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This article is about the development of religion in the United Kingdom (UK) since its formation in 1707. For details prior to 1707 see;
Background
The status of religion in the UK is difficult to ascertain exactly. It can be said that though each country that makes up the UK has a long tradition of Christianity with a link remaining between Church and State in England and Scotland, in practice all have relatively low levels of religious observance and today are secular societies.
Several different sets of figures exist which aim to categorise the religious affiliations, beliefs and practices of UK residents. Differences in the wording and context of the questions can give substantially different results. The 2001 census found that 76.8% of the UK population had a religion, with Christianity being the most prevalent (72% of respondents described their religion as such)1, while the British Social Attitudes Survey survey produced by the National Centre for Social Research in the same year reported that 58% considered themselves to "belong to" a religion.2 An Ipsos MORI poll in 2003 reported that 43% considered themselves to be "a member of an organised religion" (18% were "a practicing member of an organised religion") and an ICM survey in 2006 found that 33% considered themselves to be "a religious person".34 A Eurobarometer opinion poll in 2005 reported that 38% "believed there is a God", and a further 40% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force".5
Many other religions have also established a presence in the UK, mainly through immigration, though also by attracting converts. According to the 2001 UK census, which was the first to ask about the religion of respondents, after Christianity and those who stated no religion, the religions with the most adherents are Islam and Hinduism. Other faiths include Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, the Bahá'í Faith, Rastafarianism and Neopaganism. There are also organizations which promote rationalism, humanism, and secularism.
Christianity
The national churches
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Other
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- Further information: English Reformation and Scottish Reformation
The Protestant Reformation established different religious practices in the different countries of what became the United Kingdom.
Established national church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England,6 the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national churches.
The Church of England considers itself to be both Catholic and reformed. It regards itself as in continuity with the pre-Reformation state Catholic church, but has been a distinct Anglican church since the settlement under Elizabeth I, with some disruption during the 17th-century Commonwealth period. Its catholicity is rejected by the Roman Catholic Church. The British Monarch is formally Supreme Governor of the Church of England, and its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded by convention as the head of the worldwide communion of Anglican Churches, (the Anglican Communion). In practice the Church of England is governed by the General Synod, under the authority of Parliament.
National church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, The Kirk, is the national church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation.
It is recognised in law (by the Church of Scotland Act 1921) as the national church in Scotland, but is not an Established church and is independent of state control in spiritual matters. It is a Reformed church, with a Presbyterian system of ecclesiastical polity. Although the British Monarch is an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland, the monarch is represented at the General Assembly by the Lord High Commissioner.
The Scottish Reformation was more influenced by Calvinism than in England, with the adoption of the Westminster Confession of Faith. There have been divisions within Presbyterianism such as the Disruption of 1843 in Scotland when 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland. In 1900 the vast majority of the Free Church of Scotland united with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland to form the United Free Church of Scotland, which re-united with the Church of Scotland in 1929. The remaining members of the former Free Church founded a new Free Church of Scotland, which they claimed to be the legitimate Free Church in 1900.
The indigenous Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican communion, is a relatively small denomination and not established.
National church of Wales
The Church in Wales, (Welsh: Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru), is a member Church of the Anglican Communion, consisting of six dioceses in Wales. The Welsh Church Act 1914 provided for the separation of the dioceses of the Church of England located in Wales known collectively as the Church in Wales from the rest of the Church, and for the simultaneous disestablishment of the Church. The Act came into operation in 1920. As in Scotland the Church of Wales is not an Established church. The Archbishop of Wales holds that post as well as being bishop of one of the six dioceses.
Beside the Roman Catholic Church (Welsh: Eglwys Gatholig Rufeining) and the Church in Wales which both have less than 5% of the population as members,citation needed the largest religious societies are the Presbyterian Church of Wales Welsh: Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru) with 34,819 (2004) memberscitation needed and 1% of the population as members and the Union of Welsh Independents (Welsh: Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg) as well as the Baptist Union of Wales (Welsh: Undeb Bedyddwyr Cymru) both with about 1% of the population as members.citation needed
'National' church of Northern Ireland
The Anglican Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it considers itself to be both Catholic and Reformed.7 The Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871 by the Irish Church Disestablishment Act. The Republic of Ireland later seceded from the UK. Although the Protestant population of Northern Ireland is larger numerically than the Catholic population, the Roman Catholic Church forms the largest single denomination. The largest Protestant denominations are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church. The 2001 UK census showed 40.3% Roman Catholic, 20.7% Presbyterian Church, with the Church of Ireland having 15.3% and the Methodist Church 3.5%. 13.8% gave no religion, and other religions were 0.3%.
Roman Catholicism
The Roman Catholic Church organises separately for England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, which is administered on an all-Ireland basis. Its formal history in England and Wales traces from the 597 Augustinian mission and Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 598.
The early years of the UK were difficult for adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, although the persecution was not violent as they had experienced in the recent past, for instance under the Popery Act 1698, that affected adherents in England and Wales. The civil rights of adherents to Roman Catholicism were severely curtailed, and there was no longer, as once in Stuart times, any Catholic presence at court, in public life, in the military or professions. Many of the Catholic nobles and gentry who had preserved on their lands among their tenants small pockets of Catholicism had followed James II into exile, and others at last conformed to Anglicanism, meaning that only very few such Catholic communities survived.
In the late 18th and early 19th century most restrictions on Catholic participation in public life were relaxed under acts such as the Papists Act 1778, Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 and Catholic Relief Act 1829. This process of Catholic Emancipation met violent opposition in the Gordon Riots of 1780 in London. In the 1840s and 1850s, especially during the Great Irish Famine, while the bulk of the large outflow of emigration from Ireland was headed to the United States, thousands of poor Irish people also moved to Great Britain and established communities in cities and towns up and down the country such as London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, thus giving Catholicism a huge numerical boost. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales re-established a hierarchy in 1850, and the hierarchy was re-established in Scotland in 1878.
Roman Catholic worship and liturgy has also influenced some parts of the Anglican Church since the 19th century, such as Anglo-Catholicism and the Oxford Movement.
Some sectarianism still remains, particularly in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland, especially Glasgow. However Roman Catholicism has found more acceptance as part of the mainstream of British religious life. Basil Cardinal Hume, Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 until his death in 1999, presided over a period which saw Catholicism become more accepted in British society than it had been for 400 years, culminating in the first visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Westminster Cathedral in 1995. He had previously read the Epistle at the installation ceremony of Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury in 1980. It was also during his tenure in Westminster that Pope John Paul II made a ground breaking visit to the UK. The second largest church in Scotland in terms of membership is the Roman Catholic Church.
Methodism
The Methodist movement traces its origin to the evangelical awakening in 18th century Great Britain. Many parts of the British Isles developed a strong tradition of Methodism from the 18th century onwards. The Methodist movement was started in England by a group of men including John Wesley, an Anglican clergyman and his younger brother Charles as a movement within the Church of England, but developed as a separate denomination after John Wesley's death. Traditionally, Methodism proved particularly popular in Wales with the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century and the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival and in Cornwall. Both Wales and Cornwall, alone among the Celtic countries, were noted for their non-conformism.citation needed It was also very strong in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire and the new industrial urban working class.citation needed
Schisms within the original Methodist church, and independent revivals, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves Methodist. The largest of these were the Primitive Methodist Church, the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Church (not connected with the American denomination of the same name, but a union of three smaller denominations). The original church became known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church to distinguish it from these bodies. The three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to form the current Methodist Church of Great Britain, which is the fourth largest Christian denomination in the UK with around 330,000 members and 6,000 churches. It also includes congregations in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Malta and Gibraltar as part of the church. In Scotland the congregations are more limited and in Northern Ireland, where Methodism is also the fourth largest denomination, the church is organised within the Methodist Church in Ireland. The Wesleyan Reform Union and the Independent Methodist Connexion still remain separate from the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
In the 1960s, the Methodist Church of Great Britain made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at church unity. Formally, these failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's General Synod in 1972. However, conversations and co-operation continued, leading on 1 November 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches.8 The Methodist Church in Ireland is the fourth largest denomination in Northern Ireland. In 2002 The Methodist Church in Ireland signed a covenant for greater cooperation and potential ultimate unity with the Church of Ireland. 9
Orthodox Churches
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Orthodoxy has more recently been introduced to the UK by Cypriot, Russian, and other immigrants covering Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox.
Russian Orthodox Church
There are various Russian Orthodox groups in the UK. In 1962, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh founded and was for many years bishop, archbishop then metropolitan bishop of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate's diocese for Great Britain and Ireland.10 It is the most numerous Russian Orthodox group in the UK.
There are also the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia churches as well as some churches and communities belonging to the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe's Episcopal Cicariate in the UK.
Most Russian Orthodox parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sourozh and the Episcopal Vicariate of Great Britain and Ireland.
Greek Orthodox Church
The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, based in London, is a diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and was created in 1932. The first recorded organised Greek Orthodox community in England was established in 1670 by a group of 100 Greek refugees from Mani.citation needed The first church, the church of the Dormition of the Mother of God, was built in Soho, London in 1677 before being confiscated and handed over in 1684 to Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in France. The church no longer stands but the dedicatory plaque that was embedded over the main entrance is now housed in the narthex of St Sophia Cathedral in Bayswater.11
During the next 150 years, the community had to worship in the Imperial Russian Embassy. Finally, in 1837, an autonomous community was set up in Finsbury Park in London. The first new church was built in 1850, on London Street in the City. In 1882, St Sophia Cathedral was constructed in London, in order to cope with the growing influx of Orthodox immigrants to the UK. By the outbreak of World War I, there were large Orthodox communities in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Liverpool, each focused on its own church. World War IIand its aftermath also saw a large expansion amongst the Orthodox Communities.
Today, there are seven churches bearing the title of Cathedral in London as well as in Birmingham (the Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew) and Leicester. In addition to these, there are eighty-one churches and other places where worship is regularly offered, twenty-five places (including University Chaplaincies) where the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on a less regular basis, four chapels (including that of the Archdiocese), and two monasteries.11 The Archdiocese comes under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who in turn has authority over four bishops and hundreds of priests and deacons. As is traditional within the Orthodox Church, the bishops have a considerable degree of autonomy within the Archdiocese.
The Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Toxteth, Liverpool, was built in 1870. It is an enlarged version of St Theodore's church in Constantinople and is a Grade II Listed building.
Most Greek Orthodox Church parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain.
The current Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain is His Eminence Gregorios.12
The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch also have the St. George's Cathedral in London and a total of sixteen parishes throughout the UK.13
Other Orthodox Churches
As well as the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches, there are also the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church all in London as well as the Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Manchester.
Non-Chalcedonians
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All Coptic Orthodox parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Pope of Alexandria. The Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom is divided into three main parishes:
- Diocese of Ireland, Scotland and North England
- Diocese of the Midlands and its affiliated Regions
- Diocese of South Wales
In addition, there is one Patriarchal Exarchate at Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Most British converts belong to the British Orthodox Church, which is canonically part of the Coptic Orthodox Church. There is also the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in London.
Other Christian denominations
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Other traditions of Christianity have a long history in the UK.
Non-conformism
There has been a strain of Nonconformism or Dissent traceable back to Lollardry from the mid-14th century. The English Dissenters were Christians who opposed State interference in religious matters, who broke away from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Today these include -
The first Baptist church met in Spitalfields, London in 1612. In the 17th century Baptists refused to conform and be members of the Church of England, arguing that Christ, and not the Monarch was head of the church and were persecuted for their beliefs.14
The Baptist Union of Great Britain (which actually covers England and Wales) was formed when the General Baptists and Particular Baptists came together in 1891.14 It is the largest national association of Baptist churches in the UK with about 2,150 churches, thirteen regional associations and six Baptist colleges.
The Baptist Union of Scotland was founded in 1869, when 51 churches joind together to form the Union. By the end of the 19th century this had risen to 118 churches.15 It currently has 173 churches.16 The Baptist Union of Wales was formed in 1866. They have 447 churches17 with some of them holding dual membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland has over 100 churches on the island but mostly Northern Ireland.
There are also smaller groups - the Association of Grace Baptist Churches, the Gospel Standard Baptists, the Grace Baptist Assembly and the Old Baptist Union.
Presbyterianism is a family of Christian denominations within the Reformed branch of Protestant Western Christianity. A form of Calvinism, Presbyterianism evolved primarily in Scotland before the Act of Union in 1707. Most of the few Presbyteries found in England can trace a Scottish connection. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed in 1893 and claims to be the spiritual descendant of the Scottish Reformation. The Free Church of Scotland, which claims to tbe the legitimate Free Church in Scotland was founded in 1900. In England Presbyterianism was founded in secret in 1572. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales was founded in the late 1980s and declared themselves to be a Presbytery in 1996. They currently have ten churches.18 The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination and second largest church in Northern Ireland. The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster was founded on 17 March 1951 by the cleric and politician, Ian Paisley. It has about 60 churcges in Northern Ireland. The Presbyterian Church of Wales seceded from the Church of England in 1811 and formally formed itself into a separate body in 1823. The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland has 31 congregations in Northern Ireland,19 with the first Presbytery being formed in Antrim in 1725.20
There are about 600 Congregational churches in the UK. In England there are three main groups, the Congregational Federation, the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, and about 100 Congregational churches that are loosely federated with other congregations in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, or are unaffiliated. In Scotland the churches are mostly member of the Congergational Federation and in Wales which traditionally has a larger number of Congregationalists, most are members of the the Union of Welsh Independents.
There is one Mennonite congregation in the UK, the Wood Green Mennonite Church in London.21
- Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Quakerism was founded in the UK in the 17th century. The Britain Yearly Meeting is the umbrella body for the Religious Society of Friends in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. There are [[Religious Society of Friends#[edit] In Great Britain|25,000 worshippers with about 400 Local meetings]]. Northern Ireland comes under the umbrella of the Ireland Yearly Meeting.
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organization for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the UK. The Unitarian Christian Association was formed in 1991.
The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783, which today has 23 congregations in England.
Other denominations
Among other denominations are:
- Christadelphians - There are about 18,000 adherents in the UK
- The United Reformed Church (URC) is the result of a union between the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church in England and Wales in 1972 and subsequent unions with the Re-formed Association of Churches of Christ in 1981 and the Congregational Union of Scotland in 2000. The URC has about 1,900 congregations22.
- The Salvation Army was founded in the East End of London in 1865.
- The Seventh-day Adventist Church - The Trans-European Division of Seventh-day Adventists of the church has its headquarters in the UK. The British Union Conference is sub-divided into five conferences covering the whole of the UK.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
- Pentecostalism
- Elim Pentecostal Church - has over 500 churches in the UK
- Apostolic Church - commenced in the early part of the 20th century in South Wales
- Assemblies of God in the United Kingdom - part of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship with over 600 churches in the UK
- Jehovah's Witness - has about 130,000 members in the UK.23
The UK provided a place of refuge for Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in France. There are several Nordic churches in London which provide Lutheran Christian worship.
Saints
- Further information: Category:British saints
Traditionally, saints have often been venerated locally, nationally and internationally. This is often reflected in British toponymy. However, following the Reformation, the cult of saints has been observed to a much lesser degree than historically.
- Saint George - England
- Saint Andrew - Scotland
- Saint David - Wales
- Saint Patrick - Ireland
Many municipalities and regions preserve traditions of their own saints. See, for example, Cornish Saints and Saint Swithun.
Wales is particularly noted for naming places after either local or well-known saints - all places beginning in Llan e.g. Llanbedr - St Peter (Pedr); Llanfihangel - St Michael (Mihangel); Llanarmon - St Garmon. Because of the relatively small number of saints' names used, places names are often suffixed by their locality e.g. Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr, Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant.
Saint Alban was, according to tradition, the first Christian martyr in Britain. Other martyrs, such as the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, have also been canonised.
Pilgrimages were an important religious, social and economic activity in pre-Reformation Britain. The shrine of Thomas Becket attracted particularly large numbers of pilgrims, as recounted in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Some local pilgrimages have been revived; see, for example, the shrines of Walsingham.
Islam
Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom, with a total of about 1.6 million persons, (or 2.8% of the total population) Muslims.24
The first large group of Muslims in England arrived about 300 years ago. They were sailors recruited in India to work for the East India Company, and so it's not surprising that the first Muslim communities were found in port towns. Ships' cooks came too, many of them from Sylhet in what is now Bangladesh. There are records of Sylhetis working in London restaurants as early as 1873.
The first Muslim community which permanently settled in Britain consisted of Yemeni sailors who arrived in ports such as Swansea, Liverpool and South Shields shortly after 1900. Later some of them migrated to inland cities like Birmingham and Sheffield.
Mosques also appeared in British seaports at this time; the first mosque in Britain is recorded as having been at 2 Glyn Rhondda Street, Cardiff, in 1860.25 From the 1950s, with large immigration to Britain from the former colonies of Britain, large Muslim populations developed in many British towns and cities.
Notable mosques
- Shah Jahan Mosque
- Al-Rahma mosque
- Birmingham Central Mosque
- East London Mosque
- Finsbury Park Mosque
- Glasgow Central Mosque
- London Central Mosque
- Abbey Mills Mosque
- Markazi mosque
Islamic currents and organisations
The vast majority of British Muslim population, 98%, follow Sunni Islam.citation needed
A large number of British Muslims are of South Asian descent, following many different movements within Islam. Many British Asian Muslims follow the Barelwi sect. The most influential movement of the Barelwi group is the World Islamic Mission 26. Many also follow the Deobandi movement as well. The Tablighi Jamaat is an important subgroup of the Deobandis; its centre is located in Dewsbury. The Ahl-i Hadith is another trend, which in general is opposed to Sufism. Islamic Mission is the counterpart of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami which follows the ideology of Abu l-Ala Mawdudi.
South Asian Shias are predominantly from Pakistan or Gujarat (the Khoja, who are usually found under the umbrella organisation "The World Federation"). There are also Shias from Lebanon, Iran, and Iraq. The al-Khoei foundation, belonging to one of the most important Iraqi Shia families, is located in London. Among the Gujarati Ismaili Muslims, both branches of Ismailism - the Dawoodi Bohras and the Nizaris - are represented. The Ahmadiyya, who are considered heretical by mainstream Muslims, have relocated their centre to Tilford near Farnham in Surrey from Pakistan due to the UK's partnership with the Ahmadiyya cult during colonial times.
Much of the congregation of London's most famous mosque (London Central or Regent's Park Mosque) are of Arab descent. In Birmingham much of the Arab community is centered around the Muath Trust more commonly known as the 'Amaanah'. The Hizb ut-Tahrir is a political party (in exile) originally from the Palestinian territories.
Most (98%) Turkish Muslims are Sunnis. The religious authority of Turkey runs a mosque in London.
The United Kingdom also has a large diaspora of African and Afro-Caribbean Muslims, hailing both from the Muslim communities in British colonies in Africa and the Caribbean and also from British-born converts.
The Sunni Salafi movement has gained some prominence within the British Muslim community in recent decades as well.
The Muslim Council of Britain is an umbrella organisation for many local, regional and specialist Islamic organisations in the United Kingdom.
Judaism
The majority of Jewish immigration to Scotland appears to have occurred post-industrialisation, and post-1707. The Jew Bill, enacted in 1753, permitted the naturalisation of foreign Jews, but was repealed the next year. The first graduate from the University of Glasgow who was openly-known to be Jewish was in 1787. Unlike their English contemporaries, Scottish students were not required to take a religious oath.
The Jewish community has historically suffered expulsions, official restrictions and discrimination, and outbreaks of communal violence (see History of anti-Semitism); however, in the 19th and 20th centuries, British society was considered more tolerant of Jews than most other European nations, especially the ones from Germany and eastern Europe. In 1841 Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was made baronet, the first Jew to receive a hereditary title. The first Jewish Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir David Salomons, was elected in 1855, followed by the 1858 emancipation of the Jews. On 26 July 1858, Lionel de Rothschild was finally allowed to sit in the British House of Commons when the law restricting the oath of office to Christians was changed; Benjamin Disraeli, a baptised Christian of Jewish parentage, was already an MP.
In 1874, Disraeli became Prime Minister having earlier been Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1884 Nathan Mayer Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild became the first Jewish member of the British House of Lords; again Disraeli was already a member.
The Jewish population of the UK peaked in the late 1940s at around 400,000, but has since declined through emigration and intermarriage to around 250,000; some community leaders have expressed concern that the Jewish community could disappear by the end of the 21st century if current trends continue. However, a report in August 2007 by University of Manchester historian Dr Yaakov Wise stated that 75% of all births in the Jewish community were to ultra-orthodox, Haredi parents, and that the increase of ultra-orthodox Jewry allied with the declining overall Jewish population has led to a significant rise in the proportion of British Jews who are ultra-orthodox. The figures were based on census data and also on the regular monitoring of Jewish births by academics in both Manchester and Leeds.27
A ten-month inquiry into anti-Semitism in Britain was delivered by three members of Parliament to Downing Street on 7 September 2006, and criticized boycotts of academics working in Israel and using criticism of Israel as 'a pretext' for spreading hatred against British Jews.28
Other faiths
More recently, immigration has led to the introduction of other religions of which most adherents are found amongst ethnic minorities. New Christian movements are also represented among communities of immigrant origin.
Religious diversity has led Charles, Prince of Wales to muse publicly on the desirability of being Defender of Faith rather than Defender of the Faith. He commented in 1994 that, "I personally would rather see it (his future role) as Defender of Faith, not the Faith".29.
British Imperial interests in Asia led to contacts with religions of Eastern origin. Scholarly study of these religions in the 19th century, especially Hinduism and Buddhism, also led to conversions in the United Kingdom. British members of the Theosophical Society spread interest in Asian religion.
Hinduism
Early Hindus in the UK were mostly students during the 19th century. There have been four waves of migration of Hindus into the UK.
Before India's Independence in 1947, Hindu migration to the United Kingdom was small and largely temporary. The second wave of Hindu migration occurred in the 1950s and 1960's with people coming chiefly from the Punjab. The third wave of immigration came in the 1970s after the expulsion of Gujarati Hindus from Uganda. The UK is also host to a large immigrant community of Sri Lankan Hindus who are mostly Tamils. The last wave of migration of Hindus to the UK has been taking place since the 1990s with refugees from Sri Lanka and professionals from India. While the majority of Hindus in the UK are from Indian and Sri Lankan ethnic groups, communities are found across all the major ethnic groups in the UK. According to the 2001 census there were 19,000 Hindus who did not come under any of the Asian categories including over 7,000 from the white population and 3,000 each under Black, Chinese and Other groups.30
Sikhism
The first recorded Sikh settler in the UK was Maharaja Duleep Singh, dethroned and exiled in 1849 at the age of 14, after the Anglo-Sikh wars. The first Sikh Gurdwara (temple) was established in 1911, in Putney, London.
The first Sikh migration came in the 1950s, mostly of men from the Punjab seeking work in industries such as foundries and textiles. These new arrivals mostly settled in London, Birmingham and West Yorkshire. Thousands of Sikhs from East Africa followed.
Buddhism
The earliest Buddhist influence on Britain came through its imperial connections with South East Asia, and as a result the early connections were with the Theravada traditions of Burma, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. The tradition of study resulted in the foundation of the Pali Text Society, which undertook the task of translating the Pali Canon of Buddhist texts into English. Buddhism as a path of practice was pioneered by the Theosophists, Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott, and in 1880 they became the first Westerners to receive the refuges and precepts, the ceremony by which one traditionally becomes a Buddhist.
In 1924 London’s Buddhist Society was founded, and in 1926 the Theravadin London Buddhist Vihara. The rate of growth was slow but steady through the century, and the 1950s saw the development of interest in Zen Buddhism. In 1967 Kagyu Samyé Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre, now the largest Tibetan centre in Western Europe, was founded in Scotland. The first home-grown Buddhist movement was also founded in 1967, the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order.
Neopaganism
An estimated 40,000 to 250,000 (0.1% to 0.4%)31 Britons adhere to various forms of Neopaganism, including Neo-Druidism, Germanic neopaganism, Wicca and New Age faiths.
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith in the United Kingdom has a historical connection with the earliest phases of the Bahá'í Faith starting in 1845 and reflects on the evolving character of the religion and the countries of the British Isles like England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland culminating in the present United Kingdom and relates to the development of communities of the religion in far flung nations around the world. It is estimated that between 1951 a