The Guardian
· collected 2026-10-11 · by Aamna Mohdin Community affairs correspondent
A report by thinktank Theos reveals that Christian nationalism in Britain is predominantly supported by individuals who rarely attend church but are more focused on preserving the country's Christian heritage. This group, called "identity integrationists," comprises 11% of respondents and includes only 13% who attend church weekly, despite 81% identifying as Christians. In contrast, another highly affiliated religious group, "belief integrationists," is significantly more observant and less hostile to immigration, comprising 13% of the surveyed population. The study challenges the notion that growing Christian nationalism indicates a resurgence in religious practice, instead suggesting it serves as a marker of British identity amid cultural anxieties.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Christian nationalism in Britain is being driven largely by people who rarely attend church and are more concerned with defending the country’s Christian heritage, according to research.
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who → drive → research
The report, by the thinktank Theos, identified five different groups within the UK in a survey that looked at their attitudes to Christianity and Britishness.
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that → identify → Christianity
The group whose views most closely resembled Christian nationalism, termed “identity integrationists” by the researchers, accounted for 11% of respondents, making it the smallest of the five groups.
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it → resemble → groups
Although 81% of this group identified as Christian, just 13% attended church weekly, only slightly above the 11% average across the population surveyed.
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% → identify → population
Less than a third (31%) prayed weekly, while 47% expressed an interest in the Bible.
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% → pray → Bible
Just 19% agreed that Christian values required welcoming and supporting asylum seekers, while 30% supported the equal treatment of religions in public life.
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% → agree → life
They comprised 13% of respondents.
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They → comprise → respondents
Among these “belief integrationists”, 31% attended church weekly, 46% prayed weekly and 62% expressed an interest in the Bible.
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% → attend → Bible
Almost half (48%) agreed that Christian values required welcoming and supporting asylum seekers, while 63% supported the equal treatment of religions in public life.
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% → agree → life
Although they are the group containing the highest proportion of practising Christians, only 18% of belief integrationists think that defending Britain’s Christian culture and heritage is important for being Christian, compared with 90% of the Christian nationalist group.
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defending → contain → group
At a time when crosses have been carried at Unite the Kingdom rallies and crowds have chanted “Christ is King” at protests, the research challenges the idea that the growing prominence of Christian nationalism in Britain reflects a revival of Christianity.
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prominence → carry → Christianity
Instead, the findings suggest that Christianity is increasingly being invoked as a marker of British identity amid wider anxieties about immigration, Islam and cultural change.
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Christianity → suggest → immigration
The results are based on a survey of 1,765 adults conducted in April 2026, which identified five distinct groups according to their attitudes towards Christianity and British national identity.
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which → base → Christianity
More than half of Britons surveyed (55%) said they would be unhappy if their local church closed and became a mosque, including 37% who would be very unhappy.
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who → survey → %
More than a third (37%) agreed with the conspiracy theory that the white population of Europe was being deliberately replaced by migrants from Muslim countries, sometimes known as the ‘great replacement’ theory.
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population → agree → theory
Nick Spencer, a senior fellow at Theos and one of the report’s authors, suggested that the difference between the two most highly affiliated Christian groups’ attitudes towards asylum seekers might partly reflect their religious practice and ethnic composition.
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difference → suggest → practice
The more practising Christian group were the most ethnically diverse of the five groups, with 20% identifying as non-white, while identity integrationists were among the least diverse.
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integrationists → identify → diverse
Spencer added that there was also “a difference between Christianity as an idea and Christianity as an embodied practice”.
“If it matters enough for you to haul yourself out of bed on a Sunday morning, to spend time with people who you don’t choose – you don’t choose who you’re sitting next to in the pew, you don’t choose who’s next to you in the communion rail – it becomes a bit more human and more humane.”
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it → add → rail
Arun Arora, Church of England bishop of Kirkstall in Leeds, said the distinction between cultural Christianity and practising faith was central to understanding the findings.
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distinction → say → findings
It’s threefold: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me,” he said.
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he → ’ → me
“And what I think’s interesting about the nationalists is that they want to take up the cross at marches, and display it, but there’s less of an interest in denying themselves and following Jesus.”
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they → think → Jesus
He argued that the lessons for church leaders weren’t just to encourage church attendance, but to be out in the community.
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lessons → argue → community
“If as the church we’re going to wait for people to come into the ark to be saved, to use Noah’s ark analogy, then we’re going to be waiting a while,” he said.
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he → go → analogy
“Whereas the responsibility for us is to bring that full gospel message of discipleship, of what that requires, the costly nature of discipleship, to be able to expound and articulate that, and the passionate love of God for his people, and his world, and not just those who carry certain passports.
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who → bring → passports
The Rev Dr Helen Paynter, a theologian who has researched the far right’s use of Christianity, said the findings highlighted the responsibility of churches to welcome people across the political spectrum.
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findings → research → spectrum
But, she added: “The church is and has been since its inception a multi-ethnic, multinational group, and may not rightly be equated with any nationality or ethnicity.
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church → add → nationality
For Paynter, one of most important findings is the starkly different attitudes evidenced by those who are practising Christians, compared with those who claim the label.
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who → evidence → label
“The Christian faith is not just an identity that we can put on like a coat; it involves an encounter with transcendence which must be transformative of all our values.”
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which → put → values
The Aporia
