In the 2001 census Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims represented 4.6% of the population of England and Wales.
This rose to about 7% in 2011 and is expected to be over 10% in the 2021 census. A conservative estimate is that people of these faiths will constitute over a quarter of the population of England and Wales by 2050 in only about 30 years time. Many inner city areas have seen church after church closed down, with some being converted into mosques or temples. What is the church doing to reach this burgeoning mission field on our doorstep?
Mission in Southampton
There are encouraging signs of many Iranian and some Afghan refugees turning to Jesus, but what about the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim people who have been living in the UK for decades? The largest single ethnic group in this category are Pakistani Muslims and one estimate is that less than 100 have come to faith in Jesus, out of a population of over 1 million, in the last 50 years.
