Church of England attendance has risen for a fourth straight year, the denomination said in a new report.
Last week’s statement noted that the “overall number of regular worshippers” reached about 1.009 million in 2024, a modest 0.6% uptick. It is the second post-pandemic year in which the “combined number of regular members of local congregations” has topped 1 million.
Average Sunday attendance also climbed 1.5% to roughly 581,000, which leaders described as “extending rises over recent years.”
Including midweek and other services, overall weekly worship grew by 1.6% to just over 702,000.
Adult baptisms increased from around 7,800 in 2023 to about 8,700 in 2024, and confirmations rose from approximately 10,700 to roughly 11,300.
By contrast, infant baptisms fell year over year, with the church attributing earlier higher numbers to delayed ceremonies after lockdowns and noting that “the post-Covid lockdown ‘catch up’ slowed.”
Although the established church has faced long-term decline amid growth in Islam, atheism and Evangelical Christianity, recent years have brought small gains in attendance and a surge of digital interest.
In April, the CofE reported a sharp rise in traffic to its church finder, AChurchNearYou.com.
According to new figures, page views climbed from 128.1 million in 2023 to 198.6 million in 2024.
Reflecting on the digital growth, CofE Head of Digital Amaris Cole said the data shows “the public are more interested than ever in connecting with one of our communities, whether for a service, an event, a family activity or one of the amazing projects our churches run.”
