The Inner City. . . Graveyard for the Church?

by Greg Smith

Reference: Smith, G. (1998). "The Inner City...Graveyard for the Church?" Church Growth Digest: 10-12.

The received wisdom from over a century of urban mission in Britain is that Inner urban areas are the graveyard for the church. The Faith in The City report, and all the other literature speaks of a small and declining Christian presence. However recent research for the Religious Directory of Newham, backed up by findings of two local surveys could turn this received wisdom on its head.

Newham is now officially the most deprived local authority district in Britain, and its population of 217,000 includes 42% of black and ethnic minority people, with roots in almost every part of the world. We are certainly not a secular community; like Athens it is easy to see that religion is ever present, even though for many it is 'an unknown God' who is worshipped. It is hard to make any precise estimates but it seems likely that up to 25% of the people of Newham have some level of active religious commitment and involvement in a religious organization. Perhaps another 50% have at least a basic religious belief and some level of affiliation to a religious community, even if only to the extent of calling themselves 'Church of England' or 'Hindu' when filling in forms. It is our impression that partly due to the growth of our multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-faith community, and partly due to a revival of interest in religion that numbers of religious people are actually growing. Within Christianity there is even some evidence of significant conversion growth even among the most resistant of local groups, the white Cockney working class.
 


Numbers of Religious Groups
The history of religious institutions in the borough of Newham is a rapidly changing one. Before 1850 there were the two ancient parish churches of West Ham and East Ham, a congregational chapel and not much else. The second half of the 19th Century saw in West Ham alone the establishment of over 40 Church of England parishes, 5 large RC parishes, and a very strong Free Church presence with 97 Methodist, Baptist and independent churches... as well as numerous settlements and mission halls. There was also a significant Jewish presence with a number of synagogues and cemeteries.

The post 1945 exodus/decline in local population on top of a general decline in church-going habits, and the loss of a number of church buildings in the blitz, led to closures and withdrawal on the part of the denominations, the C of Emerging parishes and the Free Churches selling off buildings, By 1975 (according to Colin Marchant) there were only 18 Anglican buildings and 20 Free Churches in West Ham (the western half of Newham).

However the boxed statistics for all faith communities are based on information collected for the directory (based on a response rate of 78% of all congregations, and 96.5% for the mainline Christian churches), Pentecostal congregations are by far the most numerous category, followed by Anglicans (CofE), independent evangelicals and Muslims. But when it comes to owning their own buildings the Anglicans are in a league of their own, although almost all Muslim, Baptist, Methodist, Salvation Army and URC groups do own their buildings. Many of the newer Pentecostals and Independent Evangelicals and some of the Roman Catholic groups are 'tabernacling' in rented church halls and community centres.

With non-congregational organisations the highest numbers describe themselves as Ecumenical, Roman Catholic or CofE. Ecumenical agencies are appropriate for Christians seeking to serve the wider church, or engage in social action, while the high number of Roman Catholic groups is largely accounted for by the growing presence of religious orders of priests and sisters choosing to spend their lives among the people of the inner city.

Table 1 shows their breakdown by faith/denomination which is further illustrated in Figures 1-3

Fig 1 Buildings Owned by Congregations

                                                                               


 

Fig 2 Christian Congregations by Denomination
 

Fig 3 Non-Christian Faith Congregations

Church Attendance

In London in 1903 the Daily News survey of religious life indicated that the attendance rates in inner and especially East London were low. In West Ham, church attendance was put at 20% (55,649 people in 137 churches and chapels). Nonconformists accounted for 65% of the churchgoers, 32% were C of E and the Roman Catholics had grown to 12%.
 

The next Church censuses with any claim to comprehensive coverage were those of 1985 and 1989 conducted by MARC Europe. They showed a 10% increase over the four years in adult attenders in Newham from 6,800 to 7,500 and a growth in membership of 16% from 13,300 to 15,400. But this still only represented some 5% of the adult population. In addition some 2,100 children were counted as attenders. There are many problems about the reliability and coverage of this data (it was based on only 65 churches), but it did not seem implausible to those with local knowledge of the churches, and was matched by similar trends in other parts of inner London. My own estimates of numbers for the mid 1980s, based on extensive visiting participant observation, suggested about 2% of the population of E13/E16 (predominantly white lower class) might be regular attenders at Christian churches, while at least 7% of the population of (multiracial, more socially mixed) E7 might attend.

A recent local study by John Oliver (1992) has looked at adult Christian learning and church attendance in Canning Town and Custom House, a predominantly white council estate in the South West corner of the borough, well researched in earlier urban mission literature. He estimated 2.86% of the local population were churchgoers (230 of them attending 7 local churches). Nearly three quarters of them were female and just under a quarter were black. Oliver characterizes church- going as 'deviant' behaviour in the local (white) working class Cockney culture. Yet significantly he reports growth in attendance; a doubling of estimated numbers from 150 in 8 buildings (seating 3,200) in the early 1980s to 300 in 7 buildings seating 1900 in 1991/2. Only a small part of the growth can be put down to active Christian incomers (mainly black people). There has been some significant 'conversion' growth.

From the data we received for the directory it is possible to make some estimates of attenders at congregations in the Christian tradition (see Figure 4). The precise question put to church leaders was... How many people usually attend the largest meeting/service you regularly hold (eg for Christians this would be the main Sunday Service, for Muslims Friday prayers). Estimates for the Christian Community are based on the following assumptions in order to allow for the cases where the information had not been received.

The high estimate ... assumes that churches with missing information have numbers equivalent to the mean average of the churches in their denomination for which we have figures. The low estimate ... allows for the possibility that smaller less established congregations are over-represented among the missing data and also incorporates some 'local knowledge' about the likely size of particular congregations.

Our estimate for church attendance in Newham is much higher (almost double) the MARC Europe 1989 figures. Why should this be? Firstly we have discovered many churches who were not included in the MARC census and then elicited a much higher response rate. Secondly our question invited church leaders to estimate the number who attended regular worship, rather than insisting on an actual count on a given Sunday. The temptation to round up numbers and to count every person who might attend would have been irresistible for many. Thirdly there has been a substantial growth in religious observance among Christian groups in Newham in recent years.

The graphs show that nearly half the reported attenders are Roman Catholics, with Pentecostals and Anglicans in next place. Yet there are relatively few Roman Catholic churches claiming an average attendance of over 600. African independent churches were next largest with an average of 120 attenders. Baptists, Anglicans, Evangelicals, and Methodists averaged about 60 to 80 attenders. URC and Moravians were smaller with about 40 attenders each and the Salvation Army smallest at under 30. The Pentecostal churches for whom we have data averaged just over 60 attenders, but we have reason to belive that most of the missing data was likely to be from very small congregations, which would have considerably reduced the average attendance.

8,000                                                                   
7,000                                           
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0

Fig 4: No of Attenders by Denomination


Religion in Newham: Some Conclusions
The work for the directory and supporting evidence from the surveys suggests that Newham in 1994 is a very religious place and far from being the 'godless urban jungle' some would have us believe. There has been a growth in the numbers of religious groups, in levels of attendance at worship and in the extent and intensity of religious belief. Much of this is associated with the growth of black and Asian communities in the area, and the significance of religion in their lives.

Within Christianity the major growth area has been the mushrooming of Pentecostal and African independent congregations. Almost all of these churches are black-led, and have predominantly black congregations. In the last decade the African element has predominated, and in addition many mainline white led congregations have benefited from an influx of African Christians, and the lively faith and worship style they carry with them. But even among the white people of Newham, including the 'Cockney' working class, there is at least as much religious belief and activity as in most other parts of Britain, and some signs of a new interest in religion. However it is still the case that about 80% of local whites rarely if ever go to church, and among them the rates of attendance are lower for men, for young people and for the working class.

Why are people turning to, or at least keeping up their religion in a place like Newham? One key factor is the importance of ethnic identity and community belonging, which is closely linked to church or mosque membership. Poverty and deprivation, which has increased savagely in recent years may also push people towards the church, as a caring community that can offer some support, or even towards a God who will meet their material and emotional needs. The increased efforts of many faithful evangelists and church planters who have settled in the area must also playa part.

Perhaps religion locally has now achieved a critical mass, and the very ethos of Newham as a community where it is no longer deviant to be religious plays a part. Maybe, however, in such a diverse community religious commitment is at least tolerated better than it would be in a monochrome one. And finally of course there is the mysterious and encouraging work of the Holy Spirit.

THE RELIGIOUS DIRECTORY OF NEWHAM (2nd Edition 1994-95) contains much fuller details of these statistics as well as contact information for all the groups surveyed. It is available from December 94 for a £5 cheque payable to Aston Community Involvement Unit Durning Hall Earham Grove London E79AB

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