The Church has a very good website, but it is a large one and we are always coming across hidden corners. Here is a link to the site map and here is a short video on YouTube.

Governance

The governing body of the Church of England is General Synod, whose lay representatives form the House of Laity. The latest elections to General Synod were held in October 2010 and you can see the names of the current Synod members here.

The Church of England now offers a monthly e-news bulletin, delivering a round-up of stories from the archbishops, the national church institutions and the wider church, direct to your email inbox. You can sign up here.

This is the website of the Church Times and this is the Church of England Newspaper.

The Calendar and the Lectionary are here. The Church year begins with the first Sunday of Advent and ends with the Sunday next before Advent, Christ the King (but you already knew that, didn't you?).

We are now on a three-year cycle: Year A began with Advent 2010 and ends with Christ the King in 2011; this is followed by Year B, Year C and then the cycle begins again with Year A in Advent 2013.

The Liturgical Commission here expands and explains the seasons of the calendar.
Simon Kershaw has now put the lectionary online.

The Church House Bookshop is the official bookshop of the Church of England and Church House Publishing is the official publisher.

One very useful publication of Church House Publishing is Visual Liturgy Live, a software package which can be regularly updated from the website and gives you all the information you need to plan a service. You can then simply cut and paste into your word processing program.

The Liturgical Commission is spearheading a mission to transform the liturgy over the next 5-10 years. They are working together with Praxis and the Alcuin Club, which has been promoting the study of the liturgy since 1897.

Church Attendance

Attendance figures for 2009, compared with years going back to 2002, were published on 3 February 2011. They show a continued gradual decline but about 1.1 million still attend a Church of England service as part of a typical week. The 'Church Times' coverage is here.