Church of England Cathedrals

The Church of England published headline mission statistics for 2009 for its 43 cathedrals on 30 March. They will be found at:

http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/statistics/cathedralattendances1995to2009.pdf

Key findings and trends include the following:

• The number of worshippers attending cathedral services across the average week has increased by 24% since 2000 but is now falling, being 32,700 in 2009
• Sunday attendances were 16,400 in 1995, rose to 18,500 in 2005 but have since fallen slightly, standing at 18,100 in 2009   
• Attendance at midweek services is very significant, adding 81% to overall Sunday congregations in 2009 (67% for adults and more than doubling the number of children)
• Attendances on Easter Eve and Easter Sunday were 49,600 in 2009, just 600 more than in 2008, and representing only a modest rise of 2% since 2001
• Attendances on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were 118,500 in 2009, a slight drop against 2008 but 4% more than at the start of the millennium 
• Services during the four weeks of Advent attracted 729,600 worshippers in 2009, a slight fall from the 2008 peak 
• In addition to daily worship, cathedrals offered 3,040 special services in 2009 (attended by nearly 1,000,000 people) and 5,450 public or civic events (attended by 1,620,000) 
• The number of children attending educational events in 2009 was 304,650, compared with 257,880 in 2000, with a further 11,120 children being educated at cathedral schools 
• The number of cathedral visitors has reduced by 1,700,000 since 2001, to reach 9,700,000, but, allowing for Westminster Abbey and other Royal Peculiars, total visitors are estimated at 12,000,000
• The number of regular cathedral volunteers was 15,000 in 2009 (360 for every cathedral), slightly fewer than in 2000, but a recovery from the decline in 2001-06

Mission statistics for Anglican parish churches in 2009 are still being collected and collated by the Research and Statistics Department of the Archbishops’ Council