Wilson
- argues that Western societies had been undergoing a long-term process of secularisation
How does Wilson define secularisation?
the process whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions lose social significance
How has church attendance fallen according to Wilson?
- Sunday attendance in the Church of England fell from 1.6 million in 1960 to 0.8 million in 2013
How has weddings fallen according to Wilson?
- In 1971, 60% of weddings were in churches but by 2012 the proportion 30%
How has baptism of infants fallen according to Wilson?
- number of catholic baptism have declined by more 50% since 1964
Why has baptism increased in older children?
- research indicates that this is because many faith schools, which are also high performing schools, will only take baptised children
Religious Affiliation
- a persons membership or identification with a religion
How has people affiliated with religion declined?
- between 1983 and 2014 the percentage of those who have no religion rose from 1/3 to 1/2
- those who were christian fell by 1/3
- those who were Anglican halved
What did the BSA survey show?
- From 80 years of survey there is a decline in belief in personal god, in Jesus as the son of God, in afterlife and the bible
Why has the influence of religion as a social institution declined?
the state has taken over many functions of the church which they used to perform
How has education resulted in religion as a social institution declining?
- education was once performed by the church but is now provided by the state
- there are faith schools but they must conform to the state regulations
How has the Clergy resulted in the church in decline?
- number of clergy are on decline which means there is less influence in the community
- clergy are an ageing workforce
How much has the Clergy declined?
in the 20th century, clergy fell from 45,000 to 30,000
How many Angelican clergy are under 40?
12%
