CHURCHES in Mole Valley are experiencing an "encouraging" increase in attendance, figures released by the Church of England show.
In the Diocese of Guildford, weekly attendance grew overall by one per cent from 2010 to 2011, the most recent statistics available.
The diocese also experienced a two per cent increase in Easter attendance and a ten per cent rise in baptisms, as well as a two per cent growth in the number of children and young people attending church each week.
Over 92,000 people attended Christmas services across the diocese in 2011 – an increase of 11 per cent on 2010.
The Bishop of Dorking, the Right Reverend Ian Brackley, said: "These figures are a welcome reminder of the work and service undertaken by the Church of England annually.
"There are 1,000 couples married, 2,600 baptisms celebrated and over 3,000 funerals conducted every week of the year.
"The attendance figures are heartening, especially the very strong growth in Christmas attendance and the encouraging news of further growth even on these figures in 2012."
Nationally, Christmas 2011 drew 14.5 per cent more worshippers to Church of England services than attended in 2010, reaching a total of 2,618,030 people.
There was also a 1.2 per cent increase in children and young people attending church.
The Bishop added: "It is my hope that these national statistics reflect an end to the narrative of decline in church attendance with many dioceses – including our own – showing growth in the numbers of those both coming to faith and coming to church."
The Reverend Barbara Steadman-Allen of St Mary Magdalene Church in South Holmwood said she had also been encouraged by recent attendance.
She said: "We ourselves have seen good numbers. In terms of baptism, we were just commenting this morning at a staff meeting how we are seeing requests for those increasing quite a lot.
"People might come from a non-church background or a mixed church background but it's about wanting to belong.
"And we are always stacked up at Christmas and Easter."
She spoke, however, of the difficulties churches can face in attracting new members, adding: "There's a dilemma between speaking the language of the community in order to communicate and maintaining tradition.
"Obviously it's not a business and we don't market ourselves in that way, but at the same time it is a competition for people's attention."
The Reverend Paul Bryer of St Paul's Church in Dorking said he was not surprised by the figures.
"We have seen steady growth over the last few years," he said.
"Headlines about the decline in church attendances do not match up with what we see. We have a vibrant and lively church.
"We see 60 people every Sunday morning at 9am, and then at our main service at 10am we see around 140 adults and 60 children."
