Births, Marriages and Deaths
In the last two months we have seen that attendance in our churches at Christmas is three times what it is on an ordinary Sunday and that people visit churches on many other special occasions too. Whilst 36% of the people regarding themselves as Christians have attended an ordinary Sunday service at some time during the year, 39% of the population have attended a baptism, 48% a wedding and 57% a funeral during the same year.
So how many occasions of this sort take place in churches in the diocese? Information about this is collected on the Statistics for Missions forms collected annually from each parish. We have 90% of them in for 2008 so can include the latest information. Since 2001 the numbers of special occasions reported total more than 10,000 every year with the pattern shown.
Each of these occasions will involve family and friends and provide opportunities to get to know people who perhaps never attend at other times of the year.
Canon Don Cardy
30th April 2009
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