The Church of England has seen the number of children attending its churches for acts of worship grow by almost 50 percent over the last four years, in spite of weekly attendance otherwise falling over 10 percent in that same period. Humanists UK has expressed alarm that the church may be using its state schools in an attempt to offset otherwise declining attendance.
The new figures, published in the 2017 Statistics for Mission, show that all ages weekly attendance at Church of England churches (excluding school visits) now stands at 1.3% of the UK population, whereas Sunday attendances stands at 1.1% of the UK population. By comparison the Church runs almost a quarter of English schools.
In fact the Church nowadays has more children in its state schools than it does people of any age attending worship in any given week. And compounding the latest figures is previous Church research that has found that church growth is strongest in areas that have oversubscribed religiously selective schools nearby, suggesting that parents and children have been attending churches in order to gain admittance.
Humanists UK Director of Public Affairs and Policy Richy Thompson commented,
‘With Church of England attendance so low, it becomes increasingly hard to justify the fact that so many state school places are in CofE schools. And if the CofE is looking to use its schools to re-evangelise young people, as these figures might suggest, then that only underlines the inappropriateness of this state of affairs.
‘In recent years the proportion of schools that are religious has only continued to grow. The UK Government must urgently look to reverse this trend.’
Notes:
For further comment or information contact Richy Thompson, Director of Public Affairs and Policy at richy@humanists.uk or 020 7324 3072.
Read the latest Church attendance figures: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/2017StatisticsForMission.pdf
Read more about Humanists UK’s work on religious schools: https://humanists.uk/campaigns/schools-and-education/faith-schools/
At Humanists UK, we advance free thinking and promote humanism to create a tolerant society where rational thinking and kindness prevail. Our work brings non-religious people together to develop their own views, helping people be happier and more fulfilled in the one life we have. Through our ceremonies, education services, and community and campaigning work, we strive to create a fair and equal society for all.