Church Attendance Shows Strongest Recovery Since Pandemic Closures

May 4, 2026

A newly released study from the Hartford Institute for Religious Research (HIRR) shows that religious congregations across the United States bouncing back from the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 shutdowns.

Christianity Daily reports that researchers have found that average weekly attendance levels at churches and other faith communities have risen above pre-pandemic figures for the first time in several years.

The findings were reported through HIRR’s Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations project, commonly known as EPIC, which examined attendance patterns among religious groups nationwide.

Researchers gathered responses from  7,453 congregations across diverse religious groups conducted between September and December 2025.

According to the study, the median number of worshippers attending services in person during 2025 reached 70 people per week, exceeding the median attendance level of 65 reported before pandemic-related closures began in 2020.

During the height of the pandemic, median attendance dropped to 45 participants, however, since that period, attendance has gradually climbed each year.

According to Christianity Daily, the EPIC study stated that the 2025 results marked “the first positive gain in median attendance in 25 years,” but researchers warned that “it should be interpreted with caution.”

Researchers say that current attendance trends remain substantially lower than historical norms from earlier decades, saying, “The current median of 70 remains far below the median in 2000 when the typical congregation drew 137 attenders. Therefore, this recent gain should be viewed within the much longer historical trajectory of decline.”

Allison Norton, co-investigator on the EPIC project, said in a statement last week, “What we’re seeing is not a revival — it’s a recalibration.”

Norton continued, “Congregations have been through an extraordinary period of disruption, and though it has taken a while, many have come out of it with greater clarity about who they are and what they’re called to do. That’s showing up in the data in ways that are genuinely encouraging.”

Photo: top, Credit: Unsplash/Terren Hurst