Church of England experiences slight drop in attendance

Figures out yesterday reveal a one per cent decrease in weekly attendance on 2008 figures, from 1,145,000 to 1,131,000 in 2009.

Average Sunday attendance dropped by two per cent, from 960,000 in 2008 to 944,000 in 2009, while average monthly attendance fell from 1,667,000 in 2008 to 1,651,000.

The number of children and young people attending on a monthly basis remained virtually unchanged at 436,000.

Services on days other than Sundays continue to attract people. For every 50 people attending church or cathedral services on a typical Sunday, another 10 attend during the week and an extra 37 in total over a month.

Attendance at Easter services remained virtually the same as 2008 with 1,411,200, but the number of people attending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services fell by 9 per cent from 2,647,200 in 2008 to 2,420,600 in 2009.

The Church of England said Christmas services had been badly affected by the widespread snow and ice, which had forced some churches to cancel their services.

Overall, the total number of adults, children and young people attending local churches fell by two per cent between 2002 and 2009.

The total number of baptisms also dropped by one per cent on 2008 figures, while the number of thanksgivings for the birth of a child fell by two per cent. The number of marriages taking places in parish churches also fell by one per cent to 52,700.

The Church of England’s head of research and statistics, the Rev Lynda Barley, said the figures painted a mixed picture for 2009.

She admitted that there are “continued challenges” for the Church but added that there were also some “encouraging” signs.

“Churches continue to be central to community life and are responding positively to changes in modern day lifestyles with a growing range of opportunities to participate in church life,” she said.

Rev Barley said it was important to see the trends in the context of wider changes in a society where fewer people join and take part in membership organisations.

“Even in a General Election year, almost double the number of members of the three main political parties taken together will attend a Church of England parish church on Sunday,” she said.

“Nevertheless, the figures are a further reminder of the importance, highlighted in the report ‘Challenges for the Quinquennium’, of achieving sustained numerical and spiritual growth over the coming years.”

The report, to be debated in Synod next week, warns that the next five years are “set to be a period of exceptional challenge for the nation and the Church of England”.

The size and ageing profile of many congregations “point to the need for new imagination and creativity in the way the Church demonstrates in this generation its faithfulness to the Great Commission”, it states.

The report also notes the challenges posed by secularisation and attempts to marginalise religion, stating that the “increasingly secular assumptions” within society “make it all the more important that the Church takes seriously the need to celebrate, profile and support the work of active Anglicans making important contributions at all levels in the public and private sector”.