Evangelicals more likely to pray, attend church in person, poll finds

More people are coming back to church following the COVID-19 pandemic, but recent polls suggest attendance is still below pre-pandemic levels.

Polls by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show a slight drop in attendance among mainline Protestants, 14% of whom said they attended in-person services once a week in October 2021 compared to 16% who said they did in 2019. Among evangelical Protestants, 37% now say they are attending services in person at least weekly, while 42% said they did that in 2019.

The option of worshipping online has been embraced by many evangelical Protestants, according to the AP-NORC poll. About 3 in 10 said they have livestreamed services at least weekly in recent months, compared with about 1 in 10 Catholics or mainline Protestants.

Three-quarters of evangelical Protestants say they pray privately at least weekly, compared with roughly half of mainline Protestants and Catholics, the poll found.

Roughly a quarter of evangelical Protestants say they’ve recently talked by phone or video conference with a religious or spiritual leader at least a few times a month, compared with about 1 in 10 mainline Protestants and Catholics.