The changing face of faith in Britain
Huw Lloyd-Richards reports on the recent QCCIR conference
More than fifty Friends gathered at Woodbrooke in mid-March to discuss and respond to three written and circulated parts of the report The Changing Face of Faith in Britain, how should Quakers Respond? and to contribute to a part four. This was a well-organised event, rich in content, with excellent presentations from the authors, and well facilitated by the Quaker Committee for Christian and Interfaith Relations (QCCIR). Add the conviviality of Woodbrooke, meeting old and new Friends, access to the wonderful library, great food and the snow covered gardens viewed from the new garden room, and we had all the ingredients for a great house party!
We began with a presentation from Grace Davie, a renowned sociologist of religion, on her new book Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox. She has been influential in examining changing patterns of affiliation to churches and the range of factors in play in the process of ‘secularisation’. She has theorised that in engaging with religion there are patterns of ‘believing without belonging’; a shift from a sense of obligation to one of consumption; that culture retains traces of our religious heritage; and that religion functions like a ‘public utility’ for many – as ‘vicarious religion’.
Grace Davie showed how new emergent groups create pluralism yet migration assists in religious renewal. Her work on London, which can be accessed on the Theos website, shows the effect of high levels of migration, the revitalisation of certain Roman Catholic churches, and a wide range of new groups. She observed that public attitudes include the notion that we are becoming ‘secular’, yet our interest and concern with religion is high.
We then heard from Francesca Montemaggi a resumé of her academic literature review, which comprises part one of The Changing Face of Faith in Britain. This was an excellent and wide-ranging review of an enormous volume of literature on religion in Britain today, on the theories of disenchantment and secularisation, and on the nature of religious pluralism. It uses the sources to chart a picture of a process theorised as ‘secularisation’; the features of which are individualism, differentiation, and critically a movement away from ‘belief’, church authority, and a cultural default affiliation with churches, to more ‘experiential’ kinds of religious practices and groupings.
This echoes Linda Woodhead’s findings of the character of what she calls the ‘holistic milieu’ and its attractions. Francesca Montemaggi’s analysis was supported by anthropological sources that point out that ‘belief’ is not a universal feature of religious practice when we take a wide cross-cultural view, and that the central presence of it within the Christian, and particularly Protestant, tradition has focussed enquiry upon ‘belief’ rather than on the experiential aspects that are now more prominent in new groups.
Francesca Montemaggi also noted that some commentators, particularly Peter Berger, have considered that a contrary process of ‘de-secularisation’ may be taking place, and these incursions by religious groups back into the public square and liberal cultures fit with Grace Davie’s picture.
They both agree that the centre ground of religion in Britain is fuzzy and complex – and a pluralistic spiritual landscape. The literature review will be invaluable for those studying this topic. It gives the report a good academic grounding and can be further developed.
We were given plenty of time and opportunity in small groups to digest this complex material and the discussions were guided and content captured by the QCCIR team. We were moving from ‘big picture’ sociology to Quaker affiliation and practice in a very useful way.
We then moved to part two of the report, on The spirituality of new Quakers. Francesca Montemaggi and Ben Pink Dandelion outlined their findings: new Quakers do not come from a particular new group or spiritual background; they value openness, are ‘seekers’, are less interested in beliefs, and in the last three years have come mostly from Christian backgrounds and have drifted away from those roots.
These arrivals value our hospitality, they feel ‘at home’ and not marginalised – they feel they can be themselves. They value the process of silence-simplicity-experience leading to ethical formation. They value the balance between contemplative practice and social activism, but tend to pursue the latter in external organisations rather than within the Quaker community.
This was a very affirming picture of the strengths we recognise in our tradition. It was followed by a survey in part three: Charting Quaker ecumenical and interfaith involvement, again by Ben Pink Dandelion. This covered activities across Britain by Local and Area Meetings, with a separate and informative description of the situation in Wales. This can be read in detail, as can all the other parts on the Quaker website.
Rowena Loverance presented part four, considering how we as Quakers might link with other groups, churches and denominations. This was supported by an overview, carried out by Ben Pink Dandelion, of seven categories of religious groups with whom Quakers could consider links.
We were reminded by Marigold Bentley that Britain Yearly Meeting is represented on a range of what are called ‘Ecumenical Instruments’, such as Churches Together in England (CTE) and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), but that the Christian rather than interfaith focus means that we need, also, to be looking outward at other faiths.
The seven categories include: progressive Christian groups; Evangelical and Pentecostal groups; historic Christian churches and Unitarians, Christadelphians and Christian Scientists; pagan and esoteric movements; new religious movements; Buddhist, Daoist and Sufi groups; and wellbeing programmes, which would include atheists and humanists.
Ben Pink Dandelion noted that there are currently 292 denominations in Britain, and that he has identified ten specific groups under each of the seven categories.
We heard responses to this presentation from Quaker World Relations Committee and Quaker Life. The direction of travel throughout was clear: we are an outward-looking faith; we can find ways for intervisitation with others; we have a strong local sense of how this can be done and examples were given from Area Meetings present, such as Preston.
We were urged to ‘prick the bubble we are in’, accept that digital communication can assist in outreach, but be aware of the labour in setting up structural contacts, perhaps to be more like ‘hunter-gatherers’ and ensure ‘quality’ – to ‘fill the well rather than sprinkle the desert’.
There was a good energy abroad at this event, excellent input from Grace Davie, Francesca Montemaggi and Ben Pink Dandelion, which was challenging and took us forward in better understanding the spiritual landscape of today. Input, theory and descriptions led to a focus on the issues for Quakers, expertly facilitated by the QCCIR team. We were aware of what we have to offer the world in our faith and practice.
This was an affirming event and QCCIR can be content that we went away confident of being in the fuzzy and complex landscape. Let it snow, for we know that:
Something can “speak” if it is listened to, rather than there being something it might say, that one would subsequently attend to “by means of listening”… It is true that “no genuine human relationship” exists without the radical and reciprocal openness of listening… this openness exists ultimately not only for the person to whom one listens, but rather anyone who listens is fundamentally open… in the dizzy affirmation of our logos there is hardly any “logical” space left for the “hidden” but essential tradition of listening… the problem of listening might thus be considered the shadow dimension of the epochal development of our culture.
- Gemma Corradi Fiumara
