UK Evangelicalism Report

Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance in the UK, has now published a report about the state of UK evangelicalism. Aside from general observations — it’s like the USA but it’s not like the USA, it’s more cohesive than the USA, etc — the study will undoubtedly be a watershed for understanding what’s going on in the UK when it comes to evangelicalism.

My overall assessment: I’m very encouraged about UK evangelicalism and I’m thankful to Jason Clark for alerting me to this report. You can access, print, or buy the report at the link above.

Here are some characteristics of “typically evangelical”:

91% think Jesus is the only way to God; 96% attend a church once a week; 77% are in small groups; 83% read/listen to the Bible a few times a week; 96% pray a few times a day; 96% have given money to their church this year; 88% strongly agree that their faith is the most important thing in their life; 94% believe in creation care; 85% voted in the General Election; 83% believe in miraculous gifts today; 94% agree that Christians should be united in truth; 93% think Christians should have a voice in the media.

More incisive issues:

83% agree the Bible has “supreme authority” in beliefs, views, and behaviour. 71% believe it is a Christian’s duty to be involved in evangelism (58% talk about their faith to someone once a month); 62% think sex before marriage is wrong.

But there’s variation:On inerrancy, 54% believe it; 32% are for it or unsure.

Abortion: 37% think it’s wrong; 46% are straddling (unsure/disagree a little); 17% disagree.

Hell: 37% strongly agree that hell is a place where the condemned will suffer eternal conscious pain; 13% agree a little with this; 31% are unsure; 8% disagree a little; 11% disagree a lot.

Women in leadership: 51% are strongly in favor; 20% disagree only a little; [71% are in favor]; 9% are unsure; 10% disagree a little; 10% strongly disagree.

Homosexuality: 59% agree a lot that homosexual sexual acts are wrong; 14% agree a little; 11% are unsure; 8% disagree a little; and 8% disagree a lot. [That is, about 16% of UK evangelicals are more or less in favor of homosexuality as acceptably Christian.]