The latest figures on attendances at Church of England churches grew for the fourth year in a row last year, statistics have confirmed.
The overall number of regular worshippers across the Church of England’s congregations rose to 1.009 million in 2024, a rise of 0.6 per cent, according to the annual Statistics for Mission findings.
It was the second year in a row in which the Church of England’s “worshipping community” – the combined number of regular members of local congregations – has stood above a million since the Covid-19 pandemic.
All age average attendance on a Sunday also rose 1.5 per cent to 581,000 in 2024, extending rises over recent years. Overall attendance across the week edged upwards by 1.6 cent in a year, and stood at just over 702,000 last year, according to the figures.
The increase was driven by a recovery in attendance by adults (over 16), among whom average Sunday attendance was up by 1.8 per cent and weekly attendance rose by 1.8 per cent.
The 2024 figures showed that adult baptisms rose to 8,700 in 2024 compared to 7,800 the previous year. There was also a rise in the number of young people, aged between 11 and 17 years old who were baptised, from 2,100 in 2023 to 2,400 last year. Confirmations also rose by 5.3 per cent from 10,700 to 11,300.
However, the figures also showed the overall number of baptisms – which includes infant baptisms – fell, as the post Covid lockdown ‘catch up’ slowed.
While the overall figures show that in-person attendance has not fully reached pre-pandemic levels, the figures suggest it is moving closer to the projected pre-pandemic trend and in some cases has risen above the levels that might have been expected had there been no pandemic.
- Church of England full statistics from 2024 here: statisticsformission2024.pdf
Diocese of Norwich churches – Why fill in the forms?
By filling in the Statistics for Mission forms, your can help tell the story of your church community, therefore contributing to the story across the Diocese of Norwich.
Returns are now open for 2025, the closing date is 31 January 2026.
The forms can help you with; Mission planning, Grant applications, parish profiles and overall strategy. Together, we can gather data and evidence which will help to show the overall picture of what is happening in parishes across Norfolk and Waveney.
Over 85% of PCCs completed statistics for mission in 2024. Let’s do the same for 2025!
- Fill in your returns from the Diocese of Norwich here: Parish Returns Online
- If your PCC needs support, please do get in touch with rebecca.devlin@dioceseofnorwich.org