While Christianity has played an important role in our history and culture, the UK is a highly diverse nation of many different religions and beliefs.
A 2023 YouGov survey found only 34% of British adults think UK is a Christian country. Even most Church of England clergy (73%) disagree that modern Britain is can be called a 'Christian country', according to a 2023 survey.
Most Brits (52%) think that being a Christian is not at all important for national identity, with a further 27% saying it is not very important. Just 20% think it is very or somewhat important.
What's more, Christians are no longer the majority in Britain. The 2021 Census found less than half the population of England and Wales are Christian. A 2018 Survation survey found 59% of Scots are non-religious, including 62% of women and 55% of men, and 60% never attended church outside of weddings or funerals. In the same survey, the non-religious were a majority of all age groups under 65, including 69% of 18-24 year olds.
The 2019 British Social Attitudes survey found just one per cent of 18-24 year olds in Britain said they belonged to the CofE.
The UK is becoming increasingly irreligious:
- According to the British Social Attitudes survey, 52% of British people have no religion. The figure has risen from 48% since 2015 and 31% since 1983.
- The 2018 European Social Survey found 70% of 16- to 29-year-olds in the UK say they have no religion and 59% say they never attend a religious service. In 2017/18, no religion was the most common self-identification of undergraduate entrants (44.5%), followed by Christianity (29.1%).
- In 2020, 60% of Brits said religion is not important in their lives. This has increased from 39% in 2006.
- 79% of Brits do not consider it necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values, according to a 2020 survey. This has increased from 73% in 2002.
According to the 2021 Census, "no religion" is the largest religion or belief group in Wales, and the second largest in England.
Those without a stated religion are the second largest religion or belief group in Northern Ireland.
The number of Brits who identify as Church of England has halved since 2002. In 2002, 31% of Brits said they belong to the Church of England. In 2019, just 12% of Britons were affiliated to the Church of England. This includes just 1% of 18-24 year olds. Over 80% adults in England have a distant or non-existent relationship with the Church of England.
The number of Brits who participate in Church activities is even lower. Normal Sunday CofE attendance for all ages represents just 0.9% of the English population. The median sized church has an average attendance of 22 adults and one child, and over the whole year two baptisms, one marriage and four funerals.
Surveys consistently suggest the UK population supports the separation of religion and state:
- Over half of Britons believe state and church should be separate.
- More oppose than support the idea of the UK having an official state religion, with nearly half (46%) against and a third (32%) in favour.
- 60% of UK adults agree that religion should be "kept separate from government policies". This includes 81% of the religiously unaffiliated, 59% of Christians with 'low levels of commitment' and 55% of Christians with 'moderate levels of commitment'.
- 62% of Britons say there is "no place in UK politics for religious influence of any kind"
- 65% of British people think political figures should keep their religious beliefs cordoned off from their decision making, with just 14% saying the opposite.
Growing numbers of CofE priests are questioning the Church's established status.
A 2023 survey conducted by The Times found over half - 53% - of Church of England clerics think establishment should be reviewed. This is a significant increase from the last survey in 2014, which found 41% supported a review.
Clergy who question establishment include nearly 12% of priests who said Church should be disestablished – formally separated from the state.
Over 41% of clergy say the Church's established status "should be reviewed, with some elements of establishment retained and some abolished". Only 43% think the Church's status should be left unchanged.
You can hear more views from pro-disestablishment members of the CofE through our recording of our 2023 discussion on the future of Church and state.
While it's true that both Christmas and Easter are still popular, for many Brits they are secular, rather than Christian, festivals. According to a 2020 YouGov survey:
- 83% Brits think Christmas is celebrated more as a secular event, and 82% feel the religious aspects of observing Christmas in Britain is declining.
- Although Christmas is personally important to 86% of Brits, 61% of them celebrate it in an entirely secular way.
- The vast majority of Brits (71%) do not normally attend a Christmas religious service.
- Only 34% think a greater emphasis should be placed on the religious side of Christmas.
- 59% of Brits think Easter is celebrated more as a secular festival in contemporary Britain, and 72% think the religious element of marking Easter is in decline. Only 31% wishing to see greater emphasis placed upon its religious aspects.
We reject the implication that Church somehow provides special moral insights denied to others. The idea that the Church has a monopoly on issues of morality is offensive to many UK citizens. This is made more so by continuing revelations over the role of the Church's hierarchy in appearing to cover up child abuse and their continuing institutional homophobia and sexism.
Growing numbers of CofE clergy themselves disagree with the Church's position on sex. According to a 2023 survey, a majority (53%) think the Church should allow priests to choose to conduct same-sex weddings, and 63% believe gay priests should be allowed to enter same-sex civil marriages. Nearly 65% believe the Church's teaching that "homosexual practice is incompatible with scripture" should be dropped. Nearly 63% of priests think the Church should drop its opposition to sex outside of marriage.
The Church of England is thought to hold assets in excess of £15bn. Despite this, at least £810m of public money was channelled into the Church via government and lottery sources between 1999 and 2018.
It's not the norm. Fifty-three per cent of countries in the world have no official or preferred religion. Only 22% do have an official state religion, including the UK.
Chancel Repair Liability (CRL) dates back to the time of Henry VIII and gives some CofE churches the right to demand from some local property owners financial contributions towards repairs to its chancel.
The liability is due whether or not the landowners are Anglicans and applies even if they are not (and have never been) Christians.
The Church is able to demand, in some cases, payment for the full cost of repairs. For such ancient churches, this can be very substantial indeed, sometimes running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. Though unwilling to press these claims, the presence of the liability on land blights properties and requires owners to take out insurance against the risk of the Church changing its mind and claiming the money.
As long ago as 1985, the Law Commission described the impact of CRL as "wholly capricious", and considered "that this relic of the past is … no longer acceptable".
Its report concluded: "It is hard today to see any justification for this imposition".
Both the Law Commission and, more recently, the Law Society, have therefore recommended that the only equitable solution is for CRL to be phased out.
Despite all this, abolition has not taken place.
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