While we're on the subject of churchgoing in Britain, here's the surprise.
So what's going on here? I confess I don't know but my guesses lead me to ask the following questions, which, if I get the chance I will try to answer. My questions are whether the increased attendances at cathedrals have connections with decreased attendances elsewhere; in other words are we seeing transfer growth here? Particularly with the decline in local churches meaning that the whole traditional robed choir thing is harder to maintain. I'm also wondering how far this may have a relation to a desire to attend without further involvement? The reason possibly shares a driver with the last question: the decline of local church-going may have entered a negative loop which exacerbates the features of decline, that is the disheartening aspects of decline actually further promote decline as people find it harder to be resilient in the face of decline and 'bail' to something that buoys them up and may give them rest from their small church labours.
So we could be witnessing a squeeze of the smaller local church as on one hand the traditionalists bail out to cathedrals and cathedral-like churches, and on the other the radicals bail out into informal 'emerging' set-ups and the 'revivalists' (for want of a better description) bail into large MOR front-led praise-band set-ups.
Of course the knock-on effects are pressure on clergy and active lay people in the declining set-ups which issues in depression and turns the screw of the negative feed-back loop one more twist. It's a 'those who do not have, even what little they have will be taken away' situation.
Church Times - Cathedrals see a steady rise in congregations
In 2000, when weekly attendance figures were first collected, the number of regular worshippers at the 43 cathedrals was 14,300, compared with 24,800 last year. Seasonal attendance has also increased: 130,000 people attending services over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in 2006, compared with 94,300 in 2000. Attendance at Easter Eve and Easter Sunday services has risen to 52,400 last year from 47,900 in 2000.
So what's going on here? I confess I don't know but my guesses lead me to ask the following questions, which, if I get the chance I will try to answer. My questions are whether the increased attendances at cathedrals have connections with decreased attendances elsewhere; in other words are we seeing transfer growth here? Particularly with the decline in local churches meaning that the whole traditional robed choir thing is harder to maintain. I'm also wondering how far this may have a relation to a desire to attend without further involvement? The reason possibly shares a driver with the last question: the decline of local church-going may have entered a negative loop which exacerbates the features of decline, that is the disheartening aspects of decline actually further promote decline as people find it harder to be resilient in the face of decline and 'bail' to something that buoys them up and may give them rest from their small church labours.
So we could be witnessing a squeeze of the smaller local church as on one hand the traditionalists bail out to cathedrals and cathedral-like churches, and on the other the radicals bail out into informal 'emerging' set-ups and the 'revivalists' (for want of a better description) bail into large MOR front-led praise-band set-ups.
Of course the knock-on effects are pressure on clergy and active lay people in the declining set-ups which issues in depression and turns the screw of the negative feed-back loop one more twist. It's a 'those who do not have, even what little they have will be taken away' situation.
Church Times - Cathedrals see a steady rise in congregations
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