The Church of England has welcomed latest figures showing an increase in attendance for the fourth consecutive year.
The worshipping community as a whole rose by 1.2% in 2024 to 1.02 million regular worshippers, while Sunday attendance increased by 1.5% to 582,000.
Weekly attendance was also up by 1.2%, rising to 701,000.
Growing attendance among adults was a major contributor to the increase, with Sunday and weekly attendance increasing by 1.8% and 1.5% respectively.
Online interest in the Church of England has also increased, with its church finder website experiencing a 55% increase in visits - nearly 200 million page views in 2024.
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who is interim head of the Church of England, is encouraged by the figures and sees them as a sign of more people coming to faith.
“The Church of England exists to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to love and serve our neighbours in every community in England," he said.
“So it is encouraging to see further signs that more people are coming to faith in Jesus Christ and having their lives changed.
“Although this is just a snapshot and we don’t know the ages of those who have started attending church in the past year, other evidence suggests that many of these are young adults.
“This is also my experience of visiting churches Sunday by Sunday and baptising and confirming new Christians.
“That is a testament to the faith and hope of all those in our churches who share the gospel with their communities every day and my prayer is that, in these uncertain times, more people will come to know the message of love and grace of Jesus Christ.”
Debbie Clinton, the Church of England’s Director for Vision and Strategy, is also encouraged.
“Our statistics are much more than numbers, each represents an individual who is part of a local church, serving their community across the country," she said.
“In 2024 we have heard and seen exciting stories of growth in parishes in both urban and rural contexts, in our estates and in post-industrial and coastal towns.
“Nationally we aim to ensure that each young person has a flourishing children, youth and families’ ministry within reach of them, we are seeing growth in the number of churches with more than 25 young people attending.”
One church to have experienced a dramatic reversal of fortunes recently is St John's Upper Norwood, in south London.
Its vicar, Fr John Pritchard, says the church was formerly in decline but now has so many people coming through its doors that its team of 40 volunteers is working "flat out".
As a case in point, over 300 people attended its recent Palm Sunday Mass featuring a real donkey, while some 2,000 people came to its Easter barbecue.
Its monthly Messy Church meeting for children is attended by around 400 people, some of whom have gone on to be baptised and join the weekly congregation.
The weekly faith-based parent and toddler group now has 400 regulars and the church's weekly 'Messy Meals', which grew out of Messy Church, are joined by around 80 people.
All of this is the fruit of two years of intentional outreach to children and young families pioneered by Associate Vicar Mthr, Rachael Gledhill.
Next steps for the church include hiring a youth minister and developing its music ministry among children.
“We were a church in decline but we are not in decline any more,” said Fr Pritchard.
“People are looking for a community and to feel valued, and the Gospel gives them this.
“At no point do we ever pretend we are not a church – we are always in our dog collars. We follow the liturgical calendar. There is a narrative that suggests the church community is not welcome or relevant in people’s lives but that is not true at all.
“People are looking for, and searching for a place where they can belong - we are all neighbours here.”
