Last month the National Centre for Social Research put out a press release entitled, ‘Record number of Brits with no religion’. It went on to say that, ‘The decline in religious affiliation is hitting the Church of England particularly hard’.
It is true that the proportion of those who claim allegiance to the Church of England has halved since the start of the 21st century and, of those who are still clinging on, more than half are over 65.
True, but not exactly news. The data was published in June. So why the new press release? Because this is not just data. Roger Harding, Head of Public Attitudes at the NCSR, has a message for faith leaders. He finishes the press release by saying: ‘We know from the British Social Attitudes survey that religious people are becoming more socially liberal on issues like same sex relationships and abortion. With falling numbers, some faith leaders might wonder whether they should be doing more to take their congregation’s lead on adapting to how society is changing.’
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