ABSTRACT

This chapter sets the recent decades of church life in London in the context of trends since the early 19th century. It notes a long-term change in the relative level of Christian observance in London from one of the lowest in England in the Religious Census of 1851 to one of the highest by the early 21st century. Overall statistics obscure significant denominational and local differences, for example in the contrasting trajectories of the Church of England and of Methodism, and the massive growth of Pentecostalism since the 1960s, which partially compensated for decline in other traditions. Wider evaluation of Christian influence also needs to take into account the extensive social and educational engagement of the churches.