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Belonging and believing

Do any UK denominations grow?

The exceptions that defy the trend

Just as some Churches do better than others so it is with denominations. While most denominations like the Church of England, Roman Catholic, or Methodist Church follow a similar trend of relatively slow decline, there are some smaller ones that show not decline but strong growth. Interestingly you can find them in both the institutional Churches and free Churches.

Institutional Churches

Free Churches
  • Anglican
  • Roman Catholic
  • Presbyterian
  • Orthodox
  • Methodist
  • Baptist
  • Independent
  • New Churches
  • Pentecostal

The chart shows the relative rates of growth or decline in Church membership from 1980 to 2020 for several UK denominations. The trend lines for all the Churches start at 0% in 1980. All the rates of change are from that common starting point and the size of the Church has no effect on the comparison. Two of these denominations, the Orthodox and the Pentecostal show strong growth over the whole 40-year period. All the more remarkable when you realise that these Churches come from opposite extremes of religious practice. These are not the only denominations to grow, amongst the Free Churches the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) shows growth, as do many of the New Churches.

UK Church membership by denomination

Source: Religious trends 5 Brieley 2005 Tables 12.4,12.7

Downloadable chart: "UK Church membership by denomination"

The Eastern Orthodox Church

Originally the Orthodox Church included what we now call the Roman Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church and the Assyrian church. The Assyrians broke from the Church with the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, the Oriental Orthodox following the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, and the Roman Catholics through the Great Schism 1054 AD. It is an ancient Church that preserves a tradition that traces its origins back to the original apostles. It does not accept the claim by the Roman Catholic Church that the Apostle Peter gave it and the Bishop of Rome (Pope) supremacy over the other Patriarchs.

The Pentecostal Church

The Pentecostal Church places emphasis on the direct personal experience of the Holy Holy Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit as in the Biblical account of the Day of Pentecost. Other denominations emphasise an indirect route to the Holy Spirit; for Roman Catholics the route to the Holy Spirit is principally through the Mass and for Protestants it's through the Word of God. For Pentecostals "speaking in tongues" is the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and therefore essential to being saved. Like the Baptists their view is that they are restoring the Church to its early form.

Why these denominations?

It's difficult to see what these two denominations have in common, other than the ability for their Churches to grow in the UK. It does show that both institutional and free Churches can thrive in the UK. Either form of Church can be made to work in the UK today, so why not the other denominations?

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