Giving up on the Church of England in the time of pandemic: Individual differences in responses of non-ministering members to online worship and off-line services

This study draws on data provided to the Covid-19 & Church-21 Survey by 826 ‘non-ministering’ Anglicans living in England in order to explore why some people gave up worshipping online or in church during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2021. Nearly a quarter of the participants had given up online worship, attending off-line services in church, or both: 15% had given up on online worship, 13% had given up on going to church, and 5% had given up on both. Giving up was significantly correlated with negative experience of services. Those under the age of forty and Anglo-Catholics were most likely to give up online worship. Women and extraverts were most likely to give up on socially-distanced services in church. The results indicate the sorts of people who might drift from the church post-pandemic and what the Church could concentrate on to prevent this process