The Church of England spent £35 million on school evangelism projects in 2025, new figures reveal.

The latest annual report from the Church’s ‘Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board’ (SMMIB) shows that more than a third of its ‘Diocesan Investment Programme’ (DIP) funding was spent on initiatives involving school evangelism.

The SMMIB is responsible for funding programmes that further the CofE’s “vision and strategy”. This includes “doubling the number of children and young people who are active Christian disciples by 2030”, which is described by the Church as its “priority of priorities”.

In its report, the SMMIB said 17% of its total funding 2025 was dedicated to ‘doubling the number of children and young active disciples in the Church of England by 2030’.

Six of the eleven projects that received DIP funding in 2025 included a focus on evangelising in schools:

• Diocese of Carlilse – £6.8 million to create 90 new Christian communities, including by resourcing a “discipleship pathway for young people from birth to 25 years old” achieved by “collaborating with schools”.
• Diocese of Liverpool – £7.6 million to expand “frontline ministry”, with one third of funding directed to “parishes actively stepping into mission, including grants for furthering local missional activities like planting new worshipping communities in and out of schools”.
• Diocese of Rochester – £10.8 million to support the “development of missional churches” that will “re-energise outreach to children, young people, and families by increasing the support available to parishes to develop their engagement with children and with schools”.
• Diocese of Salisbury – £2.2 million for “mission hubs” to lead the planting of new worshipping communities, including one focusing on “building relationships with the community and schools to see spiritual growth in younger generations across the parishes”.
• Diocese of St Albans – £2.3 million for “church revitalisation and planting” achieved by “growth in outreach to children, youth and young adults across the towns’ estates, schools, universities and other communities”.
• Diocese of Lichfield – £5.1 million to set up “new worshipping communities” in “churches and schools at St John’s Trent Vale and St Luke’s Church in Stoke on Trent”.

As well as using the faith schools it controls to evangelise, the CofE also attempts to use nonreligious state schools to drive recruitment.

In 2023, the SMMIB gave £3.2 million to the Diocese of Guildford to fund the evangelical ‘Youth Catalyst Project’, based at nonreligious Jubilee High School. Last month, the headteacher of the school admitted the project had “no educational objectives”.

In 2024, £5.3mn in SMMIB funding was used by the Diocese of Portsmouth to employ an evangelical ‘Pioneer Youth Worker’ based at nonreligious Park Community School. The Youth Worker’s purpose is to enable “growth in disciples of Christ by number and depth” by “growing a new worshipping community” at the school.

Despite spending millions on evangelism, the CofE has consistently lobbied the Government to continue public funding for the repair and maintenance of church buildings.

NSS: ‘Church of England exploiting our schools to serve as its recruitment grounds’

National Secular Society spokesperson Jack Rivington said: “The CofE’s new funding figures demonstrate its attempts to exploit our schools to serve as its recruitment grounds.

“The Church’s desire to push its agenda on children even extends to nonreligious schools – showing its contempt for the rights of children and families.

“Schools we all pay for should be welcoming for all pupils and families, and should be used for education, not inculcation. The Government should introduce measures to protect nonreligious schools against interference by the CofE and other evangelical groups.”