A new study says nearly half of evangelicals say their church is back open with no COVID restrictions.
Forty-nine percent of evangelical Protestant congregants — those who say they typically attend services at least once or twice a month — say that their churches are open without any coronavirus-related restrictions, according to the new Pew Survey.
The resumption of in-person services appears to be highest among evangelicals, as only 20% of mainline Protestants say their churches are open. The percentage drops to 14% among congregants in the historically black Protestant tradition and 19% among Catholics.
The study also shows that a clear majority of overall American congregants ( 64%) have actually gone to their place of worship in person in the past month, “the first time that has been the case in three surveys conducted since the pandemic began,” the survey adds.
Only 6% now say their congregation is closed entirely for in-person services, down from 31% who said this in July 2020 and 17% earlier this year.
The study also shows that religious attendees express more trust in their clergy on topics related to coronavirus than they do in state elected officials, local elected officials or news media. Among the options presented by the survey, only primary care doctors rank higher.