Faith means different things to different people. For some
it is the foundation on which their life is built. For some
it is a badge of identity, linking them with their ancestors
or with a particular social or racial group. Some people
define themselves as much by the faith they reject as the
faith they adopt. Many people experience faith in different
ways at different times of life.
To understand another person’s religious perspective it
is important to have a genuine understanding of one’s
own position, and a willingness to set that on one side to
approach another person with genuine respect for difference
and diversity. At an individual level, the dialogue takes
time and care.
It takes the same degree of care to come to an understanding
of the contribution of the faith communities to the life of
the region, and the significance of people of faith to
regional government. It is hard for any one person to have a
complete overview.
2001 Census
The Census in 2001, for the first time, included a question
about faiths. The results of from this question paint an
interesting picture. Across the Eastern Region 72% of the
population gave their religion as Christian, with
Muslims forming the second-largest faith group (1.46%).
Those with no religion form nearly 17% of the population,
while 7.75% chose not to answer this question.
At the sub-regional level there are significant variations
from this pattern: for example, Muslims account for 15% of
the population in Luton, 11% in Hartsmere and 6% in Peterborough,
while Jews account for 11% of the population in Hertsmere.
For an breakdown for the Eastern Region of the answers to the faiths question on
2001 Census follow either of the following links:
Religious diversity
A measure of religious diversity is the proportion of the population who
belong to the non-Christian religions. On this measure, Mid Suffolk (0.62%) and North Norfolk
(0.60%) have the lowest religious diversity. Urban areas tend so show greater religious diversity,
the highest figures being:
Luton (19.04%)
Hertsmere (15.70%)
Watford (10.14%)
Peterborough (7.64%)
Bedford (7.49%)
It is inevitable that experience of people of different faiths working
together will be concentrated in the places of greatest religious diversity.
EEFC has drawn particularly on the experiences of the well-developed
Councils of Faith in the largest of the settlements with high
religious diversity — Peterborough and Luton.
For more information follow the following link:
Religion not specified
Answering this question was not compulsory, and “religion
not specified” group consists of all those who chose not to
answer this question. There is some anecdotal evidence of
there being people who, in conversation articulate religious
faith, but chose not to answer this question, in some cases
because of a fear of religious persecution, and in others
because of estrangement from the organised structures of
their faith. No easy conclusions can be drawn about these people’s
faith, so it is not appropriate to assume that they are in the same position as those who
self-identify as being of no faith.
Implications for the composition of the East of England Faiths Council
Across the region, 0.22% described themselves as Buddhist,
72.14% as Christian, 0.58% Hindu, 0.56% Jewish, 1.46%
Muslim, 0.25% Sikh and 0.29% described themselves as being
of faiths other than these. The East of England Faiths Council
has in membership these six faiths, plus three others which fall into the “other” category
(Baha’i, Jain and Zoroastrian). With the proviso that the
sitution of the people who chose not to state their religion is not known,
this means that the proportion of people in the region
of faiths not in membership of EEFC is less than 0.29%.
In terms of building a network which will enable the voice of people
of faith to be heard in regional governance it is
therefore more important to build closer links between the faiths already
involved, rather than to seek to involve additional faiths.
Further information
The following digests are available on this web site:
See also the executive summary of Faith in the East of England.
