by Sunday church attendance is only 80 per cent of what it was in 2019, a Telegraph analysis showed, despite the Church of England claiming it has “bounced back” after the pandemic.
The figures show that church attendance has more than halved since 1987, prompting the clergy to warn: “This is a false spiral of the church’s own choosing.”
In 2023, The Telegraph published an investigation which revealed that parishes are closing at a record rate, prompting fears that the Church was “dealing with a death knell”.
The investigation found that almost 300 parishes have disappeared in the last five years alone – the fastest rate since records began in 1960.
The figures came against a backdrop of claims that senior bishops and clergy were “putting a gun to people’s heads” to drive through controversial plans to cut costs, merge parishes and cut vicars.
They also came amid dwindling congregation numbers, which left many clerics afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs.
The Telegraph has analyzed new data from the Church of England’s latest Statistics for Mission 2022 report, and found that typical Sunday church attendance across the country is at 81 per cent of 2019 levels, meaning 133,200 did not regular parishioner after returning to the Church. despite the end of Covid restrictions.
The Telegraph’s previous reporting of the fall in regular parishes in 2021 was described by the Church as “misleading”, as some Covid restrictions were still in place at the time the 2021 report was compiled.
However, the latest figures suggest that this is not the case
In addition, the data shows that 28 other parishes were closed or merged in the past year, which was controversial among churchgoers.
This is, however, below the record rate of reductions seen in the previous five years when an average of 56 parishes per year closed.
Nationwide, 41 churches were closed, which means that 641 churches have closed since 2000 or 4 percent.
Responding to the analysis, Reverend Marcus Walker, chairman of the Save the Parish campaign group, said: “As surely as night follows day if you close parishes and reduce the clergy, there will be a reduction in the number of people who can attend church. .”
The Rev, who is Rector of St Bartholomew the Great in the City of London, who is also a member of the General Synod, the legislative body of the Church of England, said: “This is a false spiral of the church’s own choice. He has the money to turn that around, the question is: does he have the will?”
Although The Telegraph’s latest analysis suggests there have been some slight post-Covid changes in church attendance, as, year on year, the average attendance has increased by seven per cent.
This means that the average Sunday church attendance has more than halved (-52.8 percent) since 1987, decreasing from 1.2 million to 556,800..
In Durham, only three-quarters (73 per cent) of ordinary members have returned, while in St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, it is at 89 per cent, the highest in the country.
According to the Church of England’s latest data, which is Statistics for Mission, it claimed that almost a million people were regular worshipers in 2023 as the Church “continues its post-pandemic bounce back”.
In addition, over the past six years, regular Sunday church attendance has declined at the highest rate on record with an average of 32,616 fewer attending per year.
Publishing its annual Statistics for Mission 2022, the Church of England said that the number of regular worshipers throughout the week, not just on Sundays, had increased by almost 20,000 people to 984,000 in 2022; however, this figure is still down from 200,000 in 2019.
Dr Ken Eames, author of the Statistics for Mission 2022 report, from the Church of England Data Services team, said: “Churches have done everything they can to get back to normal in 2022 after the huge disruption in 2020 and 2021 caused by the pandemic .
“But 2022 was not immune to its impact, in fact official figures suggest that Covid rates were higher in October 2022 than in 2021.
“While things were getting back to normal for many people, churches were still experiencing Covid-related disruption.”
Responding to The Telegraph’s latest analysis, a Church spokesman said: “The Church of England Mission Statistics 2022 – the latest available – has shown a welcome rise in attendance for the second year running almost a million regular parishioners in Church of England churches. .
“Our parishes did everything they could to return to normal life that year after the massive disruption in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
“However, we know that 2022 was not free from the impact of Covid, in fact official figures suggest that Covid rates were higher in October 2022 than in 2021.
“Unprecedented investment in mission and ministry is taking place in the Church of England of £3.6 billion up to 2031.”
