Attendance at Christmas services leapt by 20 per cent last year and the number of worshippers at Easter was up 8.6 per cent as Church of England congregations experienced a third year of growth, the latest full annual statistics show.
The number of regular worshippers in the Church of England edged above a million in 2023 for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Statistics for Mission 2023 report.
Overall attendance remains below 2019 levels but the report published today shows numbers recovering towards the pre-pandemic trend.
The report confirms the pattern highlighted in preliminary headline figures for 2023 published in May of this year, with some upward revisions.
Overall weekly attendance at Church of England churches rose to 693,000 in 2023, from 663,000 in 2022, an increase of 4.5 per cent. The total reflects an upward revision from the preliminary figure of 685,000 published in May.
Meanwhile the number of children attending weekly increased from 90,000 in 2022 to 95,000 (up 4.9 per cent in a year). Again, the figure was revised upwards slightly from a total of 92,000 quoted in May.
The Church of England’s overall “worshipping community” – the total number of regular worshippers – rose to 1,007,000 in 2023, from 982,000 the previous year.
Just under two million people (1,961,000) attended services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day last year, up from 1,636,000 in 2022.
Separately, 2.1 million attended services for the congregation and community during advent 2023 in addition to 2.3 million who attended civic and school advent services.
Meanwhile the number of worshippers at Easter rose 8.6 per cent to 938,000.
Read the full national Church of England report here.