wfn.org | WALES:SLIGHT INCREASE IN ANGLICANS

[a.whitefield@quest.org.uk]

March 7, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London, England
Tel: [44] (0)171 620-1110   Fax: [44] (0)171 620-1070

97.3.1.4

WALES: CHURCH DECLINE GENERALLY BUT SLIGHT INCREASE ANGLICANS

(CT) Church attendance in Wales per head of population has dropped by
half since 1982 according to a new report published by the Bible
Society.

A survey of all the congregations in Wales found that half had 25 or
fewer people, including children, attending. The majority of the
congregations in the country are ageing. The most common size for a
Welsh congregation was about 10 people. The proportion of the total
Welsh population attending church declined from 14.6 per cent in 1982 to
8.7 per cent in 1995. However, the Church in Wales congregations
(Anglicans) report that there has been a slight increase in the size of
their congregations in the last five years. The report also found that
Churches identifying themselves as Anglo-Catholic or Broad, or
Charismatic were growing the most.