Did you know there are more Christians in the world today than at any other time in history and the church is growing at a tremendous rate? In our own neighbourhoods it is very easy to lose sight of the big picture and so I want to take a moment to put the church on a larger map. The Church of England is very good at counting and collating figures. Bishop John Pritchard, in his book, Going to Church, reports that the church, worldwide is very alive and well. Listen to some of these statistics:

  • 2.1 billion: the number of Christians in the world (a third of the world’s population, comprising Roman Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Pentecostals, and many others).
  • 80 million: the number of Anglicans worldwide (17 million in Nigeria, which has had to double the number of dioceses in the last ten years to cope with the growth of the Church).
  • 70,000: the net increase in the number of Christians every day worldwide.
  • Western Europe is the only part of the world where the Christian faith is struggling. Everywhere else the Church is growing, especially in South America, Africa and South-East Asia. It is estimated there are 10,000 new Christians every day in China.
  • While we are about it… 1.7 million: the number of people who attend a Church of England service each month, with about 1 million attending every Sunday.
  • 23 million: the number of hours of voluntary service given by Church of England parishioners each month.
  • 1 million (just over): the number of children educated in Church of England schools.

And what is really exciting… there are signs of revival and large-scale church growth here in England, chiefly in the charismatic evangelical churches – like Holy Trinity Brompton (founders of the Alpha course) and St Andrew’s Chorleywood; and also especially in the black Pentecostal churches in London. There have been over 500 new churches in the London boroughs in the last 10 years. One of the largest, Kingsway International, has 10,000 Christians meeting every Sunday.

In Narnia, it is said ‘Aslan is on the move’. In our own country, today, God is on the move. And He is especially moving in the Pentecostal/Charismatic churches. The Church of Christ is alive and well and busy, and the kingdom of God continues to grow just as Jesus said it would.

R. Ian Seymour

John Pritchard, Going to Church, 2009, London: SPCK, p.38-40