Evangelicals report confident faith amid growing social pressure

Most Evangelical Christians in the UK feel confident in living out their faith, despite reporting concerns over increased social pressure.

A new study from the Evangelical Alliance (EA) explores what Evangelicals think about their place in British society. ‘Confident faith, contested culture’ reported widespread confidence in the legal rights and freedoms enjoyed by Christians, but warned of growing concern over the “relational, cultural and reputational” cost believers face.

The report is based on a survey of 884 respondents, and aims to provide “a snapshot of evangelical perceptions in this current moment of cultural uncertainty and transition”.

Living faith

The EA said that over 88 per cent of respondents felt they could “freely live out their faith”.

the freedom of Christians is real, meaningful and worthy of gratitude

However, almost half indicated that “it has become harder to practise their faith publicly in the past five years” and felt that it is increasingly difficult “for Christians serving in public life”.

It found that 24 per cent of the evangelicals who responded “felt hesitant to talk about their faith” in the workplace.

Changing culture

The EA’s Director of Advocacy, Danny Webster, stated: “Evangelicals in the UK have considerable freedom to practise their faith, and to practise it in public. Whether that’s meeting to worship without fear of reprisals, or preaching in the street, or talking about your beliefs at work, the freedom of Christians is real, meaningful and worthy of gratitude.

“And yet, there is a growing sense among many that the cultural context is changing and making things harder.”

He explained: “While the legal protections are there, we found many evangelicals feel greater pressure, experience misunderstanding or marginalisation, and feel that there is less room for their beliefs in public life.”

Legal protections

Earlier this year, a church that was banned from a university’s freshers event successfully defended its right to book a stall there following an intervention from The Christian Institute.

Grace Church Greenwich had been attempting to reserve a place at Goldsmiths University’s Freshers’ Fair, but were told by Native – the external company responsible for the booking process – that religiously-affiliated groups working on secular initiatives would be permitted, but that it could not support “campaigns that explicitly promote specific religious teachings”.

Minister Andrew Sach commented: “So it’s okay to be there as a Christian organisation as long as we don’t do or say Christian things?”

Following a letter from the Institute, the company suspended its policy of restricting bookings from religious organisations with immediate effect.

Sach said he was sharing the church’s story, “to encourage other churches to stand up for the religious freedoms that we currently enjoy under UK law if you find yourselves denied a platform on similar grounds”.