Can I count them?

Each October, parishes are asked to record attendances at services as part of the Church of England’s national data collection. This might feel like yet another chore but the statistics it helps generate provide real insight across the church.

We count people because people count – people are not just numbers!  This exercise helps us improve our understanding of the people God calls us to serve and to reach out to.  The data is used for analysis by both the national church and the diocese, and historic trends can be accessed by parishes using a helpful dashboard. (see later for how to access this)    

It’s really important that we include everyone that we should be including, as otherwise it makes the church look smaller than it is. 

In the October Count section please make sure you: 

• Count all services, fresh expressions, new worshipping communities and the like, whether in the church building or elsewhere. These should be activities where worship is the primary purpose and predominant feature, but this doesn’t have to be a traditional form of worship.  

• Include adults and children attending Sunday schools or equivalent activities on other days. 

• Count attendance at baptisms including any visitors. 

• Count attendance at services outside the church, e.g. at home, in care homes, prisons, or hospitals  

• Count everyone who comes – including clergy and other ministers attending or leading services, and any visitors. 

Please … 

• only include people attending in person 

• only count people once if you know that they attended more than one service in a particular week. 

How to input information:  

To enter statistics or find the forms, visit the parish returns site.  Use your username and password to enter. (If you need a username and password, please phone Judith Nex on 01905 732802 or 07375 077989 or email her)   Select ‘Statistics for Mission’ and it will guide you through the process for entering the statistics, which can be done in stages.  If you get stuck, please contact Judith.  There is a deadline date for entering the data on the portal. It is usually the end of January.    

More than one person can enter the information for each church, but each person should have their own username and password.  

Accessing the dashboard for your church:  

In recent years, the Church of England’s Research and Statistics Unit has been working to turn the data it receives into accessible information, which Parishes can use. For example, Parishes can now download their own Parish Dashboard. Here is an example of the kind of data you can access. 

This provides information about your parish’s attendance, the worshipping community, baptisms, marriages and funerals, the Electoral Roll etc. over a number of years. This information will help you make informed decisions about Mission and outreach opportunities, which help grow the Church.    

To access this, click on the “View your data” option when you enter the portal. You will then be given three options – the ‘Statistics for Mission’ dashboard which gives you the attendance data you’ve submitted each year,  a ‘Finance’ dashboard summarising your finance returns, and access to a helpful map which provides details of demographics of your parish.