CofE Affiliation Hits Record Low

Church of England Affiliation Hits Record Low

CofE Affiliation Hits Record Low
By Peter K BurianOwn work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
A new survey by British Social Attitudes sheds light on the change in religious affiliation.

It looks like the Church of England is facing a huge crisis, as there is a tremendous change in opinion among the public. According to a survey from the British Social Attitudes, only extremely small percentages (2%) of the young adults in the country identify themselves with the C of E. The same survey shows that out of every ten adults under the age of 24, seven of them state they do not associate themselves with any religion.

CofE Affiliation Hits Record Low[/tweetthis]

Since 2002, the number of people who affiliate themselves with C of E has been decreasing. For instance, it was only 41 percent in 2002, while it reached 53 percent in 2016, before going down to 52 percent in 2017. In 2018, this figure reached a record low, an indicator of growing change in the community.

The new survey has set off alarm bells in the C of E, as the results are worrying. From the study, it is clear that the chances of the younger age groups identifying themselves with the C of E are lower than those from older generations. At the same time, the chances of people becoming a part of religion during the later stages of their lives are rare. As newer generations come into the picture, this figure can reach levels where it becomes negligible.

Members of the population who are older than 65 years of age are the ones who will most likely associate with the C of E. In 2002, this figure was around 52 percent, but in 2018, it has fallen to a staggering 30 percent. The study also found that there has been an interesting change in opinion among the public.

For instance, only 18 percent of the population said that they belonged to no religion. However, this figure rose to 34 percent, in 2017, showing the significant amount of growth in this belief. Only 8 percent of the participants stated that they are from the Roman Catholic church, while 10 percent associated themselves with other denominations of Christianity.

Roger Harding from the National Centre for Social Research was a part of this survey. From the survey, he found people becoming liberal towards issues such as abortion and same-sex relationships. As the number of people who don’t identify themselves to any religion is on the rise, religious leaders must find better ways to connect with society.

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