The Diocese of Sheffield is beaming after recently published figures revealed that churchgoers in the diocese are among the most generous in the country.

Average weekly giving in the diocese through the Gift Aid Scheme was an outstanding £11.71 per churchgoer, well above the £5 national average of weekly giving per churchgoer in the Church of England as revealed by statistics released last week.

The findings of the Church Statistics 2004/5 now place the Diocese of Sheffield as the second most generous in the Church of England behind London which hit the £12.76 mark.

Nick Hutton, Diocesan Giving Director, welcomed the statistics, saying: "This is fantastic news and it indicates the love people in the diocese have for their churches and shows their gratitude for what God has given them."

The figures also show an average weekly attendance of 20,100 in the Diocese, which rises to 33,700 over Christmas.

Bishop Jack said today: "I am hugely encouraged by what is happening in the diocese, and it is important that we continue to reach out to folk. The popularity of church at Christmas shows us that the message of God is important to many."

Other findings of the Church Statistics 2004/5 included a welcome rise in the number of clergy being trained and ordained as the Church of England ordained 505 new clergy in 2005, the highest number since 2002.

At the same time, 578 future clergy were recommended in 2005 for ordination training, maintaining the upward trend since the mid-'90s. In 1994, 408 candidates were recommended for training.