The statistics tell us that St Peter's Brighton and St Swithun's Bournemouth should be carpet warehouses or gastropubs by now. Justin Brierley finds out why they are welcoming hundreds of parishioners through their doors again
'Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated'. So said writer Mark Twain after a 19th century newspaper mistakenly published his obituary.
The same could be said of the dear old Church of England. Some parts of the press just seem to be awaiting its inevitable demise after a long, drawn out illness. After all, the buildings are empty, the vicars are demoralised and normal people prefer to go to M&S on a Sunday now, don't they?
But, despite the tide of assumed decline, there are plenty of stories bucking the stereotype. When I recently spoke to Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) leader Nicky Gumbel about his strategy for the revitalisation of CofE churches, he described a 'hidden revival' taking place.
More here-
http://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Not-Dead-Yet-How-two-Anglican-churches-came-back-to-life
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