Church of England enjoys strong turnout at Christmas and Easter but attendance stays below pre-pandemic levels

The Church of England has seen some growth in overall attendance within the last 12 months, with services at Christmas and Easter continuing to be big draws for churches.

Christmas services saw a 20 per cent jump in attendance in 2023. Just under two million people (1,961,000) attended services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day last 12 months, up from 1,636,000 in 2022. 

Across your complete season of Advent, some 2.1 million people attended a congregational or community service, while 2.3 million attended a civic or school service. 

Easter services in 2023 enjoyed an 8.6 per cent rise, with 938,000 people in attendance.

Overall weekly attendance increased for a 3rd 12 months in a row, rising to 693,000 last 12 months – up 4.5 per cent from the 663,000 who attended the 12 months before. This still stays far below pre-pandemic levels, nevertheless, when average weekly attendance was over 854,000.

The number of kids attending weekly increased from 90,000 in 2022 to 95,000 – up 4.9 per cent in a 12 months.

The total number of normal worshippers across all services in 2023 rose over 1,000,000 for the primary time since before the pandemic to 1,007,000 in 2023, up from 982,000 the previous 12 months.

The statistics were compiled by Dr Ken Eames, within the Church of England Data Services team, and published this week within the Statistics for Mission 2023 report.

Dr Eames said that the most recent statistics were more likely to be a cause for “each optimism and concern”. Anecdotal evidence, he said, suggests the expansion lies in a mix of newcomers and former worshippers returning to in-person services after Covid. 

“By many measures of attendance and participation, the Church of England grew from 2022 to 2023. Nevertheless, it stays smaller than it was in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“Attendance, by most measures, stays below the projected pre-pandemic trend. For many individuals, due to this fact, the response to those figures will understandably be a mix of each optimism and concern.

“Based on personal observations and what I actually have heard from churches, the expansion from 2022 to 2023 is a mix of ‘latest’ joiners and other people who’ve returned to in-person worship following the pandemic.

“I don’t have sufficient information to permit an informed assessment of the balance between the 2; indeed, in some cases such an easy distinction wouldn’t apply.

“The situation is more likely to vary from church to church, particularly since those individuals who have returned to church can have done so due to the revival of some church services and activities which have taken time to restart.”