Further to this post, here are some ASA (Average Sunday Attendance) numbers from the Diocese of BC:
Admittedly, our situation is grim. When I was being considered for the position of Congregational Development Officer, someone told me there were between forty and fifty thousand Anglicans in the diocese. That made sense, since the Canadian census for much of the twentieth century had Anglicans at about 10% of the population. Since there are 700,000 people living on Vancouver Island, forty to fifty thousand Anglicans seemed like a reasonable figure, even taking into account what we know about the 40-plus years of church decline.
However, when the DMRIT collected the 2007 figures from the parish annual reports, we were astonished to discover there were only 9,200 Anglicans on the parish rolls, with an average Sunday attendance of 4,955.
The DMRIT determined that the best response to the situation was to embark on a strategy of incremental growth, encouraging congregations to grow by at least 2 percent in average Sunday attendance each year. That would mean a congregation with an average attendance of 50 would grow to 51; a congregation of 100 would grow to 102, and so on. Such modest growth was thought to be obtainable for most of our congregations, and it would at least put the diocese in a turnaround trajectory from decline to growth. The 2008 Diocesan Synod approved this strategy.
What we did not expect is that the numbers would continue to decline. The 2008 figures indicate that average worship attendance has fallen to 3,856 – from the 4,955 level in 2007. Even accounting for the fact that several churches did not report their average Sunday attendance, our diocese experienced a further significant decline in the number of worshippers. The average Anglican congregation had 82 worshippers in 2008, compared to 95 in 2007. Moreover, 31 churches had less than 100 attendees on Sunday, compared to 5 churches with more than 150 at worship. And, as you might expect, funerals significantly outnumbered baptisms and marriages combined.
To add to these numbers, if we assume that the ratio of Anglicans in the Diocese of BC to the total number of Anglicans in Canada was roughly the same in 1960 as it was in 2001, we can estimate that the ASA in the Diocese of BC in 1960 was about 52,000. Here’s a graph of the decline:
“What we did not expect is that the numbers would continue to decline.”
If you’re not offering anything different from the culture, why should people bother to attend. Talk about willful blindness!! What a bunch of ostriches!
If that is BC what does Niagara look like? A Prayer Book Society of Canada article was picked up by Virtue back in 2007.
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6155
I would think the numbers must be even worse what with the split of the ANIC never mind the new same sex stand by Bishop Bird. I wonder where they stand with the banks credit line now? Surely some bank mandarin will pull the plug and save us a lot of hassle.
That’s a good point. Didn’t St Hilda’s Oakville leave ACoC *after* that report was compiled? Does anyone know if there are updated figures for DioN?
Ellie,
There are now 4 parishes who have left the DoN for ANiC and they all did so after 2007. If the diocese has current ASA number, they haven’t published them as far as I know. It would be too embarrassing, I imagine.
This comment in the VOL article is no longer accurate, insofar as orthodox clergy find it next to impossible to find a job in the diocese: they are simply not wanted.
Say “Good night”, Gracie!