How many Protestant congregations in America are offering one or more in person worship experiences on a given weekend?
A survey of American Protestant pastors conducted July 20-22, 2020 by LifeWay Research indicates that 71% of congregations provided one or more in person worship experiences on the weekend of July 19.
When COVID-19 began to impact decision making about offering an in person option the percentage of congregations doing so declined steadily from 99% in early March to just 4% by mid-April.
Since May, the percentage of Protestant congregations offering in person worship has risen dramatically (slide 5)
- Weekend of May 3: 15%
- Weekend of May 10: 19%
- Weekend of May 17: 25%
- Weekend of May 24: 32%
- Weekend of May 31: 42%
- Weekend of June 7: 55%
- Weekend of June 14: 63%
- Weekend of June 21: 67%
- Weekend of June 28: 67%
- Weekend of July 5: 70%
- Weekend of July 12: 73%
- Weekend of July 19: 71%
Theology Matters
Earlier this month I wrote a post sharing that none of the Mainline congregations in my area had returned to in person worship. At that time, some Evangelical congregations in my area had resumed these offerings.
Consistent with this the LifeWay Research survey found a significant difference in the percentage of Evangelical congregations compared to Mainline congregations that were offering in person worship. More than 8 in 10 pastors (82%) who identified as Evangelical served congregations that had offered in person worship on the weekend of July 19 compared to fewer than 6 in 10 pastors (57%) who identified as Mainline.
Surveys Differ
A similar survey conducted by Barna found that only around half of all American Protestant congregations have reopened for in person worship.
- June 26-29: 55%
- July 9-14: 49%
So What?
Based on the latest research somewhere between 49% and 71% of American protestant congregations offered in person worship services in recent weeks. This represents a considerable increase from the all time low percentages experienced in April and May.
I’d welcome hearing when you resumed participating in in person worship gatherings or what criteria you will use to determine when it is appropriate for you to do so.
Personally, I don’t plan to return to in person worship until the spread of COVID-19 is greatly diminished.
(It’s quite likely that these are the first and only in person worship experiences I will have in 2020.)