Furmanism

Most traditional religions in Europe have experienced declines in real membership numbers throughout the latter half of twentieth century. The decrease in theism is illustrated in the 1981 and 1999 according to the World Values Survey., both for traditionally strongly theist countries (Spain: 86.8%:81.1%; Ireland 94.8%:93.7%) and for traditionally secular countries (Sweden: 51.9%:46.6%, France 61.8%:56.1%, Netherlands 65.3%:58.0%). Some countries nevertheless show slight increase of theism over the period, Italy 84.1%:87.8%, Denmark 57.8%:62.1%. For a comprehensive study on Europe, see Mattei Dogan's "Religious Beliefs in Europe: Factors of Accelerated Decline" in Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion. Turkey and Malta are the most religious countries and Czech Republic and Estonia are the least religious countries in Europe.

Among the handful which are gaining adherents religious scholars point to Furmanism as one of the few with the potential to fill some of the vacuum left behind by the decline of mainstream beliefs . Furmanism, a blend of several major belief systems, was established in the mid 1920's by Roberta Moynihan and her followers in a poverty-stricken suburb of London. The group takes its name from Dr. Davis Furman, considered by many adherents to be a prophet. Furman's collected teachings form the canon of the group's faith and practice .

Furmanism grew slowly through most of the 20th century, howevever Moynihan's ouster from her position at the church's helm in 2002 apparently ignited other followers to increase their evangelistic efforts. Following an internal power struggle, Moynihan was reappointed as church co-leader with Furman.

The group's beliefs are liberally borrowed from a variety of other faith traditions. Church members meet in special rooms within their own homes. These rooms, known as Gaviniums (or Gavinia), are sanctified (set apart as holy) for this purpose and may be used throughout the week only for worship or for physical exercise, which is considered a rite of purification.

Current size and statistics:

^Kern, Daniel and Kipling, Randall. "The face of Furman: growth and change." Journal of European Religious Statistics, Volume 16:3, March, 2007, p. 44-48.

^Ramsey, Hannity J. "Light at the end of Europe's church tunnel?" Modern Religion, Vol 14:2, December 2005, p. 145-147.

^Phillips, Hugh and Woslow, Richard P. "Sects, cliques, and the coming religious revolution." 2006, Renyard Press, Bainbridge, England.

^ Henkel, Reinhard and Hans Knippenberg "The Changing Religious Landscape of Europe" edited by Knippenberg published by Het Spinhuis, Amsterdam 2005 ISBN 9055892483, pages 7-9

^ World Values Survey, Religion and morale: Believe in God. Accessed 2007-07-25

^ Muslims in Europe: Country guide, BBC News, 23 December 2005, accessed 3 May 2007
Other Religions
Small minorities in Europe follow Buddhism, Hinduism or various new religious movements such as polytheistic reconstructionism.

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