How Many Books Are There In The New Testament Of The Bible?

Easter Emerges As Top Church Attendance Day

According to a recent report from Lifeway Research, Easter Sunday remains a pinnacle of attendance for the majority of churches across the United States. Released on Tuesday, the report reveals that an overwhelming 90% of surveyed Protestant pastors identified Easter as either their highest attended Sunday or ranked it among the top three most attended Sundays.

Breaking down the statistics, 52% of pastors indicated that Easter drew the largest congregation, while 30% ranked it as the second most attended, and 8% placed it third. In comparison, 81% of pastors noted Christmas as one of their top three attendance days, with 51% including Mother’s Day in that category.

The data for this report was gathered from a phone survey of 1,004 Protestant pastors conducted between August 29 and September 20, 2023, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

Scott McConnell, Executive Director of Lifeway Research, highlighted the return to seasonal attendance patterns following the disruptions of the pandemic. He noted the resurgence of consistent attendance during fall and early spring, as well as the traditional influx of worshippers during the holiday seasons of Christmas and Easter.

Although Easter remains a significant day for church attendance, there has been a slight decline compared to 2011 figures, where 93% of pastors cited it as one of their highest attendance days. Similarly, the percentages for Christmas and Mother’s Day have also experienced minor decreases since 2011.

Conversely, Sundays designated for inviting friends to worship have seen a rise in attendance ranking, increasing from 14% in 2011 to 20% in 2023. Additionally, 18% of pastors acknowledged Sundays commemorating a church’s homecoming or founding anniversary as among their most attended worship days.

This report arrives amidst observations of a growing trend of religious disaffiliation among Americans, with a notable percentage reporting infrequent or no attendance at worship services. According to Gallup, only 30% of Americans attend religious services weekly or nearly every week, marking a decline from previous years. This shift underscores evolving patterns of religious engagement in contemporary American society.