Church slow to gather statistics
Most recent data about Anglicans dates back to 2001
Solange De Santisstaff writer
Dec 8, 2006

“At that time, Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Roman Empire … Everyone, then, went to register himself, each to his own home town.” Luke 2: 1-3

How many Anglicans are there in Canada? How many Anglican priests? How many baptisms took place in Anglican churches in Canada last year? How many funerals? Finding the answers to these questions has become increasingly difficult in recent years since the national church’s statistics-gathering function has slowed significantly.

The 2007 Anglican Church Directory, an annual reference book published by ABC Publishing, in the section that normally carries national statistics, now carries a sentence that reads: “Figures will be available in 2008 after the installation of a new statistics-gathering system.” However, the same sentence, with the date reading “2007,” appeared in the 2006 directory. The church last published statistics in the 2005 directory and those were from 2001.

“I get comments from people: ‘Why don’t we have statistics?’” acknowledged General Synod treasurer Peter Blachford, whose financial management and development department is responsible for collecting the data. the rest