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Bishops to take to the skies to boost church attendance
Last updated at 10:37am on 24.09.07
Anglican bishops are set to take to the skies in a desperate bid to persuade people to return to services.
Senior clergy will also host podcasts to publicise its Back To Church Sunday campaign.
Some vicars have even sent members of their congregations on customer service courses run by department store John Lewis to learn how to be more welcoming to visitors.
The campaign, launched on September 24, aims to bring 20,000 extra people to pack the pews on Sunday in 2,000 participating churches.
Churchgoers have been asked to invite a friend who has stopped going to come back to a service.
It comes after research showed three million people said they would come back to if they received a personal invitation.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has given the initiative his personal backing.
He said: "Millions of people remember and love church, but perhaps they've just drifted away for a while.
"Back to Church Sunday is a chance for church people to invite a friend to come back and see what they've been missing, and to help them reconnect with God in special services of welcome across England."
Organisers predict that this year's event will see 20,000 people return to church this Sunday, based on an average figure of 10 people returning to each church that has previously taken part in the event.
The Bishop of Sherwood, the Rt Revd Tony Porter, will take to the sky in a light aircraft from Nottingham to Blyth, trailing a banner promoting the event.
The new Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, earlier appealed to people in the Thames Valley who've stopped coming to church to tell him why - and to let him know what might bring them back again through a website, www.tellbishopjohn.com.
He is now looking through the responses to see what action the Church could take and will be record a podcast to reflect on his findings.
The Church of England says church attendance figures have been relatively stable since 2000.
The latest figures suggest that around 1.7 million people attend Church of England church and cathedral worship each month, while around 1.2 million attend services each week - on Sunday or during the week - and just under one million each Sunday.
Canon Paul Bayes, the Church of England's National Mission and Evangelism Adviser, believes the event is a key opportunity for churches: "The most important thing about Back to Church Sunday is ensuring that those returning to church get a truly warm welcome.
"Things like the length of services, the hymns and songs we sing and even the way we give out notices can all have an impact on the welcome people feel.
"It's also critical that churches think though what they can offer people who have made that brave step to come back."
Back to Church Sunday is being run in churches across the dioceses of Bath & Wells, Birmingham, Blackburn, Chelmsford, Chester, Coventry, Derby, Ely, Exeter, Guildford, Lichfield, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Peterborough, Ripon and Leeds, Rochester, Southwark, Southwell & Nottingham and Wakefield.
