The Church Times reports that attendance at Christmas Services seemed to bump up compared to last year in Great Britain.
At Wakefield Cathedral, the Dean, the Very Revd Jonathan Greener, said that more people than ever had been at its Christmas services. “For us it started back in Advent, and we have been busy throughout….
….At St Albans Cathedral, the expected 1000 for a crib service on Christmas Eve attracted 3000; and, an hour after it finished, 700 turned up for evensong.
St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow, also reported an unexpectedly high turnout for midnight mass, and extra chairs had to be brought out.
Speaking after the service, the Provost, the Very Revd Kelvin Holdsworth, said: “It was wonderful to see the church packed to the gunwales for the most holy night of the year. The singing was so strong and so powerful that it felt that we were going to raise the roof.
“In a time of economic uncertainty, when so many places of the world seem troubled, it is clear that people want to share in the hope that the Church proclaims at Christmas.”
At York Minster, all services were packed, Canon Jonathan Draper said. Well over 3500 attended the Christmas Eve carol service.
At St Paul’s Cathedral in London, where the Occupy camp is still in place, numbers were also up. The Canon Pastor, the Rt Revd Michael Colclough, said: “We did wonder if the situation outside would affect numbers this year, but it hasn’t.
We were packed, and our numbers were up on last year, when we suffered a little with the colder weather.”
Since we don’t have a way of instantly reporting comparative attendance figures, we are curious: did you have more people than you expected or fewer people? Do you think good/bad weather played into it? How did Saturday evening bumping up against Sunday morning affect things if at all?
Let us know your experience and your take on what you saw and heard.