The fourth English Church Census organised by Christian Research started on Sunday 8th May. More than 38,000 churches across the denominations were expected to take part in the Census. In this census, the researchers are most interested in finding out the church attendance among young people in the UK.

According to Christian Research, the aim of the Census is to find out the impact on church attendance with the rapid changes taking place in both church and society. Questions covered not only the number of "bums on pews" that day, but the frequency with which people attend, their age and gender, how many worships during the week and the number of young people in youth activities.

The Census is carried out every seven year, so the last one was in 1998. Through the Census, the trend of church life in the UK is precisely revealed. Thus, it serves as an excellent reference for the formulation of mission strategy and the planning for pastoral care in the church.

The 1998 English Church Attendance Survey, published in the book called The Tide is Running Out, showed a remarkable decline in the number of young people attending the church. It has provoked considerable discussion and inspired churches to make a difference. In recent years, a significant growth in special youth events and services has been observed. The nationwide survey 2005 is therefore very vital to find out the effect of those new initiatives and other current trends going on.

Dr Peter Brierley of Christian Research, who will analyse the survey says, "There are several positive indications which we are picking up from various sources. We need to know the current position as accurately as possible so that we can all take encouragement from any trends which are doing better than expected, and take strategic action about those which are still heading in the wrong direction."

"The 2005 English Church Census is an important exercise as it will give us up-to-date facts about the real situation, which will help us all in our strategic mission planning for the future", says David Coffey, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Moderator of the Free Churches Group. "For these reasons I do hope that most churches will take part."

Now Christian Research has already contacted 24,000 ministers across the country and asked them to do a head count of their congregations on 8th May. However, Dr Brierley said on Tuesday on Radio 4 some churches were counting their mid-week services, and others had opted for following Sundays because of special VE Day services.

Many senior church leaders are supporting the Census. Some of the largest Christian organisations in the country have sponsored the survey so that sufficient funding is available to cover all the costs. The results will be released in September 2006.

A Council of Reference formed by leaders of mainstream denominations in the UK was set up for the Forth English Church Census. The list of Council members is as follows:

Bishop Dr Joe Aldred, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
Viscountess Gill Brentford, Church of England
Rt Rev Pete Broadbent, Church of England
Gerald Coates, Pioneer
Rev David Coffey Moderator, Free Churches Group
Rt Rev Kieran Conry, Roman Catholic Church
Rev Dr David Cornick, United Reformed Church
Rev Joel Edwards, Evangelical Alliance
Rev John Glass, Elim Pentecostal Church
Rev Katei Kirby, African & Caribbean Evangelical Alliance
General John Larsson, Salvation Army
Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, Church of England
His Eminence Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Roman Catholic Church
Pastor Cecil Perry, Seventh Day Adventist Church
His Grace Abba Seraphim, British Orthodox Church
Dr Neil Summerton, Christian Brethren
Rev Michael Townsend, Methodist Church
Rev Dr Nigel Wright, Spurgeon’s College (Baptist)