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 PrintableVersion The Tide is Running OutBleeding to death?THE TIDE IS RUNNING OUT 'The Tide is Running Out' contains the results of the English Church Attendance Survey (ECAS), a two-page questionnaire sent to every church in England during September 1998, along with an analysis of these results. Organised by MARC Europe the questionnaire was sent to 37,717 churches in all. It covered all Trinitarian denominations, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox. A church is defined as 'a body of people meeting on a Sunday in the same premises primarily for public worship at regular intervals'. 12,446 churches, or 33% of those contacted, responded to the survey. The book abounds with tables and graphs, but for the 'statistically illiterate' it is well- presented and readily understood. The ten chapters deal with the information in a number of ways. After a rationale for yet another survey, the results are analysed according to denomination, geographical distribution, age of worshippers and ethnic background. There are also chapters on changes in 'churchmanship' or theological persuasion, attendance at mid-week meetings and a survey of church buildings (is it really true that only 60% of them has a public loo?!!). The book ends by making some suggestions about the way in which the churches should face the future. The overall conclusion of the book can be readily identified by the title. The survey paints a broad picture which is very sobering. In 1979, 5.4 million people in England attended church on an average Sunday. Ten years later in 1989 this had become 4.7 million and it fell to 3.7 million in 1998. In the nine years between 1989 and 1998 there has been a drop of one million. To quote Brierley, 'The numbers in this book show a haemorrhage akin to a burst artery. The country is littered with people who used to go to church but no longer do.' To make matters worse, the greatest percentage loss has been amongst teenagers (10-19). The survey concludes that if this trend continues, 'we could literally be one generation from extinction'. Of course there are some positive things to report. For example there has been a large increase in the number of mainstream Evangelical Anglican churches and there is a continued commitment to church planting in many quarters (although even this seems to be in decline). However, the overall picture is very serious. We should be challenging our church members to foster fervent friendship with unbelievers and help them to witness in the work place. It concludes with a call to optimism. We should not retreat into past glories (archaism), apathy (defeatism) or individualistic spiritual experience (mysticism). Nor should we build castles in the air (futurism). Instead we need to take hold of the crisis and transform it into something positive (RE-FORMATION). It would be quite easy to be critical of this book. It is particularly weak in its theological analysis. It is surely significant that it uses the word 'Re-formation' in a way which sees it as a response to the crisis rather than a rediscovery of gospel truth and biblical principles. The church must think strategically - but what is needed is not better planning and new methods, but an outpouring of God's Spirit and a dependence on grace. However, we should read the book for what it purports to be. Peter Brierley admits that he is a statistician not a theologian. We may long for a deeper theological analysis, but the information presented here will challenge us to thought, prayer and aggressive, culturally-relevant Evangelism. Paul Mallard,
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