Their London and their times
A yearning for faiths
“Makes you wish that you believed, doesn’t it?” she asks, staring at the profusion of eleventh century roofs, towers and turrets that they are passing. “I often think that the whole religious logic is reversed. All the believing from the medieval masons and from prim flower-arrangers, all that bellringing and brass-polishing, if there is a God then it’s all that effort that has created him, her, whatever.”
“Do you mean that people shouldn’t have faith in a God, they should congratulate themselves for having made a God out of their faith?” Tara asks.
The ‘70s and ‘80s saw a renewed interest in spirituality and religious faith for young people in London. There were four strands to the yearning for faith in London. First, during this period London was transformed into a hub of alternative spirituality, driven by counterculture ideas and a post-hippy influx of Eastern philosophies. Mind, Body and Spirit Festivals were common and many young spiritual seekers turned to the Eastern teachings and gurus who set up centers in and around London, including Hare Krishna.
Second, waves of new arrivals to London included significant numbers of non-Christians. Brick Lane Mosque in the East End was first established in 1743 as a Protestant chapel. In 1809 it became a Wesleyan chapel, and in 1891 it became the Spitalfields Great Synagogue finally reopening as a mosque in 1976 serving the many Muslims arriving, initially from Pakistan and Bangladesh and later from the Middle East and the Balkans. Southall in West London stood out as a major hub for Sikh and Hindu life, featuring large temples and cultural spaces.
Mainstream, traditional Christian denominations experienced steep decline, while charismatic and Black-led Pentecostal churches experienced explosive growth.
A fourth group comprised, in caricature, young Londoners who had been brought up within a Christian culture and who retained affection for some of the rituals but did not share the faith.