City workers flock to church

ACCORDING to figures released by the Diocese of London attendance at City churches has risen by a almost a quarter since the start of the financial crisis in 2008.

The most recent figures show 3,566 people as registered members of City churches in 2011, an increase of 24 per cent on the figures for 2007.

In the rest of the Church of England membership figures were stable or showed only a slight decline in the same period.

One City clergyman, the Ven Peter Delaney, who is the priest in charge of St Stephen Walbrook and a former Archdeacon of London told the ‘Financial Times’ that stress and anxiety were causing financial workers to seek comfort in the Christian faith.

James Gerry, a churchwarden at St Mary Woolnoth, who works in the insurance industry, told the same newspaper that “People are facing more pressures, fuses are short, there is tension in the workplace, and people are struggling to cope”.

He said that some people are also seeking moral guidance. Many senior executives are coming to the church to ‘square their businesses with Christian compassion’. The financial crisis has made many City workers question their values.

“People are a bit desperate, even those untouched financially,” according to Mr Gerry. “They are raising the question: is this all there is?”

Led by St Paul’s Institute at St Paul’s Cathedral a number of City churches have organised talks and courses on economics and moral issues. St Stephen’s Walbrook has set up a course in partnership with Rothschild’s Bank. Among the speakers at forthcoming courses at the St Paul’s Institute are Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Justin Welby.

London diocese has reported an increase in member- ship and attendance overall in the past ten years. Although immigration is thought to be a factor the same increase is not to be seen across the Thames in the diocese of Southwark and a recent paper by the historian John Wolfe suggested other factors were at work such as the introduction of mission action plans and an approach to parish share which does not penalise growing parishes.

Holy Trinity, Brompton, and the Alpha Course are also thought to have had an impact on the diocese.

In his Easter message the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, claimed that volunteers in the diocese helped 734,500 people a year. He called on churches to make more use of social networking and said that the three words ‘confident, compassionate and creative’ will inform Capital Vision 2020, the diocesan vision for the next seven years, to be launched at St Paul’s Cathedral on 6 June.