CHURCHGOING is predicted to rise this Christmas: 45 per cent of UK adults in a Tearfund survey planned to attend a church service or event this year.
The poll, Christmas and the Church, conducted by Savanta, found a rise from 40 to 45 per cent — “nearly one in two UK adults”.
Savanta interviewed 2017 UK adults in November. Its report says: “Data were weighted to be nationally representative of all UK adults by key demographic characteristics including age, gender, region and social grade.”
Tearfund qualify the figures, explaining: “The rise in data since last year refers to asking respondents if they attended church at Christmas last year, and if they plan to attend this year, rather than tracking data YoY [year on year].”
The report says that the adults are drawn to church for a mix of reasons, including tradition, spiritual meaning, and seeking support. Of those who attend, 39 per cent say that it is “part of their Christmas tradition”, one third (34 per cent) go for the “atmosphere”, and more than one quarter (28 per cent) see Christmas as a “meaningful time for spiritual reflection”.
Among non-Christians, 34 per cent said that they planned “to attend a church service or event this year”: up from 30 per cent last year. A similar proportion of non-active Christians (35 per cent) said that they intended to do the same: up from 31 per cent last year.
Planning to go to church this Christmas was commonest among Generation Z: 60 per cent said that they would attend. For millennials, the figure was 59 per cent; Generation X, 36 per cent; baby-boomers, 30 per cent; and the silent generation, 24 per cent.
Thirty-eight per cent of non-Christians said that they came away from a church at Christmas feeling “joyful”, “peaceful” (34 per cent), or “hopeful” (25 per cent).
Churches’ provision of practical help to those in need during the Christmas period is also covered in the survey. Two in five of the UK adults (42 per cent) said that they, or someone they knew, had been supported by a church at Christmas.
One in ten had used a foodbank in a church (12 per cent), received free meals (ten per cent), or had availed themselves of a warm space (11 per cent). Twenty-three per cent said that either they or someone whom they knew had received a free Christmas Day meal from a church.
The director of global fund-raising and communications at Tearfund, Stuart Lee, said in a statement: “These figures underline something deeply significant: churches remain at the heart of community life at Christmas. . . From foodbanks to warm spaces, churches are stepping in where they are needed most.”