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Churches packed for Christmas past

13 January 2006

Reports from across the Church of England suggest Christmas 2005 was a cracker for church attendance

 

An opinion poll suggesting increasing numbers are attending church services at Christmas has been backed up by anecdotal evidence gathered from across the Church of England. In the specially-commissioned survey released last month, pollster ORB found that 43 per cent of adults were expected to attend a church service over the Christmas period.

It wasn’t just the queue snaking from the doors of King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, where the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols again saw hundreds attempting to get a seat; all over the country, churches experienced a growth in the number of people seeking an opportunity to worship.

Portsmouth, Southwell, Hereford and Lichfield Cathedrals all added extra carol services to their Advent programmes after overwhelming demand last year, when worshippers had to be turned away. Portsmouth held two identical children’s crib services back-to-back on the afternoon of Christmas Eve simply to meet this rise in demand, whilst 1200 people flocked to each of the Hereford services. At Truro Cathedral, too, the traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols - originally started in that diocese by its first bishop, Edward White Benson - has proved so successful in recent years that the Cathedral staged two such services, each of which were full.

Staying in the South West, the Rector of Calstock in the south east of Cornwall, Canon Andrew Wilson, reflected that 2005 has been one of the best Christmases he can remember. ”Numbers were up at every service,” he said, “with over 1000 coming to church, which is much more than we would normally see.” Canon Richard Stranack, Vicar of Stratton with Launcells, agreed: "Our crib service at Launcells has never seen so many children and their families” he said, “the Church was packed, which is very heartening.” At nearby Boscastle, the focus for the Seaside Parish series on BBC 2, Priest in Charge the Revd Christine Musser, who has seven churches in her care, said she had been amazed by the numbers at all Christmas services. “We try to provide something for everyone at Christmas,” she said “and I have been really pleased that so many people in the parishes have wanted to be involved in taking part which is, I believe, what ministry is about.”

In Hertfordshire, the parish church in the village of Long Marston held its first crib service in 37 years on Christmas Eve, packing the church with more than 80 people; whilst in Shropshire, the Rector of St Nicholas' in Newport reported that over 1,000 worshippers attended services at the church in the 24-hour period starting from the Christmas Eve crib service. A crib service also proved popular for St George's, in New Thundersley, Essex, after what was expected to be a quiet event for a few families turned into a celebration attended by 140 people, 50 of them children, despite little advertising. The Revd. Anthony Rose, vicar of St George's, says: “This was very much an experiment for us, but it's certainly one that we will repeat next year. What's particularly welcome is that this new service didn't seem to affect the number of people attending the Midnight Communion service, which was also very busy this year. We're looking forward to building on this success in 2006”.

In Manchester, the Diocese’s ‘Real Christmas’ carol service, broadcast by BBC local radio across Greater Manchester on 18 December, reached thousands of people, including many who tuned in at retirement homes, pubs, and hospital wards. Revd Andy Williams of St Andrew's, Hillock, who hosted the broadcast, commented, "The service had the greatest impact on those not normally in church".

In Yorkshire, the Area Dean of Rotherham, Revd Ann Wood, had to rapidly rearrange her New Year’s Day service after a sudden burst in attendance. Seeing empty pews just ten minutes before the service began at St Mary’s in Whiston, she planned a simple, spoken service, with no sermon. When Ann and her team came out of the vestry moments later to lead the service, they were faced with more than 60 worshippers and quickly had to produce an 'ad lib' sermon. The attendance was the highest recorded at St Mary’s for a New Year’s Day service for more than twenty years.

Meanwhile, the Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield, used his New Year message to offer a reason behind the trend: “A record number of people came to Lichfield Cathedral for the four main Christmas services last weekend – in fact, congregations have been increasing for several years. One reason may well be people's sense that our world has cut loose from its moorings in Christian values and in a belief in a good God who gives us wise teaching on how we should live together under his laws. Those who came wanted to put the Christ back into Christmas and into our national life”.

In the pre-Christmas survey, ORB asked: “Thinking about the last year, have you attended a church or place of worship on any of these occasions?” 43 per cent of the 1019 adults surveyed in the telephone poll between 4th and 6th November 2005, said they had attended at Christmas.

 

The survey results

The original accompanying release