Average church attendance in the diocese of New Westminster is down again for the second time in as many years.
The diocese reports that 8,167 Anglicans worshipped in churches in New Westminster (which comprises the Greater Vancouver area) on a typical Sunday in 2002. That figure is about 270 fewer worshippers than the year before, a drop of about 3.3 per cent. The figures, however, are incomplete as seven parishes refused to send their statistics to the diocese as part of their protest against the diocese’s 2002 decision to allow same-sex blessings.
Between 2000 and 2001, when nearly all parishes reported their statistics, the decline was about the same as last year: 3.1 per cent.
Eight parishes reported increases in average Sunday attendance of more than 10 people.