Community Religions Project

“The City of Leeds itself contains population elements from south and east of the Hindu Kush.  In addition the hymns of Martin Luther are sung in German, the Catholic mass is celebrated by Poles, and Greek Orthodox perform their exits and entrances in the Church of the Three Hierarchs directly beside the main West Indian and Sikh communities of Chapeltown.  Moreover, Yorkshiremen are interesting too, and so is the Church of England in its mysterious empirical forms.” (Michael Pye, paper presented at the Senior Seminar, 16 March 1977)

Since 1976, the Community Religions Project (CRP) has conducted empirical research on religion and religions ‘near at hand’ in the cities of Leeds and Bradford and beyond. The results of the CRP’s research, conducted by both postgraduate students and established scholars, have been made widely available through the publication of research papers and a monograph series. To order books and papers please follow the instructions at the bottom of the page. An archive of CRP documents is also available in the department - contact Kim Knott (k.knott@leeds.ac.uk) for details.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s a SSRC funded project explored ‘conventional and common religion’ in Leeds (in partnership with the Department of Sociology) while throughout the 1980s the CRP attracted University and Leverhulme Trust funding for two ground-breaking projects on minority ethnic religions and their changing character in Britain (1983-6; 1986-91).

In 1994 the centenary of the city of Leeds was celebrated with a series of public lectures on ‘Religion in Leeds’ while in 1996 a two-year project to explore ‘Inter-Religious Social Action’ in the city was funded by Leeds Church Institute. During the 1990s an ‘Enterprise in Higher Education’ award funded the development of a unique fieldwork-based module for Level 3 undergraduates. ‘Religious Mapping of Leeds’ seeks to ‘map’ religion and religions across the city’s diverse districts and has run every other year as an option for over a decade now.

• Religious Mapping of the University of Leeds(PDF)
• Religious Mapping of Burley (PDP)
• Religious Mapping of Chapeltown (PDF)
• Religious Mapping of Harehills (PDF)
• Religious Mapping of Beeston and Cottingley (PDF)
• Religious Mapping of Headingley (PDF)

Recently, an additional focus of CRP work has been research and consultancy in relation to the rising profile of religion in diversity training and ‘community cohesion’ policy. Nevertheless, new work in long established areas of expertise also continues.

• Religious Literacy
• The feasibility of a regional faith forum for Yorkshire and the Humber (PDF)
• Leeds pilot faiths consultation exercise on restorative justice and the rehabilitation of young male offenders (PDF)
• British Hinduism Oral History project
• AHRC Diasporas, Migration and Identities ‘Writing British-Asian Cities’

Community Religions Project Monographs

• Satwant Kaur Rait, Sikh Women in England - order from this site for a special price of £16.00 inc P&P

• Kim Knott, Hinduism in Leeds: A study of religious practice in the Indian Hindu community and in Hindu related groups. 1986. ISBN 1 871363 004. 334 pp.
• Stephen Barton, The Bengali Muslims in Bradford: A study of their observance of Islam with reference to the function of the mosque and the work of the Imam.1986. ISBN 1 871363 012. 244 pp. [out of print]
• David Bowen, The Sathya Sai Baba Community in Bradford: Its origins and development, religious beliefs and practices. 1988. ISBN 1 871363 020. 411 pp.
• Sewa Singh Kalsi, The Evolution of a Sikh Community in Britain: Religious and social change among the Sikhs of Leeds and Bradford. 1992. ISBN 1 871363 039. 226 pp.
• Helen Waterhouse, Buddhism in Bath: Authority and Adaptation 1997. ISBN 1 871363 05 5. 251 pp.
• Eleanor Nesbitt, The Religious Lives of Sikh Children: A Coventry-based study. 2000 ISBN 1 871363 07 1
• Sissel Ostberg, The Nurture of Pakistani Muslim Children in Oslo. 2003
• Kim Knott, Alistair Mason, Kevin Ward, Haddon Willmer (eds.), Religion and Locality: Selected conference papers. 2003.

Cost of monographs, including postage and packing:

U.K., £12
Europe, £14
Outside Europe, £16

Community Religions Project Research Papers

• Kim Knott, 'Community Religions' at the University of Leeds . (1984)
• Ursula King, A report on Hinduism in Britain. (1984)
• Kim Knott, Religion and identity and the study of ethnic minority religions. (1984)
• Vanessa Howard, A report on Afro-Caribbean Christianity in Britain. (1987)
• Joanna Marzec, The role of the Polish Catholic church in the Polish community of the U.K: a study in ethnic identity and religion. (1988)
• Katherine Kotsoni, The Greek Orthodox community in Leeds. (1990)
• Kim Knott , The role of religious studies in understanding the ethnic experience. (1992)
• Judith Law, The religious beliefs and practices of Hindus in Derby. (1991)
• Judith Law, The religious beliefs and practices of the Vietnamese community in Britain. (1991)
• Ron Geaves, Muslims in Leeds. (1995)
• Kim Knott, The changing character of the religions of the ethnic minorities of Asian origin in Britain: final report of a Leverhulme Project. (1992)
• Philip Lewis, The function, education and influence of the 'Ulama in Bradford's Muslim communities. (1996)
• Helen Reid, Multi-Faith Cities: A case study of Bradford. (1999)

Cost: £3 each inc postage and packing ( UK )
Postage and Packing outside UK:
£2 for first paper, plus 50p for each additional paper

For orders and informaiton about recent and forthcoming publications, please contact:

Community Religions Project
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 3627
Fax: +44 (0)113 343 3654
Email: j.hilton@leeds.ac.uk