The story that we have heard for many years is of Christianity’s decline and faith becoming less relevant to life in modern Britain. While the religious make up of the UK has certainly changed, the decline of Christian belief, and particularly evangelical belief has been greatly exaggerated.  What this pioneering research from the Evangelical Alliance demonstrates is that evangelicals make up a very large proportion of Christians in the UK. Nearly 40% of Christians in the UK either identify as an evangelical or share core evangelical beliefs, and among practising Christians, that rises to nearly two-thirds.  

The research, Understanding UK Evangelicals: who are they? presents a picture of a young and diverse movement of evangelicals, much more numerous than previously thought, and complex in its identity and beliefs.

Evangelicals, people who both identify as evangelical, and share the beliefs of evangelicals, make up 7.9% of UK adults, which, if extrapolated out to the whole UK population of 70 million people, suggests there are around 5.5 million evangelical Christians. There are at least as many again who either identify as evangelical, or share the beliefs of evangelicals.  

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We set out to understand who the evangelicals in the UK are today, and did this through looking at both their beliefs and their identity. A very large representative sample of UK adults (more than 8,400) were asked for their religious beliefs, and for the 45% who identified as Christians, a set of questions were then answered about their identity, belief and practice. 

One of the questions that the research wanted to consider was whether the label evangelical was a relevant one for the UK today. This research unequivocally answers that, for more than 11% of UK adults, it is a meaningful descriptor of their religious beliefs. Just over half of this group are comfortable using the label, with the remaining recognising that it describes them but wouldn’t personally use the term.  

The research is built on the highly respected and widely used work of Professor David Bebbington, who, when analysing evangelicals, described four core features which have become known as the Bebbington Quadrilateral. These are the authority of the Bible, personal conversion, the centrality of the cross and the importance of faith being put into action. Respondents to the survey were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with these statements, and they could strongly agree or disagree as well.

Over 14% of all UK adults agreed with all four statements, with just under 6% strongly agreeing with all four. Just under two thirds of these ​‘belief evangelicals’ also identify as evangelical, but it does mean there is a significant group of approximately 4 million people in the UK who share the beliefs of evangelicals but would not describe themselves as such.  

Of the 5.5million evangelicals who both believe and identify as evangelical, the research also highlights a tighter group that it is labelling as ​‘classic evangelicals’. These are Christians who strongly agree with all the beliefs and identify as evangelical. This group also excludes those from non-Protestant traditions (Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox) who historically would not have been considered evangelical. This central group makes up 3.8% of UK adults.  

There are around 5.5 million evangelical Christians.”

On the other side of these core evangelicals are those who identify as evangelical but do not share the four core beliefs of evangelicals. These could be termed as ​‘evangelicals in name only’, although it is important to note that those in this group may agree with 1 – 3 of the belief statements, or none at all.  

As well as the breadth of evangelicalism being wider than expected. The research also highlights significant demographical traits. The ethnic diversity of evangelicalism is not a surprise. Over the past few decades, in Pentecostal churches, new churches and traditional denominations, many of the churches growing the fastest are those with Black-majority and multi-ethnic congregations. The research shows that among evangelicals, at least 30% are from an ethnic minority. 

The more surprising demographic finding from the research was that rather than dying out, evangelicalism is disproportionately young. Young adults under 35 are the most likely age group to both describe themselves as evangelical, and to share evangelical beliefs. 

Put together the findings demonstrate that evangelicalism in the UK is thriving, it’s broad – evangelicals are found in every denomination – it’s young, and it’s diverse. Evangelicalism cannot be ignored. If you meet three people who practice their Christian faith, go to church, read the Bible and pray, then two of them are likely to be evangelicals.