Jerusalem Trust asked Savanta ComRes to explore the nature and frequency of engagement in collective Christian devotional activity in England, to test the widely-held hypothesis that church attendance is declining. This quantitative fieldwork study, carried out by telephone, confirms some points already widely used, and challenges others.
• This study returns a slightly higher attendance rate than most others, perhaps because the wording of the question about frequency of attendance intentionally did not contain the word ‘church’. It is possible that some people are participating in Christian activities which they may not consider to be ‘church’ because they are less traditional than other forms of worship.
• Despite a commonly expressed concern that church congregations are more likely to be made up of women than men, this study returned similar levels of response from both genders and notes that women and men say they participate in similar ways at similar times of the week.
• While many people participate in activities outside of conventional or purpose-built church buildings and on weekdays, the highest levels of participations are still on Sunday mornings and in buildings dedicated for use as a church.
Date Published: 4/3/2020
Client: Jerusalem Trust
Methodology
Savanta ComRes surveyed 6,000 adults in England via telephone between 23rd August and 26th September 2018. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.