For many of us in the Southern Hemisphere, Europe is an expensive and sought after holiday destination. We tour castles, drive through quaint villages, mosey around art museums, experience thousands of years of history, and enjoy stylish cuisines in sophiscated cafes and restaurants. We love Europe.

But have you ever considered what it’s like to be a Christian in Europe?

Europe and Christianity have been inseparable since Christendom. Many even credit Christianity as the link that forged the unified European identity. Indeed, Christianity was the dominant religion in Europe for 19 centuries, and was still home to 70% of Christians globally in 1900.

Not any more. At 2.5%, Europe now has the smallest proportion of evangelicals in the world and the slowest growth at 0.5% and declining.1 By contrast, communist China boasts triple this growth rate. A 2016 survey by the National Centre for Social Research titled, “Non-believers outnumber the faithful by the widest margin yet,” showed that 71% of Britons between 18 and 24 had no religion.(2) Indeed, the survey found that 40% of Anglican churches in Britain were composed only of people over the age of 75.(3)

Georg, a missionary with European Christian Mission in Austria, summarised the situation simply: “Europe is still full of churches, but those churches are empty.”

Yet all over the world people still look to Europeans for leadership in thinking and policy making. Many fundamental philosophical ideas still originate in Europe, so the growing atheism is being exported fast. A recent study conducted by National Geographic, in conjunction with the TV series “The Story of God”, found that atheism is now the second largest affiliation in North America and the most popular affiliation in most of Europe.