Who goes to church?

Roger Morris, Director of the Forum for Parish Development and Evangelism in the Diocese of Coventry (guess he can't have a door because the title plate won't fit on it) sends out a regular Start the Week mailing that is usually instructive. Yesterday he mailed some stats.

'Church House's Statistics Unit have produced a new collection of facts and stats on the C of E today. For example:

• More than 1.7 million people take part in a Church of England service each month, a level that has been maintained since the turn of the millennium. Around one million participate each Sunday.
• Forty three per cent of the population attend church at Christmas including forty eight per cent in London and twenty two per cent of people affiliated to other faiths.
• In 2005 forty seven per cent of adults attended a church or place of worship for a memorial service for someone who has died and twenty one per cent were seeking a quiet space. Both these proportions are increases on thirty seven per cent and nineteen per cent respectively in 2003 and twenty nine per cent and twelve per cent respectively in 2001.
• 86 per cent of the population visit a church or place of worship in the course of a year, for reasons ranging from participating in worship to attending social events or simply wanting a quiet space.'

All very remarkable. Read the rest here.