GOOD NEWS

Bishop of Worcester calls decline in self identifying Christians in city 'a concern'

Joseph Broady
Sun, 5 February 2023 

The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge. (Image: The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge)

The BISHOP of Worcester has called decline in self-identifying Christians in the city" a concern".

The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, made the comments following news that more people aged under 40 years old in Worcester opted for "no religion" on the census than identified as Christian according to new figures.

The Office for National Statistics data shows 26,400 people aged under 40 in Worcester (51 per cent) selected "no religion", followed by about 18,500 under-forties (36 per cent) who selected Christianity.

Bishop John said: “The decline in those who self-identify as Christians is certainly of concern to the church but 36 per cent of Worcester’s population is still a huge number of people – it would be lovely if they all decided to come to church every week.

"Churches are there to serve everyone in their parish, regardless of their religion or even if they have none at all.

"Many in our communities will attend weddings, funerals and baptisms in our churches or benefit from the support provided through food banks, toddler groups and lunch clubs run in our buildings.

"In addition, roughly half of those who say they have ‘no religion’ indicate in polls that they believe in God, so they are not ‘secular’ in any meaningful sense. The situation is complex and, whilst accepting the challenge that the figures reveal, it would be unwise to rush to conclusions.

"Our churches will continue to share the love of Jesus with all in our communities.”

Worcester News: Man and woman praying.

Man and woman praying. (Image: Getty Images)

The figures are a contrast to the previous census in 2011 when 54 per cent of the age group selected Christianity and 34 per cent opted for no religion.

A similar trend was seen across England and Wales, where "no religion" was the most selected option for under-40s. It was the first time Christianity did not hold the top spot for an age group.

About 13.6 million said they were not religious in 2021 while 9.8 million identified as Christian – a reversal from a decade ago when 13.9 million opted for Christianity and 9.4 million were non-religious.

The census figures also show women in Worcester were more likely to be religious. About 58 per cent of women in the area chose a religion while 51 per cent of men did.