Abortion & Evangelicalism in the U.K: The relationship between the pulpit, the pew and the public.

Historically one of UK evangelicalism’s most notable strengths has been its engagement with social reform. At the start of the 21st Century, on the surface, the movement appears worthy of retaining such recognition.

In 2011, a research project conducted by the Evangelical Alliance revealed that more than 80% of evangelicals in the UK carried out some form of voluntary service at least once a year. [i] In 2015, further research by the EA demonstrated that the political issue most talked about from evangelical pulpits was poverty.[ii] Consequently, 70% of evangelicals donated to their local food bank within that same year. [iii] Likewise, 61% said a policy ‘to favour a difference to the poorest in the UK; would affect the way they vote.’ [iv]

How then are the figures concerning evangelicals and poverty of interest when considering the current abortion crisis in our nation? For this key reason, the statistics reveal the crucial relationship between the pulpit and the pew with regards to social transformation within our society.

Let me explain again using the example of poverty. As the statistics demonstrate, the more poverty is spoken out from the pulpit (or from the Church leaders), the more informed and educated the person in the pew becomes. Inevitably this leads to a measure of social activism on the part of the person in the pew, for example this could be donating to their local foodbank. This in turn contributes to social transformation overall.

Now without the risk of becoming too pragmatic, below is an illustration of the sequence in which social transformation within evangelicalism generally takes place:  

Let’s return to the abortion crisis in our nation. In 2011, once again in the research 21st Century Evangelicals, a question was posed to those who took part asking their response to the following statement ‘Abortion can never be justified’, the results were as follows [v]:

As you can see the response is remarkably varied and there was no clear consensus amongst those claiming to be evangelicals on the issue of abortion. Furthermore, by removing the two more conclusive responses (agree a lot and disagree a lot) and collapsing the less conclusive responses (‘agree a little, ‘unsure’, and ‘disagree a little’) greater clarification can be revealed indicating where the current evangelical conscience lies regarding the issue of abortion:

As of 2011, the research demonstrates that well over half of the evangelicals who took part in the survey were inconclusive regarding their position on abortion. Naturally, we need to pause and lament over this, we then must turn to the question - why is this so?

One of the key reasons lies in returning to the sequence above. In 2015 further research by the EA demonstrated that when British evangelicals were asked which political issues had been publicly discussed from their pulpits – abortion came in 15th place. [vi] Suddenly the explanation for lack of consensus and ultimately loss of activism becomes much clearer. The problem appears to be with ‘step 1’ in the sequence.

For UK evangelical Church leaders abortion is simply NOT a priority issue. This is even more surprising given the fact that the late UK evangelical statesman John Stott, in 1984, stated that abortion should be at the ‘the top of our agenda’. [vii]

Let me be clear, I am not trying to diminish the need for action regarding poverty or any other issue for that matter. However, there is a sense in which the deliberate act of murder and especially the killing of innocent children moves the heart of God unlike any other issue (Exod 20:14, Jer 32:35, Matt 18:6).

UK evangelical leaders must be aware that if their pulpits or their platforms remain quiet on this issue then thousands of innocent children will continue to be killed year upon year.

To conclude, the sequence below reflects the tragic majority of the evangelical Church in the U.K with regards to engaging the issue of abortion:

[i] Greg Smith, “Chapter 3: Evangelicals and social involvement,” in 21st Century Evangelicals: Reflections on research by the Evangelical Alliance, ed. Greg Smith (Herts: Instant Apostle, 2015), 65.

[ii] Evangelical Alliance, ‘Faith in politics?,’ Evangelical Alliance U.K. website, (http://www.eauk.org/church/resources/snapshot/faith-in-politics.cfm; accessed March 2021).

[iii] Evangelical Alliance, ‘Good news for the poor?,’ Evangelical Alliance U.K. website, (31 May 2015, http://www.eauk.org/church/research-and-statistics/english-church-census.cfm).

[iv] Timms, “Response to chapter 4,’ in 21st Century Evangelicals: Reflections on research by the Evangelical Alliance, ed. Greg Smith (Herts: Instant Apostle, 2015), 100.

[v] The Evangelical Alliance, 21st Century Evangelicals, (London, 2011), 8, https://www.eauk.org/church/resources/snapshot/upload/21st-Century-Evangelicals.pdf

[vi] The Evangelical Alliance, Faith In Politics?, (London, 2015), 21, https://www.eauk.org/church/resources/snapshot/faith-in-politics.cfm

[vii] John Stott, Abortion (London: Marshalls Paperbacks, 1984), 5.