It seems church organists are a dying breed in the Church of England as worshippers resort more and more to singing along to recorded music, a study has revealed.

The study by Richard Hubbard, music development director for the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in Suffolk, found that while 96 percent of churches had a working organ, a shortage of players resulted in a third of them resorting to recorded music for the worship time.

More than half of the study respondents said that their church organist was above 70 years old, with only 4 percent of organists being aged 30 or below.

Hubbard attributed the lack of younger players to the fact that fewer people learn to play the organ these days.  He admitted it was a hard instrument to learn and it could be challenging to find an organ to practise on.

"Most churches have an organ and most of them are in working order so it really is just down to a lack of players," Hubbard said.

"The organ is particularly difficult to learn and requires a lot of commitment. You normally need to have about grade 5 piano to start organ lessons."

However, he feels using recorded music doesn't provide a sense of togetherness in a community and most PA system in churches aren't designed for music but rather for speaking, and so do not deliver the same sound effect as an actual organ being played to accompany singers.

Half the respondents of his survey, however, expressed a desire to introduce new music styles to move forward with the times and encourage younger church members to join Sunday services.

The 140-page report is based on findings from 444 church sites and interviews with hundreds of church staff and members.