Are you part of a church which has a congregation of less than 50?
One of the things that the Church of England prides itself on is the Parish system. We know that it's got its faults, but we also know that wherever we may live in the country, there's an Anglican Church nearby that's there for us.
In Lichfield Diocese there are churches of all sizes, but the majority have congregations of less than 50. In many of these the clergy look after multiple churches and a significant number of our smaller churches are understandably in a rural setting where the population is small. Two booklets recommended to churches, urban or rural, are:
Small but GROWING by Robin Gamble
Twelve steps into Evangelism and Church Growth for smaller churches. This can be obtained directly from Robin Gamble: Email or Tel: 01274 419754
Going for Growth by Jeffrey John
A strategy for incumbents of smaller parishes in the central and catholic traditions. It is available for free online here.
There is also a considerable information and resources provided through the Arthur Rank Centre: www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
Rural Churches
If your church is in a rural setting, do please check out our Rural Mission Page
There is also a considerable information and resources provided through the Arthur Rank Centre: www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
Counting people that Count
In the past few years we have been looking at attendance measures in a different way by looking at the ‘Church Family’ or ‘Worshipping Community’. This measures children and young people, as well as adults, and midweek events as well as Sunday. It also takes into account of the fact that people attend less frequently on Sundays due to sociological changes. More on these is on our Stats page.