Research published this week by the British Charity, Tearfund, makes somber reading for church leaders. It found only one in 10 people in the United Kingdom attend church on a weekly basis even though 53 percent of the British population identify themselves as Christian.  This reflects a drop of 20 percent from a similar survey conducted just six years ago.

The survey of 7,000 representative adults indicated that 26.2 million adults identify themselves as Christians with 7.6 million of them attending church at least once a month.  It also found that 3.2 million adults belong to other faiths and some 19 million (39%) say they have no religion.

The Tearfund report paid particular attention to a group of up to 3 million people who said they would attend church “given the right invitation.”  As the report puts it, “one in every 17 UK adults are open to churchgoing, if only churches reach out to them.”

Commenting on the report, Pastor Don McFarlane, president of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the UK and Ireland, stated that, “the report emphasizes the need for Christians to be open to their communities, to develop genuine friendships and to build bridges that will make the church a more inviting home for those who are seeking.”

Tearfund’s president, Elaine Storkey, told BBC Radio Five Live, “the church for a lot of people is a very strange place these days.  They’re not familiar with what’s going on inside the building, with the form of service, with the way people gather, with what they say, how they pray.”

Churches such as Beckenham Hope Community Adventist Church have tackled this problem by working in the community, starting a community choir, and listening to the needs of residents.  Leamington Spa Adventist Mission has restructured its service to be a place where a visiting stranger can quickly feel comfortable and become a friend. 

“Walk in the front door and you are more likely to be offered a drink and a biscuit then a hymnbook,” Robert Pearce told BUC News.  “Worship is really important to us but it comes in a context of being open and friendly, and trying to reduce the ‘cringe factors’ for those coming in the door for the first time.”         

Also highlighted in the report is the indication that women are more interested in Christianity than men and that three quarters of those over 65 years old are Christian compared to only one third of 16 to 34 year olds.

This is a challenge for Heather Haworth, Children’s and Women’s Ministries director for the Adventist church in the UK, who feels strongly that, “We must present Christianity in a way which is attractive.  What worked in our youth will not have the same positive effect.  We have to be willing to diversify.  We need to do church for the unbelievers.” 

Haworth runs workshops around the country on how to connect with the 21st century child.  She also notes an Alpha report in the United Kingdom http://uk.alpha.org/ that most people who accept Christ are under 23.  “These young people are more open minded,” she says. “They have a world view of religion and are naturally curious.”

The research report, “Churchgoing in the UK” is available at http://www.adventistnews.org.uk/news534survey.htm.