By Aaron Earls, Senior Writer • Lifeway Research
A recent Pew Research study examines how the pandemic affected four areas of American life, revealing five key shifts in religious life.
While many Americans would like to or have put the COVID-19 pandemic behind them, the illness and subsequent societal upheaval brought about indelible changes to religious practice and attitudes in the U.S.
A recent Pew Research study examines how the pandemic affected four areas of American life: health, work, technology and religion. Their data on religion reveals five key shifts continuing to impact churches:
• The pandemic reshaped the religious life of many Americans. Before we understand how it changed religious life, the data tells us that it did for some Americans. Most (69%) say there was no change, but 3 in 10 (30%) say the pandemic had some type of impact on their personal religious or spiritual lives, including 10% who say it had a lot of impact.
Those who say they were impacted are split on what type of effect the pandemic had. Around 1 in 10 say the pandemic had a mostly positive (10%), mostly negative (9%), or neither positive nor negative impact (11%).
As you think about those in your congregation or potential members, consider that most see the pandemic in the rearview mirror. But some still feel they’re dealing with spiritual repercussions.
• Increased acceptance of church without the congregation. One of the effects of the pandemic has been a growing acceptance of viewing church services online as a substitute for attending in person. Americans are more likely to attend religious services in person and less likely to watch from their homes compared to the height of the pandemic in July 2020, according to Pew. However, churchgoers report a slight decrease in their in-person attendance and a slight increase in their viewing of church services online or on TV.
Asked about in-person participation, 48% say they have not attended before or since the pandemic. Around 3 in 10 (31%) say they participate about as much as they did before. Around 1 in 5 say their in-person attendance has changed, including 7% who attend more and 13% who attend less often.
With online or TV participation, 62% weren’t watching before or since. Almost 1 in 5 (18%) say they participate about as much as they did before the pandemic. Similar to in-person involvement, around one in five say their online or TV service participation has changed. But unlike in-person attendance, more people are saying their online or TV participation has increased (13%) rather than decreased (6%).
Lifeway Research found that by August 2022, almost all churches were gathering in person; however, the average church was only seeing 89% of its pre-COVID attendance in August 2023. Many churchgoers continued to use live-streamed services beyond pandemic restrictions, though they saw some reasons for doing so as more valid than others, according to a 2022 Lifeway Research study.
This increase in church service streaming led to some changes in theological beliefs. Before the pandemic, around two in five evangelicals said worshiping alone or with their family was a valid replacement for regularly attending church, according to the regular State of Theology study. In 2022, however, that number jumped to 54%, the highest in the study’s history.
• A surprising stability in church connections. One potentially surprising trend is that there is not much change in church attendance in any form or fashion. In July 2020, 41% of Americans said they either attended an in-person worship or watched online or on TV. The percentage has never dipped below 40% and is currently at 43%.
About 4 in 5 Americans say their in-person attendance or online or TV viewing of a religious service has remained the same since before the pandemic. The small decrease in in-person involvement is almost exactly offset by an increase in online or TV participation. Despite all the changes and potential disruptions, the number of Americans who have chosen to be connected to a church in some way, whether in person or digitally, remains roughly the same.
• The continued decline of mainline Protestantism. The stability in church involvement, either in-person or online, highlights the relative strength of evangelical and black Protestant congregations. Both saw a small 3-point increase during the pandemic. In July 2020, 71% of white evangelicals and 70% of black protestants participated in either a physical or digital worship service. Now, it’s 74% of white evangelicals and 73% of black protestants.
White non-evangelical or mainline protestants were also stable but with drastically lower numbers. In July 2020, 37% of participants attended a religious service. According to the most recent survey, 38% of respondents report the same.
That group was also more likely to say the pandemic didn’t impact their religious or spiritual lives (75%) than white evangelicals (64%) and black protestants (54%). Unfortunately for mainline Protestants, that lack of change has only continued their downward slide.
• The potential growth among young adults. While most age groups are attending at the same rate now as they did before the pandemic, the research indicates a potential increase among young adults. Not much has changed from July 2020 to October 2024 in the percentage who have participated in a religious service in the past month among those aged 30-49 (37% then v. 38% now), 50-64 (46% v. 46%) or 65 and older (50% v. 52%).
Among those aged 18-29, however, attendance rates have fluctuated more throughout the pandemic. Still, the overall trajectory is higher church involvement. In July 2020, 30% reported having participated in a religious service within the past month. In the most recent study, 38% of respondents reported the same.
Churches may be on the cusp of a wave of Gen Z revival. But it’s too early to tell statistically.
— This article is shared with permission and was first published by Lifeway Research at research.lifeway.com/2025/02/19/5-telling-shifts-in-u-s-religious-life-since-2020.
