Earlier in 2013 PEN hosted an afternoon around the 2011 census data; what it does and doesn't tell us and what to do with the information. We are very grateful to Louise McFerran from the Church of England's Research and Statistics Department who gave of her time and experise. For those who weren't able to attend here are the key points:-• Understanding the community we serve is key to ministry and mission; it requires a mixture of observation and background research.
• Headline statistics can be found on the Church of England website (this link opens on the page with a download of provisional parish figures).
• The dip in those identifying as Christian is not as large as it was feared it might be. There is a significant increase in ‘no religion’.
• When looking at the stats remember that Parish and Deanery boundaries are rarely coterminous with eg Borough Wards so ‘mind the boundaries’
• The Church of England is producing parish profiles for every Parish giving census information feedback and they will be creating some Deanery profiles too. Diocesan headlines are available on request.
• Longer term the national Presence and Engagement website will have a postcode tool to look at faiths breakdown integrated with the CUF poverty indicators tool.
• Other handy sources - Tear Fund Inside out course and the Contextual Theology Centre has produced a resource for parishes called ‘Mercy, Justice and Evangelism’ which enables congregations to engage with some of the issues raised by the census material. Please note this is a draft document and we would like feed back from parishes that use the resource so as to improve it. Email pen@theology-centre.org or telephone 0020 7780 1600 xtn 3 and speak to Susanne Mitchell
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