Editing Preston, Lancashire (section)

== Religion ==
One of the proposed derivations of the city's name coming from 'Priests' town'. The lamb on the city shield is a biblical image of Jesus Christ, and the same image that represented 7th-century bishop [[St Wilfrid]], the city's patron saint who is historically linked to the city's establishment. The "PP" on the city shield stands for "Princeps Pacis" (Prince of Peace), another title for Christ invoking Him as protector of the city, though it is also often taken to stand for the city's nickname "Proud Preston". In fact, there were originally three letters "P" on the [[coat of arms]], with one being lost over time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.preston.gov.uk/thecouncil/the-mayor/civic-regalia |title=Civic regalia, insignia and Mayoral chains |publisher=Preston City Council |access-date=28 April 2012 |archive-date=14 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114154421/http://www.preston.gov.uk/thecouncil/the-mayor/civic-regalia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The 2001 Census recorded 72% of the population of the City of Preston as Christians, 10% as having no religion, and 8% as Muslims.<ref>{{cite web |url-status=deviated |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/30UK-A.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629181252/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/30UK-A.asp |archive-date=29 June 2011 |access-date= 6 June 2006 |title=Census 2001 – Profiles – Preston |website=Office for National Statistics }}</ref> The Hindu and Sikh populations are smaller at 3% and 0.6% respectively, but in both cases this represents the highest percentage of any local authority area in the North West. 2% of the city's population were born in other EU countries. Though still small in number in Preston, the [[Latter-day Saints]] maintain a large profile.

Preston has places of worship for people of a wide variety of religions, including churches of many [[Christianity|Christian]] denominations. There are also places of worship for [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], [[Hinduism|Hindus]], [[Islam|Muslims]], the [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Latter-day Saints]], [[Sikhism|Sikhs]] and [[The Salvation Army]], amongst others.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/preston|title=Preston|website=The Salvation Army |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115044210/https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/preston |archive-date= Jan 15, 2024 }}</ref> Preston was also home to an [[Ashkenazi|Ashkenazi Orthodox]] [[Jewish synagogue]] on Avenham Place, formed in 1882, but this closed during the mid-1980s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/preston/index.htm |title=Preston Synagogue & Jewish Community: Preston, Lancashire |publisher=JCR-UK |date=19 February 2013 |access-date=2 March 2013 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109144932/https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/preston/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Mosque - geograph.org.uk - 1533743.jpg|thumb|Masjid-e-Noor on Noor Street]]
[[File:Front View of Jamea Masjid.gif|thumb|right|[[Jamea Masjid, Preston|Jamea Masjid]] close to Preston City Centre]]
Preston has a significant Muslim ([[Sunni]] Branch, particularly [[Hanafi]] school) population, the majority of which is of [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] [[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Indian]] descent. The Muslim population is centred in the Deepdale, Riversway, Fishwick, Fulwood and Frenchwood areas. Preston has 12 mosques: five in Deepdale & St George's, one in Frenchwood, one in Riversway, two in Adelphi and three in Fishwick.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}

===Church denominations===

A wide range of denominations are, or have been, represented in the city including: [[Latin Church]] Catholics, [[Baptist]], [[Christadelphian]], [[Congregational]], [[Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion]], [[Evangelical]], [[Methodist]], [[Pentecostal]], [[Presbyterian]], [[Swedenborgian]] and [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodist]]. The [[Society of Friends]] meet at the Preston Friends Meeting House at 189 St George's Road.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lancsquakers.org.uk/preston.php |title=Preston Quakers |access-date=21 May 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921165327/http://www.lancsquakers.org.uk/preston.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Preston has a strong Roman Catholic Christian history and tradition, recently noted by Archbishop Vincent Nichols in his Guild 2012 Mass Homily: "The history of the Christian and Catholic faith is long and deep here in Preston."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rcdow.org.uk/fileupload/upload/PrestonGuildMass39201234132.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 August 2013 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924111636/http://www.rcdow.org.uk/fileupload/upload/PrestonGuildMass39201234132.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Preston lies in the Roman Catholic [[Diocese of Lancaster]] and the Anglican [[Diocese of Blackburn]]. There are at least 73 churches, chapels, missions and meeting houses, as well as 15 cemeteries and burial sites, for which records exist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Preston/|title=GENUKI: Preston, Lancashire genealogy|work=genuki.org.uk|access-date=15 January 2012|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109144912/https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Preston/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Carey Baptist Church, Preston|Carey Baptist Church]], on Pole Street, was built in 1826 for the Calvinistic Methodists of [[Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion|Lady Huntington]]. Formerly known as St Paul's Chapel, it was purchased by the Baptists in 1855. It is a Grade II listed building.<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1207315|desc= Carey Baptist Church, Preston|grade=II|access-date= 29 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Preston/Preston/carey/index.html|title=Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project – District of Preston|website=Lan-opc.org.uk}}</ref><!-- better sources available at the target article --> The church survives remains active in the community.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Preston was the location of the world's first foreign mission of the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (commonly known as the Mormons). As early as 1837 the first [[Mormon missionaries|Latter-day Saint missionaries]] to Great Britain began preaching in Preston and, in particular, other small towns situated along the River Ribble. Preston is home to the world's oldest continuous [[Branch (LDS Church)|branch]] (a small congregation) of the church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lds.org.uk/media_news.php |title=Media Newsroom |publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints |year=2007 |access-date=22 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070514193120/http://lds.org.uk/media_news.php |archive-date = 14 May 2007}}</ref> An official memorial to the church pioneers may be found in the Japanese Garden in Avenham Park. In 1998 the church erected a large temple at [[Chorley]], near Preston, described by [[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] newspaper as "spectacular".<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1998/05/15/nmor15.html Mormons reveal secrets of the temple] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020310124501/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1998%2F05%2F15%2Fnmor15.html |date=10 March 2002 }}. www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 4 June 2008.</ref> The temple is officially known as the [[Preston England Temple]].

===Church buildings===
[[File: Preston City Minster.jpg |thumb|right|[[St John's Minster, Preston|St. John's Minster]] on Church Street]]
[[St John's Minster, Preston|St. John's Minster]], formerly the Church of St John the Evangelist and prior to the reformation; St Wilfrid's Parish Church, is located on Church Street, in the centre of the city. From its origin, it has been the parish church of Preston. The [[Church of St George the Martyr, Preston|church of St George the Martyr]], located on Georges Road, was founded in 1723.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Preston/StGeorgetheMartyr.shtml|title=GENUKI: St George the Martyr Church of England, Preston, Lancashire genealogy|work=genuki.org.uk|access-date=15 January 2012|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109144925/https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LAN/Preston/StGeorgetheMartyr|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the many large active Roman Catholic parish churches is [[Church of St Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs, Preston|St Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs]], located on Garstang Road.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.englishmartyrspreston.org.uk/|title=St John XXIII Parish Preston|work=englishmartyrspreston.org.uk|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502005839/http://www.englishmartyrspreston.org.uk/|archive-date=2 May 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Church of St Walburge.jpg|thumb|upright=0.65|[[Church of St. Walburge, Preston|St. Walburge's Church]]]]

[[St Walburge's Church]], designed by [[Joseph Hansom]] of [[Hansom Cab]] fame, has, at {{convert|309|ft|0|abbr=}}, the tallest spire in England on a church that is not a cathedral and the third tallest in the UK.<ref name=StWalburges>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-visitor.com/preston/information.html|title=Guide to Preston|access-date=24 August 2007|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109144950/http://www.cityvisitor.co.uk/preston/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2016, [[St Ignatius Church, Preston|St Ignatius Church]] in Preston, which had been gifted by the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster to the [[Syro-Malabar Catholic]] community, was raised to the status of a cathedral by [[Pope Francis]]. It now serves as the seat of the [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Pope creates new eparchy in Preston for Syro-Malabar Catholics|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/07/29/pope-creates-new-eparchy-in-preston-for-syro-malabar-catholics/|newspaper=Catholic Herald|access-date=30 July 2016|archive-date=30 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730160449/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/07/29/pope-creates-new-eparchy-in-preston-for-syro-malabar-catholics/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pope turns ex-Preston church into Indian Catholic cathedral|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-36913044|publisher=BBC|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-date=10 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210113015/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-36913044|url-status=live}}</ref>