A new survey finds a third of Americans have stopped going to church

The pandemic lockdowns disrupted religious participation for millions of Americans, notes the study, titled “Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion”, conducted by the American Enterprise Institute.

In the summer of 2020, only 13% of Americans reported attending in-person worship services, which increased to 27% by the spring of 2022, but the rates of worship attendance were still lower than they were before the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

In the spring of 2022, 33% of Americans reported they never attend religious services, compared to 25% who reported this before the pandemic.

The largest declines in attendance were seen among adults younger than 50, adults with a college degree or less, Hispanic Catholics, black Protestants, and white mainline Protestants.

But what about time with God other than Sunday?

Another survey from LifeWay Research found that female Protestant churchgoers are more likely than men to spend time alone with God, 

In the survey, 65% of Protestant churchgoers said they intentionally spend time with God at least daily. Forty-four percent of participants said they spend time with God once a day, while 21% said they enjoy quiet time with God multiple times a day. 

Another 17% of churchgoers say they spend time alone with God several times a week and 7% say they have quiet time with the Lord once a week.