Churchgoing at Christmas Still on the Increase

Latest figures from the Church of England suggest that churchgoing at Christmas is still on the increase.

St. Paul's Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral, among others, have had to turn people away and have added extra services to meet the demand recently, The State reported.

The Christmas congregation last year stood at 2,785,800- an increase of 156,500 over 2004. It was the highest figure since the Millennium celebrations drew 2.85 million.

Cathedrals saw an increase in Christmas attendance of 14,000 to 121,000 (News, 8 December), but the main rise was in parish churches, where an extra 142,000 people attended on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The figures did not include carol services during Advent.

Christmas communicants, who were included in the figures, increased by four per cent to 1,207,800. Results from an Opinion Research Business poll on the C of E website reported that 43 per cent of the population intended to go to a church service over Christmas last year. The figures were up from 33 per cent in 2001, and 39 per cent in 2003.

Observers were hoping the trend would continue: "The general feeling is quite bullish this year," a church spokesman said on Monday.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, said that the figures showed the Church of England was uniquely placed to welcome people back to church: "There is clearly a desire for people to consider the spiritual aspects of life at key times."

The Church's head of research and statistics, the Revd Lynda Barley, said the figures indicated that Christian festivals were important to the lifeblood of the nation, and that churches were in touch with local feelings. "A third of dioceses - from the north and south, in both urban and rural areas - saw increases of ten per cent or greater."

Social and religious analysts say the event of churchgoing has more to do with a desire for national identity than a religious awakening.

"It seems to me that there is in the UK at the moment a higher level of interest in Christianity, prompted by the national debate about multiculturalism and an increased awareness that many of our fellow citizens feel passionately about another religion - Islam," said Jill Kirby, a policy analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies, a conservative-leaning research group.

People want to be reassured, she said, and they want to identify more closely with their own religious norms and traditions.