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UK News

CofE affirms growth commitment amid continued decrease in Sunday service attendance

The stats, contained in the CofE's latest Statistics for Mission survey, reveal a 14 per cent drop in attendance between 2005 and 2015, from around 875,000 to 750,000.

It equates to a 1 per cent drop each year.

William Nye, Secretary General of the Archbishops' Council, said: "The Church of England is setting out on a journey of Renewal & Reform, aiming to reverse our numerical decline in attendance so that we become a growing church in every region and for every generation."

The new Statistic for Mission report shows the number of children going to a CofE church fall by 23 per cent in the decade until 2015, while infant and child baptisms decreased from approximately 130,000 to around 110,000.

William Nye went on to say: "These figures represent a realistic assessment of where we start from in terms of weekly attendance. We are confident in a hopeful future where our love of God and service of neighbour will form the basis for future growth."

More than two per cent of the general population in the Hereford and Gloucester dioceses attend church on a Sunday while - at the bottom of the table - the figure for Birmingham stood at less than one per cent.

However the number of people going to church at Christmas reached a four-year high in 2015, surpassing 2.5 million for the first time since 2011.

The other area which has shown growth is the use of church buildings outside of Sunday worship.

The new stats show nearly half of churches now have kitchen facilities and more than 60% have toilets. Over 200 have shops inside and 152 have post offices.

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