One in two British plan to attend church at Christmas, according to survey

(ZENIT News / London, 12.19.2025).- Christmas is quietly reasserting itself as a moment of religious encounter in the United Kingdom. New national research suggests that church doors will be noticeably busier this December, not only with regular worshippers but also with people who rarely, if ever, attend services during the rest of the year.

According to a survey of just over 2,000 UK adults conducted by Savanta on behalf of the Christian relief and development agency Tearfund, 45 per cent of adults say they plan to attend a church service or Christmas-related religious event this year. That figure represents a clear rise from last year, when 40 per cent reported the same intention, and it challenges long-standing assumptions about the steady decline of churchgoing in British society.

The motivations behind this renewed interest are varied and, in some cases, unexpected. For many, Christmas attendance is anchored in habit and memory rather than doctrinal commitment. Nearly four in ten respondents said going to church at Christmas is simply part of their family or cultural tradition. Others pointed to the atmosphere of carol services and candlelit liturgies, while more than a quarter described Christmas as a moment that invites spiritual reflection, regardless of their usual religious practice.

Strikingly, the emotional impact of Christmas churchgoing appears to be strongest among those who do not identify as Christians. Non-Christian attendees were the most likely to say they left a church service feeling uplifted, calm or hopeful. These responses suggest that, even in a largely secular context, churches continue to function as spaces where meaning, beauty and emotional reassurance can be encountered without prior belief.

Beyond worship, the survey highlights a less visible but increasingly important dimension of church life at Christmas: practical support. Two in five adults said they had received some form of help from a church or through someone connected to one during the Christmas period. That assistance ranges from food banks and free meals to access to warm spaces during winter, a need that has grown more acute amid ongoing economic pressures.

The figures point to a significant social role. Around one in ten respondents reported using a church-based food bank, receiving free meals or spending time in church-run warm spaces. Nearly a quarter said they had benefited from a free Christmas meal provided by a church or by individuals linked to one. These are not marginal initiatives but widespread forms of local support that many communities now take for granted.

For Tearfund, which works closely with local churches in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions, the UK findings mirror what the organisation sees globally. Stuart Lee, the charity’s Director of Fundraising and Global Communications, argues that the data reveal something enduring about the nature of churches at Christmas: they remain centres of both spiritual and practical care. People turn to them not only for worship but also for tangible help, especially at a time of year that can intensify loneliness and hardship.

That pattern is particularly visible in fragile contexts abroad. Tearfund reports that in countries such as the Central African Republic, Christmas attendance can double or even triple in areas emerging from conflict. There, churches often host shared meals and communal celebrations that draw entire communities together, offering a rare sense of unity, joy and hope after months or years of instability.

Taken together, these findings suggest that Christmas continues to cut through religious indifference in ways that other moments do not. Churches may no longer dominate public life in Britain, but at Christmas they still act as gathering points where tradition, compassion and the search for meaning intersect. For a few days each year, at least, the pews tell a more complex story than simple decline — one in which churches remain quietly embedded in the social and emotional fabric of the nation.

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