Knitting a Conundrum

With Christian moral values and legal protections under assault on all sides, it is commonly said that the reason pews are emptying is that traditional religion is not relevant. A new survey of thousands of churchgoers in the UK says the opposite however, and indicates that the emptying of the churches has been caused mainly by preaching and pastoral care that has been emptied of moral or doctrinal Christian content. The survey addressed questions about why church attendance was falling so dramatically in the UK but growing elsewhere, even though two-thirds of the British population believes in God.


The results of the year-long survey of 14,000 UK residents by the interdenominational Ecumenical Research Committee has been called ‘surprising’ by mainstream secular and Christian media. The overwhelming response is to call on churches “to robustly defend moral values with conviction and courage and cease being ‘silent’ and ‘lukewarm’ in the face of moral and social collapse.”

In an introduction, Lord Bromley Betchworth said “Those who spoke, did so with one voice…an alarming indication that there are multitudes of people across Britain and Ireland who feel that their views are not being heard or represented.” The vast majority of the people in Britain and Ireland, he says, are still morally conservative. “They are appalled that moral values and treasured beliefs are being stood on their head and want churches to play a leading role in standing up for these things.”

Source: Lifesite News