Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of the study was to ascertain the number and frequency of people attending church of all denominations in Scotland in 2002. Several denominational changes had taken place in Scotland since the last census in 1994 (SN 4395) and 1984 (SN 2554). Political changes, with the formation of the Scottish Parliament, had brought about boundary changes for many councils, by which church attendance was previously analysed. A combination of denomination, political and population change had necessitated a revision of church attendance. In particular the study was to evaluate if the age structure of churchgoers had altered over the past decade and to establish if the trend in decline in the number of young people attending Sunday worship in England was true of Scotland.

Main Topics:

The data cover: church attendance; age, gender and size of congregation for both adults and children; congregational ethos; type of area church is in; frequency of services; mid-week services; youth activities; church-run activities; Alpha and Emmaus programme; lay ministries.