Religious Practice on the Rise in Great Britain

The number of Anglican churches in Britain has risen for the first time in more than a decade, according to new research. 

From The Telegraph

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones

New congregations are being formed to take over old redundant church buildings or to provide more youth-friendly services, helping church membership numbers to rise.

The figures, to be published this week by Christian Research, also reveal that the Roman Catholic Church is continuing to enjoy a rise in attendance at Mass, that the number of Pentecostal worshippers is increasing rapidly and that Baptist churches are also enjoying a resurgence.

Church leaders said the study – the first of its kind for three years – showed that reports of Christianity's demise in the UK were premature.

Previous studies by Christian Research have shown a steady decline in Anglican congregations, a trend which would have led to as many as one in five churches becoming redundant by 2030.

However, between 2007 and 2008, the total number of Anglican congregations in the UK rose from 18,198 to 18,208 – the first increase for ten years.

Although the increase is small, The Rev Lynda Barley, head of research for the Archbishops' council of The Church of England, said: "this shows it's too premature to say the Church is dying". 

She added: "That some churches are reopening is a reflection of the commitment of local communities who don't want to lose their church." 

The Sunday Telegraph has been running a Save Our Churches campaign to call for more support to prevent buildings being closed down. 

St James church in Toxteth, Liverpool, is one Anglican building that has been reopened following a partnership between the community and The Churches Conservation Trust, a leading heritage charity. 

The eighteenth century church was closed in 1971. But since it opened two years ago, it has grown to a congregation of more than 50. 

"We have a lot of people who had drifted away from church who have come back now we're here," said the Rev Neil Short, vicar of St James. 

"The bishop asked me to take this on and we've been encouraged at how things have gone." 

The new statistics reveal that the number of worshippers at regular weekly services in Church of England cathedrals has increased by 28 per cent since 2000. 

Church of England membership is up, from 1,173,100 in 2007 to 1,179,100 in 2008, however actual attendance has fallen slightly from 1,160,000 to 1,145,000 over the same period. 

Other denominations in the UK which have enjoyed growth include Roman Catholicism, Baptists, and Pentecostals.

In the Catholic Church, there were 1,657,644 attending Mass in 2008, compared with 1,654,556 the year before. 

Contrary to previous years, the researchers are putting the rise down to "home-grown Catholics" rather than immigration from catholic countries like Poland. 

Meanwhile, the Baptist Union of Great Britain has seen attendance rise from 148,835 a week in 2002 to 153,714 in 2008 and the Pentecostal church has grown at a faster rate over the same period, rising by 50 per cent to more than 300,000 worshippers. 

Benita Hewitt, director of Christian Research, said that the overall picture of the Church in Britain was encouraging. 

"It's been in decline for many years, and there have been many predictions of the death of the Church, but things have changed in recent years," she said. 

"It is too early to predict growth for the future, but it shows that the churches' attempts to adapt to the changing society are paying off.