Worshippers flock to Brighton church at Christmas as it aims to buck attendance trend

• Watch the video report by Andy Dickenson

Churches say they are still waiting for attendances to reach pre-pandemic levels.

The most recent Church of England figures, for last year, show some congregations slow to return.

But a church in Brighton says it saw more than a thousand worshippers at its most recent carol service, with hundreds more now attending online. 

This morning, an impromptu nativity play was held at Emmanuel Hove.

It's one of a collective of four churches in the city that together see attendances close to 800 - but its numbers are still below pre-Covid levels.

Yet its live-streamed services also reach between 300 and 400 homes a week.

"Things since COVID have been hard in lots of different ways, and I think people coming back to church has has been difficult for people. I think we all got out of the habit," Graham Cuthbert, a leader at the church, said.

"But as time has gone on, people have remembered the importance of being together. The importance of community, the importance of friendship.

"And so we've seen lots of people coming back, and also new people."

The church, like others across the region, will meet again next Christmas Eve, and again on Christmas Day.