A BOURNEMOUTH church is bucking a national trend reported by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a decline in the size of church congregations.

St Swithun's Church, on Gervis Road, which is led by Rev Tim Matthews and his wife, Debi, opened in 2014 with the Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), a growing Anglican church that also operates from four sites in London.

Earlier this week, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said at the opening of the Anglican primates' meeting: "In some parts of the communions, decline in numbers has been a pattern for many years.

He went on to say: "In England, numbers have been falling by around one-per-cent annually since World War Two.'

"The culture [is] becoming anti-Christian, whether it is on matters of sexual morality, or the care for people at the beginning or the end of life. It is easy to paint a very gloomy picture."

However St Swithun's Church boasts weekly congregations of 500 people and Rev Tim Matthews believes that it is one of many in the town that continues to welcome in large numbers of residents. He said that the church aims to allow people to feel love, a sense of belonging, freedom, happiness, meaning and purpose.

He added: "It's what everyone wants and I guess that they vote with their feet. They are finding answers for their needs. It's not just coming along to the services, it's a community of people."

Reverend Matthews said that 'there is a lot that goes on in life that distracts us but they want purpose.'

"There is absolutely no pressure. I think that that approach is working. I don't think that we are doing anything revolutionary.

"I am very excited for the future of the church. If the church is supposed to be in decline, there's a lot of people that haven't got the memo."