‘A revival is happening’: Church hails resurgence among young in UK

England and Wales have been described by the Office for National Statistics as ‘minority Christian countries’. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

Father John Armitage is an incredibly busy man. His church, St Margaret’s Parish, welcomed a staggering 5,000 people across 20 masses in Holy Week.

Church attendance across all Christian denominations has been in decline across England and Wales, with the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics describing both as “minority Christian countries”. But that national reality has been inverted in Canning Town, east London, where St Margaret’s first opened its doors in 1866.