Time for some bleak news...

So, for the umpteenth time, an official survey has been published proclaiming there are fewer Christians today than there were a decade ago.

Today's latest entrant into the Hall of Flame - a place where the latest news and data is kept simmering and used to bash churches over the head when it's convenient to do so – has been prepared by the rather grandiose-sounding Office for National Statistics (ONS). A government department, no less.

According to this body, only 51% of the UK population now identifies itself as 'Christian' compared to 58% of Britons in 2011. The ONS also reveals there has been a huge growth in atheism – with one-in-three people classifying themselves as such.

Predictably, media reaction to the report is a combination of shock and 'told you so'. The assertions in today's papers claim it is another clear sign the erosion in the Church's authority, in its many guises and denominations, is speeding up.

ALL THINGS NEGATIVE: The Office for National Statistics paints a black picture about UK faith.

On the surface, the 'facts' may indeed back up this assertion. Yet scratch underneath and I believe a very different picture emerges, one of our churches at last truly recognising the needs of the society in which they are called to serve, and one where many Christian men and women are now actively doing things that reach out and support their communities in loving, supportive and faithful ways.

It has been ever thus. It's just today, I really believe it is happening on a larger and wider scale.

I make this comment largely based on my own personal experiences – not least, last night when I attended a wonderful soup kitchen in Loughborough (which, in reality, is a tub-thumping church service) and a young woman sitting next to me proclaimed: "Chlamydia has brought me to Jesus."

At the Beacon Christian Centre, sited a mile outside the town centre, approximately 60 souls came together to share a Christmas meal (while observing social distancing rules). Most have a history of drug addiction, alcoholism, relationship breakdown, prostitution or criminality. But that's their past. Today, they are new converts to the faith, as is the woman whose bold statement caught my fellow diners slightly by surprise.

SEEK AND YOU WILL FIND: the soup kitchen at Beacon Christian Centre is a lifeline for many.

This church is changing the lives of many people. Thankfully, it doesn't need newspapers and social media to demonstrate how, through its love and support, many lives are being changed. The evidence is everywhere to be seen. And although it is a small cog in the overall scheme of things, my goodness, what a huge impact it is having throughout Leicestershire and the East Midlands.

What is happening in Loughborough is also occurring in many other churches elsewhere. They are stepping up and meeting the need. But bodies like ONS don't see this. All they seem to recognise is negativity; all they can publish and peddle are digits that paint a bleak picture – or, at least, that's my perception.

Yet the truth is there are many Christian men and women quietly going about their business, reaching out and supporting people badly affected by the ways of the world. While some certainly see the light immediately, a lot won't be converted straight away. But to Believers, it's not a numbers game. It never has been. All that matters is good has flowed and seeds have been planted. And provided they are watered on occasion; we know they will germinate and grow. But the harvesting will be in God's time, not ours.

LOOK DEEP ENOUGH: Christian men and women are stepping up in support of their communities.

This will continue, regardless of what the media or central government says about our faith. And that's why there is real hope for everyone.

For I believe we are all seekers in some shape and form. And the louder people shout and scream, declaring a lack of belief in God, the more they are actually saying "we need God."

If 49% of the population claim not to have faith, that just gives Christians up and down the land a big pond to fish in.

Personally speaking, I think that is something to celebrate and be optimistic about. Don't you?

Tony Yorke is the deputy editor of Sorted.