Easter sees bumper church attendance

Reports suggest that churches up and down the country saw a surge in attendance for this yr’s Easter services and events.

The anecdotal evidence from parish priests and pastors backs up the more scientific findings of research conducted by the Bible Society that indicates a “quiet revival” is going down in Britain.

According to the findings of the research the proportion of adults attending church repeatedly has grown from 8% to 12%. While it could sound small, that represents an additional 2 million people going to church.

Among young people the numbers are much more dramatic. The percentage of 18 to 24-year-olds attending church has risen within the last six years from just 4% to 16%. Among young men the figure has actually gone as much as 21%.

As The Telegraph reports, church leaders across different denominations saw a major rise in attendance this Easter.

Philip North, the Bishop of Blackburn, spoke of services being packed out in lots of Church of England parishes, while Cardinal Vincent Nichols said that the Catholic Church had also seen a surge in interest.

“In this last week, there have probably been 50,000 people out and in of Westminster Cathedral,” said the cardinal.

“For the 12 o’clock [Easter Sunday] Mass, people were queuing down Ambrose Avenue with the intention to are available in as soon because the previous Mass had finished, to search out a spot.

“There were 200 people outside the door following it on their phones. So there’s, as they are saying, something happening – and that, too, we should always ponder and pray about.”

According to the Bible Society’s research Catholicism is anticipated to change into the most well-liked denomination in Britain (if it isn’t already) and indeed Pentecostalism could potentially knock the Church of England into third place.

Denominations which have historically had little or no purchase in Britain, reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox churches, have also began to attract latest followers in search of the transcendence and ritual that has endured over the centuries.