Despite polling heralded as revealing a “quiet revival”, the Church of England is — by almost every measure and in almost every diocese — smaller than it was in 2018, this year’s Statistics for Mission show.
The data, published on Tuesday, record that in 2024 attendance rose for the fourth year, but that recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed. Increases in attendance since 2023 were smaller than in previous years. In 2019, a “middle-sized” church had an all-age average weekly attendance (AWA) of 34.5; in 2024, the equivalent figure was 26. The median church has just one child in attendance, compared with three in 2019.
Adult AWA (based on in-person attendance in October) was 18 per cent lower than in 2019, and 1.8 per cent higher than in 2023. This was five per cent below the projected pre-pandemic trend.
I had a look at the 2024 Stats for Mission released today and contrast with Quiet Revival polling. Stark stat: the median church has just one child in attendance, compared with three in 2019.https://t.co/tupypmeQaC
— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) October 28, 2025