Most Americans may not regularly attend church themselves, but they have a higher threshold for calling someone a regular churchgoer than pastors.
According to a recent Lifeway Research study of U.S. adults, 53% say someone should be considered a regular churchgoer or regular church attender only if they attend church services at least weekly, including 10% who say they must attend more than once a week.
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A previous Lifeway Research study of Americans who attend Protestant or non-denominational church services at least once a month found they share a similar perspective as the average American. Most churchgoers (59%) say someone must attend at least weekly to be considered a regular church attender, including 14% who say more than once a week.
Pastors, however, have a different outlook. A 2022 Lifeway Research study of pastors found they had a much more lenient standard. Around 1 in 6 pastors (16%) believe only those who attend at least weekly should qualify as a regular churchgoer.
“Pastors’ perspective is following the behavior they see, and they are seeing churchgoers attend less often,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “But when Americans hear ‘regular churchgoer,’ they picture someone attending every week or very close to it.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Aaron Earls and originally published by Lifeway.
