Almost a third of Church of England congregations have “zero children” according to official figures.

The ‘Statistics for Mission 2023’ report gathered precise stats on church attendance in October 2023 and found “a significant number of churches report no children/young people worshipping with them”.

The report adds: “In 2023, 31% of churches had an October average weekly attendance of zero children aged under 16, compared to 25% of churches in 2019”.

Commenting on the report, Professor Linda Woodhead of Kings College London told The Times, “The Church of England has been in decline for decades and the main reason for this is a failure of transmission from parents to children. The loss of children is of the utmost significance in predicting further decline. A majority church has become a minority one.”