Changing Church 2025 report

In 2020 and 2021 the church in the UK went through significant disruption brought on by Covid-19. Churches were required to close for extended periods of time and were then bound by strict regulations as to how they could operate once they re-opened.

Five years on, the Evangelical Alliance surveyed church leaders and individuals to find out what has changed since the pandemic, and compared the findings to previous surveys. Some of the questions we set out to explore:

How has church attendance changed?

Are people coming to faith?

What’s the picture for children and youth ministry?

Is there a crisis of volunteering for churches? Is this affecting the role of churches in their communities?

Has giving to churches kept pace with rising costs?

As we meet hundreds of leaders every year, we have heard what church leaders are experiencing, and we know some of the common challenges experienced. The frequency of church attendance was one reported trend, along with the shortage of volunteers to carry out regular church activities and outreach. This report provides a picture from across the UK.

We have also heard stories from evangelical churches of every size, shape and tradition that something seemingly different is happening. People are exploring faith and finding Jesus. We wanted to find out more about what churches are experiencing, and help other churches have confidence in sharing Jesus.