Last updated 11th August 2025
On this page we share some facts and figures about The Diocese of Blackburn, both about us as a Diocese and the geographic area that we cover. The Diocese has two Archdeaconries, Blackburn and Lancaster.
| Topic | Answer |
|---|---|
| Number of bishops (August 2025) |
1 - Diocesan bishop - Bishop of Blackburn 2 - Suffragan bishops - Bishop of Burnley, Bishop of Lancaster |
| Number of Archdeacons (August 2025) | 2 - Archdeacon of Blackburn, Archdeacon of Lancaster |
| Number of Deaneries (August 2025) | 14 - Accrington, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Burnley, Chorley, Garstang, Kirkham, Lancaster and Morecambe, Leyland, Pendle, Poulton, Preston, Tunstall, Whalley |
| Number of benefices (August 2025) | 170 |
| Number of parishes (August 2025) | 225 |
| Number of churches/licensed worship centres (August 2025) | 278 |
| Number of usual weekly church attenders in 2024 |
11,200 adults (over 16) 2,300 children (under 16) |
| Number of people in church worshipping communities in 2024 | 21,000 of whom 23% are aged 0-17, 43% aged 18-69 and 34% are aged 70+ |
| Number of people on the electoral roll of churches in 2024 | 22,700 |
For more information about how our Diocese compares with other Church of England Dioceses, visit the Church of England Data Services webpages (including an interactive map feature).
The total population of the Diocese is around 1.3 million. The age profile varies from the national average with a greater proportion aged over 45. There is diversity however: in Blackburn with Darwen, Lancaster and Preston, at least two out of five residents are aged less than 30 years, whilst in Fylde and Wyre half of the population is aged over 45.
For the 14 local authority areas in Lancashire, 90.9% of the population in 2011 were from a white ethnic background (90.9%) . The next largest ethnic group is "Asian or Asian British" who comprise 6.5% of the resident population.
At district level, five of the Lancashire local authorities record small proportions of black or minority ethnic (BME) populations representing less than 5% of their total resident population. Only in Preston and four of the East Lancashire districts is there a notable percentage of residents in the BME groups greater than 10%. Of these, only Blackburn (with 23.2% BME), Pendle (16.9%) and Preston (15.5%) have proportions of their populations from BME ethnic groups greater than the average for England of 12.5%. Recent changes have seen a growth in Eastern European immigration into all districts and a steady increase in the Asian heritage minorities both in established areas and in the local authority wards surrounding them.
From the 2011 census returns 67% of Lancashire stated that they were Christian, 6.6% were Muslim, 1.1% other religions and the remaining 25.2% had no or unstated religion.
There are 26 parishes that fit the official Presence and Engagement criteria (at least 10% of one other faith). All of the Presence and Engagement parishes are in either Accrington, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle or Preston deaneries.