Perceptions of the Church of England among Clergy and Laity Three Years after the COVID-19 Lockdowns

Abstract A convenience sample of 2874 clergy and lay people from the Church of England was asked about the state of their congregation in 2024, some 3 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 of 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.