Foreword
Introduction
Church
Statistics 2005/6 continues to provide results from fresh attendance measures
collected by Church of England parishes and cathedrals since the turn of the
millennium. These measures must be interpreted against the background of a
growing number of government and other independent national surveys. National
surveys continue to endorse the 2001 government census results that indicate a
continuing majority of the English population to be Christian. In summary, 72%
of the population of England indicated their religious affiliation to be
Christian, 6% of other faiths, 14% of no religion and 8% did not state their
religion.
In a
pluralistic society, Christian denominations continue to play a significant role
in the life of our country. Approaching half of the adult population regards
itself as Anglican (Opinion Research Business national poll 2007). Church
Statistics 2005/6
provides more detailed geographical evidence of the continued involvement of the
Church of England in the everyday lives of men, women and children at the
beginning of the twenty-first century. This builds on similar information first
published in Church Statistics 2002 and has been facilitated by the successful
completion of the digitisation of the parish boundaries sponsored jointly by the
Church of England dioceses and the Church Commissioners.
New attendance statistics
Following a
major review of annual statistical information collection from parishes, new
attendance measures were designed with dioceses during the summer of 2000. These
are generally based on a four week count by parishes of their attendance levels
at church worship in October. There is no single period in the year when church
attendance could be said to be 'normal' or even 'average' but October is
accepted by our ecumenical partners as the easiest and most comparable month in
which to carry out this quantitative exercise.
It would be
wrong to make direct comparisons between the number counted in church services
across October and the figures that churches estimate as their usual
Sunday attendance.
Examination of the attendance levels collated in this publication in 'All age
church attendance 2000 to 2005' and 'Church attendance 2000 to 2005,'
reveal a larger church than was previously understood and fairly static
levels of church attendance. On average 1.2 million people attended
church-based services of worship each week in 2005, slightly under one million
of these on Sundays. Numbers fluctuated week by week, among adults on average
doubling at points across the month while almost quadrupling among children and
young people. Across a typical month in the year parish church and cathedral
worship attracted 1.7 million people but only 1.4 million of these attended on
Sundays. The Church is indeed a seven days a week Church, and in 2005 over a
third, i.e. 19 dioceses, saw increases over two years in their all age church
attendance levels as shown in the map 'All
age church attendance 2003 - 2005'.
'Research
towards fresh expressions of church' reveals that annual parochial church
attendance statistics frequently do not include new forms of church, frequently
called fresh expressions of church. One in three parishes are involved in fresh
expressions of church among people who only occasionally otherwise attend
church. Such fresh expressions
involve significant numbers of adults, children and young people as explored
further in the accompanying paper Research towards fresh expressions of church.
Easter and
Christmas are festivals in the Christian year when traditionally many attend
special occasions of worship in our parish churches and cathedrals. Churches and
cathedrals were asked to estimate attendance levels at these festivals for the
first time in 2000. The results are challenging, and in the case of cathedrals
reflected steadily increasing numbers throughout the year. On Christmas Day/Eve
2005 2.8 million people attended church and cathedral worship, while 1.4 million
attended on Easter Day. The importance of these Christian festivals in
people's lives is evident in that Christmas services attracted over twice the
average weekly attendance of our parish churches and cathedrals. Figures
collected in previous years were directly comparable.
Occasional offices
The church
has traditionally monitored electoral roll and baptism levels, but from 2000
parishes and cathedrals have been asked to estimate the number of occasions
where people received direct pastoral contact through each of the occasional
offices. Marriages can be performed in recognized places other than churches and
cathedrals. The tables 'Total marriages in England' and 'First marriages,
England and Wales' (based on local authority registrars' returns) indicate
that just under a quarter of marriages were performed by Church of England
ministers. Local churches had significant opportunities for mission and ministry
through 417,000 occasional offices performed by their ministers in 2005.
Funerals continue to account for half of these which is a significant pastoral
load for many clergy. The table
'Parochial marriages and funerals 2005' shows that 43% of deaths in England
are marked with Church of England funerals.
Baptisms and thanksgivings represented over a third of the occasional
offices, marriages and blessings of civil marriages about one in seven. At these
essentially family and community events, local churches have unique
opportunities for contact among a wide constituency and recent opinion attitude
surveys show this to be valued by the Christian public.
Licensed ministers
All God's
people are called to exercise their ministry in his world and in his Church. The
statistics of this report relate to ministries which are nationally licensed.
This foreword draws attention to some significant trends.
The total
number of stipendiary clergy available for diocesan appointments continues to
decline. Since the turn of the millennium there has been a net loss of 9%. This
is projected to continue at a similar level with the net loss over the period
2006 to 2011 approaching 700 from a current total of 8,630. (These figures
include clergy with full-time appointments and those with part-time appointments
aggregated to their full-time equivalents. Europe, due to the special nature of
its chaplaincies, is excluded.) These projections take into account the expected
number of ordinations to stipendiary ministry. This figure stood at 229 in 2006.
It is estimated to rise to 287 in 2007 and then to 323 in 2008. For the years
2009 to 2011 a moving average of the previous five years ordination figures has
been used. The number of people entering stipendiary ministry is not sufficient
to replace those who are retiring. Detailed
figures on the age structure are contained in 'Clergy
age profiles and age structure'.
In 2005 an
audit of clergy was carried out to initiate ongoing monitoring of ethnic
background and country of birth. 2.2% of the clergy come from minority ethnic
backgrounds, although among assistant curates in some dioceses the proportion is
more than double this. Selective results from this audit are provided in Ethnic
backgrounds of all licensed Church of England clergy and the following charts.
Among those
licensed as unpaid ministers attached to parishes, the number of non-stipendiary
ministers continued to increase to 2,421 in 2006. In addition, half the diocese
utilise ordained local ministers. The numbers have steadily increased and stood
at 590 in 2006 compared to 578 in 2005 and 311 in 2000; thus there was an 89%
increase in ordained local ministers between 2000 and 2006. Diocese benefit from
a growing number of lay ministers. However
across the country the number of licensed readers has decreased by almost 8%
over the same period. In 2006 there were 8,013 licensed readers, fewer than the
8,057 in 2005 and 8,694 in 2000 (excluding readers with permission to officiate
and active emeriti). Such trends are shown in 'Proportion
of Licensed Readers by gender.'
The number
of women clergy, stipendiary and non-stipendiary, continues to rise. In 2006
there were 1,507 women in full-time stipendiary diocesan appointments compared
with 1,466 in 2005 and 1,140 in 2000, generating a rise of almost a third (32%).
These figures include the Diocese in Europe. Women make up between one in five
(21%) of stipendiary parochial clergy. Out of every ten incumbents one is a
woman (10%). The equivalent figure for clergy of incumbent status is over one in
five clergy (24%). Of a total of 355 dignitaries in 2006, 26 were women, three
more than 2005 and fourteen more than 2000.
Women in non-stipendiary ministry in 2006 made up approaching a half
(48%) of the total, and in ordained local ministry just over one half of the
total (52%). For licensed readers the equivalent figure also 48%.
The Church
also benefits from the ministry of 230 Church Army evangelists, 534 professed
members of religious communities, of whom 98 are ordained, and 1,231 chaplains
working with mission agencies, the armed services, in hospitals, prisons,
schools, higher and further education. In each of these categories of ministry
there are fewer people than in 2000. At the turn of the millennium there were
257 Church Army evangelists, 729 professed members of religious communities and
1,258 chaplains. A further 272
non-stipendiary clergy minister within dioceses but outside the formal parochial
system.
The total
number of recommendations for training for ministry was 594 in 2006 - a rise
of 16 over 2005. The numbers of men and women recommended in 2006 were 312 and
282 respectively. Within these figures, the number recommended for ordained
local ministry was 54 (16 men and 38 women), a decrease of 21 from the previous
year.
Overall
there were a greater number of candidates in training on theological courses
(673) at the end of 2006 than were at theological colleges (607). Since the turn
of the millennium the number on training courses has continued an upward trend -
with an increase of 13% - and the number attending college has begun to recover.
Over the same time period the overall number in training for ordination
decreased from 1,422 in 2000 to 1,308 during 2004 and has now increased to 1,451
- with greatest number of candidates recommended for training being in the age
range 40 to 49 years. Since 2000 the proportion of candidates recommended for
training under 30 years of age has remained at approximately 15%. The number of
readers in training continues to fall, from 1,315 in 2000 and 1,166 in 2003 to
1,080 in 2006 (an 18% drop).
Financial giving
We can
count the number of people who give to the Church by Gift Aid and the total sums
that they give. This is the primary source of the Church's income and it was
gratifying to see that the total sum given by these people increased by over 4%
and exceeded £224 million. Nearly
£68 million was recovered from the Inland Revenue in respect of this giving. On
average, before the recovery of tax, each gift was £8.26 per week as shown in
the table 'Tax-efficient planned giving average weekly rates'. The trends in
giving by churchgoers are shown in accompanying tables and charts.
The number
of tax-efficient planned givers continues to increase and since 2000, when the
new arrangements for Gift Aid were brought in by the government, another 111,000
donors now give in this way. It might be expected that some of these donors have
moved from just putting loose cash in the collection plate to giving by weekly
envelope or standing order by Gift Aid but over the last year the amount given
in loose cash went up by 1.4%, corresponding to an increase in giving of about
£770 thousand. Giving by Gift Aid correspondingly increased by £9.5 million.
Income from
other sources, such as donations, did not increase at such a high rate. The
total income from all forms of donation increased by 4.1% and is now in excess
of £437 million.
It has long
been felt that the Church should be able to encourage its people to leave
legacies to the Church for its work in parishes and through its mission and
voluntary societies. If the Church cannot talk positively about death, who can?
Nearly £41 million was left to the parishes in 2005 - a steady
increase in recent years, however slightly down on the previous year. Since the
turn of the millennium the number of legacies has remained broadly static so the
increase in legacy income may be due to the rise in the value of estates (for
example, because of the rise in house prices) rather than any increase in the
number of legacies.
Summary
Today
people support their local churches, chapels and cathedrals in many different
ways. A national opinion survey in October 2005 by Opinion Research Business
revealed that 86% of adults had visited a local church or chapel in the previous
year for a wide range of activities alongside attendance at church worship.
While the quantitative information is not fully comprehensive, it does provide a
healthy picture of the variety of local church life. Church attendance patterns,
the role of the occasional offices, the increased diversity of ordained and lay
ministries, financial giving and other measures of church support are all
continuing to evolve at the turn of the millennium in ways which are beginning
to capture the interest of many serious Church commentators.
We are
particularly grateful to the dioceses and the parishes for continuing to embrace
new aspects of the annual parochial return exercise. Their co-operation
continues to remain crucial to the successful gathering of the information
required for this publication, and we are encouraged that they too are finding
the results useful for their own forward planning. This edition includes as much
appropriate information as possible from the Diocese in Europe and from diocesan
cathedrals.
Research
and Statistics Department