Fewer Churches Held In-person Services in January

This February 2021 survey conducted by LifeWay Research surveyed 430 Protestant pastors. The study found that most U.S. Protestant churches surveyed (76%) found a way to continue meeting despite the ongoing pandemic, but that fewer met in January 2021 as COVID-19 cases spiked across the country. This was a decline from 87% who said the same in September 2020. Among those holding in-person services, the survey found that few were near pre-pandemic attendance levels, with around 3 in 10 pastors saying their attendance was less than half of what it was one year prior (January 2020).