While many types of shopping were limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, one type became more prevalent—church shopping.
At the height of the pandemic, in October 2020, researchers Nicholas Higgins and Paul Djupe surveyed American churchgoers. They found more than a third (35%) reported visiting another congregation in person or online in the previous six months, according to their report published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. That would indicate a higher-than-normal amount of churchgoers who at least explored other churches. A pre-pandemic study from Pew Research found about half of Americans (49%) said they had looked for a new congregation at some point in their entire adult lives. And moving to a new location was the primary reason for this search (34%).
Of those who were attending a church in spring 2020, 18% reported no longer attending that same congregation by October. Again, that is higher than the pre-pandemic church-switching rate by 4 to 5 percentage points….
The biggest factor seems to be relational ties within the congregation. If a person is active and involved, all other factors don’t appear to move them much. Pastors and church leaders should prioritize increasing the commitment level of those at their church. The deeper churchgoers are involved—increased attendance, small group involvement, volunteering, etc.—the less likely it appears they are to leave.
“At least for now, the results suggest a considerable degree of congregational resilience in the face of overwhelming pressure,” the report concludes. Your church has suffered a shock to the system and probably lost some people. But you have endured and the people who remain are probably more committed than ever. As you move forward, work toward strengthening the ties of current churchgoers even more and assimilating new attendees quickly.Read it all.
The deeper churchgoers are involved in a congregation the less likely they are to leave, regardless of whether they ever visit another church. https://t.co/1FVo8oOQ03
— Lifeway Research (@LifewayResearch) October 14, 2022