Most Anglican churchgoers have a ‘total lack of confidence’ in speaking about faith ‘at all and with anyone’, according to a report for the Church of England’s General Synod.
The report from the Church’s Evangelism Task Group and Evangelism and Discipleship Team highlights research showing that while 70 per cent of churchgoers could think of someone they could invite to church, between 85 and 90 per cent of these said they had no intention of doing so.
‘The problem was not the worshipper’s local church but the main issue the research highlighted was a total lack of confidence in talking about faith at all and with anyone,’ the report says.
However, it says, ‘small behavioural changes’ from the 1 million Anglican churchgoers could make a huge difference.
‘If one additional person in 50 from our regular attenders invited someone to a church event and subsequently they started attending it would totally reverse our present decline. Nationally the church would grow by 16,000 people per year, offsetting the current net loss of 14,000,’ the report argues.