A Lifeway Research study of both U.S. Protestant pastors and churchgoers found most in both groups believe it’s OK to miss church occasionally for a kid’s game or travel sporting event, but those in the pews are laxer on the issue than those behind the pulpit.
“Our culture no longer expects large numbers of people to be in church each week, so increasingly other events are also scheduled on Sundays,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Families whose kids play sports often have to choose between attending church or being with their team.”
Pastoral perspective
More than 1 in 3 U.S. Protestant pastors (36%) say it’s never OK to skip a weekly worship service for kid’s games or travel sporting events, but almost 3 in 5 (58%) see at least some allowance for missing in those circumstances. Around 3 in 10 (29%) believe it’s acceptable once or twice a year. A quarter (26%) say a few times a year, while 3% say many times a year. Another 6% say they aren’t sure.
Pastors 65 and older (43%) are among the most likely to say it’s never acceptable. Evangelical pastors are more likely than mainline pastors to say never (40% v. 28%). Those at the smallest churches, less than 50 in attendance, are also more likely than pastors at the largest churches, 250 or more, to believe skipping for sports is never OK (38% v. 24%).
Nate Walter, pastor at Goshen Christian Church in Goshen, Indiana, says the impact of travel sports on his congregation grew after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. “There are many families with kids that we won’t see for the entire summer because they are constantly traveling to a different tournament,” he said.
Recent research agrees. A report published by the Aspen Institute found children ages 6–18 spent an average of 13.6 hours per week playing sports, including 4.6 hours of practice and 3.7 hours of competition, before COVID-19. While those all dropped during the pandemic, by September 2022, children were involved in sports for 16.6 hours per week, with 8.1 hours of practice and 3.7 hours of competition. According to Wintergreen Research, travel sports has grown into a $39 billion-a-year industry and is projected to reach $72 billion by 2029.
Walter also noted school sports and activities have crept into Sundays. “As many schools are limited to one gymnasium, they have to find time for all the athletic programs to practice, and Sunday evening is becoming a very common time,” he said. “This drastically affected our Sunday evening youth activities.”
View from the pews
Based on their perspective on missing services, many churchgoers see the potential impact differently than their pastors. Fewer than 1 in 5 U.S. Protestant churchgoers (18%) say it is never OK to skip church for kid’s sports. Around 3 in 4 (74%) believe it’s acceptable at least occasionally, including 22% who say once or twice a year, 39% a few times a year and 13% many times a year. Another 9% say they aren’t sure.
As with pastors, age is a factor for how likely a churchgoer is to see missing church for sports as OK. Those 50 and older are more likely than adults under 35 to say it’s never acceptable (20% v. 12%). Churchgoers 65 and older (7%) are the least likely to believe it’s OK to skip many times a year, while those under 35 (26%) are the most likely.
Additionally, churchgoers who attend more frequently are less accepting of skipping because of sporting events. Those who attend one to three times a month (45%) are more likely than those who attend four or more times (35%) to say missing a few times a year is OK. Meanwhile, those less frequent attenders (12%) are less likely than those who attend more often (22%) to say it’s never acceptable to miss because of a child’s game.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Aaron Earls and originally published by Lifeway Research.
