Bleak future predicted for declining churches
Date: Sept 9

A NEW report is predicting that Britain’s churches may well face extinction with only two per cent of the population attending Sunday services by the year 2040. The new study by Christian Research, one of the bleakest reports ever produced into church attendance, concluded that with congregations plummeting by two-thirds over the next three decades, the impact for churchgoing was clear: “rapidly moving towards virtual wipe-out.”

The report, The Future of the Church’, found that if the current trends continue, the number of Muslims attending prayers at British mosques on Friday will be double the number of Christians at church on Sunday by 2040. Struggling against the rising tide of secularisation, the current 9.4 per cent of the population in regular attendance of Sunday service is expected to be under five per cent by 2040, and of those worshippers 65 per cent will be over the age of 65. The study predicts that some 18,000 churches will be forced to close.

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