findings<\/a> released Wednesday, a survey of adults in the United States who attend a Protestant church at least once a month found that 77% would skip worship at least once a year to \u201cavoid traveling when there is severe weather.\u201d<\/p>\nThis number includes 39% who said they would do so \u201ca few times a year,\u201d 23% who said they would do so \u201conce a year\u201d and 15% who said they would do so \u201cmany times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avoiding severe weather was the most popular answer, followed by \u201cenjoy an outdoor activity when the weather is good\u201d at 55%, \u201cget some extra sleep\u201d at 54%, \u201cmeet a friend or group of friends\u201d at 50%, \u201cavoid traveling when it is raining\u201d at 43% and \u201cwatch a favorite team or sporting event\u201d at 42%.<\/p>\n
Data for the report came from an online survey of 1,002 Americans that was conducted Sept. 19-29, 2022, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3% at a 95% confidence level.<\/p>\n
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in a statement included in the report that the research showed that church attendees \u201care not on autopilot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEach week they are faced with a choice of whether to attend church, and there is more than one tradeoff when it comes to this decision,\u201d stated McConnell.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes churchgoers conclude it\u2019s safer to skip church and not be on the roads. \u2026 There is a good reason some churches are in the habit of noting the weather conditions when they record their worship attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The findings also noted the occasional gender gap when noting reasons to skip church, as men were more likely than women to cite watching a favorite sports team as a reason (46% vs. 39%), while women were more likely than men to cite wanting to avoid traveling in the rain (47% vs. 37%) as a reason.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the report found that churchgoers aged 65 or older, racial minorities, and Presbyterians were the groups least likely to say they would skip church for any of the reasons listed in the survey.<\/p>\n
In 2019, former Lifeway Christian Resources President Thom Rainer polled pastors on social media to see what they considered to be drivers of lower worship attendance.<\/p>\n
According to an op-ed piece published in The Christian Post<\/a>\u00a0at the time, Rainer found that the main reasons cited were \u201choliday weekends,\u201d \u201cbad weather,\u201d \u201cgood weather,\u201d \u201cspring break,\u201d \u201csports,\u201d \u201csummer,\u201d \u201ctime change,\u201d \u201cpastor on vacation\u201d and \u201cChristmas to New Year.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cChurch leaders have pretty clear perspectives about low attendance days,\u201d Rainer wrote. \u201cThey know when to expect them. Some are common across different regions and cultures. Others are unique to specific localities. Most of them are painful for pastors and other church leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n
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