The Church of England has released its Statistics for Mission 2021 and the following press release. The annual Statistics for Mission return collects attendance and participation information from across the Church of England. Also available is an excel file of detailed diocesan figures. Statistics for earlier years are available here.
Statistics for Mission 2021 published
06/12/2022
Attendance at Church of England parishes rose sharply last year compared to 2020, but continued to be affected by Covid measures, new statistics from the Church of England show.
Average weekly attendance, which includes Sundays and midweek attendance, grew to 605,000 in 2021 compared to 345,000 in 2020. But it was lower than in 2019 when average weekly attendance stood at 854,000 people.
The number of baptisms and weddings grew in 2021 compared to 2020, with 26,500 marriages and services of prayer and dedication after civil marriage and 55,200 baptisms or thanksgiving services for a child.
Many churches continued to provide ‘church at home’ services in 2021, offered online, by phone, post, email, and other means amid a range of Covid restrictions.
It comes as separate figures show the number of people praying online has continued to grow sharply over the past year with downloads of the Church of England’s Daily Prayer audio at 3.2 million so far in 2022 – 62% higher than 2021 when it was launched. Total downloads now stand at 5.2 million.
Daily Prayer audio – across the Daily Prayer podcast and app – has now reached more than 1.1 million unique listeners.
Meanwhile, figures from the Church of England’s digital channels show that social media content – prayers, Bible verses, reflection content, good news stories and encouragement – have been seen more than 65 million times this year so far.
This amounts to approximately 1.3 million impressions per week with content seen roughly 190,000 times a day.
And the Church of England’s national online service averages around 150,000 views a week with an average of 300 written comments a week from regular online worshipping communities.
Dr Ken Eames, author of the Statistics for Mission 2021 report, from the Church of England’s Data Analysis team, said: “2021 was another year of Covid-related disruption for churches, as the figures in this report show.
“The figures from 2020 and 2021 describe the extraordinary times that churches and their communities have been through and need to be understood in that context.
“My expectation is that we will see a further return of worshippers to churches in 2022.”
In his summary to the report, he remarks that clergy, lay leaders and congregations had shown an “impressive and encouraging” adaptability throughout an uncertain year that was still affected by Covid restrictions.
The summary adds: “The pandemic continued to have an impact on the life of the Church of England, with some churches being closed for worship for parts of 2021 and some members of congregations continuing not to attend in-person services. It would be very surprising, therefore, if Church of England attendance and participation in 2021 returned to their pre-pandemic levels.
“This report should be treated as a summary of another anomalous year, indicating the extent to which things have ‘bounced back’ but noting that further bouncing back is expected.”
Read the full report: Statistics for Mission 2021 | The Church of England
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Questions Notice Paper November 2022
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The first results for the religion question in the official census of population of England and Wales in 2021 were released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 29 November 2022: Religion, England and Wales: Census 2021. Here are a few articles in response.
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A local newspaper has reported that the Dean of Lichfield, the Very Revd Adrian Dorber, is retiring in the Spring. As yet this has not been announced on either the diocesan or cathedral websites.
3 CommentsPress release below from the Prime Minister’s Office
The Bishop of Oswestry replaces the former Bishop of Ebbsfleet as one of the Provincial Episcopal Visitors in the southern province of the Church of England. Fr Thomas will be consecrated on 2 February 2023. There is more detail in this Church of England press release.
Appointment of Suffragan Bishop of Oswestry: 2 December 2022
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Paul Thomas to the Suffragan See of Oswestry, in the Diocese of Lichfield.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 2 December 2022
The King has approved the nomination of The Reverend Paul Thomas, Vicar of the Benefice of St James Paddington, in the Diocese of London, to the Suffragan See of Oswestry, in the Diocese of Lichfield.
Background
Paul was born and raised in West Wales and received a BA in Medieval English from Cardiff University in 1996 and an MA in 1998. He trained for ordained ministry at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and was ordained Deacon in 2002 and Priest in 2003.
Paul served his title at St Mary with Christ Church Wanstead, in the Diocese of Chelmsford, and in 2006 he was appointed Assistant Priest, and later Associate Rector, of St Marylebone in the Diocese of London. In 2008, he was additionally appointed Chaplain at St Marylebone Secondary School and Chaplain to the Royal Academy of Music.
Paul was appointed to his current role as Vicar of St James Paddington in 2011 and additionally served as Area Dean of Paddington from 2016 to 2021. Between 2017 and 2019 Paul also served as Acting Archdeacon of Charing Cross in the Two Cities Area of the Diocese of London.
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Press release from the Church of England
House of Bishops – 29 November 2022
29/11/2022
The House of Bishops met by Zoom for its 29 November meeting.
The Chair began the meeting by inviting the Bishop of London, Chair of the Next Steps Group, to offer reflections on Living in Love and Faith (LLF) and the recent meeting of the College of Bishops. A range of views and reflections were discussed by the House regarding both the content and the LLF process, with the Bishop of London acknowledging the complexity and depth of feeling around the issue. The Bishop of London concluded by urging the House to continue listening to God and thanked the House for its participation and contribution to LLF to date.
The House then turned outs attention to the Mission and Pastoral Measure Review and was addressed by the Third Estates Commissioner and by the Head of Mission, Pastoral and Church Property. The House was invited to comment on the general scope of the main recommendations including the approach to church buildings, patronage changes, and other changes which would support episcopal ministry in the long term. The House gave its views on a range of policy issues which will be incorporated in the recommendations of the Review as they are finalised.
The Bishop of Rochester then introduced the House to the recently appointed national Director for Safeguarding who provided a summary of his role to date, before turning the House’s attention to how it will respond to the final report of IICSA and its key recommendations.
The Bishop of Sheffield and the Executive Chair, Diocesan Secretaries and Chief Executives both introduced a paper highlighting a range of issues related to the recruitment, induction support and accountability of Diocesan Secretaries. Several proposals were discussed by the House with a view to reducing unnecessary staff turnover and ensuring that Diocesan Secretaries operate as effectively as possible. The House endorsed the development of the proposals as well as a best practice framework for Dioceses and requested an update on progress be made to the House in May 2023.
A paper relating to the process of assessing the return to ministry of respondents who have been subject to a limited prohibition under the Clergy Disciplinary Measure 2003 was then discussed by the House and presented by legal officers of the National Church Institutions. The House endorsed the refinement of current guidelines and gave comment and observation on the Draft Code of Practice on Return to Ministry.
The Bishop of Guildford updated the House on recommendations made by the National Church Governance Project Board in relation to the role of bishops in the governance arrangements of the National Church. The House discussed the recommendations and gave advisory guidance on the recommendations contained in the paper.
The Secretary General then updated the House on the distribution so far of national Church grants totalling £15 million to dioceses, to help them meet the challenge of increased energy costs.
The meeting ended in prayer.
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43 CommentsPress release from the Prime Minister’s Office. There is more on the St Albans diocesan website.
Appointment of Suffragan Bishop of Hertford: 24 November 2022
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Dr Jane Mainwaring, Archdeacon of St Albans, in the Diocese of St Albans, to the Suffragan See of Hertford, in the Diocese of St Albans.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 24 November 2022
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Dr Jane Mainwaring, Archdeacon of St Albans, in the Diocese of St Albans, to the Suffragan See of Hertford, in the Diocese of St Albans, in succession to The Right Reverend Dr Michael Beasley following his appointment as Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Background
Jane was educated at Leeds University and Trinity College, University of Wales, and trained for ministry on the East Anglian Ministerial Training Course. She served her title at St Gregory’s Sudbury, in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, and in 2001 she was ordained Priest
In 2003, Jane was appointed Team Vicar of St Mark’s Hitchin, in the Diocese of St Albans, and from 2015 she also served as Rural Dean.
Jane took up her current role as Archdeacon of St Albans in 2020.
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