Hallelujah! Cathedrals celebrate best Christmas yet

CATHEDRALS recorded their best Christmas attendance to date last year, new Church of England figures show.

Statistics show that 131,000 people attended services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, compared with 125,000 the year before.

Senior figures suggested that the traditional music and buildings were attracting an ever-younger crowd who did not normally attend church. The number of people attending during Advent also rose, from 624,000 two years ago to 635,000 in 2016. Overall Sunday attendance had also increased, from 17,900 in 2015 to 18,700, though midweek attendance had fallen from 19,100 to 18,200 each week.

Meanwhile, separate research published last month shows that the church now reaches more people on social media than in its services. Around 1.1 million people attend services at least once a month, while the church believes 1.2million people engage with its posts on sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Interest in events such as choral evensong has pushed up cathedral attendance in recent years, as young people in cities rediscover the traditional evening worship events held at flagship cathedrals including St Paul’s.

The number of children attending educational events in cathedrals has also increased by 10 per cent to 310,000 since 2016. The figures will come as a welcome boost to the Church, which saw tourist numbers drop by 8 per cent across the country between 2015 and 2016. The decline in visitors, which contrasted with a 2 per cent rise at other UK tourist attractions, was blamed on entry fees and the heightened threat of terrorism.

Andrew Nunn, the Dean of Southwark Cathedral, said he believed Londoners were more likely to go to cathedrals because they had high standards for entertainment.

He said the cathedral’s carol services had been particularly popular and the age profile was “getting younger”.

“It’s an easy way into Christmas,” he said. “It’s not like going to Holy Communion, which requires participation – you can participate in your own way.

“It’s a good experience, it’s excellent music, beautiful surroundings, familiarity of tunes, people around them, everyone singing along.”

The figures also showed that the total number of choirs was the highest since 2013, at 990. However, the number of visitors to cathedrals fell from 9.53million to 9.03million.