Half of Northern Irish discover as practising Christians

A survey by the Evangelical Alliance has revealed that Northern Ireland is home to many practising Christians, including many evangelicals. 

Two polls were carried out for the study – considered one of 1,005 members of most people by Savanta, and one other of two,083 people by the Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland. 

The study found that half of individuals in Northern Ireland describe themselves as a practising Christian. Among these, two in five said they were evangelical. 

Over a 3rd (38%) of practising Catholics also considered themselves to be evangelical. 

Other findings from the study showed that over a 3rd (35%) of individuals in Northern Ireland pray each week, while nearly 1 / 4 (23%) go to church. Over one in 10 (13%) said they read the Bible on a weekly basis. 

The findings were published within the Evangelical Alliance Northern Ireland’s latest report, Good News People.

Commenting on the outcomes, David Smyth, head of Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland said: “We all the time suspected that the Christian faith continued to play a crucial role in life here and this research confirms high levels of spiritual identification and practice. The findings on this report have challenged, surprised and encouraged us.

“However, we’re aware that evangelicals are sometimes perceived negatively within the media. Our research confirms this, but additionally affirms that when people know us personally their responses are rather more positive. Evangelicals show up at church but additionally of their local communities and care deeply about wider society. Evangelical Christians are identical to our neighbours in lots of respects but are understandably distinctive in some ways too.

“Our hope is that this report helps those in government and media understand us and religiosity in Northern Ireland higher. Our prayer is that some might even explore this Good News God that so many individuals here follow.”