ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702190016
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: B-9 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LONDON
The average number of worshipers at Church of England Sunday services dropped by 36,000 between 1994 and 1995, the sharpest falloff in attendance in 20 years.
If the current rate of decline continues, regular Church of England worshipers will number less than a million by the end of 1997.
Official figures show that the average attendance at Sunday services in 1995 was 1,045,000, compared with 1,081,000 in 1994, the biggest drop since attendances fell markedly in the 1970s.
The Church Times, official newspaper of the Church of England, wrote: ``A loss of only 9,000 in 1994 (compared with 1993) encouraged church commentators to talk of the church's decline `bottoming out.' The new figures bring that into question.''
The annual number of baptisms fell by 9,000 to 632,000 and confirmations by 4,000 to 616,000 between 1994 and 1995, the figures show.
The number of Easter communicants was down from 1.3 million to 1,265,000 and the number of Christmas worshipers fell from 1,488,000 to 1,393,000.
There was one piece of good news: In 1995 each churchgoer put an average of $5.80 in the collection plate each week, compared with $5.58 the previous year.
That helped increase the church's income from donations by $20 million.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB