The Church Times reported in October on the annual Statistics for Mission report for 2019, published by the C of E’s Research and Statistics department alongside a report on digital figures for 2020.
The report says that in the decade since 2009, most key measures of attendance have fallen by between 15 and 20%, and by 3% since 2014. In 2019, the worshipping community who regularly attended C of E services (not including Christmas and Easter) was down to 1.11 million people, of whom 20% were aged under 18 and 33% were over 70. In 2018, this figure was 1.12 million with the same breakdown in age (News, 18 October 2018).
The separate digital report for 2020 states that, so far, churches have added more than 17,000 services or events to the church-finding website AChurchNearYou.com. Many churches have reported high viewing figures for these services — much greater than the average Sunday attendance — although it is unclear what proportion of these viewers watch for the whole service.
The Church of England Digital Labs is a hub of resources, news and events to support digital evangelism and digital discipleship in the Church of England. It offers weekly blogs and how-to guides for churches around maintaining a good digital and online presence
Over the past year, online services have played an important part in keeping our communities connected and informed, as well as an opportunity to reach out to others locally. Resources from Digital Labs will equip you with your online services and events.
Digital Labs is aimed specifically at those running social and web projects in churches. We hope the advice will help to grow the confidence of the Church’s digital skills and help us to reach more people online.
July 2021 Linked-in CofE recruiting: Technical Verger: Chichester Cathedral
As a Verger, your areas of focus will include the live-streaming of services, concerts, and events, but you will also support the Verging team in presenting the Cathedral and providing a welcome to all worshipers, visitors, and guests.
Parish buying
The Parish Buying – Audio Visual Equipment video (above) describes a service provided by the Church of England and delivered under contract by procurement experts 2buy2.
The parish buying site offers more permanent installations in church building. It offers four audio-visual supplier options for a church to choose from. Each supplier is unique and offerings range from installations of permanent equipment to portable equipment that can be set up the buyer.
Church Buying delivers the Parish Buying services on behalf of the Church of England. It is a national procurement service provided by 2buy2 which delivers procurement for churches in the UK. It supports over 8,000 churches by collaborative church purchasing and regularly works with church wardens, treasurers, ministers, administrators, finance managers, district managers, property managers and church leaders to deliver best value.
To see this video click on Parish Buying Suppliers – Audio Visual Equipment
This short video offers advice from two experts on audio-visual in churches – Chris Priddy (diocese of Bristol – Head of Parish and External Relations) and Richard Davey (AV consultant – Guildford Cathedral)
The Emerging Church 