Those who seek to hold on to it have had to redefine what it means, focusing on the changing place of religious institutions in society rather than declining religious beliefs. Beginning with the 1960s the cultural values of all western societies have experienced changes of epic proportions, moving in the direction of increasing individualism, privatism, pluralism, relativism and anti-institutionalism. This has had a major impact on church life with a growing gap between religious believing and belonging. These changes along with a fragmentation of community life and changing patterns of marriage and family life has meant increasing numbers of people no longer see involvement in religious institutions as necessary to sustaining religious faith. The movement of faith from the public realm to the private realm, and from religious commitment to religious consumption has meant that individuals pick and choose freely from the ‘a la carte’ menu now available to create their own religious framework. This makes the place of the church increasingly problematic in the kind of society that now exists.

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