Half of churches seeing growth since COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns: study

March 20, 2025

A report published by Lifeway Research earlier this week shows around half of Protestant churches in the U.S. have seen growth in worship service attendance since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Christian Post reports that the study shows that 52% of the congregations surveyed saw their worship attendance grow by at least 4% over the past two years.

According to the study, 33% of the congregations surveyed said that attendance had plateaued while 15% reported a decline of greater than 4% in worship attendance.

More growth was reported in Evangelical congregations with 57% reporting at least 4% growth while only 46% of Mainline Protestant congregations reported the same.

According the Christian Post, 62% of Pentecostal congregations and 59% of Baptist congregations reported at least 4% growth within the past two years.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, is quoted in the report as stating, “Clearly, the last two years of attendance growth was aided by people returning to regular attendance after being away since the start of the pandemic.”

McConnell added, “Most pastors wish they had returned earlier, but their attendance is a source of optimism, though future growth will need to come from brand new contacts.”

Many churches had halted their in-person worship services in 2020, in response to the pandemic and some were forced to close for prolonged periods or prohibited from holding outdoor services where churchgoers remained in their vehicles.

Since those restrictions were lifted, there have been mixed results in the efforts of churches to restore their attendance losses.

The Lifeway Research study surveyed 1,001 Protestant pastors between Sept. 17 – Oct. 8, 2024 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1% at the 95% confidence level.

Photo: top, Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images