Editorial: For all the rise of secularism the Easter message continues to resonate around Northern Ireland and indeed the world

Church attendance rates in the United Kingdom are now very low, particularly in England.

​Northern Ireland is much higher, and weekly attendance levels are more akin to what you see in the United States, a markedly more religious nation than the UK. But even NI only has church attendance levels that are similar to less religious parts of America, such as New England, and lower than much of the US. It is, in other words, a very significant transatlantic cultural gulf.

For decades, some Christians have observed that Easter is now largely about Easter eggs, and Christmas about parties and present giving. This is in a way true – the Christian message on those two key dates in the church calendar can seem to be almost ignored.

And yet look at our report in Saturday’s News Letter about dawn services across Northern Ireland, and on page three today. Dozens of people turned out at each of scores of locations across the province, getting up as early as 6am. This in addition to the many people who attended mainstream Easter Sunday services in all the various Christian denominations. Just as tens of thousands of people go to church at Christmas. Just as people still want church weddings and funerals.

A cynic will say that this is hypocrisy among people who want the trappings of church but not the belief or the commitment. That might be true of many people, but many more find that without a religious explanation of life and its origins and meaning, things can seem bleak.

Surveys show high ongoing levels of belief in God, despite low church attendance. The brilliant English historian Diarmaid MacCulloch thinks Christianity, being 2,000 years old, is only in its infancy.

It is at Easter that so many people are still inclined to reflect upon an extraordinary story about Christ that still resonates around the world.