from Christian Today
Latest statistics from the Church of England reveal a fourth consecutive year of growth in attendance at services, although total figures remain lower than before the pandemic and more churches have become smaller than have grown.
In 2024, the Church recorded 1.009 million regular worshippers, a rise of 0.6 per cent on the previous year and the second year in a row since the pandemic that overall figures have surpassed a million.
Data from the annual Statistics for Mission also show an increase of 1.5 per cent in average all age attendance at Sunday services, growing to 581,000 in 2024. Overall attendance across the week increased by 1.6 cent to reach just over 702,000 last year.
The Church of England said that the increase was being driven by a recovery in adult attendance, with average Sunday and weekly attendance by over-16s growing by 1.8 per cent each.
The statistics also show an increase in adult and teenage baptisms. In 2024, there were 8,700 adult baptisms in the Church of England, up from 7,800 the previous year. Among young people aged 11 to 17, baptisms rose from 2,100 in 2023 to 2,400 the following year, while confirmations rose by 5.3 per cent from 10,700 to 11,300.
The figures show that the post-pandemic recovery is slowing, the report admits, but it concludes nonetheless that the Church of England is moving closer to its project pre-pandemic trend and in some places has seen more growth than expected.