Doing Good: A Future for Christianity in the 21st Century

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Theos was launched in 2006 with a report entitled 'Doing God': A Future for Faith in the Public Square. Now, ten years on, Theos looks back to that publication and forward to the future of Christianity in 21st century Britain. Foreword by the Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster: "Strange things are happening to Christianity in the United Kingdom. While critics prophesy its imminent demise, Christians across the country are doing what they too, have done for may hundreds of years: worship, pray, witness, serve. There is nothing, of course, strange about this. What is strange - or at least worthy of greater notice than it usually receives - is that the breadth, depth and intensity of this Christian service is deepening. From personal debt advice to marriage counselling, from foodbanks to street pastors, from rehabilitation to reconciliation, the Church - and Christian charities across the country are rolling up their sleeves, struggling on behalf of human dignity, pursuing the common good - and doing it all in the name of Jesus Christ. In this report, Theos' Research Director Nick Spencer charts a view of the future for Christianity in the UK, drawing on the wealth of data and evidence that Theos has accumulated in its years of research. That view is one in which service is central, but it is service-as-witness, service that is firmly rooted in, shaped by and unashamed of its faith in Jesus Christ. The report's idea of "Christian social liturgy" expresses how Christians can combine their fidelity to the two greatest commandments - loving God and loving neighbour - in a way that is simultaneously distinctive and inclusive."