A research report on church attendance in the United Kingdom (UK) published on April 3 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 is based on a representative poll of 7,000 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 Christianity is still the predominant faith in the UK with over half (53%) or 26.2 million adults claiming to be Christian; while other faiths account 3.2 million adults (6%). Three out of five people in the population are affiliated with faith and the remainder, some 19 million (39%), claim to have no religion.

The poll also revealed that nearly 1 million adults attend ethnic majority churches. This is composed of 9% black majority, 1% Asian majority and 2% Chinese or other ethnic majority. The largest denomination groupings among ethnic majority churches overall are Pentecostal (23%), Roman Catholic (23%) and Church of England/Anglican (19%). Regular churchgoing is particularly high among adults of black ethnic origin at 48% - over three times the proportion among white adults (15%).

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 survey, 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," a church official told. "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."

Basic Facts of the Tearfund Survey:

REGULAR UK CHURCHGOERS
UK: 15%
Northern Ireland: 45%
Scotland: 18%
England: 14%
Wales: 12%

UK CHURCH ATTENDANCE
Regular churchgoers: At least once a month: 15% 7.6M
Fringe churchgoers: At least six times a year: 3% 1.6M
Occasional churchgoers: At least once a year: 7% 3.4M
Open de-churched: Don't go, but likely to go again: 5% 2.3M
Closed de-churched: Used to go, but unlikely to go again: 28% 13.7M
Open non-churched: Weddings/baptism/funerals but may go again: 1% .6M
Closed non-churched: Weddings/baptism/funerals but unlikely to go again: 32% 15.6M
Other religions: Non-Christian: 6% 3.2M
Unassigned: Did not answer question on prior church attendance: 2% 1.1M

THE RESULTS
26m adults claim to be Christian
7.6m adults go to church each month
12.6m go at least once a year.
3 million would go to church if asked
Other faiths make up 6% of religious attendance
32m people have no connection with church
London has highest number of regular churchgoers at 22%