(USA Today) Mother's Day packs church pews behind Christmas, Easter

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Kendall Harmon

Hold the chocolate and flowers. Hold the brunch reservations. What mom may really want for Mother’s Day is for the whole gang to go to church first.

A new survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors finds Mother’s Day ranks right after Easter and Christmas in peak church attendance.

Father’s Day, however, is near the bottom of the poll although both holidays were founded as church events more than a century ago.