The Church of England is encouraging people to engage in its Church Growth Research Programme.
The programme is an 18-month academic research project exploring the factors behind spiritual and numerical church growth.
The Church of England is working with researchers at the University of Essex, Cranmer Hall, St John's College Durham, the Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology, and Ripon College.
A website has been set up with case studies and literature on church growth. Visitors to the site can sign up to the discussions forum to share their views and experiences of church growth. Discussions include Fresh Expressions and church planting, how to measure church growth, and experiences of decline.
The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, said: “There are many communities and parishes that are growing and we want to identify the levers and drives of this growth.
"We want to do that not just out of a spirit of pure research, but to help those involved in leadership in parishes and communities to see how resources can be used most effectively.”
In addition to the information gathered via the website, researchers will survey 4,000 Church of England churches.
The project is due to be completed by autumn 2013.
-
Nicaragua bans international visitors from bringing in Bibles
-
Controversial US bishop to give BBC Christmas message
-
The little-known history of the X in Xmas
-
Evangelical vicar accused of abuse won't stand trial
-
Pastor who gave sermon near abortion clinic stands trial
-
Christians protest LGBT nativity play where Jesus is 'King of the Gays'
Most Popular
News
Richard Moth appointed as new Archbishop of Westminster
Bishop Richard Moth has been confirmed as the new Archbishop of Westminster, the most senior post in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The mystery of the Wise Men
The carol assures us that “We three kings of Orient are…” and tells us they were “following yonder star”. Can we be sure there were three of them? Were they kings? Where in the Orient were they from? What was the star they followed? In fact, there is a lot that we just do not know. This is the story …
English Heritage deletes debunked claims about pagan origins of Christmas Day
English Heritage has admitted it got it wrong when it shared false claims that the date of Christmas is derived from a pagan Roman festival in honour of a sun god.
Guinness Book of Records recognises 'the world’s longest serving Sunday School teacher'
Pam Knowles started helping out her church Sunday school in 1951 at the age of 13.