Telegraph analysis found Sunday church attendance was just 80 per cent of what it was in 2019, despite the Church of England claiming it was “bounced back” after the pandemic.
Figures reveal church attendance has fallen by more than half since 1987, prompting clergy to warn: “This is a doomsday spiral of the church’s own choosing.”
The Telegraph published research in 2023 that found congregations were closing at a record pace, leading to fears that the Church was “sounding the death knell”.
The research found that almost 300 congregations have disappeared in the last five years alone; This is the fastest rate since records began in 1960.
The figures emerged against the backdrop of allegations that senior bishops and clergy are “holding guns to people’s heads” to push through controversial plans to cut costs, unite congregations and reduce priesthoods.
Additionally, this occurred at a time when the number of congregations was decreasing and many clergy were afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs.
The Telegraph analyzed new data from the Church of England’s latest Mission Statistics 2022 report and found that usual church attendance on Sundays across the country was at 81 per cent of 2019 levels, meaning 133,200 regular parishioners were not returning to the Church. Despite the end of Covid restrictions.
The Telegraph’s previous report on the decline in the number of regular parishioners in 2021 was described as “misleading” by the Church, as some Covid restrictions were still in place at the time the 2021 report was compiled.
But the latest figures show that this is not the case.
Additionally, the data shows that another 28 congregations that were controversial among churchgoers were closed or merged last year.
However, this is below the record reduction rate seen in the previous five years, when an average of 56 neighborhoods were closed in a year.
41 churches were closed across the country, which means that 641 churches, or 4 percent, have been closed since 2000.
Responding to the analysis, the Rev. Marcus Walker, chairman of the Save the Parish campaign group, said: “If you close congregations and reduce clergy, the number of people who can come to church is certain to fall, just as night follows day.”
The Priest, who is also Rector of St Bartholomew’s the Great in the City of London and is also a member of the General Synod, the legislative body of the Church of England, added: “This is a doomsday spiral of the church’s own choosing. “He has the money to turn this around, the question is: does he have the will?”
The Telegraph’s latest analysis shows some minor post-Covid rebounds in church attendance, with average attendance up seven per cent year on year.
This means that since 1987 normal Sunday church attendance has fallen by more than half (-52.8 percent), falling from 1.2 million to 556,800.
In Durham only three-quarters (73 per cent) of lay parishioners returned, while in St Edmundsbury and Ipswich the rate was 89 per cent, the highest in the country.
According to the Church of England’s latest data in Mission Statistics, the Church has claimed nearly a million people will be worshiping regularly in 2023 as it “continues to recover from the pandemic”.
What’s more, over the last six years, the number of people attending church on Sunday has decreased by a record rate, with an average of 32,616 fewer people attending annually.
In publishing its annual Mission Statistics 2022, the Church of England said the number of regular worshipers not only on Sundays but throughout the week had risen by nearly 20,000 to 984,000 in 2022, compared to 966,000 in 2021; however, this figure is still down from 200,000 in 2019.
Dr Ken Eames, author of the Mission for Mission 2022 report from the Church of England Data Services team, said: “Churches have done everything they can to return to normal life in 2022 following the massive disruption caused by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
“But 2022 was not immune from its impact; in fact, official figures show that Covid rates are higher in October 2022 than in 2021.
“While things were returning to normal for many people, churches were still experiencing Covid-related disruptions.”
Responding to The Telegraph’s latest analysis, a Church spokesperson said: “The Church of England’s Mission Statistics for 2022 (the latest available statistics) showed a welcome increase for the second year in a row, with attendance of nearly one million regular worshipers in Church of England churches. .
“After the major disruption in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, our congregations did their best to return to normal life that year.
“However, we know that 2022 is not free from the impact of Covid, in fact official figures show that Covid rates were higher in October 2022 than in 2021.
”There is an unprecedented investment of £3.6bn in mission and ministry in the Church of England by 2031.”