The number of young people attending church has risen in the Oxford Diocese.

According to new figures, the diocese has only experienced a marginal decline in the overall number of weekly worshippers -- bucking a national trend in the Church of England.

The diocese believes recent controversies, such as the decision to appoint a gay man as Bishop of Dorchester, have helped it to maintain its following while the Church as a whole experiences a sharp decline. The number of people going to church weekly in the Oxford Diocese, including weddings and funerals, dropped by 400 from 62,300 to 61,900, between 2001 and 2002. This represents a 0.6 per cent fall, compared to a national decline of three per cent.

But the average number of children under 16 attending church weekly rose from 11,900 to 12,200.

And the number of young people attending High Church rose from 20,900 to 21,600 in the same period.

Some dioceses lost around 5,000 worshippers during this period, and the Church of England as a whole lost 100,000 between 2000 and 2002.

Oxford diocesan spokesman the Rev Richard Thomas said lively youth projects, along with recent controversies had helped the diocese maintain a high profile.

In May last year, the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, appointed Canon Jeffrey John, who had been in a relationship with a man for 27 years, to be Bishop of Reading.

It caused a rift in the church and Dr John eventually declined the post.

Mr Thomas said: "The Oxford Diocese is a lively diocese and is not afraid of controversy, which keeps the Church at the front of peoples' minds."

Mr Thomas disagreed with predictions that the national decline could speed up within the next 20 years, as older churchgoers die.

He said: "The older generation have always been dying off and if that was going to happen it would have happened already."

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