Report says plan of festival churches only in exercise on holy days – is gaining currency in rural areas where average attendances are below 10An increasing number of churches are likely to operate only at Christmas,Easter and on other holy days as the Church of England struggles with the financial burden of maintaining its properties in the face of declining congregations, a report says.
More than three-quarters of the CofE’s 15700 churches are listed, and in 2013 their upkeep cost £157m – or an average of £10000 per parish. Yet one in four of all churches has a weekly attendance of fewer than 16 people and for rural churches the figure sinks below 10.
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Source: theguardian.com