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Churches Are Returning to Pre-Pandemic Normal — But With One Major Change

Photo by Terren Hurst/Unsplash
Photo by Terren Hurst/Unsplash
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By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

March 28, 2022

As government regulations from the COVID-19 pandemic have begun to wane, houses of worship across the country are lifting their rules and returning to normal practices.

Despite the return to normal, though, a new survey from the Pew Research Center found the number of people attending worship services in-person has not changed since last fall, following a stretch of growth from July 2020 to September 2021.

One-in-five U.S. adults may still be substituting virtual religious service attendance for in-person attendance https://t.co/etloC62w42 pic.twitter.com/9bXJAuxCP1

— Becka Alper (@balper) March 23, 2022

Forty-three percent of survey participants said their congregations have returned to normal operating procedures, an increase of 14% in the last six months. In March 2021, just 31% said their churches were operating normally.

Interestingly, when split along party lines, the difference in behavior becomes very clear.

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Nearly twice as many Republicans (58%) as Democrats (27%) say their churches or houses of worship are operating they way they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A larger plurality, 47%, said their churches are open but with some lingering restrictions, like requiring physical distancing and face masks. A mere 5% said their places of worship are still shuttered.

Among U.S. adults who attend religious services, 47% say their congregation is open but with modifications (e.g., mask requirements or social distancing) still in place due to the pandemic. https://t.co/SJpqa6oWW5 pic.twitter.com/n2ONUhidaa

— Pew Research Religion (@PewReligion) March 22, 2022

For context, in July 2020, just 13% of American adults told Pew they had attended religious services in the previous month. In the new survey, roughly 27% of adults say they attended a religious service in-person during the previous month. Twenty-six percent and 17% said the same in September and March 2021, respectively.

The number of Americans who live-streamed religious services online or watched televangelists fell from 36% in July to 28% in September 2021. Now, that number is 30%.

Those who attend church services regularly are more likely to attend in-person services. About one-third of American adults (32%) say they typically attend in-person services once or twice a month. Of that group, a majority (67%) said they’ve attended an in-person service in the last four weeks, while 57% said they watched services online in the same period of time.

You can read more about the study here.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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