ABSTRACT
It would be far too simplistic to claim that the empty church was the one and only cause of churchgoing decline in Britain. A variety of factors have been suggested for empty churches – paradoxically, only some of them are to do with declining attendances. In urban areas rapid suburbanization left city-centre churches stranded without effective congregations – either because city centres too had depopulated or because they now lacked the churchgoing middle classes. By 1901, even a very small town like Coldstream had three brands of Presbyterian church serving its declining population of less than 2000 - quite apart from Baptists and Episcopalians. In the early 1960s, Leslie Paul made a careful study of the Church of England. In the countryside, multi-church benefices have become the norm and have reduced the traditional role of private patrons. Many European countries have also seen a recent decline in churchgoing and with it a measurable decline in specifically Christian beliefs.
