Churchgoing in Edinburgh and Leith, 1836–2016: The Statistical Record
In the ongoing scholarly debate about the secularisation of Scottish (and British) society, churchgoing is one of the few metrics for which longitudinal data exist, albeit fragmentarily. This article assembles and analyses the evidence about levels of church attendance in Scotland’s capital (and sec...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Scottish church history
Year: 2024, Volume: 53, Issue: 2, Pages: 79-102 |
| IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBF British Isles RB Church office; congregation |
| Further subjects: | B
Scotland
B Secularisation B Edinburgh B Leith B Churchgoing B Church censuses |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In the ongoing scholarly debate about the secularisation of Scottish (and British) society, churchgoing is one of the few metrics for which longitudinal data exist, albeit fragmentarily. This article assembles and analyses the evidence about levels of church attendance in Scotland’s capital (and second largest) city during the nineteenth to early twenty-first centuries. It draws upon quantitative data (nine religious censuses, with varying methodologies, in 1836, 1851, 1882 and between 1980 and 2016) and qualitative sources (chiefly local newspapers). Relative to population, churchgoing in Edinburgh and Leith appears to have declined continuously since the mid-nineteenth century, in-person attendance standing at an estimated 3.59% of the city’s residents on an average Sunday in 2022-3, somewhat lower than in Glasgow. Possible explanations for this decrease are briefly explored. |
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| ISSN: | 2516-6301 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Scottish church history
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3366/sch.2024.0119 |
