Perceptions of the Church of England among clergy and laity three years after the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Village, A. and Francis, L.J. (2026) Perceptions of the Church of England among clergy and laity three years after the COVID-19 lockdowns. Journal of Anglican Studies. ISSN 1740-3553
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Abstract
A convenience sample of 2,874 clergy and lay people from the Church of England were asked about the state of their congregation in 2024, some three years after the end of lockdown restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceptions were assessed by three distinct but correlated scales, one related to perceived changes in numbers, the second to the fragility of churches, and the third to the general state of churches in terms numbers, mood, and finances. Scores on these scales were related to both subjective and objective factors. The main subjective predictor of pessimistic scores was emotional volatility, a measure of trait neuroticism. The main objective predictors were church tradition and congregation size. Evangelicals were generally more optimistic compared with those from Anglo-Catholic or Broad-Church traditions. Pessimism declined as congregation size increased, up to about 150, when it remained constant.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Published by Cambridge University Press in 2026. This is an author accepted manuscript of published open access article available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740355326100898. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Copyright © © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust |
| Keywords: | Church attendance Church of England COVID-19 Fragile Church Personality |
| Depositing User: | Ursula Mckenna |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Mar 2026 09:41 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Apr 2026 13:08 |
| URI: | https://lbro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1305 |
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