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Life in U.S. Religious Congregations Slowly Edges Back Toward Normal
Regular religious attenders are returning to in-person religious services
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- Life in U.S. Religious Congregations Slowly Edges Back Toward Normal
- In U.S., growing numbers confident they can safely attend religious services
- Roughly four-in-ten U.S. Christians plan to attend Easter services in person this year
- Fewer U.S. religious attenders now say their congregation is closed, but most say COVID-19-related modifications remain in place
- Half of evangelicals say they plan to attend church in person this Easter
- Black Americans more likely than others to say their congregations should be closed because of coronavirus
- Most religious attenders say their congregations are still streaming or recording services
- Regular religious attenders are returning to in-person religious services
- In U.S., 39% of Christians say they plan to attend Easter services in person this year, down from 62% who normally go
- Fewer than one-in-five religious attenders now say their congregation is closed due to the coronavirus, down from 31% in July
- Half of those who attend religious services say their congregation is requiring social distancing, mask-wearing
- Currently, 15% of U.S. religious attenders say their congregation should be closed because of the coronavirus, down from 28% who said this last July
- Half of U.S. Christian churchgoers say their congregations should be enforcing social distancing, mask-wearing
- One-in-five Protestants, three-in-ten Catholics say their congregations should be holding services outside
- Three-quarters of religious attenders now at least somewhat confident they could attend in-person services without catching, spreading coronavirus
- Those who said they were highly religious to begin with most likely to say their faith has been strengthened due to pandemic