AS I write this, most news outlets have reported on the UK’s ‘silent revival’, as seen in the results of a major survey conducted by YouGov.
For the first time in decades church attendance has been growing and, counter to expectations, this growth is largest among young people.
The survey also highlighted how church involvement was important but affiliation wasn’t, so although identification with Christian faith continues to decline, participation is rising.
Regular church attendance brings with it a wide range of benefits, which have been statistically known and shown for decades.
Back in the 1990s I was involved in the decision to include a religious question in the UK Census.
We knew then that participation in a religious community was hugely beneficial to public finances – the actively religious cost the state far less than the average person.
In the end the question that got included was: ‘What religion do you identify with?’
This told us little except that vast numbers of young men identified as Jedis, the religion invented for Star Wars.
But active, participatory faith does improve physical and mental wellbeing in a host of ways, some of which are understandable whether you’re a believer or not.
Jesus invited people to, ‘follow me, and find out’, or as we put it at King’s Church, ‘feel free to belong, believe, and become’ – in that order.
Christen Forster is lead pastor of Kings Church, Wokingham.
Sunday services there take place at 10.30am, with coffee served from 10am.
For more information, visit: kingschurch.org.uk
