Items filtered by date: November 2025
Welcome to the home of Mission Statistics in the Diocese of Derby!
Did you know that Church of England attendance increased by 5% in 2023?
The only way that we know this is because people like you told us so!
This page is full of important information to help you collect and submit your Statistics for Mission returns.
Statistics for Mission measures church attendance in several different ways, and the data collected enables the Church of England and its diocese to help plan and evaluate its mission and ministry.
Numbers and statistics are not everyone's cup of tea, amidst all the busyness of parish life they can be easy to overlook, but please be assured that completing the Statistics for Mission return for your parish is of VITAL importance and your help and your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Where do I submit my data?
Data is submitted using the simple and easy-to-use Archbishops Council portal at http://parishreturns.churchofengland.org.
If you require login details to use this system or are having issues logging in, please do not hesitate to contact Matt Barnes on 01332 388692 or matt.barnes@derby.anglican.org
Paper entries are no longer accepted, but if you don't have access to a computer, you are free to download the paper-form return, complete this and seek help from your incumbent, area dean, or archdeaconry administrator for assistance in uploading the information.
When should data be submitted?
Data can be entered through the course of the year, and you are welcome to do this as soon as you have it.
For instance, Electoral Roll and Easter figures can be entered any time soon after annual general meetings have been completed.
The rest of the data input opens at the end of September, but much of the information can't be completed until the end of the year, so most people choose to wait until January of the following year to submit/complete their data entry.
All data must be submitted by mid-March of the following year.
How can I get help?
You can find a wealth of information on the Church Support Hub, which explains how to enter your data and why it matters. Amongst other resources, there's a comprehensive webinar that explores all the questions you may have; certainly worth a watch if you're new to Statistics for Mission.
If you can't find the answer to your question online, then you're not alone. As well as your incumbent and Area Dean the following people are available to help and support you:
- Rev Canon Matt Barnes Director of Mission 01332 388692 matt.barnes@derby.anglican.org
- Sue Hidderley-Burton PA to the Archdeacon of Derby City and South Derbyshire 01332 388682 sue.hidderley-burton@derby.anglican.org
- Emily Redmond PA to the Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales 01332 278177 emily.redmond@derby.anglican.org
- Claire Collishaw PA to the Archdeacon of East Derbyshire 01332 388656 claire.collishaw@derby.anglican.org
How do you record online worship?
Measuring attendance of online church is difficult and problematic.
Online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Zoom do allow content creators to view an analysis of who has viewed their output.
However, these figures don't equate well to 'attendance'.
Many of those who view will do so only for a few seconds and it still counts as a view; in addition, one single 'view' might represent the attendance of several people who are watching one device in a household.
During COVID, the national Research and Statistics team of the Church of England produced a tracker that may be helpful in recording online engagement.
You can download (below) a simple Excel form that can be used to record information on your online church and attendance at services.
In addition, the Church of England Digital Team have produced some good articles on how to use the analytics available on each of the major platforms you might be using:
Are there other resources to help me (now, and during the year)?
Statistics aren't just for the national church - healthy churches will use the gathering of data to help understand what is working (and what isn't) to help guide them, under God, to plan more effectively and use resources more wisely.
Indeed, the church has been gathering statistical information since its birth (Acts 2:41)! Good data gathering can help parishes improve pastoral care, be more effective evangelistically, and increase outward-facing mission.
Experience has shown that if churches collect data week by week through the year, it makes completing the Statistics for Mission return at the end of the year much easier and produces much more accurate results. To help you do that, we’ve provided some statistics collection tools that you can download from the links below. These are not extra forms that you have to fill in. If you find them helpful, then please use them, and feel free to adapt them. We don’t need you to submit them – they’re for your convenience and use only.
- Statistics for Mission 2024 return [PDF] - This is the paper-form version of the Statistics for Mission data; you may find it helpful to print off and use to collect the information you need. You may need it to pass to someone else who is gathering data for you before you upload it.
- Online Parish Returns Briefing for Parishes[PDF] - For those who prefer a briefing sheet.
- Pastoral Care Register [Word] - A simple sample register that can be adapted to help keep track of attendance patterns across various services.
- Attendance Calculator [Excel] - Assists in collection of Usual Sunday Attendance and October counts, as well as recording figures for Advent, Christmas and Easter.
- Worshipping Community [PDF] - A document explaining the Worshipping Community statistics; their importance for the church (both locally and more widely), alongside some tips to help collect them.
- Worshipping Community List [Excel] - Assists in collecting Electoral Roll, Worshipping Community, Joiners and Leavers figures.
- Fresh Expressions Choice Tree [PDF] - A simple tool to help you decide whether you should include a group as a Fresh Expression in your Statistics return.
- Online Tracking template [Excel] - A tool to help record online worship engagement.
Online Service Register
One of the most time consuming parts of collecting data for the Statistics for Mission returns is having to dig out the service register books.
Don't forget, General Synod approved the online Services Register as a legal alternative to the paper version in July 2023.
You can now record service information on your phone, and then complete your Stats for Mission with one click of a button!
The benefits include:
- Quick and easy access to your service data when you need it.
- Increased security of your service data
- Seamless export to your Statistics for Mission return
You can find out more here: Online Service Register.
Finally
To discuss anything about how to collect or submit Statistics for Mission, how to use data for mission locally in your parish or ANYTHING about the mission of your church then don't hesitate to contact:
Revd Canon Matt Barnes
Director of Mission, Evangelism & Parish Revitalisation
01332 388692 or matt.barnes@derby.anglican.org
Available for one-to-one advice (in person or online), speaking at PCC or Leadership teams, assistance with MAP preparations, etc.
New Electoral Roll required for every parish in 2025
In 2025, an entirely new church electoral roll must be prepared in advance of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in every parish in the Church of England, under the Church Representation Rules (CRR).
So, even if someone has had their name entered on the existing electoral roll, they must complete a fresh application form to be included on the new one.
The PCC must take reasonable steps to inform all those whose names are entered on the existing roll that a new roll is being prepared, and that they must make a fresh application if they wish their name to appear on the new roll.
In brief:
- Preparation of a new roll must be done every six years (last completed 2019)
- Notice displayed near the main door of every church in every parish, at least two months before the APCM
- Notice must stay up for at least 14 days
- Announcements made in church during the 14 days that the notice is up to say that the roll is being prepared
- PCC must ensure that reasonable efforts are made to let everyone on the old roll know that a new Roll is being prepared
- Exception is anyone no longer qualified to be on the roll (e.g. someone who no longer worships regularly in the parish and lives outside the parish)
- Members of the previous roll need to fill in applications (no one is automatically included)
- New people may also apply by filling in an application for enrolment
- New roll must be complete on a fixed date between 15 and 28 days before the APCM
- Completed new roll is posted near the main church door at least 14 days before the APCM. During this time corrections may be made (e.g. correcting a misspelling) but no new names added or removed.
The full guidance on preparing the new Electoral Roll can be downloaded here: PDF | Word
Downloads
Forms, notices and guidance notes
- Preparation of Electoral Roll Notice PDF | Word
- Application to be added to the Electoral Roll PDF | Word
- Electoral Roll GDPR: Parish Guidance PDF | Word
- Electoral Roll Privacy Notice PDF | Word
- Notice of APCM PDF | Word
- Nomination form for PCC PDF | Word
- APCM results (To return to Derby Church House) PDF | Word
- Electoral Roll Certificate (To return to Derby Church House) PDF | Word
A team of volunteers has been packing and delivering special Christmas food packages to families and individuals in need in and around Derby.
The volunteers, including a team from Rolls-Royce, gathered at St Peter’s in the City, Derby, to help pack hampers for Christmas Lunch on Jesus – a project that provides low-income families and individuals with a Christmas meal.
The volunteers packed 300 hampers which will feed around 1,200 people.
The hampers contained everything needed for an enjoyable Christmas lunch, along with a candle and card from the team.
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See pictures from the event here [Flickr]
Volunteers started preparing early in the day, setting out tables containing the various elements of the meal and packing portions of fresh vegetables to go in the hampers.
Then volunteers went around the tables with bags, filling them with the ingredients for tailor-made Christmas dinners for each recipient.
Once the bags were packed, yet another stream of volunteers distributed the hampers to people in Derby and surrounding areas who were nominated by Social Services, GPs, housing associations, women’s refuges, charities and other organisations.
The project costs in the region of £15,000 each year and is financed through donations from businesses, churches, local trusts and individual giving.
20 December
The Revd Stanley (Stan) Frost, NSM Lower Kersal (Manchester) 1982-1987, NSM Convenor 1987-1995, NSM Patricroft 1987-1989, Licensed Preacher 1989-2003, Priest-in-Charge Pittenweem and Elie and Earlsferry (St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane) 2003-2004, who retired in 2004 and held the Bishop of Derby’s Permission to Officiate, died on 15 December 2024. In respect of his family’s wishes, funeral details will not be published.
The Revd Rachel Burdett, Assistant Curate of Belper Christ Church with Turnditch and of Hazelwood, Holbrook and Milford, Diocese of Derby, has been appointed Priest-in-Charge of Belper Christ Church and Turnditch, of Hazelwood, Holbrook and Milford, and of Ambergate and Heage in the same diocese.
12 December
The Revd Fiona Kouble will be instituted as Vicar of Tideswell, on Wednesday, 12 March 2025 at 6.30 pm at St John the Baptist Tideswell by the Bishop of Derby and inducted by the Archdeacon of Derbyshire Peak and Dales.
The Revd Max Marsh will be licensed as Priest-in-Charge of Ilkeston Holy Trinity and of Long Eaton St. Laurence, Diocese of Derby, on Wednesday, 15 January 2025 at 6.30 pm at St Laurence’s Long Eaton by the Bishop of Derby, assisted by the Archdeacon of East Derbyshire.
The Revd Phillippa Taylor, Assistant Curate of Church of the Martyrs Leicester, Diocese of Leicester, has been appointed Priest-in-Charge of Boulton St Mary, Diocese of Derby.
>> Guide to Parochial Fees 2025 - includes Parochial Fees Table [PDF]
>> Parochial Fees Table 2025 [PDF]
>> Parochial Fees Form 2025 [Excel file]
We love all the creative and different ways churches are engaging with their parishes and beyond.
Our vision is The Kingdom of God, Good News for All and it's great to see how so many churches in the Diocese of Derby are sharing stories of their success in achieving transformed lives through growing church and building community.
Here are some of the Christmas social media posts that have caught our eye - and don't forget you can find your local church services and events here.
- All
The relevant documents for your parish Common Fund request for 2025 are available to download using the links below.
Standing order forms are included for your convenience, along with guidance.
If you have any queries, please contact finance@derby.anglican.org.
Standing Order guidance
Please complete your standing order mandate, filling in the highlighted boxes, including adding your unique 6‐digit parish reference number in the box at the bottom of the form.
If you are unsure of this code, please refer to the Common Fund Request 2025 document where all parishes are listed by Deanery. This is important so that we can easily identify who the payment has come from.
You will also find listed the Common Fund request for your parish.
Once completed, please send one section to your bank and the other to:
Finance Department
Derby Church House
Full Street
Derby
DE1 3DR
Or email it to: finance@derby.anglican.org
Christine McMullen, the Diocese of Derby's former chair of the House of Laity, has been awarded The Canterbury Cross in this year’s Lambeth Awards, in recognition of her exceptional service to both the Diocese of Derby and the Church of England for over 40 years.
The Bishop of Derby, The Rt Revd Libby Lane said: “Christine has been an extraordinary servant of Christ and His church.
"I am delighted her contribution over so many decades and in so many spheres has been recognised and celebrated in this way.
"Her faith and sense of duty have sustained and equipped her to serve at a local, diocesan and national level.
"In the Diocese of Derby, she has been an advocate and champion of lay voice and ministry especially in rural contexts. For 40 years, she has held licence and now has permission to exercise ministry as Reader, for two decades she served as Chair of the House of Laity for Diocesan Synod and is a member of the Bishop’s Council. For many years she held the roles of Deanery Lay Chair, School Governor and Business Committee member. She has also sat on the Vacancy-in-See Committee and acted as Warden of Readers.
"Christine has been Diocesan President of the Mothers' Union, National Vice Chair for the MU and member of the Central Council at Mary Sumner House, London. Christine was the manager of Salcare before, in 1994, she became lecturer and then Vice Principal at the Northern Ordination College, where she taught Pastoral Studies, Human Relationship, Ethics and New Testament Greek. Christine was subsequently on the Governing Council of Trinity Theological College Bristol.
"Whilst a member of the General Synod Christine was a member of many committees and working parties, including at Ministry Division considering Clergy Stipends and working conditions. She was a member of the working party on The Family which produced its report in 1995. She was the founder member of WATCH which campaigned for the ordination of women first as clergy, then the Episcopate.
"We are deeply grateful to Christine for the generous ways she has used her gifts and experience for God. We congratulate her on being awarded the Canterbury cross.”
On receiving the award Christine said: “I was not very excited when I read the email offering me the Canterbury Cross. I thought it was just a hoax!
"I decided I had better check so I phoned Bishop Libby to ask her if it were genuine, and when the Bishop stopped laughing, she reassured me it was true and I had better send a reply!
"This was a few weeks ago and the hardest thing has been not able to share the news!
"What I have done with my life is based on the support of my friends and what my family taught me - to trust God, to be kind, to look into people’s eyes when talking to them and to listen carefully to what they are saying ( and not saying) without making judgements.
"There was a lot of noise round our family table, my mother was a great giggler, and my father was quieter but had a canny eye for the idiosyncrasies of people in everyday life and had a great gift for doing things in his own way, and my children were unbelievably honest. I owe a lot to them.”
Congratulations to Christine on this amazing achievement!
Archdeacon Nicky preached at the Safeguarding Sunday service at Ashbourne on Sunday 18 November 2024
As we gather here today on this Safeguarding Sunday, our hearts and minds can’t help but be troubled and heavy in the light of the findings of the Makin Report. We are shocked and disturbed by the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth. We are ashamed of the institutional failures of the Church of England and many of its senior clergy.
As Archbishop Justin has resigned and prepares to step down, we can’t help but wonder what comes next? How will we continue to learn from the mistakes of the past? What might the future of the Church look like?
The prophet Jeremiah tells us that God’s plan is always to give us a future and a hope. The two Bible readings we’ve read today help us to think about what that future and that hope might look like and how we might contribute to bringing God’s plans and purposes to fruition.
God’s desire is that all people might know his love and come to live within his kingdom. The kingdom of God which is good news for all. The way into that kingdom is open for all who will enter by putting their faith and trust in Jesus, the one who died that we might have life.
In our liturgy, we sometimes talk about Jesus’ death as opening his arms for us upon the cross – a gesture of welcome, invitation and drawing us in. When you watch a priest presiding at the eucharist, the sleeves of our vestments look very much like wings. That is imagery which the psalmist picks up in our first reading today, Psalm 91:1-4.
God offers us the opportunity to live within his kingdom, to find shelter under his protection. To lean upon his strength, and rest in the shadow of his wings, to be truly and deeply safe and secure. God’s kingdom sets us free from anything that would enslave us as God’s perfect love casts out our fear and helps us grow into wholeness and fullness of life. God’s desire for us is that we will flourish and thrive and become the people we were created to be.
Our Diocesan Vision is nothing less than a vision of the kingdom of God. In our different roles and responsibilities, we are seeking to be good news for all the people God sends our way. In all our churches across the diocese, we are creating safe spaces where people can flourish and thrive and live out their God-given calling. Knowing that we are loved beyond measure by God in Christ, we are learning to love without measure or restraint.
As we reflect on the faithfulness of God and remember with gratitude all he has done for us, our love for him grows, our relationship with him deepens and that love overflows into service of our local contexts. And when we see things around us that are not how God wants them to be we try and find a way to speak out and challenge injustice. And as we do that, other people are impacted and affected and we pray that as they encounter Christ in us and between us and through us, that they too will become disciples and their lives are transformed by Christ.
Today as we gather, it is good to remember that the work we do in safeguarding is absolutely central to all we are and do and to helping our churches reflect the life, values and vision of God’s kingdom.
Thank you for the part that you are playing. It is good that our amazing safeguarding team are here today and we thank God for the faithful and diligent way in which they serve us. But, as we all know, safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility- though without some really committed volunteers who are willing to devote their time, energy and focus their ministry around this area, our churches would be less safe and people would be at risk.
The work that our churches are doing in safeguarding is often unseen and unnoticed. No-one knows how much time is spent updating Parish dashboards. No-one (other than our trainer Nick Harding) sees the thousands of individuals sitting on their laptops completing their training. No-one is there in the middle of the night when you can’t get to sleep because something traumatic has occurred and you’ve been part of the Case Management Meeting trying to find ways of moving forward.
But God sees all those things. His arms of love surround and enfold you, his wings are spread over you giving you protection and shade. His strength helps you to stand and be strong. He catches your tears in a bottle and treasures it for ever. So you are never on your own – God is always with you and has promised to never leave or forsake you. His grace is sufficient, his power is perfected in weakness and his mercies are new every morning for great is his faithfulness. And can I encourage you to allow our Safeguarding team to help and support you too for that is what they are there for. And as well as that professional help and support, can I encourage you to offer peer support to one another through the PSO network and make the most of the resources available to you.
Part of being human is accepting that no-one is perfect, we are all fallen, we all make mistakes, we all need help and we all need God’s forgiveness. As we remember with gratitude all who work within our churches supporting the work of Safeguarding, we pray for the ways in which we as individuals, and our Church as an institution, has failed in our duty to protect people. And failed in our calling to love as we have been loved and provide a safe place for all to thrive. We need to learn from those failures and do everything in our power to move forward in the way God wants us to be.
For those who have been the cause of pain, we pray that the love of God will show them the error of their ways and grant them the grace to repent and change, and opportunities to atone and make amends, where that is appropriate and possible. And for all perpetrators we ask that God will convict them of their sin and change their hearts.
And as we close, I invite you to hold before God all survivors and especially those who have suffered as a result of the failings of our Church. Each one is a unique individual made in God’s image, known and loved by God, infinitely precious and treasured by him. Let us commit ourselves to praying for them, for their healing and protection and that they might encounter the love of God and find safety in the shadow of his wings.
