|
![[Under Construction]](images/undercon.gif)
| |
The Church Leaders
in London
meet regularly to share prayer, reflection and fellowship and address issues of social
justice and public policy.
According to the
Census taken by the Office of National Statistics, three quarters of the
population in London said they had a religious faith and, of these, over
three-quarters (77%) said they were Christian, 11% Muslim, 5% Hindu, 3% Jews, 2%
Sikh and 1% Buddhist. People who answered that they had no religion formed 16%
of London’s
population and nearly 8.6% chose not to answer the census question on religion.
According to Christian Research,
in 2005 there were over 4,000 churches in London and 623,000 people in London
regularly worshipped in the churches, with many more attending services at
Christmas and Easter.
The number of people attending church in London has actually
increased in the last few years, partly thanks to the contribution of
immigrants. In inner London 44% of churchgoers are black, members of
mainstream denominations as well as pentecostal churches. London has 11% of the
country’s churches, 20% of the country’s churchgoers and its congregations are
double the average size for England. Over half of all churchgoers aged 20 to 29
in England are worshipping in London.
A survey conducted jointly by Greater London Enterprise and the London Churches
Group in 2002, of faith based social action projects in London, found that the
churches and Christian organisations across London were running some 6,500
projects in London, employing over 9,000 staff and with some 42,000 volunteers.
Some 360,000 people benefited directly from these projects and the churches were
providing over 2,000 buildings for community use (extrapolated from
Regenerating
London: Faith communities and social action
published in October 2002).
|
