At Christmastime, churches plan for larger crowds—but those preparations might not pan out this year, at least for some congregations across the country.
A just-released survey from Lifeway Research found just under half of Americans (47%) say they typically attend church services during the Christmas season, with 48% saying they don’t, and 5% saying they are unsure of their holiday plans.
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“The very name ‘Christmas’ originates in the church’s celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth,” explained Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell. “In the mid-14th century, the words ‘Christ’s Mass’ were first merged as a single term for this celebration.”
He went on to state that, while 90% of Americans do something to celebrate Christmas, fewer than half usually attend church at Christmastime today.
Like with many things, the U.S. is sharply divided on holiday church attendance.
Protestants (57%), Catholics (56%) and those from other religions (53%) are much more likely than the religiously unaffiliated (21%) to report usually attending a church service. The last group—those who hold to no religious conviction whatsoever—are most likely to say “no” (71%) to attending a church service during Christmastime.
Christians who already attend church services occasionally are, unsurprisingly, more likely to show up for services around this time of year. Believers who attend roughly once a week (76%) and those who attend once or twice a month (69%) are more inclined than those who rarely or never attend church services (52%) to come during Christmastime.
To read the full story, visit our content partners at Faithwire.
Reprinted with permission from faithwire.com. Copyright © 2024 The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc. All rights reserved.
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