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Provisional attendance figures for 2002

12 January 2004

Provisional figures for 2002 show that the average number of children and young people attending church each month increased by 1% over 2001 to 421,000 while the average number attending each week remained static at 228,000. There are signs of growth in church attendance levels in many dioceses among children and young people under 16 years of age, despite a decline in overall attendance.

The dioceses of Manchester, Peterborough, Ripon and Leeds, Southwark, Southwell and Winchester saw increases in each of their Sunday, weekly and monthly attendance levels for children and young people. Of the Church's 44 dioceses, 26* saw increases in one or more measures of church attendance levels for children and young people.

In 2002, the Church of England also asked parish churches to record, over a typical month, for the first time, the number of young people (11 to 25 years of age) attending activities other than worship. Of the 162,000 reported, 125,000 were 'teenagers' aged 11 to 15 years while 37,000 were 'young adults' aged 16 to 25 years. Parishes also reported 41,000 adult volunteers working through the churches with these young people.

Total attendance at church and cathedral worship over a typical month was approximately 1.7 million in 2002, the figure reported by parishes as the highest weekly attendance figure over a typical month. This figure has fallen by 2% since 2001. The number of regular attenders over a typical month was 44% greater than the average number in any particular week and 67% greater than the average on any particular Sunday. For every 30 individuals attending church on a typical Sunday, 50 attend over the whole month.

The average number of church attenders on Sundays (ASA) declined by 4% but remained above 1 million. The average number of church attenders over a typical week (AWA) fell by 3% during the year 2002 but remained approximately 1.2 million. For every 60 people attending church on a typical Sunday another 10 attend during the week.

Parish electoral rolls, listing those entitled to vote at a local church level, are fully revised every six years. The 2002 revision resulted in a decrease of 7% on the last revision in 1996, bringing the Electoral Roll to 1.2 million adults aged 16 years or over.

* The 26 dioceses that saw increases in one or more measures of church attendance levels for children and young people in 2002 were Bradford, Bristol, Chelmsford, Chichester, Derby, Ely, Exeter, Guildford, Lincoln, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Ripon and Leeds, Rochester, St Albans, Salisbury, Southwark, Southwell, Truro, Winchester, Worcester, York.

The statistics tables can be viewed at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/papers/2002churchattendance.pdf