AVERAGE all-age weekly attendance at C of E services rose by 4.7 per cent last yr — but was still well below pre-pandemic levels, preliminary figures suggest.
Attendance figures are assembled annually and published within the Statistics for Mission report in the next autumn. This yr, nevertheless, preliminary figures were released by Church House on Monday. They provide “a snapshot of the general picture”, and are based on returns from greater than 11,000 churches, a press release said. “The totals might be revised as further figures are available in and checks proceed.”
The returns received up to now suggest that average all-age weekly attendance, which incorporates Sunday and midweek services, increased from 654,000 people in 2022 to 685,000 in 2023: an increase of 4.7 per cent. The number of youngsters (defined as anyone under the age of 16) attending weekly rose from 87,000 in 2022 to 92,000 in 2023: a rise of 5.7 per cent.
In 2021, average all-age weekly attendance was 605,000 people, compared with 345,000 people in 2020 (when churches were closed in periods of national lockdown), and 854,000 people in 2019 (News, 9 December 2022).
“While total attendance continues to be below 2019 levels, the last yr before the Covid-19 lockdowns, the evaluation suggests in-person attendance is drawing closer to the pre-pandemic trend,” the Church House statement said.
The trend is worked out by drawing a straight line through the attendance figures from 2014 to 2019 to plot what attendance might need been last yr had there not been a pandemic.
In the last decade from 2009 to 2019, most key measures of attendance fell by between 15 and 20 per cent, and by three per cent since 2014 (News, 16 October 2020).
The statement continued: “In 2021 all-age Sunday attendance was 22.3 per cent below the projected pre-pandemic trend, but the brand new figures reveal that the gap had narrowed to six.7 per cent last yr.
“All-age weekly attendance rose to inside 8.3 per cent of the trend last yr, compared with 24.1 per cent in 2021.”
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York said that the preliminary figures showed that the Church’s evangelistic efforts were working.
“This could be very welcome news and I hope it encourages churches across the country,” Archbishop Welby said. “I need to thank our clergy and congregations who’ve shown such faith, hope, and confidence over recent years to share the gospel with their communities.
“I’m especially heartened to listen to that more children are coming along to church, and I’m grateful to everyone involved in that ministry.
“These are only one set of figures, but they show no doubt that folks are coming to faith in Jesus Christ here and now — and realising it’s the perfect decision they might ever make.”
Archbishop Cottrell described the figures as “superb news. For the primary time in a protracted time, we now have seen noticeable growth.
“Of course, we don’t yet know whether this growth is a trend, but I take it as an ideal encouragement that our give attention to reaching more individuals with the excellent news of Jesus, establishing recent Christian communities, wherever they’re, revitalising our parishes, and searching for to change into a younger and more diverse Church, making everyone feel welcome, is starting to make a difference.”
