Statistics for Mission
Introduction
The Church of England online system for collecting the annual Statistics for Mission Returns (the same portal where Treasurers can upload their Return of Parish Finance figures) can be accessed here.
If you already have registered account, you can log in directly to the system, if not, you need to register first on this page. Please note that to register you will need to contact the Diocesan office for your parish code and password, you can request these from Jackie Williamson at Jackie.williamson@elydiocese.org
Why use the online portal?
The great advantage of the online system is that it allows parish users to input their data directly into a common database, giving them easy access to their historic parish records.
Once data has been entered into the portal, the details also become available to view at diocesan and national church level to help support resource allocation and planning, without the need to re-enter the information in several different places. We hope that all parishes will register and enter their information through the online portal. This will significantly speed up the process, reduce the risk of forms going astray in the post and streamline the administrative burden of entering the information multiple times.
We thank all parishes for your support in using the online system. If however you are unable to use the online platform, forms can be downloaded from here and emailed or posted to the Diocesan office at the details: Email to Jackie.williamson@elydiocese.org or by post to Diocesan Office, FAO Jackie Williamson, Diocesan House, Barton Road, Ely, CAMBS. CB7 4DX.
Why provide statistics for Mission information?
The annual collection of Statistics for Mission seeks information from each of the c.16,000 Church of England churches. The collection involves thousands of incumbents and volunteers, as well as the hard work of staff from all dioceses. The Statistics for Mission returns are about membership and attendance in our churches. The information collected provides the latest figures on attendance at Church of England services and the numbers of baptisms, marriages and funerals that have taken place.
Each October, the CofE publishes the returns received from the previous year (i.e. in October 2023 the Statistics from 2022 are published).
The national research unit works hard to turn the data it receives into accessible and understandable information that local churches can use. e.g. Parish Spotlights which show census data by parish and the new Parish Dashboard forms which show the Statistics for Mission results for parishes in a more presentable form.
- The online Church of England Returns Portal - https://parishreturns.churchofengland.org/
- The Statistics for Mission Datasets - https://www.churchofengland.org/more/policy-and-thinking/research-and-statistics/resources-publications-and-data#na
- You can also find the Parish Dashboard and Statistics for Mission data for each Church by searching for that church on the Diocesan website and following the links.
Statistics for Mission Dashboards
The Research and Statistics team in London that compile the information parishes provide also provide this information in graphical dashboards (which is a single sided PDF with graphs showing the data in an easy to view way, presented as trend lines/charts over the past several years).
Whomever within your parish supplies this data via the portal (linked above), will have access to this information so please contact your parish to review your local statistics for mission returns.
Similarly, should you wish to use these dashboards the Diocesan Mission and Ministry team have access to the PDF resources, and depending on your particular focus (i.e. children's ministry trends or life events numbers), there should be an appropriate Mission and Ministry team member to discuss this with - Contact the Mission and Ministry team.