Linlithgow Pastor predicts Scottish census data will closely follow England and Wales

David Todd, associate pastor at St John’s church Linlithgow has said he expects Scottish census data on Christianity to present similar downtrends to England and Wales.

2021 census data revealed by Office of National Statistics today has shown that for the first time, less than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian. Numbers fell to 46.2%, down from 59.3% in 2011.

David Todd said: “There's no doubt that culturally the UK is moving away from recognising it's Christian heritage as relevant”.

In 2011, 54% of the population in Scotland stated their religion as Christian, a reduction of 11% since 2001, suggesting Scotland will closely follow the rest of the UK when it’s own census data is published by the National Records of Scotland in 2023.

Todd commented: “I expect similar results in Scotland, we tend to be a little behind when it comes to cultural change like this, so we might still see those figures above 50%, but the trend will be the same”.

“I'm not sad about these figures at all, cultural or folk Christianity isn't a good thing, and I would rather people experienced a true conversion to become Jesus followers than adopt an assumed cultural position”.

While trends in census data continue to show that a significant proportion of UK population consider themselves Christian, the 2014 British Social Attitudes Survey found that 58.4% of the population never attended religious services, while only 13.1% of people report going to a religious service once a week.

Todd, who preaches weekly in his Linlithgow church said: “The true figures of those who have a live Christian faith, i.e. attend church, pray, serve in a Christian context, are likely to be in single figures, less than 10%”.

Aleem Maqbool, BBC’s Religion editor, commented: “It may feel like a pivotal moment… but for years social surveys have shown a rapid rise in those who define themselves as having no religion”.

Data from Scotland’s 2022 census is set to be made available in early 2023, after it was delayed by a year during the Covid pandemic.