That evening my friend took me to a store-front church near her home. Though she was raised Anglican, this was now her regular church. It was crowded. People had driven from all over the Brighton area to attend. The preacher was old-fashioned, a bit fiery, but intelligent and articulate with a strong message.
The traditional Church of England is a hollow shell, and the intellectual elite are simply pagan, but below the surface there are believing Christians in England who take their faith very seriously.
Reminds me of visiting my mother here in the USA. I go with her to her beautiful National Historic Landmark church of a very mainstream Protestant denomination that is well known for supporting liberal causes & diluting Christian theology. It is pure drudgery to sit in the almost empty church with an uninspired pastor (except when he gets fired up to talk about buying "fair trade" coffee in the church basement after the service). Our regular church is Bible-based, independent, crowded, and still growing.