Churches across the nation are hoping that attendance will improve now that life is getting back to a state of normalcy.
Church attendance countrywide took a significant hit amid COVID-19 closures, but now that the nation is seeing better days, church attendance is mirroring those improvements, too.
The churches that have struggled the most to retain desired attendance have been those with older congregants, according to The Associated Press.
Religious organizations that have experienced the most success in surviving the pandemic have been churches that have younger demographics and churches that have exercised the option for online attendance and virtual community events.
However, among younger people is where church attendance and religious affiliation are the least common.
"In the United States, the latest challenge for places of worship comes against a backdrop of a decades-long trend of a smaller share of the population identifying as religious," wrote David Sharp from AP. "It's too early to know the full impact of the pandemic. Surveys do show signs of hopefulness - and also cause for concern."
Some church attendees have found that they prefer virtual participation, while others are excited to resume in-person attendance in the coming weeks.
"About three-quarters of Americans who attended religious services in person at least monthly before the pandemic say they are likely to do so again in the next few weeks, according to a recent AP-NORC poll. That's up slightly from the about two-thirds who said in May 2020 that they would if they were allowed to do so. But 7% said they definitely won't be attending," Sharp wrote. "Those findings are in line with a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. residents last summer. It found that 92% of people who regularly attend religious services expected to continue at the same or higher rate, while 7% say they will attend in-person services less often."
As for religious organizations in Sumter, smaller churches seem to be impacted the most.
"Our church attendance has decreased a little," said Pastor Joey Durham of Open Bible Baptist Church. "I believe the fear that the pandemic has created truly played a part in this."
Some larger churches in Sumter did not suffer attendance-wise because of the pandemic.
"Alice Drive is holding strong. We have four live services on Sunday and Monday as well as two simulcast services at our second campus. COVID-19 did affect every church in America. We reopened in May of 2020," said Creative Pastor Mandy Easton of Alice Drive Baptist. "We hired a full-time online campus director who maintains attendance through online options. We want people to gather in person, but we know not all are ready, so we create worship for our online viewers. We have found that many are leaving online and coming back to in-person."
Because of adapting to an increasingly virtual world while still encouraging in-person attendance under safe circumstances, Alice Drive Baptist has experienced growth despite pandemic-related hardships.
"We have been noticing growth the past two to three months, and as our growth is happening in-person, our online is starting to drop a tiny bit," Easton said. "We have been doing many pushes on the fly to grow our in-person. Solid worship, special services, community events, service projects and much more. When people have a purpose, they tend to gather."
The pandemic has altered church culture, and for churches that are willing and able to adjust to hardships and attendees' desires for alternate attendance options, there is a possibility that such churches can thrive post-pandemic.
https://www.theitem.com/stories/pandemic-is-dwindling-but-has-church-attendance-improved,367022?
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