Churches hit by pandemic as attendance falls by two-thirds
MANY Christians feel churches have failed to deliver during the Covid crisis, a shock survey has revealed.
Parishioners said their places of worship did not offer enough support – and more than two-thirds won’t go so regularly after the pandemic.
Another 56 per cent want their churches to make urgent changes.
Older members of congregations felt particularly badly served by their vicars, priests and chaplains.
Forty-one per cent of pensioners said church leaders failed to offer pastoral support, either by phone or in person, when Covid restrictions were taking their toll on people’s mental health.
And most younger Christians – 70 per cent of those aged 18 to 34 – said churches struggled to use technology and social media effectively during lockdowns. But 62 per cent expect online services to continue post-pandemic, according to the poll for Christian media company Premier. Its spokesman Peter Kerridge said: “These shocking results are a clarion call for the church. Without urgent change, it risks becoming irrelevant very quickly.”
But a Church of England spokesman said: “Our experience has been that amid the toughest times of the last two years local churches stepped up, perhaps like never before, finding amazing new ways to serve their community and worship God despite unprecedented restrictions. “Eight in 10 Church of England parishes came up with different forms of ‘church at home’, including live online or dial-in worship.” He added: “There’s no doubt the pandemic brought real suffering to our communities. The challenge for churches now is to emerge stronger.”