration, inter-faith marriage, Islamophobia, Muslims, NatCen Social Research, religion of upbringing, Religious Affiliation, truly British | 1 Comment

More Trojan Horse Polling

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Trojan horse plot (1)

For the second week running, YouGov was commissioned by The Sunday Times to investigate public opinion surrounding issues raised by the so-called ‘Trojan horse’ plot, whereby Muslim hardliners were alleged to have been trying to take over the governance of some state schools in Birmingham. For this second poll, 2.106 Britons were interviewed online on 12 and 13 June 2014, with data tables published on 15 June at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/v0zlbnvgel/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-140613.pdf

More than three-quarters (79%) of respondents identified some risk to state schools being taken over by religious extremists, 34% agreeing that there was a large risk in many parts of the country and 45% a minor risk in just a few parts of the country (with 10% detecting no significant risk and 2% none at all). Risks were most likely to be perceived by Conservatives (88%), UKIP voters (94%), and the over-60s (91%). One-half the sample considered that academies and free schools were at greater risk from religious extremism than local authority controlled schools, while 28% judged them at equal risk.

In relation to the Birmingham situation, bearing in mind that fieldwork followed the publication of Ofsted reports on the schools concerned, a plurality (44%) of adults were convinced that there probably was a plot by Muslim groups to take control of certain schools in the city in order to install a Muslim ethos. Once again, it was Conservatives (55%), UKIP supporters (74%), and over-60s (56%) who were most convinced of the plot. Another third did not believe there had been a plot, but they did agree that some Birmingham schools had gone too far towards adopting a Muslim ethos. Just 6% sensed there was no problem, in that Birmingham schools with a majority of Muslim pupils were merely reflecting their own cultural background.

A majority (55%) of Britons were critical of the Government for not reacting strongly enough to the situation in Birmingham schools, thinking it should have done more sooner, with UKIP voters (88%) and over-60s (72%) most strongly of this persuasion. Just 10% (and no more than 16% in any demographic sub-group) took the contrary line – i.e. Government had over-reacted to the situation with potential to damage community relations. However, the public was largely neutral (63%) in the recent spat between the Home Secretary and the Education Secretary about which had better handled extremism in schools.

Trojan horse plot (2)

The ‘Trojan horse’ plot also provided the context for an online poll by Opinium Research among 1,002 UK adults aged 18 and over on 12 and 13 June 2014. It was conducted for The Observer, with a report appearing on pp. 1 and 14 of the main section of that newspaper dated 15 June. The survey concerned ‘faith schools’, although it should be noted that the schools at the centre of the ‘Trojan horse’ plot were not faith schools in the strict meaning of the term, but rather community schools, some under local authority control and some academies. The tables from the Opinium poll were released on 16 June and can be found at:

http://news.opinium.co.uk/sites/news.opinium.co.uk/files/op4610_observer_faith_schools_tables.pdf

In the wake of the ‘Trojan horse’ controversy, Opinium’s panellists were asked whether they thought some predominantly Muslim schools were actually fostering extremist attitudes among their pupils. Most (55% overall, 60% of men and 63% of over-55s) considered that they were, far more than the 16% who believed that mainly Muslim schools were simply reflecting the values and views of the parents of their pupils. A further 29% did not know or otherwise could not choose between the two options on offer.

A supplementary question was around the perceived risk of predominantly Muslim schools encouraging their students to adopt extremist views. A plurality (44%, with 54% of over-55s) deemed the risk to be very serious and another 31% quite serious, giving a combined 75% sensing some threat. Few (14%) judged the risk to be not very or not at all serious, and no more than 20% in any demographic sub-group. Responsibility for preventing and combating extremism in British schools was felt to lie especially with the Home Office and police (33%) and teachers and governors (31%), and to a much lesser extent with families (13%) and community leaders (8%).

The extensive media coverage of the ‘Trojan horse’ affair will almost certainly have conditioned answers to the more general introductory questions about ‘faith schools’ in the Opinium study, albeit other polls (including by YouGov for the Westminster Faith Debates in June 2013) have also revealed growing negativity toward them. In the Opinium survey, just 30% of respondents were comfortable with the idea of faith schools and the taxpayer helping to finance them. The majority (58%) voiced concerns, 23% (including 28% of men), opting for a complete ban on faith schools, with 35% accepting their existence but objecting to any state funding of them.

Asked why they opposed faith schools, the reasons most frequently given by this 58% majority were: the taxpayer should not be funding religion (70%), faith schools promote division and segregation (60%), faith schools are contrary to the advancement of a multicultural society (41%), and faith schools promote radicalization and extremism around faith (41%). Those who wanted to see faith schools banned entirely were most likely to cite the second to fourth of these reasons.

Most respondents (56%) were also clear that faith schools should teach strictly in accordance with the national curriculum, rising to 86% among those who thought such schools should be abolished. One-fifth were willing to give faith schools some flexibility about the teaching of other areas, and an additional 11% conceded discretion in the delivery of the national curriculum beyond core subjects. Only 3% wished to give faith schools total freedom about what to teach provided that pupils were still entered for national examinations.

Scottish independence

The potential religious effect has not featured much in the debate about Scottish independence in the run-up to the referendum on 18 September 2014 in Scotland. However, a recent Populus survey (conducted online among an unusually large sample of 6,078 Britons between 28 May and 6 June 2014) ostensibly suggests that religion may have a marginal bearing on the debate.

Respondents were asked what result they were hoping for from the referendum and given three choices: Scotland remaining in the UK, Scotland becoming independent, or no strong views. The results by religious affiliation for Britain overall are tabulated below:

% down	All	Christian	Non- Christian	None
Remain part of UK	54.3	58.8	48.1	48.7
Leave UK	17.1	15.4	19.8	19.2
No strong view	28.6	25.8	32.3	32.0

It will be seen that: a) non-Christians and those of no religion are more likely than Christians to want Scotland to leave the UK; b) Christians are more likely and non-Christians and those of no religion less likely to want Scotland to stay in the UK; and c) non-Christians and the nones are more likely than Christians to hold no strong views on the matter.

Of course, these associations may imply correlation but they do not necessarily prove causation, so we cannot claim for sure that there is a distinctly religious influence at work. The picture is almost certainly complicated by the operation of other demographic factors. Unfortunately, there is little scope for further analysis of the published data, which are on pp. 33-4 of the tables at:

http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/140607-Populus_FT_ScottishIndependence.pdf

Religious refugees

As part of a YouGov poll for British Future in connection with Refugee Week 2014, a representative sample of 2,190 adults was asked to identify the single biggest historical flow of refugees to Britain from one country arising from persecution or war. Interviewees were presented with a list of six options to choose from, including Belgian refugees at the start of the First World War. There were actually 250,000 of them, overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, so this was the correct answer to YouGov’s quiz. However, they were placed last with 0%. The next largest refugee influx was of Huguenots (Protestants) from France at the end of the seventeenth century, of whom more than 50,000 fled to Britain (and some have claimed up to 100,000), but just 7% of YouGov’s respondents thought they were the biggest flow of refugees. Jewish refugees from Germany in the 1930s and 1940s were positioned second, on 17%, yet the total number of Jews admitted to Britain and fleeing Nazi persecution in various countries combined is usually reckoned not to exceed 50,000. Top of the YouGov list, with 20%, were Ugandan Asians expelled by Idi Amin in the 1970s, disproportionately Hindu and to a lesser extent Muslim, notwithstanding fewer than 30,000 of them were allowed to enter Britain. Besides the wrong answers, two-fifths of adults could not even venture an opinion. The data tables, based on fieldwork on 21 and 22 April 2014, are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/nyti7hmnu4/British_Future_Results_140422_GB_Refugee_Week_2_W.pdf

The same survey was also run, between 17 and 23 April 2014, among a sample of 1,005 young Britons aged 17-21. They did little better (2%) than all adults in identifying the predominance of Belgian refugees in the First World War. They had Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in first place (18%), with Ugandan Asians only on 8% and French Huguenots on 7%. One-quarter (26%) knew that ‘Kindertransport’ involved the transport of Jewish children escaping the Nazis, which was 9% less than among all adults. These tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/vudbg13za9/British_Future_Results_140422_Young_People_IMMIG_ONLY_W.pdf

Posted in Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Birmingham, British Future, Faith schools, Islamophobia, Muslims, Observer, Opinium Research, Populus, refugees, religious extremism, Scottish independence, state schools, Sunday Times, Trojan Horse plot, YouGov | Leave a comment

Trojan Horse Plot and Other News

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Trojan horse plot

Two-thirds of the British public think there is substance behind the allegations of a ‘Trojan horse’ plot whereby hardline Muslim groups have attempted to take over certain schools in Birmingham. However, opinion is divided about where blame for this state of affairs lies. These are among the findings of a poll conducted by YouGov for The Sunday Times, in which 2,134 adults aged 18 and over were interviewed online on 5 and 6 June 2014 (i.e. before the formal release of Ofsted’s reports on the 21 schools on 9 June). The data tables were published on 8 June at:

http://cdn.yougov.com/cumulus_uploads/document/lwiuydgoju/YG-Archive-Pol-Sunday-Times-results-x140606.pdf.pdf

The opening questions were generic, YouGov’s panellists initially being asked whether it was acceptable for state schools with a majority of pupils from Muslim families to set rules reflecting their interpretation of Islamic religion and culture. Overwhelmingly (85%), this was deemed unacceptable, with still higher proportions among UKIP supporters (95%), the over-60s (93%), and Conservatives (91%). Overall, only 7% defended the operation of Islamic rules in these circumstances, and no more than 11% in any demographic sub-group.

Interviewees felt almost as strongly (70%) that Government should limit the freedoms of individual schools to ensure that they do not make decisions which are bad for their pupils and that they are not taken over by extremists, with just 11% wanting maximum discretion for headteachers and governors to determine policies and practices in accordance with the needs of their local areas.

In the case of the Birmingham ‘Trojan horse’ allegations, a mere 7% believed they were false, with 28% undecided, and 65% convinced they were probably true, rising to 87% among UKIP voters, 83% of over-60s, and 77% of Conservatives. Blame for the situation in Birmingham was variously attributed to Muslim activists (32%), school governors (15%), central government (13%), Birmingham City Council (10%), and headteachers (5%), with 25% unable to express an opinion.

The survey also returned to the question of whether Britain is a Christian country, the subject of a recent public and media debate to which Prime Minister David Cameron made a major contribution. At the height of that debate, in late April 2014, the majority of respondents agreed that Britain was still a Christian country: 55% according to YouGov and 56% according to ICM Research. Now, however, only 40% do so, with a plurality of 44% claiming Britain is no longer a Christian country (the latter figure up 11% on YouGov’s previous poll). What a difference a few weeks (and the ‘Trojan horse’ affair putting Islam centre-stage) can make to the tide of public opinion! Only among Conservative voters (52%) does a majority subscribe to the reality of a Christian nation.

Marriages in England and Wales

The proportion of marriages in England and Wales solemnized in religious ceremonies is continuing to fall. It stood at 29.7% according to the provisional figures for 2012 published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 11 June 2014, 0.2% less than in 2011. This was notwithstanding a rise of 4.6% in the number of religious weddings between 2011 and 2012, which was outstripped by a 5.5% growth in civil ceremonies. However, the Church of England and Church in Wales did improve their market share by a small amount (0.2%, reflecting the fact that Anglican weddings rose by 6.2% over the year). Until 1976 religious weddings surpassed civil ones. Selective trend data are shown in the following table:

	1981	1991	2001	2011	2012
Civil	49.0	49.3	64.3	70.1	70.3
Church of England/Wales	33.6	33.5	24.4	21.9	22.1
Roman Catholic	7.4	6.4	4.2	3.4	3.2
Other Christian	9.5	10.1	6.1	3.5	3.3
Non-Christian	0.4	0.6	1.0	1.1	1.1

ONS also reported on the number of non-Anglican certified places of worship and those registered for the solemnization of marriage in England and Wales, in both cases as at 30 June 2011. Statistics are summarized below (it should be noted that registration of places of worship for marriage is not required in the case of the Society of Friends and Jews):

	Certified buildings	Registered for marriage	% registered
Roman Catholic	3,623	3,269	90.2
Methodist	6,990	6,127	87.7
Baptist	3,261	3.046	93.4
United Reformed	1,604	1,542	96.1
Congregationalist	1,355	1,241	91.6
Calvinistic Methodist	1,144	1,052	92.0
Brethren	942	733	77.8
Jehovah’s Witnesses	927	838	90.4
Salvation Army	887	721	81.3
Society of Friends	364	NA	NA
Unitarian	176	161	91.5
Other Christian	6,469	4,442	68.7
Muslim	930	205	22.0
Jew	377	NA	NA
Sikh	229	170	74.2
Other non-Christian	516	301	58.3

The ONS statistical bulletin with supporting tables in Excel format (including full trend data back to 1837, when civil registration began) can be found at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/marriages-in-england-and-wales–provisional-/2012/index.html

Charitable giving

The 26% of Britons who say they practise a religion are more likely to have donated money to a charity during the past month than the 73% who do not practise a faith, according to a ComRes poll for BBC Religion which was published on 8 June 2014. The sample comprised 3,035 adults interviewed by telephone between 28 February and 23 March 2014.

Practising a religion was defined as praying, reading a holy book weekly, or attending religious services at least once a month. Those most likely to do so were women (31%), the over-65s (35%), and Londoners (39%). The split between practising Christians and non-Christians was 19% versus 7%.

Of those practising a religion, 78% claimed to have given to a charity during the past month. This compared with a national average of 70% and with 67% of the non-practising. Not unexpectedly, the practising were also more likely to have seen or heard something from a place of worship or religious group during the previous month about donating to charitable or social causes – 39% against 12%.

Overall, 19% of respondents had been encouraged to give by a church or religious group, and this was especially true in London (30%). This was a greater proportion than had received encouragement to give money by government (8%) or a local political organization (9%), but it was far less than the 72% who had been exposed to an appeal by a charity.

Data tables from this survey are at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/BBC_Religion_Charitable_Giving_March_2014_Great_Britain.pdf

Methodist statistics

The Methodist Church has just published its latest Statistics for Mission report, for the year to 31 October 2013, including a number of new measures. The report, which extends to 33 pages, is for consideration at the Church’s annual Conference, to be held in Birmingham from 26 June to 3 July 2014. Overall, the document does not make for encouraging reading (from the Methodist perspective). Indeed, an editorial in the Methodist Recorder (6 June 2014, p. 6) baldly states that the statistics ‘offer no cause for hope’ and that ‘even the most accomplished masseur of numbers would be unable to put any positive spin’ on them.

The picture for the past ten years can be summarized in tabular form as follows:

	2003	2013	% change
Churches	6,229	5,071	-18.6
Ministers	2,108	1,815	-13.9
Members	304,971	208,738	-31.6
New members	4,483	2,496	-44.3
Deceased members	8,513	6,181	-27.4
Non-members	556,600	237,900	-57.3
Community roll	861,600	446,600	-48.2
Adult attendances	248,500	191,800	-22.8
Children’s attendances	77,900	32,700	-58.0
Baptisms	14,963	10,043	-32.9
Marriages/blessings	7,272	3,101	-57.4
Funerals	33,261	21,057	-36.7

Additionally, Methodism’s demographics remain skewed relative to society as a whole. A one-off survey of Methodist members in 2011 showed that only 31% were male and 69% female. In terms of age, just 7% were under 40, with 24% between 41 and 65, 51% from 66 to 80, and 18% 81 or over. The likelihood of ongoing decline is also suggested by the fact that two and a half times as many members now die each year as are recruited. On the other hand, 43% of churches seem to have recorded an increase over the triennium 2010-13 in either their membership or their attendance or both. The report is at:

http://www.methodistconference.org.uk/media/228157/conf-2014-37-statistics-for-mission.pdf

Posted in church attendance, Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion and Social Capital, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Rites of Passage, Survey news | Tagged BBC, Birmingham, charitable giving, Christian country, ComRes, Islamophobia, marriages, Methodist Church, Muslims, Office for National Statistics, places of worship, schools, Sunday Times, Trojan Horse plot, YouGov | Leave a comment

Personal Values and Other News

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Personal values

Religion is not regarded as a particularly important value either in the UK or in the European Union (EU) generally, according to newly-released data from Special Eurobarometer 415, which was undertaken in March 2014 as wave 81.2 of Eurobarometer among representative samples of adults aged 15 and over in each of the 28 member states of the EU. UK fieldwork was conducted by TNS UK on 15-24 March 2014 with 1,296 respondents.

Interviewees were presented with a list of twelve values and asked to select a maximum of three which were most important to them personally. Only 7% in the UK picked religion (the same figures as a year previously), which relegated it to eleventh position, just ahead of solidarity (a concept which very few related to in the UK compared with other European countries – otherwise, religion might have come bottom of the list). As in the EU as a whole, the top three UK values were respect for human life, human rights, and peace. The highest priority to religion was accorded in Cyprus (21%), Malta (17%), Greece (15%), and Romania (12%). Summary data are tabulated below, with the full topline statistics available on pp. T60-61 of the report at:

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_415_data_en.pdf

%	UK	EU
Respect for human life	44	40
Human rights	35	43
Peace	35	41
Equality	33	20
Rule of law	27	18
Individual freedom	24	23
Democracy	22	26
Respect for other cultures	18	9
Tolerance	16	14
Self-fulfilment	8	9
Religion	7	5
Solidarity	5	15

Church membership

There were 5,436,500 church members in the UK in 2013, 4.5% fewer in absolute terms than in 2008 (with an even bigger fall relative to the rising population), according to Dr Peter Brierley writing in the June 2014 issue of FutureFirst, the bimonthly bulletin of Brierley Consultancy. The 2013 figures derive from a form sent to each of the UK’s almost 300 denominations augmented by estimates in the case of non-response or missing data. The overall rate of decline appears to have lessened from the preceding period, and this is attributed to two principal factors: the establishment of new black and other immigrant churches, and Fresh Expressions of church.

However, the absolute decrease in members between 2008 and 2013 was unevenly distributed across the four home nations, reaching 8.4% in Wales, 11.7% in Northern Ireland, and 17.3% in Scotland (the contraction being especially concentrated in, respectively, the Union of Welsh Independents, Roman Catholic Church, and Church of Scotland). England actually registered a small increase (0.4%) over the five years, thanks to growth among the New Churches, Orthodox Churches, and Pentecostal Churches. A full analysis of the data will appear in the forthcoming second edition of Brierley’s UK Church Statistics.

Same-sex marriage

Prime Minister David Cameron may have recently extolled the virtues of Britain as a Christian country, but, in a poll chiefly about same-sex marriage, 34% of its citizens think he has actually undermined Christianity in the nation, the figure rising to 41% of over-65s and 60% of UKIP voters. Dissentients to the proposition number 42%, including 62% of Conservatives, with 25% don’t knows.

Likewise, a plurality of 45% disagrees that Cameron has improved religious freedom in the UK, with 63% for UKIP supporters. Only 19% consider that he has enhanced religious liberty (among them 37% of Conservatives and 30% of Liberal Democrats), a substantial 35% being undecided.

Notwithstanding the multiple locks (to protect religious sensibilities) built into the English and Welsh legislation for same-sex marriage, 44% feel it inevitable that the Church of England will be forced to conduct such unions (the Welsh being especially pessimistic, on 58%), 30% disagreeing and 26% uncertain.

The findings come from a survey commissioned by the Christian Institute from ComRes, and for which 2,056 adult Britons were interviewed online between 9 and 11 May 2014. Full data tables were published on 19 May at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/CI_SSM_Poll_May_2014.pdf

YouGov miscellany

YouGov’s final European election polling for The Times on 20-21 May 2014, employing an especially large sample of 6,124 adults, included several questions on miscellaneous topics, a couple of which are relevant to BRIN.

The first asked respondents to reflect on various changes in Britain in recent times and to say whether, on balance, each had been good or bad for the country. On the list was allowing supermarkets and other big shops to open on Sundays. This legislative change was approved by 63%, with 17% neutral and 16% opposed. Support was greater among the under-40s than over-40s, the figure for women over 40 falling to 55%.

The second question of interest to BRIN posed the statement: ‘Even in its more moderate forms, Islam is a serious danger to western civilisation’. A plurality of 47% agreed, rising to 75% of UKIP voters. Endorsement was much greater among the over-40s than under-40s (22% more in the case of men and 23% for women). Disagreement to the proposition ran at 28%, peaking at 46% of Liberal Democrats and 58% of Greens, with 18% undecided. Data tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/n966r6px4w/Full_EU_Poll_Final_CUKIP.pdf

Armed forces

FOI releases published by the Ministry of Defence on 28 and 29 May 2014 provide details of the religious affiliation of regular members of the UK armed forces as at 1 October 2013, thereby updating the statistics for 1 April 2013 which were noted in our post of 3 October 2013.

The newly-released data may be summarized (aggregating all non-Christian religions) thus:

	Army	Navy	RAF	Total	%
Church of England	47,950	15,820	18,380	82,150	49.3
Roman Catholic	11,600	3,790	3,800	19,190	11.5
Other Christian	21,070	5,680	5,310	32,060	19.3
Non-Christian	2,470	290	310	3,070	1.8
No religion	13,770	7,860	6,800	28,430	17.1
Undeclared	170	80	1,320	1,570	0.9
Total	97,030	33,520	35,920	166,470	99.9

The breakdown of the 3,070 non-Christians was as follows: 870 Hindus, 650 Muslims, 550 Buddhists, 160 Sikhs, 120 Pagans, 120 Rastafarians, 70 Jews, 40 Spiritualists, 30 Kiratis, 20 Wiccas, 10 Baha’is, and 430 other religions. The two FOI releases are at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315082/PUBLIC_1391420325.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315106/PUBLIC_1391430963.pdf

Women bishops

The Church of England’s internal strife over female bishops may be coming to an end, according to the final tabulation (published on 23 May 2014) of voting in diocesan synods on the current draft legislation to permit women to be appointed to the episcopate. In aggregate, the bishops were 94.9% in favour, clergy representatives 87.7%, and lay representatives 88.6%. Apart from Europe (which could not arrange a vote in time), every diocese voted in favour, including London and Chichester (which had rejected the then proposal for women bishops in 2011), albeit 31.4% of the members of the Chichester synod still remain opposed (among them the Bishop of Chichester). The legislation will now go to the Church’s General Synod in July for final approval. The full diocesan record of voting is at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1995951/pr%2064.14%20diocese%20vote%20table.jpg

Anglican school chaplaincy

The extent and nature of chaplaincy in Anglican secondary schools was revealed in a report published on 25 May 2014 by the Church of England Archbishops’ Council Education Division and the National Society. The underlying research was conducted by Michael Camp in the spring and summer terms of 2013, on the basis of an online survey of 198 schools, of which 72 replied, with 27 follow-up visits or structured telephone interviews. The Public Face of God: Chaplaincy in Anglican Secondary Schools and Academies in England and Wales is available at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1989177/nschaplaincyreport.pdf

Four-fifths (58) of the responding secondary schools were found to have a designated chaplain (or chaplaincy team). A majority of individual chaplains (34) were ordained, 22 were lay, and one was a religious. A plurality (26) were full-time appointments, 23 part-time employees, and eight were volunteers. Employed chaplains were more likely to be on support staff rather than teaching staff contracts.

Events

A reminder that the Church of England’s annual Faith in Research Conference is taking place this coming Wednesday (4 June 2014) at the Novotel, 70 Broad Street, Birmingham, with the Bishop of Manchester in the chair. The programme of keynote and breakout sessions can be found at:

http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1957190/session%20and%20speakers.pdf

Meanwhile, BRIN readers who live within reach of North-East England may be interested to attend a forthcoming public lecture by Dr Peter Brierley on ‘Church Statistics: the Latest Picture’. This will be given at 5 pm on Monday, 23 June 2014 at Etchells House, Cranmer Hall, 16 South Bailey, Durham. The lecture has been arranged by the Centre for Church Growth Research at St Johns College, Durham University, where Peter is a Visiting Fellow. Anybody intending to attend the lecture is kindly requested to email in advance to: d.j.goodhew@durham.ac.uk.

Posted in News from religious organisations, Official data, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged armed forces, Centre for Church Growth Research, Christian Institute, Christianity, church membership, Church of England, ComRes, David Cameron, Eurobarometer, European Commission, European Union, Faith in Research conference, Islam, Michael Camp, Ministry of Defence, National Society, Peter Brierley, Religious Affiliation, same-sex marriage, school chaplaincy, Sunday shopping, Sunday trading, The Times, TNS UK, values, Western civilization, women bishops, YouGov | Leave a comment

Early May News Round-Up

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Ritually-slaughtered meat

A renewed spate of media reports about supermarkets and restaurants selling their customers halal products without clearly labelling them as such has prompted The Sun to commission YouGov to run another survey of public opinion on the subject. It was something of a ‘quickie’ study, restricted to 603 adults interviewed online on 8 May 2014. The poll revealed that 65% of Britons wanted both sets of establishments clearly to identify meat which came from animals slaughtered using religious methods such as halal or kosher, 18-24s (74%) being especially of this view; 19% were opposed to labelling, with 16% uncertain. A majority (55%) also wanted the government to legislate for such labelling by retailers, even though Prime Minister David Cameron appears recently to have ruled this out, with 29% against. However, when initially asked about criteria of importance in buying meat, only 28% of adults had mentioned how it was slaughtered, compared with 84% opting for quality, 65% for price, 44% for standards of animal welfare generally, and 36% for country of origin. It should be noted that the questions did not specifically probe the issue of slaughter of animals without pre-stunning, which particularly affects Jews (most halal meat produced for UK Muslim markets actually involves pre-stunning). The results of the poll were published in The Sun on 9 May 2014, while detailed tables can be found at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/6ovnemkwzf/YG-Archive-140508-TheSun-Halal.pdf

Muslim call to prayer

Channel 4’s daily broadcast of the Muslim call to prayer (adhan) during Ramadan last year was the biggest single cause of complaint made to the broadcaster in 2013, according to its annual report for the year, which was published on 8 May 2014 under the title of Return on Innovation. Of a total of 16,835 complaints to Channel 4, 2,011 (12%) concerned the 4Ramadan season and 1,658 (10%) specifically related to the call to prayer. On the other hand, Channel 4 received 321 appreciative comments about 4Ramadan, the largest positive reaction for any broadcast (out of 5,174 such comments), with the 4Ramadan season attracting audiences of an estimated 5,300,000 and reaching 9% of the population (much larger than the number of Muslims living in the country). Four-fifths of viewers surveyed said that they had learned something new from 4Ramadan. The broadcaster’s annual report can be read at:

http://annualreport.channel4.com/downloads/C4_AR13_Combined_Report_LR_040414.pdf

Nigerian schoolgirls

The abduction of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by militant Islamist group Boko Haram was the most noticed news story this week, according to replies to an open-ended question posed in an online Populus poll of 2,006 Britons on 7-9 May 2014. It was mentioned by 28%, well ahead of Ukraine in second place on 11%. This information is taken from ‘Something for the This Weekend’, the weekly email round-up by Populus, dated 9 May 2014.

Ethnic minorities

‘In contrast to whites, BMEs are more likely to have a religion, more likely to practice that religion regularly, and more likely to feel religion plays an important part in their life.’ So is summarized the position regarding ethnic minorities and religion in contemporary Britain in Rishi Sunak and Saratha Rajeswaran, A Portrait of Modern Britain, which was published by the think tank Policy Exchange on 6 May 2014. The findings receive added significance from the forecast that people from ethnic minority backgrounds will make up nearly a third of the UK’s population by 2050. The data in the religion sections of the report (mostly on pp. 8-9, 18-21, 38-41, and 93) are drawn from a combination of the 2011 population census, the 2010 Ethnic Minority British Election Study (EMBES), and wave 1 (2011) of the Understanding Society survey. The document can be found at:

http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images/publications/a%20portrait%20of%20modern%20britain.pdf

Voting intentions

With less than a fortnight to go before the local and European elections, the latest Populus aggregate data on voting intentions, prepared for the Financial Times, will be of particular interest. The sample size is a large one, 18,448 adults aged 18 and over interviewed online between 2 April and 1 May 2014. Overall, 23% indicated they would vote Conservative, 26% Labour, 7% Liberal Democrat, and 9% UKIP. Christians (29%) and Jews (46%) disproportionately favoured the Conservatives, with 67% of Conservatives self-identifying as Christian, 14 points above the national mean of 53%, followed by 60% of UKIP voters. Labour appealed especially to Muslims (59%) and Hindus (40%); indeed, there were twice as many Muslims among Labour voters than in the sample as a whole. Liberal Democrats only really flourished among Buddhists, 21% of whom said they would vote for them. People with no religion were eight points more likely than average to fail to identify with any of the four main parties, and they were particularly unlikely to vote Conservative (16%), albeit more so than Muslims (8%). Just 27% of Conservative supporters professed no faith against 39% of all Britons (and 55% among the 18-24s). The religious affiliation question was worded thus: ‘which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member of?’ For the full breakdown, see pp. 151-8 of the data tables at:

http://www.populus.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/OmOnline_Vote_April_2014.pdf

Linda Woodhead on religion

Issue 7 (Spring 2014) of the quarterly news magazine On Religion, which is just out, includes (p. 24) a short ‘expert interview’ with Professor Linda Woodhead of Lancaster University and Director of the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme from 2007 to 2013. In it she identifies several trends in the study of religion in the UK. She notes the ‘paradoxical situation’ whereby the core subjects of theology and religious studies are struggling somewhat in the universities at the same time as interest in religion from academics in other disciplines is growing. In the outside world she highlights the ‘real crisis’ affecting religious studies in secondary schools and the outdated coverage of religion in the media, with few journalists specializing in religion. She stresses the responsibility of academic researchers ‘to get their research out there’ and to make it relevant to contemporary issues. Hopefully, BRIN is making a modest contribution to help realize these goals through improved dissemination of the available religious statistics. On Religion itself has shown little sign as yet of drawing upon quantitative data in its feature articles.

Posted in People news, Religion and Ethnicity, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged 4Ramadan, adhan, Boko Haram, call to prayer, Channel 4, ethnic minorities, Financial Times, Islamism, Linda Woodhead, meat labelling, Muslims, Nigeria, On Religion, Policy Exchange, Populus, religious slaughter, Rishi Sunak, Saratha Rajeswaran, The Sun, voting intentions, YouGov | Leave a comment

Religious Irreligious and Other News

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Religious irreligious

New research from OnePoll has found that 76% of people in the UK do not regard themselves as religious but many of them still exhibit signs of religiosity. The study was conducted online among 1,000 adults aged 18 and over and published in headline in Iona Hartshorn’s blog post of 29 April 2014, which can be found at:

http://www.onepoll.com/religious-rituals-from-non-religious-people/

Through the kindness of OnePoll, I have had access to the detailed computer tables and been given permission to draw upon them for this note. The data are obviously the copyright of OnePoll.

There are the standard breaks by age, gender, and region. Below we present a tabular summary of a slightly less usual break, by self-assessed religiosity:

%	Religious	Non-religious	Total
Believe in God	95	35	50
Ever attend religious services	82	27	41
Had a religious marriage	63	31	38
Want a religious funeral	85	32	45
Had been christened	81	68	71
Had own children christened	63	31	39
Attended a religious school	50	20	27
Own children attended a religious school	51	15	25
Ever pray	95	43	56
Ever say grace at mealtimes	40	6	14

There is also a break by belief in God, which reveals the sort of anomalies first surfaced in Mass-Observation’s classic 1947 study of Puzzled People. For example, OnePoll discovered that, of the believers in God, 53% did not consider themselves religious, 37% never went to church, 15% did not want a religious funeral, and 13% never prayed. Of disbelievers in God, 20% wanted a religious funeral, 8% prayed monthly or more, and 4% attended church monthly or more.

Doing God in politics

A high level of support for the sentiments expressed by Prime Minister David Cameron in his recent article in the Church Times is evident from the replies of almost 800 self-identifying members of the Conservative Party to a poll which went online on the Conservative Home website on 2 May 2014. Respondents were entirely self-selecting and cannot be assumed to be representative; indeed, some have already criticized the survey as a ‘voodoo poll’. Conservative members agreed overwhelmingly that Britain is a Christian country (85%) and should be a Christian country (86%). The majority (61%) also thought that politicians should ‘do God’, which seems to have been interpreted as meaning that they should speak about their faith in public, if they have one; 29% were opposed, with 10% uncertain. However, opinion was more divided about whether the role of faith-based organizations should be expanded, with 48% in favour and 42% against. Questions were also posed about the politics of the Church of England and its possible disestablishment, but results have not been reported yet. For analysis of the other questions, see Paul Goodman’s blog of 4 May 2014 at:

http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2014/05/party-members-yes-cameron-should-do-god.html

Role models

Asked by Opinium Research to nominate the people whom they looked upon as their personal role models, relatively few UK citizens (6%) chose a religious figure, ranging by demographic sub-group between 2% in Wales and 12% in London. Overall, religious figures ranked eighth out of fourteen options, the list being headed (unsurprisingly) by parents (35%) and friends (19%). Online interviews were conducted with 2,001 adults aged 18 and over from 28 February to 3 March 2014. Data tables were published on 24 April and can be found at:

http://news.opinium.co.uk/sites/news.opinium.co.uk/files/op4269_opinium_pr_role_models_tables_wave_1.pdf

Rev

Talking of role models, the third (and final) series of the BBC2 sitcom Rev concluded on 28 April 2014. It starred Tom Hollander as Rev. Adam Smallbone, vicar of St Saviour in the Marshes in inner-city London. Among its audience were large numbers of practising Christians, according to an online survey of 1,943 adult members of Christian Research’s Resonate panel (1,188 churchgoing laity and 755 clergy) interviewed on 25 April 2014 for the upcoming Christian Resources Exhibition. Two-thirds of this sample (including 76% of clergy) had watched some of the third series, 71% of whom had seen more than three of the six episodes. Moreover, four-fifths of the viewers agreed with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who recently said of the programme that it was ‘great viewing’ and ‘doesn’t depress me quite as much as you might think’.

Seven in ten of these practising Christians who had watched Rev found Smallbone a believable character, 63% indicated they would be willing to attend a church led by him (with or without reservations), and 62% anticipated he would have a positive effect on non-churchgoers’ perceptions of ministers. Respondents who had seen Rev were also sympathetic to the plight of financially struggling churches which St Saviour’s exemplified, with 86% agreeing that wealthier places of worship should use part of their income to support poorer ones, and 53% disagreeing that churches which are unable to pay their way should be closed. Many clergy in the sample likewise empathized with Smallbone’s predicament, arguing more strongly than the laity (29% versus 22%) that their own church provided inadequate social and pastoral support, and listing a good number of sources of frustration in their work.

As a personal member of Christian Research, I have been able to see the organization’s draft report on the survey. Non-members can read the Christian Research news release at:

http://www.christian-research.org/resonate/bbc-s-rev-survey-of-viewers-attitudes/

More generally, Christian Research has published the 2014 tariff and panel demographics for Resonate, giving some idea of its profile and potential skews, at:

http://www.christian-research.org/uploads/images/CR-insert-Layout-combo.pdf

Faith schools

Attitudes to faith schools within the broader context of school choice are explored in the FirstView of an article in Journal of Social Policy which was published online on 15 April 2014: Stratos Patrikios and John Curtice, ‘Attitudes Towards School Choice and Faith Schools in the UK: A Question of Individual Preference or Collective Interest?’ Data derive from a module on perspectives on public services which was included in surveys fielded in 2007 in all four constituent territories of the UK: British Social Attitudes Survey, Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, Wales Life and Times Survey, and Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.

Drawing on social identity theory, the authors suggest that, in general, attitudes towards faith-based schools owe more to religious identities and group interests associated with those identities rather than opinions about the merits of school choice informed by an individualistic utilitarian rationale. Although the abstract principle of school choice was very popular in these 2007 studies, and the concept of specialist schools was also backed by a majority, there was much greater public wariness about faith schools. However, the extent to which attitudes towards faith schools reflect religious identities is shown to vary between the four territories in line with the local landscapes of religion and educational provision.

The tables include breaks by religious affiliation (Catholic, Protestant, no religion) within each home nation. In all four countries support for faith schools was strongest among Catholics, and it was lowest in Scotland and Northern Ireland where the provision of faith schools is almost exclusively Catholic. It should be noted that the pattern of replies may have been influenced by a potential limitation in the question in that, while it sought views about faith schools overall, it also specifically referenced Roman Catholic schools. For access options to the article, go to:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9239600

Anglican and Methodist church growth

Anglican and Methodist experiences of church growth and decline from the eighteenth century to today are contrasted, with special reference to case studies of Yorkshire and London, in John Wolffe, ‘Past and Present: Taking the Long View of Methodist and Anglican History’, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Vol. 59, No. 5, May 2014, pp. 161-77. Dipping into a range of quantitative sources, from the 1851 religious census to Peter Brierley’s contemporary church statistics, Wolffe explores the extent to which Methodism and Anglicanism have been partners or competitors at various stages of their development. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it is argued, ‘Methodism … complemented the inherent inertia of the established Church of England by a capacity for swift and sometimes radical response to changing circumstances’. Subsequently, however, ‘the Anglican tortoise has often overtaken the Methodist hare, even as both are being pursued by the secular cheetah’. Wolffe also draws upon insights from the ‘Building on History’ project to demonstrate how history can be a resource to inform strategic thinking about present-day mission and ministry.

Violent anti-Semitism

The number of major violent incidents of anti-Semitism in the UK in 2013 was, at 95 or 17% of the global total of 554, second only to France (116), even though the UK is ranked but fifth in the world in terms of the size of its Jewish population. Outside of Israel, Jews are most numerous in the United States which recorded just 55 violent incidents of anti-Semitism in 2013, significantly fewer than the 83 in its less populous neighbour, Canada. Full details are contained in Antisemitism Worldwide, 2013, which was published by the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University on 28 April 2014. The report, which also includes (pp. 55-8) a summary by Mike White of all anti-Semitic incidents in the UK notified to the Community Security Trust in 2013, can be found at:

http://kantorcenter.tau.ac.il/sites/default/files/Doch_2013.pdf

BRIN website usage

The latest management information statistics about use of the BRIN website reveal continued steady growth in traffic. In the twelve months to 1 May 2014, 155,000 pages were viewed by 63,000 unique users in 77,000 sessions. The majority of sessions (70%) were UK-based, with 10% from the USA, and the remaining fifth from 180 different countries and territories. In the just over four years since traffic measurement began in March 2010 there have been 576,000 pageviews by 204,000 users in 263,000 sessions. We currently also have 335 followers on Twitter and would welcome more. A link to each new blog post (approximately weekly) or other substantive addition to the BRIN site is tweeted. So do join us @BritRelNumbers

Posted in Historical studies, News from religious organisations, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Rites of Passage, Survey news | Tagged Adam Smallbone, Anti-Semitism, BBC2, British Religion in Numbers, Christian country, Christian Research, Christian Resources Exhibition, church growth, Church of England, clergy, Conservative Home, Conservative Party, David Cameron, Faith schools, God, Iona Hartshorn, John Curtice, John Wolffe, Journal of Social Policy, Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, London, Methodism, OnePoll, Opinium Research, Paul Goodman, politics, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, religious figures, Resonate, Rev, role models, self-assessed religiosity, Stratos Patrikios, violence, Yorkshire | 1 Comment

Is being Christian important for being British?

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Ben Clements

The most recent BRIN post presented across-time data on public opinion looking at (i) whether Britain is a Christian country and (ii) whether Britain should be a Christian country. Another perspective on public attitudes in this area is provided by a question asked as part of the British Social Attitudes (BSA) surveys. It focused on whether it is important to be Christian in order to be truly British. The question was asked on the 1995, 2003 and 2008 surveys. The full question wordings were as follows:

1995 and 2003

Some people say the following things are important for being truly British. Others say they are not important. How important do you think it is … to be a Christian?

2008

‘Some people say that being Christian is important for being truly British. Others say it is not important. How important do you think it is?’

Have the public’s response to this question changed over time, as the majorities who believed Britain should be a Christian country had declined over the years and as the level of Christian affiliation has fallen. Table 1 shows the distribution of responses for the BSA surveys for 1995, 2003 and 2008. Overall, in each survey a clear majority thinks that it is not very important or not at all important to be Christian in order to be truly British. This majority increases somewhat over time, from 64.5% and 65.9% in 1995 and 2003 to 75.1% in 2008 (shown in the row ‘COMBINED: NOT VERY OR NOT AT ALL’). Accordingly, the minority thinking that is very or fairly important falls from around a third in 1995 (33.1%) to just under a quarter in 2008 (23.7%) (shown in the row ‘COMBINED: VERY OR FAIRLY’).

Table 1: Attitudes towards whether being Christian is important for being truly British

	1995 (%)	2003 (%)	2008 (%)
Very important	19.1	15.6	6.2
Fairly important	14.0	16.2	17.5
COMBINED: VERY OR FAIRLY	33.1	31.8	23.7
Not very important	28.2	24.5	37.4
Not at all important	36.3	40.4	37.7
COMBINED: NOT VERY OR NOT AT ALL	64.5	64.9	75.1
Don’t know	2.4	3.2	1.2

Source: Compiled by the author from BSA surveys.

Given the overall state of opinion on this question in the three surveys, what about sub-group variation in attitudes? Figure 1 presents data for various subgroups using the BSA 2008 survey. It shows the proportion in each group thinking that it is fairly important or very important to be Christian in order to be truly British. There is little difference of view between men and women (respectively, 22.6% and 24.7%). There is a clear difference based on age, with those aged 65 and older most likely to think it is fairly or very important (38.5%), which is around double that recorded by those aged 18-29 years old (19.4%). The other age groups (30-49 years and 50-64 years) are much closer to the youngest cohort in their views. Based on educational attainment, those with degree-level qualifications (or higher) are less likely to think it is fairly or very important (14.4%) compared to those with lower-level or no qualifications (25.9%).

As could be expected, there are variations in opinion based on different religious factors: affiliation, attendance, and being a religious person or not. Those with some form of Christian affiliation are much more likely to say it is fairly or very important (highest at 37.3% for Anglicans) than are members of non-Christian faiths (14.5%) and those with no affiliation (12.8%). Based on frequency of attendance at religious services, regular attenders (once a month or more) and irregular attenders (less than once a month) are more likely to say that it is fairly or very important (respectively, 31.4% and 28.9%) compared to those who do not attend services at all (20%). Based on self-perceptions of oneself as a religious person or not, those who see themselves as religious are more likely to respond that it is fairly or very important (35.4%) compared to those who are not religious (10.5%), with those who do not choose either label positioned between the religious and non-religious (at 22.8%).

Finally, looking at views based on political party affiliation, we see that Conservative and Labour supporters are somewhat more likely to say it is fairly or very important (respectively, 27.2% and 26.8%) compared to Lib Dem supporters (17.9%), those who affiliate with minor parties (21.1%) and those with no party affiliation (19.8%).

Figure 1: Per cent saying ‘very important’ or ‘fairly important’

Source: Compiled by the author from the BSA 2008 survey.

Posted in Attitudes towards Religion, Religion in public debate, Survey news, Uncategorized | Tagged British Social Attitudes, Christianity, Christians, Survey Data | Leave a comment

Christian Country and Other News

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Christian country?

The recent public and media debate about whether Britain is a Christian country or not, sparked by Prime Minister David Cameron’s comments before Easter, rumbles on. It has gained added impetus through Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg renewing the call for disestablishment of the Church of England (which is his Liberal Democrat Party’s long-standing policy).

In the last BRIN post, on 24 April 2014, Ben Clements subjected the controversy to empirical scrutiny by charting how the level of Christian affiliation has changed in Britain over recent decades, as reflected in sample surveys.

Here we offer a couple of poll-based time series about the public’s perceptions of whether Britain is a Christian country and should be one. In both cases there have been variations in methodology and question-wording between individual surveys, so the comparison is not entirely like-for-like, but we do get a sense of how attitudes have changed. The two tables appear at the end of this news item.

In terms of Britain being perceived as a Christian country, there has been a notable decline since the first poll on the subject, by NOP in 1965, when four-fifths of adults characterized Britain as Christian. This decrease is much as one might have expected, given the downward movement in most other indicators of Christian religious belonging, behaving, and believing since the 1960s.

Less anticipated, however, is the fact that the number considering Britain to be a Christian country reached a nadir after the Millennium and has risen since. The effect is probably exaggerated by the fact that the two YouGov surveys in 2007 asked whether Britain was mainly a Christian country, but question-wording alone probably does not fully explain what has been happening.

There appears to have been a reawakened sense of Britain’s Christian heritage and character. This may perhaps be attributed to: i) a growing backlash against multiculturalism and immigration and, particularly, deteriorating attitudes toward Islam and Muslims; ii) the influence of media and legal campaigns against allegedly ‘Christianophobic’ attitudes and behaviour, exemplified in ‘aggressive secularism’ and diversity legislation viewed as penalizing Christians; and iii) explicit and tacit support for Christianity as a bulwark of all faith on the part of some sections of non-Christian communities.

Interestingly, there seems to have been no parallel trend in response to the question whether Britain should be a Christian country. This indicator has decreased continuously since the 1960s, although it is notable that, even today, a majority (58%) thinks Britain should remain a Christian country. This is probably not true of most of those who profess no religion, but, unfortunately, there are no breaks by religion in the published tables for YouGov’s 2014 poll, despite a question on religious affiliation being asked.

So there is definite support for David Cameron among the British public in saying that Britain both is a Christian country and ought to be one. Precisely what Britons mean when they express these sentiments, given that de-Christianization mostly continues apace in practice, is pretty unclear. The fact that there are more ‘don’t knows’ on the topic than ever may suggest that there is genuine confusion.

Is Britain a Christian country?

%	Agency	Agree	Disagree	Don’t Know
3/1965	NOP	80	19	1
12/1989	Gallup	71	21	8
4/2007	YouGov	39	51	9
12/2007	YouGov	43	57	0
11/2010	ComRes	50	47	3
2/2012	YouGov	56	33	11
4/2014	YouGov	55	33	12
4/2014	ICM	56	30	14

Should Britain be a Christian country?

%	Agency	Agree	Disagree	Don’t Know
1-2/1968	ORC	81	15	3
3-4/1984	Harris	67	31	3
6-7/1987	Insight	69	22	8
2/2012	YouGov	61	22	18
4/2014	YouGov	58	23	19

Meanwhile, Michael Lipka of Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project has a statistical take on ‘Cameron’s “Christian Country”’ (using census and British Social Attitudes Survey data) at:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/camerons-christian-country-what-the-numbers-say-about-religion-in-the-united-kingdom/

Or post-Christian nation?

Britain’s cultural memory may be ‘quite strongly Christian’, but the reality is that it has become ‘post-Christian’ in that it is no longer ‘a nation of committed believers’. So says former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Williams of Oystermouth, in an interview with Cole Moreton for The Sunday Telegraph today (27 April 2014). The story is enriched by a poll which the newspaper commissioned from ICM Research, for which 2,001 adult Britons were interviewed online on 23-25 April 2014. The data tables will presumably appear on ICM’s website in due course (they are not there at the time of writing), but there is reasonable coverage of the findings in the article on pp. 1-2 of the newspaper which can be found at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10790495/Former-archbishop-of-Canterbury-We-are-a-post-Christian-nation.html

Notwithstanding the fact that only 14% of respondents described themselves as practising Christians, with a further 38% as non-practising Christians, 56% continued to regard Britain as a Christian country, rising to 73% of over-65s and, surprisingly perhaps, including more men than women. Less than one-third (30%) said Britain was a non-religious society, although 41% thought of themselves as non-religious. A plurality of the whole sample (48%) asserted that Christians are afforded less protection for their beliefs by the state than adherents of other faiths, with the proportion reaching 57% among the over-65s, 56% for practising Christians, and 62% for non-practising Christians. Overall, 28% perceived Christians as having the same and 8% greater protection than other religions. One-half of respondents also agreed that Christians had become afraid to express their beliefs because of the rise of ‘religious fundamentalism’, with 32% disagreeing and 18% uncertain. Even two-fifths of non-religious people agreed with this statement compared with over three-fifths of Christians (both practising and non-practising).

Surrogate religion

Confirmation that football is a surrogate religion for its devotees, a periodic theme in the sociological literature, appears to come from a recent survey conducted by The Leadership Factor (TLF) on behalf of the makers of Warren United, a new animated sitcom about a fervent fan of a chronically disappointing football team (no, not Manchester United, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons last week!) Through its YourSayPays online panel, TLF quizzed 1,201 football fans (all of whom attended one or more professional games a season) in March 2014. They were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with the statement that ‘I am more likely to change my religion than the football team I support’. The majority of fans (56%) agreed with this proposition and only 18% disagreed. For the sub-set of 255 really dedicated fans who were season ticket holders with their clubs, the level of assent was still higher (75%) and dissent reduced to 10%. A press release about the poll was issued on 17 April 2014 and can be found at:

http://www.warrenunited.net/id-change-my-religion-before-my-team-say-fans/

An ancient saint

St George’s Day has been and gone for another year (it was on 23 April, in case you missed it). According to a YouGov poll for Channel 5 among 1,461 adults on 22-23 April 2014, England is seen as the UK’s home nation least good at celebrating its patron saint’s day. Just 7% think the English excel at honouring St George, compared with 8% for the Scots and St Andrew, 12% for the Welsh and St David, and 59% for the Northern Irish and St Patrick. Two-thirds would like to see the English do more to celebrate St George’s Day, disproportionately Conservative and UKIP voters and with the Scots (24%) being the main dissentients, and 69% support the day being made an official bank holiday in England. The data tables are at:

http://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/7sicd7muvh/Channel5_Results_140422_StGeorgesDay.pdf

A modern saint

Two of the great leaders of the twentieth-century Roman Catholic Church, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, were canonized by Pope Francis in a ceremony in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City today (27 April 2014), which was also attended by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. So far as BRIN is aware, no surveys have yet been carried out in Britain to test the reactions of the public or the Catholic faithful to the canonizations. However, John Paul II was the subject of polling during the time when he was Pope (from 1978 until his death in 2005), not least in connection with his pastoral and ecumenical visit to Britain between 28 May and 5 June 1982 (which was overshadowed by the war between Britain and Argentina for control of the Falkland Islands). A digest of this polling forms part of my forthcoming article in Journal of Religion in Europe on ‘No Popery’s Ghost: Does Popular Anti-Catholicism Survive in Contemporary Britain?’ However, given the canonization, a few anticipatory points may be made here, although we will not be summarizing the many polls by Gallup about the visit itself (you will need to read the article for them).

John Paul II’s papal visit, combined with the length of his pontificate, meant he became a well-known figure in Britain, 62% of adults being able to name him in August 2003 (MORI), albeit only 7% recognized his birth name of Karol Wojtyla in November 2004 (BMRB). On the eve of his visit, in April 1982 (NOP), he was rated a very good or good religious leader by 78% and a very good or good world leader by 45%. His religious leadership qualities were still positively assessed (by 74%) in March 1993 (Continental Research), albeit he was eclipsed by fellow Catholic Mother Teresa in Gallup popularity rankings of religious figures in December 1987, December 1988, and September 1989. One-fifth of Britons continued to regard John Paul II as inspirational in December 2000 (MORI), but, by this time, his influence was waning through increasing frailty and conservatism. In June 2004 (Harris) he was rated positively by just 31% in Britain, and negatively by 29%, the positive score being lowest of the five Western European nations surveyed (and well behind Italy, on 78%). The worst of the worldwide revelations about child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests came out since John Paul II’s death, but they clearly occurred on his ‘papal watch’, and many have opposed his canonization on the grounds that he did not do enough to root out the scandal and punish the perpetrators. More generally, the perceived inadequate response to the abuse crisis by the Roman Catholic Church has been a major factor in increased polling negativity toward it during recent years, both among the public and Catholics.

When we’re 42

Newly released to the UK Data Service’s Nesstar catalogue as SN 7473 is the latest wave of the 1970 British Cohort Study, which has been following the lives of babies born in Britain one week in 1970. Information was gathered by TNS BMRB between May 2012 and April 2013 from 9,841 members of the cohort at the age of 42, by a combination of face-to-face interview and self-completion questionnaire. Here we present the topline findings for the religion questions for all those who provided valid answers. No weighting is applicable.

Affiliation: Two-thirds of the cohort received a religious upbringing, but only half still profess a religion now, all Christian denominations losing market share, but especially the Church of England. The figures are as follows:

%	Upbringing	At age 42
None	33.0	49.8
Non-denominational Christian	14.2	13.7
Church of England	30.1	20.6
Roman Catholic	10.9	7.1
Other Christian	8.2	4.5
Non-Christian	3.7	4.3

Practices: Three-quarters never or very rarely attend any religious services, while 10% claim to go monthly or more and 15% occasionally. Attendance has diminished slightly since cohort members were aged 29, when 11% went monthly or more, 17% occasionally, and 72% never or rarely. Membership of a religious group or church organization is claimed by 7%, as is readership of factual books on religion or philosophy.

Beliefs: Disbelievers in God number 22%, with a further 14% disbelieving in a personal God. The uncertain amount to 21%, while 12% believe in God some of the time, 19% believe but have doubts, and 12% are absolutely convinced that God exists. A slim majority (52%) definitely or probably does not believe in life after death, with 18% definitely believing and 30% probably.

Opinions: Very few (6%) agree that ‘we trust too much in science, not enough in religious faith’, 57% disagreeing and 36% undecided. One-half agree that ‘people with strong religious beliefs are often too intolerant’, with just 14% saying the opposite and 35% uncertain. Still more (67%) concur that ‘around the world, religions bring more conflict than peace’, 11% dissenting and 22% expressing no view.

Posted in church attendance, Historical studies, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged 1970 British Cohort Study, changing religion, Channel 5, Christian country, church attendance, conflict, David Cameron, football, God, ICM Research, intolerance, John Paul II, life after death, Michael Lipka, patron saints, practising Christians, Religious Affiliation, religious freedom, science, St George's Day, Sunday Telegraph, The Leadership Factor, TNS-BMRB, Warren United, YouGov | 1 Comment

Christian affiliation in Britain

Posted on April 24, 2014 by Ben Clements

Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent pronouncements on the role and status of Christianity in Britain have stimulated public debate, quickly receiving both supporting and dissenting remarks from representatives of faith groups and secular organisations and from media commentators. Pollsters have been somewhat slower off the mark in gauging the reaction of the British public. However, data from a newly-released YouGov poll on this topic provide the following results:

37% regard themselves as belonging to a Christian religion.
23% say they are very or fairly religious.
55% say they believe Britain is a Christian country.
58% say they think Britain should be a Christian country.
When presented with an excerpt of text from David Cameron’s article in the Church Times (‘I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role of faith-based organisations, and, frankly, more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there and make a difference to people’s lives.’), 50% agreed with its sentiments and 35% disagreed.

Full results from the poll, conducted online between 22 and 23 April 2014 and based on a sample of 2,143 adults in Britain, are available here. Some comparative data for these questions (except for the last one) are available from previous YouGov surveys undertaken in February 2012 and April 2012.

Given that it is commonplace in public debate for various statistics – from sample surveys or from the 2001 and 2011 censuses – to be cited regarding levels of Christian identity amongst the British population, it is perhaps worth revisiting some of the recurrent social surveys which have collected micro-level data on religious affiliation across recent decades. Figure 1 shows overall levels of identification with a Christian religion based on data from three nationally-representative survey series, which have sampled the adult population: the British Election Study (BES), the cross-national European Values Study (EVS) and British Social Attitudes (BSA). The data are taken from the earliest and the most recently-available surveys from each series. Note that the survey series span different time periods, with the BES starting in 1963 and the other two in the early-1980s.

Figure 1: Per cent reporting a Christian affiliation

Source: Compiled by the author from BES, EVS and BSA surveys

The BES 1963 survey showed that that was near-universal affiliation with a Christian religion amongst the electorate at 96.2%. Similarly, the 1959 Civic Culture Study, where Britain was one of five nations where survey fieldwork was undertaken, showed that 94.3% claimed a Christian affiliation. In the 2010 BES, in contrast, this proportion had fallen to 44.8%. The EVS surveys also show a considerable drop in Christian affiliation between 1981 and 2008 (although the fieldwork for the British sample was actually conducted in 2009-10), from 84.4% to 46.1%. The BSA series shows a lower level of Christian affiliation in 1983 (at 66.6%) compared to that obtained by the EVS in 1981. The most recently-released BSA survey, from 2012, shows that 46.3% claimed some form of Christian affiliation. The most recent surveys from these three long-running series therefore show similar levels of identification with a Christian religion, albeit they are somewhat higher than the figure from the YouGov survey cited above. As a further comparison, data for Britain from the 2012 European Social Survey (which began undertaking biannual surveys in 2002) show that 40.5% reported having a Christian affiliation.

Of course, responses to such questions on affiliation can be influenced by question wording and the response options available for a particular survey as well as the social prestige or – at least historically – cultural norms in favour of religious identification, but the direction of travel over recent decades is evident across multiple survey sources.

Posted in Measuring religion, Religion and Politics, Religion in public debate, Survey news | Tagged British Election Study, British Social Attitudes Survey, European Social Survey, European Values Study, opinion polls, Religious Affiliation, Religious Statistics, YouGov | 1 Comment

Easter Round-Up

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Clive D. Field

Children’s Easter knowledge

The Bible Society announced on 17 April 2014 that it had launched a five-day Bible Bedtime Challenge app as an Easter poll showed that children can confuse the Bible with fairy tales and fables. It commissioned YouGov to undertake an online survey of 1,082 British children aged 8 to 15 between 28 and 31 March 2014. Asked which symbol of Easter was most important to them, the majority (55%) of children opted for chocolate eggs, 20% for the Christian cross, and 9% for the Easter bunny. Although 76% associated Easter Sunday with the Resurrection of Christ, 11% thought it had some other connection with Jesus, 13% giving another wrong answer or none at all. Somewhat fewer (65%) knew the significance of Good Friday, 16% linking it with the Resurrection rather than the Crucifixion, and 19% otherwise replying incorrectly or not at all. While 80% were able to name Judas as the person who had betrayed Jesus, only a plurality (45%) knew that he had identified Christ by giving Him a kiss. Probed about specific incidents which might have featured in the biblical account of Easter, the children generally struggled less than might perhaps have been anticipated, albeit 6% were convinced that they included the tale of a couple who killed a sacred goose which laid a golden egg every day, and 13% the story about a hare who raced a tortoise to teach people to be patient (with a further 20% and 15% respectively unable to say). Full data tables (with breaks by gender, age, region, social grade, and parental employment and marital status) can be found at:

http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/uploads/content/news/files/Results-for-Easter-poll-108-1.4.14.pdf

Families’ Easter observance

The religious side of Easter did not feature prominently in the plans of 2,500 UK parents of dependent children interviewed online by OnePoll on behalf of the budget hotel chain Travelodge in April 2014. Only one in ten expected to go to church over Easter, and a similar proportion intended to eat fish on Good Friday, the day (in the Catholic tradition) of abstinence from meat. Moreover, 48% of parents reckoned that their children were ignorant of the true meaning of Easter, the most frequent associations being with the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs. For the overwhelming majority of families, Easter was going to be observed as a secular holiday only, with a projected expenditure of £2billion by parents on a combination of short breaks and an average of four day trips during the two-week Easter school holidays. Among the 35% of households intent on a staycation, the seaside was the destination for 37%, a city for 26%, and the countryside for 14%. A visit to family members (36%) topped the list of day trips, followed by museums (24%), working farms (18%), art galleries (10%), and theme parks (9%). The foregoing skeletal details have mostly been gleaned from a couple of stories on the Daily Mirror website, Travelodge’s press releases not yet being in the public domain, still less detailed data tables.

Meanwhile, a separate poll commissioned by Sainsbury’s, and published on 15 April 2014, discovered that many of the 1,000 parents interviewed would need to spend much of the Easter weekend break on chores, with 68% mentioning sorting out the garden and 60% getting on top of jobs around the house. While 77% of parents recognized Easter as an important family occasion, 87% admitted to struggling to find things to do that would appeal to the whole family. Notwithstanding, 58% expected to organize activities to keep their children and their friends entertained, and 55% opted for potentially expensive days out at UK attractions. However, when 1,000 children aged 5-12 were asked to describe their perfect Easter, the plurality (33%) prioritized being at home with their parents over going away on holiday (21%), and hanging out with their friends (15%). The best three Easter treats singled out by children were a family picnic outdoors, an Easter egg hunt at home, and seeing baby Easter animals. The Sainsbury’s press release is at:

http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/media/latest-stories/2014/0414-all-kids-want-for-a-cracking-easter-is-a-picnic-with-the-whole-family/

Also on the subject of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, on 9-10 April 2014 ComRes (on behalf of Autogas) asked 1,569 adult Britons with a car in the household how far they expected to drive over the four days. Just over one-quarter (27%) did not drive or did not expect to drive during the weekend, but 63% anticipated being on the road, with 41% planning to drive up to 50 miles, 10% from 51 to 100 miles, and 12% more than 100 miles. Data tables are available at:

http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/Autogas_Easter_Tables_14_April_2014.pdf

Religion’s role in Britain

A plurality of Britons (35%) thinks religion generally plays a positive role in our society, but 29% see it as a negative force, and 24% do not consider that it plays any part at all in British life (the remaining 12% being undecided). Britain’s positive score is well below the global mean (59%) but similar to that of Western Europe (36%), whose average is brought down by the fact that in six countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, The Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden) the negatives outvoted the positives. Among the G7 nations Britain occupies fifth place in terms of positivity toward the role of religion, the two extremes being USA (62%) and France (20%). The most positive country of all in the world is Indonesia and Africa the most positive region.

Findings derive from the WIN/Gallup International End of Year Survey for 2013 for which 66,806 adults were interviewed in 65 countries, including 1,000 in Britain online by ORB International on 6-9 December 2013. A press release about this particular question was issued just before Easter and forms the basis of reports in The Times (‘Britons Hostile to Religion’) and Daily Telegraph (‘Britons Sceptical about Positive Role of Religion’), both for 17 April 2014. This press release is not yet on the WIN/Gallup International website. Undeterred, BRIN has located it substantially reproduced by the Sam Diego Jewish World at:

http://www.sdjewishworld.com/2014/04/16/western-europe-critical-region-religion/

Faith school exemptions

The British public is unsympathetic to appeals from some religious conservatives (including Orthodox Jews) to exempt state-funded faith schools from teaching national curriculum topics which they find contrary to their core beliefs and traditions, notably sex education and evolution. This is according to a new YouGov poll fir the Jewish Chronicle for which 2,144 adults aged 18 and over were interviewed online. The poll was commissioned in the wake of the recent ruling by Ofqual, the examinations regulatory body, that schools may no longer block out external examination questions they deem unsuitable for pupils.

Asked whether faith schools should be able to refrain from delivering any form of sex education in lessons, 82% of Britons said no and only 9% yes. A smaller but still substantial majority of 67% also rejected the idea that faith schools should be able to teach creationism as a legitimate scientific theory on a par with evolution, with just 18% agreeing that they should. Opposition on both counts was apparently fairly uniform by demographics. Detailed data tables are not yet available, but an article about the survey was featured on pp. 1 and 4 of the 18 April 2014 edition of the Jewish Chronicle and is also available online at:

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/117450/faith-schools-must-teach-sex-say-82

Evangelical discipleship

Busyness is making a disciplined spiritual life more difficult for evangelical Christians, with 50% failing to engage with the Bible on a daily basis and 37% failing to pray daily, even though 60% report to praying ‘on the move’ and 33% resort to Bible apps on their mobile device. Moreover, 63% admit to getting easily distracted when they are spending time with God. The biblical character that most (43%) identify with is busy Martha. Younger evangelicals (born after 1980) are particularly challenged in these regards but older ones (born before 1960) still manage more disciplined and structured prayer lives and longer periods spent in private prayer and Bible study. The majority of all evangelicals (54%) also agree that most other Christians today are not very disciplined in their spiritual lives and walk with God. Only 40% feel their church does very well at discipling new Christians, and just 26% regard themselves as successfully equipped for witnessing and sharing their faith with others.

These findings are from Time for Discipleship? – the latest report in the Evangelical Alliance’s 21st Century Evangelicals series, which was published on 13 April 2014. Data derive from 1,529 self-defined evangelicals in membership of the Evangelical Alliance’s self-selecting research panel who completed an online survey in November 2013. This is an opportunity sample which may not be representative of evangelicals as a whole, not least given that it includes an unstated proportion of church leaders. The report is at:

http://www.eauk.org/church/resources/snapshot/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=49835

Posted in church attendance, News from religious organisations, Religion in public debate, Religion in the Press, Survey news | Tagged Autogas, Bible, Bible Society, children, church attendance, ComRes, Creationism, discipleship, Easter, Evangelical Alliance. faith schools, holidays, Jewish Chronicle, OnePoll, ORB International, prayer, religious festivals, religious knowledge, role of religion, Sainsbury's, sex education, Travelodge, WIN/Gallup International, YouGov | Leave a comment

More Trojan Horse Polling

Personal Values and Other News

Early May News Round-Up

Christian Country and Other News

Easter Round-Up

Recent News

Recent Sources

Archives

Recent Comments

British Religion in Numbers is funded as a British Academy Research Project