Yahoo News Will you attend church this Easter? What Yahoo readers think
The King has announced he will be attending Easter service this year, but will his subjects be doing the same?
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we'll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.
After much speculation, the King has confirmed he will be attending this year's Easter Service, but according to Yahoo News's poll, most of his subjects will not be.
Buckingham Palace confirmed on Thursday the King would be attending the Easter morning service which will be his most high-profile public appearance since his cancer diagnosis.
Read more: What we know and don't know about the King's cancer diagnosis
As head of the Church of England, the King views his religious roles as some of his most important duties. In a message he released ahead of Maundy Thursday services, he spoke of his "great sadness" at not being able to attend. The message was played at a service at Worcester Cathedral which was attended by Queen Camilla, where she handed out Maundy money.
The King's commitment to attending church is not seen among his subjects, attendance has fallen significantly over the years and has more than halved since 1987, recent analysis by the Telegraph showed, with 300 parishes disappearing in just the past five years.
The 2021 census reflects this change, with 46.2% of respondents (27.5 million people) identifying as Christian, making both England and Wales minority Christian countries for the first time.
Yahoo News UK asked readers if they would be attending Easter services this year, here are the results:
Our poll from Tuesday at midday until Thursday at midday asked: "Will you attend church this Easter?"
With 3,821 votes 39% said 'yes, definitely', 6% said 'not sure' and 55% said no, definitely not.
Yahoo News UK readers were also asked on a sliding scale: "How important is celebrating the religious aspect of Easter to you?"
Many people either had no commitment to Easter or were incredibly committed to it
The poll received 2,045 votes with an average strength of feeling at 5.5 but the most common answer was 10/10 with 584 votes. This indicates that many people either had no commitment to Easter or were incredibly committed to it, drawing the average to the centre rather than most participants putting the slider somewhere in the middle.
Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
