British families only attend church at Christmas, new figures suggest

Oct 28, 2016 by

by John Bingham, Telegraph:

Britain has become a nation of Christmas-only churchgoers, according to new figures showing a boom in attendance at festive services while Sunday congregations slump to an all-time low.

Official statistics from the Church of England show just over one per cent of the population of England now attends its services on a typical Sunday, a third of the level in the 1970s.

Last year an estimated 810,600 attended a Church of England service on an average Sunday, two per cent lower than the previous year and down seven per cent over five years.

The total weekly attendance – which includes a proportion of those joining in mid-week services – slipped to 961,400 last year from 977,800 the previous year. It amounts to a decline of more than 100,000 worshippers – or almost 10 per cent – over five years.

One in 20 Anglican parishes in England now have only four worshippers on a typical Sunday.

Yet the Church of England still has an estimated 1.1 million regular worshippers.

And despite the ongoing decline in traditional Sunday services, attendances over festivals such as Christmas remain buoyant, according to the figures.

Last year attendance on Christmas itself jumped almost five per cent to just over 2.5 million people. It was the festive headcount since 2011.

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