5 Years Later: America Looks Back at the Impact of COVID-19
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“Looking back, nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults (72%) say the pandemic did more to drive the country apart than to bring it together.” - Pew
Post-Pandemic Church Revitalization In Full Swing Across The US
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“The pandemic was brutal on churches, but even the year before, the number of Protestant congregations in the U.S. had gone backward by approximately 1,500.” - Religion Unplugged
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Church in the Digital Age
By Brian Richard
For pastors, the last decade has presented a perfect storm of cultural upheaval, societal trends, and accelerated change. Pastors constantly face difficult and pressing questions about how to “do church” in the twenty-first century. Since the internet has fundamentally changed almost every aspect of our lives, many ask, “Why shouldn’t the church change too?”
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Arbor Research Group-ChurchSalary Study: Pandemic Restrictions Had No Lasting Effect on Churches
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“Measuring attendance, giving, staff levels, and several other metrics in 2022, he found that after all the regulations had been lifted …there was little to no discernible difference between churches where there had been lots of restrictions and those where there had been almost none.” - CToday
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Study: Pastors, churches still struggling in throes of ‘uncertainty and unsettledness’ post-pandemic
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The Hartford Institute for Religion Research study found that “approximately one-third of the 4,809 churches in the study say their attendance has increased since the pandemic…more than half say they have suffered a slight or severe decline in attendance.” - CPost
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Reversing the Shrinking Share of Americans Who Regularly Attend Church
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“Currently, the COVID church dropouts resemble those who drop out of church attendance during their teenage and young adult years. Most haven’t made intentional decisions to no longer attend. They’ve simply gotten out of the habit” - Lifeway
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Deep Discipleship in a Digital Age: Rethinking Church, Ministry, and Life Together in an Online World
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“How things have changed: I can think of several ways in which the digital revolution, accelerated by COVID lockdowns, is still with us.” - Word by Word
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Did American values “change drastically” during pandemic? Interpreting the WSJNBC Poll
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“in three and a half years, the latest poll indicates, America seemed to change more drastically than it did in the prior 21 years. Of course, what happened in 2020, 2021, and 2022 was immense. Government-mandated shutdowns of schools and private businesses and forced mask-wearing….” - CPost
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Church Attendance Dropped Among Young People, Singles, Liberals
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“Overall, most churchgoers—including most white evangelicals—returned to the pews after the pandemic, survey finds.” - CToday
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Lifeway: Churches Still Recovering from Pandemic Attendance Losses
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“On average, U.S. Protestant churches report current attendance at 85% of their typical Sunday morning crowds in January 2020” - Lifeway
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