Church Statistics

Community Value

In Community Value, the third book in a series branded Time to Listen, the Revd Lynda Barley argues that, while the UK is a nation that is more prosperous and healthy than ever, it is also clear that we have never been so unhappy. “At the beginning of the twenty-first century the people of Britain have become a nation of islands where individual aspirations may have ‘gained us the world’ but at the expense of our social cohesion – and the cracks are beginning to show,” she writes.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, comments in his introduction: “In future there should be no excuse for missing the significant community value of churches – well beyond their primary purpose as places of worship.”

Churchgoing Today

A senior Church of England researcher has called on parishes to expand the scope of their vision, urging churches to think beyond their own walls and beyond the hours of Sunday in their attempts to engage communities with the message of the Gospel.

“Are we prepared to be flexible and responsive in our approach to church buildings and church services as we seek ways to respond to the widening gap between the inherited faith of the nation and its current practice, understanding and nurture of that faith?” asks the Revd Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics for the Archbishops’ Council, in a booklet published in July 2006.

Churchgoing today, is the second in a series branded Time to Listen, which presents current research in an accessible way to help resource the Church’s mission in today’s society.

Christian Roots, Contemporary Spirituality

Roadside shrines, bouquets and teddies and the widening appeal of prayer stations, labyrinths and beads are all indications that images are the new words for people today, says the Church of England's chief statistician and researcher.

In Christian Roots, Contemporary Spirituality, a book published in May 2006 by Church House Publishing, the Revd Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics for the Archbishops’ Council, says people have 'almost journeyed full circle' from the days when stained glass windows told the Christian story to the non-literate congregation. And churches are responding by making way for symbols again, such as providing prayer bracelets and commissioning new religious art.

The book’s publication marks one of the few times that such a wide range of research on the subject of Christian belief in Britain has been collected in one place. The book surveys the nature of religious belief in practice today and not only points to the continuing search for ‘spiritual nutrition’ but also ways that the Church is feeding that hunger. 

Research 2005

Recent Media Coverage

There has recently been media coverage of projections that appeared to indicate the inevitable decline of the Church of England, based on projecting past and current attendances.

Grace Davie, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for European Studies at Exeter University, comments:

I have considerable misgivings about projections which examine past and current attendance or membership and use them to predict the future. This kind of forecast depends on the notion that all other things are equal. Never in my professional life have I known a time when this is less likely to be the case.

For example, it is becoming ever more evident that most of the modern world, including the United States, is 'as furiously religious as ever' (Peter Berger's phrase);  it is very unlikely that Britain remains immune from these trends.

It is not the case that graphs which point downwards never change. Cinema going and attendance at football matches are now growing after decades of decline. A similar upturn could easily happen in the churches - indeed it already has in some dioceses.  Truro, Chichester and London offer good examples of rising attendance.

Thirdly, some joined up thinking would not come amiss.  Membership of all voluntary groups that depend on regular commitment are in decline - political parties, trades unions and so on.  The Labour Party has seen its membership fall by half in eight years - from more than 400,000 in 1997 to just over 200,000.  Might the same pressures be at work in both cases?

What is clear is that the church will change in both nature and attendance: from a situation in which significant numbers attend out of duty or obligation to one in which the great majority are there by choice.  Contracting out is replaced by contracting in.  Interestingly - within the voluntary sector - rather more people contract into churches than into their secular equivalents.

September 2005

For further details of current and historic church research and statistics contact statistics.unit@c-of-e.org.uk

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© The Archbishops' Council, 2000-2004