Jan 15, 2004 / 22:00 pm
A recent report by Christian Research indicates that church attendance has dramatically declined in England, but Anglican ministers and Roman Catholic priests disagree, saying that the statistics are an indicator of change rather than decline.
The report found that worshippers at weekly services have decreased by 3,000 in Liverpool and by 5,600 in Chester between 2000 and 2002, and that overall the Church of England has lost 100,000 members from its congregations in the same period, a decline of nearly eight per cent.
The executive director of Christian Research, Peter Brierley, told the Daily Post that the overall drop needed urgent attention and predicted that the decline could get worse after about 2020 when ageing churchgoers died.
But David Johnstone, spokesman for the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, said the statistics don't represent the reality in Liverpool. “There are many vibrant, dynamic churches that are moving forward and growing in strength,” he said, adding that the numbers of young people attending church are increasing.