Church Growth in Britain

1980 to the Present

David Goodhew, David Goodhew

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351951616
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christianity

There has been substantial church growth in Britain between 1980 and 2010. This is the controversial conclusion from the international team of scholars, who have drawn on interdisciplinary studies and the latest research from across the UK. Such church growth is seen to be on a large scale, is multi-ethnic and can be found across a wide range of social and geographical contexts. It is happening inside mainline denominations but especially in specific regions such as London, in newer churches and amongst ethnic minorities. Church Growth in Britain provides a forceful critique of the notion of secularisation which dominates much of academia and the media - and which conditions the thinking of many churches and church leaders. This book demonstrates that, whilst decline is happening in some parts of the church, this needs to be balanced by recognition of the vitality of large swathes of the Christian church in Britain. Rebalancing the debate in this way requires wholesale change in our understanding of contemporary British Christianity.

PART I
Introduction

Chapter 1
Church Growth in Britain, 1980 to the Present Day

David Goodhew

It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that Christianity in Britain is in decline.¹ However, not all universally acknowledged truths are actually true. Some churches in some regions are declining, but this volume shows that substantial and sustained church growth has also taken place across Britain over the last 30 years. This growth is large-scale; it is occurring across a wide geographical range; it is highly multi-cultural in its social reach; and it shows no sign of slowing down. The current consensus, by focusing almost exclusively on decline, is seriously mistaken. The thesis of this book is sustained by the work of an international team of scholars, working across a spectrum of disciplines, coming from a variety of theoretical and ideological perspectives.

Thus, for example, there are now 500,000 Christians in black majority churches in Britain. Sixty years ago there were hardly any. Across the 30 years since 1980 new congregations have been founded at an average of one per year in a single medium-sized northern city, the city of York. Even the contemporary Church of England is not immune from church growth. The membership of the Anglican diocese of London, the largest Anglican diocese in the country, has grown by over 70% since 1990.²

Such developments are no cause for ecclesiastical triumphalism, given the extent of church decline elsewhere. But this narrative of Church Growth in Britain subverts the dominant narrative in much of academia and the media, a narrative which heavily influences many church leaders as well as wider society. the dominant narrative assumes that there has been wholesale church decline in recent decades and that such decline is the primary reality of British Christianity. The dominant narrative, called by some the ‘secularization thesis’, is, in part, correct. Most ‘mainline’ denominations have seen large falls in support.³ The aim of Church Growth in Britain is not to airbrush out such decline but to highlight the sides of the story which have been hitherto marginalized. Since church decline is widely publicized and church growth is almost totally ignored in wider debate, the focus of this volume is on church growth. Such growth is a matter of deep significance both for the churches and for wider society.

Is Christianity in Britain, overall, declining or growing? One of the key findings of this volume is that overall statistics regarding Christian churches in Britain need to be treated with considerable caution. Some attempt at an overall assessment will be offered in the conclusion, but all national figures concerning churches need to be taken with a pinch of salt. An example of the problematic nature of national statistics is provided by initial data from a large-scale survey conducted at the time of the 2011 Census, which shows that, whilst only 47% of 18 to 34 year olds declared themselves to have any religious affiliation, 67% (or more) of the same age group also declared that they occasionally or regularly pray.⁴ The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre once stated that whilst the English do not believe in God, they do like to pray to Him from time to time. MacIntyre’s diagnosis is well illustrated by the contradictory data of the 2011 Census.

This volume starts in a different place. Church Growth in Britain is contemporary church history written ‘from below’. The focus is not on national statistics, nor on national leadership via bishops, synods or conferences, but on local congregations and particular neighbourhoods. This volume is a mosaic of micro-studies; from Catholics in Canning Town to Brazilian Pentecostals in York to new churches in Edinburgh. But mosaics are more than random arrangements and can portray complex realities. This mosaic of micro-studies is assembled so that it includes the global backdrop of belief. Church Growth in Britain offers a ‘glocalized’ picture, in which the local and global are interwoven. The volume focuses on congregational life and particular regions, rather than national statistics or measures of the national significance of Christianity, not because the wider picture is unimportant, but because national observations often miss local dynamics, because congregational life is at the core of Christian identity and because the argument for the secularization of Britain rests heavily on the presumption that local congregations are in deep decline.⁵ The ultimate test for secularization is not what opinion polls say but what is happening out on the street.

This introductory chapter has four sections: first it summarizes the findings of the volume; second, it compares those findings with the secularization thesis and other theoretical perspectives; third, it offers a chronological overview, situating British church growth historically; fourth, it explores the theoretical implications of church growth for theology and for other disciplines.

Section One: Church Growth in Britain since 1980

The volume is divided into four parts: the first part (this chapter) introduces the debates about church growth and decline and summarizes this volume’s contribution; the second part (Chapters 2 to 6) surveys the older, ‘mainline’ churches; the third part (Chapters 7 to 12) surveys new churches (where ‘new’ means founded within the last century); the fourth part looks at Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. This is followed by a brief conclusion in which the arguments are tied together and an agenda for further work is sketched.

The key findings of Church Growth in Britain can be summarized under the following headings.

Church Growth in London

Chapters 2 and 3 focus on London. John Wolffe and Bob Jackson explore the large-scale growth of the Anglican diocese of London during the last 20 years in which church membership has expanded by over 70%. Whilst many Anglican dioceses outside London are shrinking – some rapidly – London offers a very different trajectory. Alana Harris looks at a single Roman Catholic parish in the East End of London, showing how the latter’s traditional role as a haven for immigrants is leading to dramatic (and hugely diverse) church growth in Catholic London. A number of other chapters, particularly those concerning black majority churches, point to major growth in the capital.⁶ The Christian church in London is growing both in absolute terms and as a proportion of the population.⁷ London, in its burgeoning Christianity, is becoming more like American cities such as New York or Chicago which are very far from being ‘secular cities’ (this is especially the case if we add in the growth of other faith communities).⁸ Steve Bruce says of the secularization thesis, that ‘what would threaten the paradigm is sustained and widespread growth in places that were previously secular’.⁹ Leaving aside the experience of nations such as Russia and China, something like this is happening in contemporary London.

Growth in Mainline Churches

Examination of London indicates that, whilst across the whole of Britain there is much evidence of decline amongst the long-established, ‘mainline’ denominations,¹⁰ mainline churches have the capacity to grow in some contexts. Chapters 4 and 5 explore this phenomenon by looking at signs of life in very different sections of the mainline churches. Ian Randall explores the robust performance of the Baptist denomination across the last three decades; it is a performance which raises uncomfortable questions for the other mainline churches as to why they declined but the Baptists did not. Lynda Barley shows the continuing vitality of English cathedral congregations. Sunday worship has remained stable over recent years, but weekday worship has mushroomed. This raises the question of why traditional forms of Christian worship in cathedrals are growing when, for the most part, they are declining elsewhere.¹¹ More broadly, evidence of mainline growth could be extended by examination of growing networks such as New Wine, which are backed primarily by mainline congregations.¹²

In Chapter 6, Rebecca Catto explores the notion of ‘reverse mission’ in mainline denominations – where Christians from outside Britain are invited to boost worshipping life here. What is striking is its limited impact on mainline churches, especially compared to the huge growth of black majority churches across the same decades, as shown in later chapters of this volume. This suggests that mainline churches continue to fail to release the energies of black, asian and minority ethnic Christians within their ranks.

Church Growth and Minority Ethnic Communities

Discussion of London leads onto a recurring and central theme of the book: the very substantial growth of black and other ethnic minority churches in Britain in recent decades. This is the heart of Chapters 7, 8 and 9 but this thread runs throughout this volume. Until the 1950s, there were hardly any black majority churches in Britain. Hugh Osgood’s overview in Chapter 6 shows the way this stream of Christianity began, deepened and widened as the black, asian and minority ethnic communities have grown. Richard Burgess’ chapter on the Nigerian Redeemed Christian Church of God shows the same process with regard to a specific new denomination which has shown startling energy in church planting in the last three decades. In a superb, fresh piece of research, Amy Duffuor explores a single, rapidly expanding, congregation of Ghanaian Pentecostals in Peckham as they plant a new church in the suburbs of London, facing the question of whether the social upliftment that church membership offers to members will blunt the edge of their discipleship in the long run. Black, asian and minority ethnic church growth brings challenges as well as possibilities.

Church Growth and New Churches

A further theme of Church Growth in Britain is the substantial growth of new churches and of new forms of church. Chapter 11 explores the city of York, showing the extraordinary shift within a single city. One congregation per year has been founded across the last three decades and the rate of foundation has accelerated since 2000. George Lings gives a history of what has been termed ‘fresh expressions’ of church, ‘church plants’ and ‘emerging church’ within the Church of England, showing how they have m...