Cranmer Hall Team Play Crucial Part in Major CofE Research

A team based at Cranmer Hall, part of St Johns College in Durham University, have played a crucial role in a major research project for the Church of England. Findings of the Church Growth Research Programme, which have just been made public, show that many churches are growing across the country. Against a backdrop of decline in church attendance over the last decade, this is startling and significant news for the Church of England.

Commenting on the findings the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said there was “every reason to be hopeful about the future of the Church of England”.

The 18-month study into Church Growth in the Church of England was published at the Faith in Research Conference in London on 16 January 2014. A substantial part of the research was carried out by a team based at Cranmer Hall. Cranmer Hall researched three key areas: new forms of church, cathedrals and church amalgamations – coordinating a team of researchers, including those based at the Church Army’s Wilson Carlisle Centre in Sheffield.

The study was published against a backdrop of decline of nine per cent in church attendance over the last decade and identifies factors associated with growth as well as factors in churches which are showing numerical decline.

Key findings of the research include:

• Significant growth in Fresh expressions of Church (new congregations and new churches) with around 21,000 people attending in the 10 surveyed areas of the 44 Church of England Dioceses.
• Significant growth in Cathedrals, especially in weekday attendance. Overall weekly attendance grew by 35 per cent between 2002 and 2012. 
• Declining numbers of children and young people under 16 – nearly half of the churches surveyed had fewer than five under 16s.
• Amalgamations of churches are more likely to decline – the larger the number of churches in the amalgamation, the more likely they are to decline.

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, the former Bishop of Durham who trained at Cranmer, said: “There is every reason to be hopeful about the future of the Church of England, and indeed, all the churches in this country. There are many signs of growth, huge areas of development, and the church is – more than it has been for the last 60 years – demonstrating how essential it is to hold together our society.

“Over time there has been a decline in the percentage of the population that attends church. We need to listen to the message that comes through this research in order to develop our own strategies and stop doing things that help accelerate decline and focus on things that develop growth.”

Mark Tanner, warden of Cranmer Hall, commented: “Our involvement in this recent research partnership is part of our commitment to high quality research which informs and assists the work of the wider church.”

One aspect of Cranmer’s commitment to research is a new research centre, the Centre for Church Growth Research – whose work can be followed via: http://community.dur.ac.uk/churchgrowth.research/ The research was commissioned by the Archbishops Council and the Board of the Church Commissioners. This is the first time that a systematic multi-method study of factors relating to church growth has been undertaken within the context of the Church of England. A summary of the research can be found at http://www.churchgrowthresearch.org.uk/report