With church membership declining across the denominations, one could be forgiven for thinking there was no hope for Christianity in the face of Britain's increasingly phlegmatic view of religion.
Across the country's major denominations, church leaders have sat nervously as report after report has emerged predicting Christianity's imminent death in the Western world.
The past few decades have undoubtedly been some of the hardest for Christianity, with fewer and fewer Britons going to church. That trend is more alarming given that interest in spirituality appears to be growing - whether it is in astrology, yoga, New Age thinking or native religions - yet people are still not looking to the church to satisfy that interest.
If Britons are searching deeper to find their spiritual side, why is Christianity struggling to take advantage and capitalise on this intriguing trend? Why is Christianity seemingly going in the opposite direction? After all, Christianity is built upon the belief that man is a spiritual being. If people are searching to find spiritual awareness, why are they not coming to the churches?
There is a very apparent retreat from faith in Britain, a trend which is picking up speed with alarming consequences. Between 1979 and 2005, half of all Christians stopped going to church on a Sunday. In addition, between 1998 and 2005, half a million people stopped going to church on Sunday, according to the UK Church Census two years ago.
In the twenty years between 1980 and 2000 the Church of England suffered a 27 per cent decline in church membership. The Roman Catholic Church suffered an even more drastic decline in mass attendance. Methodists, Baptists and other denominations tell a similar story.
The future looks even bleaker when we consider the statistics released by the Christian Research group, revealing that 29 per cent of churchgoers are 65 or over, compared with 16 per cent of the British population. Decline will only further erode the church if it fails to attract younger believers to replace aging congregants.
So is it all doom and gloom on the horizon for Christianity in Britain?
Looking at the raw statistics it is easy to lose hope. But look beyond the surface and we are able to see a very distinct glimmer of light within the faithful in Britain.
As more than 20,000 Christians gather in East London on Pentecost Sunday 2007 for The Global Day of Prayer, there has never been such an important time for London's Christians to stand united in the fight against the decline in faith.
Even though in Britain as a whole, statistics show that Christianity seems to be in decline, those figures are not reflected in the capital. There are more people going to church in London now than there were nine years ago, Dr Peter Brierley Executive Director of Christian Research says in a recent report.
