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Church of England
UK News

UK population largely unaware of social impact of the Church

by Eno Adeogun

While one quarter of the population believe the Church is "good for the community" many remain indifferent or uninformed about the Church plays at a local and global level.

The report, commissioned by World Vision UK in partnership with research firm Barna Global also found that 81 per cent of non-Christians don't believe the Church is making any difference whatsoever to society.

 

David Kinnaman, co-founder of Barna spoke to Premier at the launch of 'The UK Church in Action' report at Lambeth Palace on Thursday.

Reacting to the report's finding that 81 per cent of non-Christians don't believe the Church is making any difference to society, Kinnaman said: "I think as a researcher who's looked at the... challenging circumstances - the good, the bad and the ugly of some of the public perception of faith - a lot in the US as well as in the UK now, I think it can be discouraging. We have to be careful to not become cynical and depressed by that.

David Kinnaman, co-founder of Barna

"I find that it's not the first time the Church has had a poor reputation. Jesus himself promises that we'll be misunderstood in our society and we actually don't need to overly concern ourselves with the image - good or bad of the culture. We really need to worry about being faithful as Christians."

The study surveyed 2,054 British adults, 1,170 active Christians as well as 302 church leaders from various denominations and aimed to explore not only the role of the church in modern Britain, but faith leaders attitudes toward mission and social justice and the importance of mission within the church context.

Tim Pilkington, CEO of World Vision UK

Tim Pilkington, CEO of World Vision UK said: "The launch of 'The UK Church In Action' marks an important moment for the church in this country.

"The report shows us that over 60 per cent of Christians want to know more about global mission but many of those outside the church are unaware of the good work being done."

Listen to David Kinnaman speaking with Premier's Eno Adeogun:

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