The number of Britons leaving Christianity for other religions or spirituality is on the rise, a recent study from the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life found. The survey asked 2,774 adults considered to have “experienced a change in their religious belief” as to “what direction Britons are moving between faiths, spiritualities, and non-belief.”
“Many respondents left Christianity, usually towards atheism, yet the landscape is far more dynamic than a simple narrative of secularisation suggests,” the report explains, noting that many shifted to adopt Islam. Nonetheless, Christianity continues to attract a “striking number of new or returning adherents.”
The most frequent cause of leaving their faith was the lack of belief in God or the supernatural (50%), followed by doubts about key doctrine (43%), clashes with personal values (37%), clashes with philosophy (33%), or poor experiences with leaders (20%).
The survey’s findings suggest Britain is “not secularising in a straightforward way,” but is “undergoing a re-composition of belief, a shift away from inherited institutional structures towards personalised, practice-based, and wellbeing-oriented forms of faith.” According to the survey’s totals, 36% of respondents are becoming Christian, although 55% are leaving the faith. Meanwhile, 39% of survey respondents are becoming atheist or agnostic, while 13% are leaving atheism or agnosticism.
Pagan practices, such as Wiccan movements, are also on the rise in Britain, particularly “among women over 30 and those disillusioned with organised religion but seeking ethical and emotional coherence,” the report says.
Despite the survey’s findings, a report from Catholic News Agency says Catholicism is growing in the United Kingdom. “The results of this thorough and robust study demonstrate that over the space of only six years, there has been a significant growth in the numbers of people going to church; Christians are practicing their religion more intentionally; more young people are finding faith; more people are reading the Bible,” according to a report from the Bible Society shared by the outlet.
