3) Secularisation

• Secularisation in the UK

  • 19th century more than 40% of the British population attended church. By 1960s it was around 10-15% (decrease)
  • By 2010, only 6% attended church.
  • older people are more likely to attend church
  • decline in the numbers holding 'traditional religious beliefs'
  • greater religious diversity (Islam is the fastest growing religion in the UK).
• Wilson (1966) - Western Societies like the UK had undergone a long-term process of secularisation.
• What is secularisation?


  the process whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions loose social significance.
• Church Attendance Today:

  Wilson: By 2020, about 4% of the adult population attended church on Sundays.

  churchgoing in Britain has therefore more than halved since Wilsons research in the 1960s.
• Church Attendance Today: (example)

  Sunday attendance in the Church of England fell from 1.6 million in 1960, to under 0.7 million in 2020.

  Sunday school attendance has also declined even further.
• Church weddings and baptisms remain more popular than attendance at Sunday services, the trend is still downwards:

  • 1971, 59% of weddings were in church, but by 2018 the proportion was only 20%.
  • the number of weddings in Catholic Churches fell by 3/4 between 1965 and 2011.
• Church Attendance Statistics:

  • 1960: 1.6 million
  • 2020: under 0.7 million
• Infant Baptisms - have fallen steadily 


  number of Catholic baptisms today is under half those in 1964.

  • baptisms of older children have increased in recent years - may be due to faith schools (high performing) which only take baptism children.
  • baptism becomes an entry ticket into a good school rather than a sign of Christian commitment.
• a persons religious affiliation is:


  their membership of or identification with a religion.
• Decline in the number of people affiliated to a religion:


  between 1983 and 2018, the proportion of adults with no religion rose from under 1/3 to just over 1/2 - British Social Attitudes Survey, 2018).
• number of Catholics increased slightly due to East European immigration.
• religious belief is also declining, significant decline in a personal God, in Jesus as the Son of God and in Christian teachings about the afterlife and the Bible.
• Census is required. However, the religious section is optional.

  Also homeless people can't fill it out - in the UK 280,000 people are homeless
• The Clergy (work in the church, bishops etc)


  lack of clergy - 20th century fell from 45,000 to 34,000

  • a lack of the clergy in local communities means the influence of the church is reduced.
• Religious Institutions today:

  • the church has some influences on public life (COE bishops sit in the HOL).
  • the state has taken over many functions that the church used to perform, now confined to the individual and the family.
• Religious Institutions today:

  • until the mid 19th century, the churches provided education but it is now mainly provided by the state.
  • there are still faith schools but these are mainly state funded and must conform to the states regulations.