The Changing Face of Religion in Wales

Abstract

The recent religious history of Wales has been marked by a numerically declining religious constituency although this now appears to be stabilising, albeit in difficult circumstances. ‘Traditional’ Nonconformist Christianity appears in crisis, particularly Welsh medium churches and chapels. The historic churches struggle to maintain themselves with diminishing resources and the evangelical sector is increasingly repositioning itself to meet the challenges brought on by deep changes in Welsh economy, society and culture. On most measures Wales is now a secular society which would appear to confirm the arguments of orthodox proponents of the secularization thesis. This article seeks to relate Welsh secularization to this discourse, arguing that economic and material factors and the creation of social as well as religious capital are a neglected area of secularization studies that traditionally focus on measures of belief. Significant socio-economic changes specific to Wales go a long way to explain both the decline of traditional areas of religious life and contemporary religious adaptation. Furthermore, the field of faith-based social action programmes is expanding in Wales (and elsewhere in the UK) and this raises some interesting questions. Social or structural differentiation is a core element of the orthodox secularization thesis, focussing on the erosion of those social and communal relations that customarily support religion but arguably faith-based social entrepreneurship offers a potential route back to social and communal significance.