The following grounds for hope were published in November in the third (2002/2003) edition of Religious Trends. It focuses on the years 1995-2000 with a forecast to 2005 giving information and analysis on church membership and church attendance.
Belief in God is still high
Two-thirds, 67%, of the population believed in God in the 1990s, and over half, 52%, in heaven. Half, 49%, said they believed in Jesus as the Son of God. While these proportions have declined over the past 30 years they continue to be relatively high.
One church in five growing
One-fifth of all English churches, 21%, saw their congregations grow at least 10% between 1989 and 1998. A quarter of a million people joined them in this period.
