This book offers an unparalleled guide to religion in contemporary Britain. Since 1945 the story of religion in Britain is one of diversity and change. Non-Christian communities have played an increasingly important role, whilst the growth of secularism and the rise of alternative spiritualities have changed both the internal and external religious landscape.

Notes on Contributors Introduction Linda Woodhead Chapter 1: Controversies as a Lens on Change Malory Nye and Paul Weller Part 1: Changing Religious Forms Chapter 2: Christianity: Loss of Monopoly Mathew Guest, Elizabeth Olson and John Wolffe Case Study 1: The Formation of the United Reformed Church Stephen Orchard Chapter 3: Judaism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism: Post-war Settlements Robert Bluck, Sophie Gilliat-Ray, David J. Graham, Gurharpal Singh and John Zavos Case Study 2: The Inter Faith Network and the Development of Interfaith Relations in Britain Brian Pearce Chapter 4: Alternative Spiritualities: Marginal and Mainstream Graham Harvey and Giselle Vincett Chapter 5: God-change Mark Chapman, Shuruq Naguib and Linda Woodhead Case Study 3: The Religiosity of Young People Growing up in Poverty Giselle Vincett and Elizabeth Olson Chapter 6: Changing British Ritualization Douglas Davies Case Study 4: Multi-faith Spaces as Symptoms and Agents of Change Ralf Brand Images of Religion and Change in Modern Britain: People, Events, Objects & Places Part 2: Wider Influences Chapter 7: The Changing Faces of Media and Religion Kim Knott and Jolyon Mitchell Case Study 5: Religion, Youth Cultures and Popular Music Brendan Stuart and Chris Partridge Chapter 8: Religion, Welfare and Education Adam Dinham and Robert Jackson Case Study 6: The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Service Provision for Homeless People Sarah Johnsen Chapter 9: Religion, Politics and Law Gladys Ganiel and Peter Jones Case Study 7: Religion, Human Rights Law, and ‘Opting Out’ of Religious Education Alison Mawhinney, Ulrike Niens, Norman Richardson and Yuko Chiba Part 3: Theoretical Perspectives Chapter 10: Cultural Perspectives Callum Brown and Gordon Lynch Chapter 11: Social Perspectives Elisabeth Arweck and James A. Beckford Chapter 12: The Religious and the Secular David Martin with Rebecca Catto

"Woodhead and Catto have assembled a powerful and refreshingly diverse team of specialists on contemporary religion and secularism. The result is a volume that is attractively presented and accessible, as well as authoritative. It will be essential reading for anyone who wants to know how and why religion in the UK has changed since 1945, and what its place in our society is today."- Hugh McLeod, Emeritus Professor of Church History, University of Birmingham, UK"Based on extensive and wide-ranging research, the various chapters and case studies together present the most complete picture to date of the broad and changing British religious landscape of the postwar decades; from new Christian forms and the settling of Islam, Hinduism, and other religions in British society to new public ritualizations and the spiritualities in youth cultures and popular music. This is a must-read for anyone even remotely interested in the topic."- Peter Beyer, University of Ottawa, Canada