1 in 3 Britons believe in the Virgin Birth

More than a third of Britons believe that the virgin birth really happened, according to new research published today by Theos, the public theology think tank.

In the poll of over a thousand adults, undertaken for Theos by ComRes, 34% of people agreed that the statement "Jesus was born to a virgin called Mary" was historically accurate. Only 32% considered it fictional. Women are more likely to believe in the virgin birth (39%) than men (29%).

56% of Britons believe that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Surprisingly, the research reveals that people are more likely to believe in the virgin birth than angels. Only 28% believe the Bible's account of angels visiting shepherds to announce the birth of Christ actually happened, compared with 32% who think it is fictional. 37% of people believe that Herod ordered the death of infant boys in an attempt to kill Jesus.

In terms of the significance of Christ's birth, 52% agree or strongly agree that the birth of Jesus is significant to them personally. 72% of people think that the birth of Jesus remains significant culturally.

The research may support recent reports that carol services are growing in popularity. 44% of Britons plan to attend a Christmas church service this year. St Paul's Cathedral is holding identical carol services on the two days before Christmas in order to accommodate the number of people wishing to attend.

57% of people will be celebrating Christmas as a religious festival. Significantly more men (48%, compared with 36% of women) do not celebrate Christmas as a religious festival. Scotland ranks as the most religious nation. 66% of Scots celebrate Christmas as a religious festival.

Commenting on the research, the Director of Theos, Paul Woolley said:

"The extent of religious belief will no doubt surprise people, but these
findings are consistent with other research we have undertaken.

The number of people who believe the birth of Christ is significant to them
personally is especially striking. In periods of financial uncertainty, when
there is concern about losing jobs or homes, perhaps people are more open to
thinking about life’s ultimate questions.

Despite all of the hype around the recent success of recent books promoting
atheism, it is clear that, for most people, religious belief cannot be explained
away so easily."

To read the full findings of the poll, click here.

Back from CRE

The LightLive team took to the road last week and headed off to sunny Sandown. There, they showed off LightLive to the masses who attended the Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE). The response was very, very positive and it was great to meet one or two users who had already found the site useful, 'Hello to you!'

Now the team are back at Bletchley HQ, busily looking for ways to make the LightLive experience even better. What we have now is only the beginning, so if there is anything that you would like to see on LightLive then leave us a comment on the blog or use the contact form on LightLive itself. LightLive is there to resource the church, Lightlive is there for you.

It's Live!

LightLive, the online service that puts Bible-based learning material at the fingertips of children's and youth workers, went live today (Thursday May 8). We'd love you to have a look at it and then pass the news around your networks.

Just to refresh your memories: LightLive gives children's and youth leaders free-of-charge access to a weekly syllabus of downloadable material following Scripture Union's Light programme, for groups aged up to 14. It also gives access to all-age materials.

Pssst...

... don't tell anyone, but all being well LightLive will go live today... I'll tell you more when I know for sure. Keep praying that all the testing and server moves go according to plan, it is quite important.

Pray for today

We have a progress meeting this afternoon, so please pray that we will have made some progress :-) and that everything that needs to be done will have been done.

Praying for the LightLive launch

The change in the go-live date to May 8 gives more time to refine some aspects of LightLive. Pray for wisdom in discerning the priorities and deciding which features are essential to launch and which can be developed later.

Pray, too, that everything essential will be in place by May 8.

Prayer for LightLive

After Baigent’s work on LightLive yesterday, we’ve received their suggestions. We now have to decide what it’s appropriate to take full steam ahead and make available from launch and what should wait for to add (even greater!) value to the site later!

Pray for real wisdom for those deciding - and for those working on the ‘full steam ahead’ bits!