from Christian Today
The Church of England has welcomed latest figures showing an increase in attendance for the fourth consecutive year.
The worshipping community as a whole rose by 1.2% in 2024 to 1.02 million regular worshippers, while Sunday attendance increased by 1.5% to 582,000.
Weekly attendance was also up by 1.2%, rising to 701,000.
Growing attendance among adults was a major contributor to the increase, with Sunday and weekly attendance increasing by 1.8% and 1.5% respectively.
Online interest in the Church of England has also increased, with its church finder website experiencing a 55% increase in visits – nearly 200 million page views in 2024.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who is interim head of the Church of England, is encouraged by the figures and sees them as a sign of more people coming to faith.
“The Church of England exists to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to love and serve our neighbours in every community in England,” he said.
“So it is encouraging to see further signs that more people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ and having their lives changed.
“Although this is just a snapshot and we don’t know the ages of those who have started attending church in the past year, other evidence suggests that many of these are young adults.
“This is also my experience of visiting churches Sunday by Sunday and baptising and confirming new Christians.