UK Church Decline and Progressive Ideology

Jun 2, 2022 by

by John Hayward, Church Growth Modelling:

What is the relationship between progressive ideology and church decline?

In a previous post[1], I examined the growth and decline of UK church denominations in the last five years of available membership data. I found that nearly all the pre-1900 denominations were declining. The only growing churches were founded after 1900 and were evangelical in doctrine. I supplemented this analysis using the last twenty years of data with the Limited Enthusiasm Model of church growth[2,3]. The declining churches are heading for extinction, with most pre-1900 denominations ceasing to exist before the middle of this century.

In this post, I will take the analysis further and compare each denomination’s growth and decline with their alignment to progressive ideology. If you have not read the first post, click:

Growth, Decline and Extinction of UK Churches

Progressive Ideology

A person would have to be a recluse not to know that a new ideology has been taking hold in Western societies over the last few decades. Many names identify it: Liberal progressive; diversity, inclusion and equality; critical theory and its derivatives in race, sexuality etc.; LGBTQ+; the sexual revolution; even derogatory names such as “wokeness” and “cultural Marxism”. None of these terms accurately describe the collection of beliefs and behaviours associated with the ideology.

The lack of an agreed name for the ideology makes it difficult to study objectively. For the sake of this post, I will call it the Progressive Ideology because, like earlier progressive movements, it believes that human reason overrides God’s revelation[4].

In some ways, the ideology is a bit like a religion. People and organisations need to show they identify with it, either as supporters or by “coming out” with a particular identity. Such public identification is like conversion. The person or organisation has “joined the cause”. They have progressed. Or, as it is sometimes put, they are on the “right side of history”. Consequently, they now receive approval from those who have already embraced the ideology.

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