The UK Christian Handbook, published by MARC Europe, reports that the number of active Christians in the United Kingdom had declined from 7.5 million to 7 million since 1980. The report forecasts a further decline of one-half million active Christians by 1992.
Since 1980, the number of active Muslims grew from 600,000 to 852,000—more than the membership of Britain’s Methodist and Baptist churches combined. In 1960, four mosques were open in the United Kingdom; today they number 314. Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains also showed increases, and the number of Satanists more than doubled to 15,000. However, the number of active Jews dropped by 1,000, to 109,000.
In a separate development, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced the audience for its religious radio programs grew by 28 percent during the past year. The increase represents 2 million additional listeners.
David Winter, head of religious radio programming for the BBC, said a series on the Bible, called “The Good Book,” last year doubled and at times quadrupled its previous audience. The radio series also evoked a flood of letters. Said Winter: “Obviously the Bible is still capable of stirring a few passions.”
