How Many Americans Actually Go to Church During Christmas? New Survey Reveals Holiday Attendance

At Christmastime, churches plan for larger crowds — but those preparations might not pan out this year, at least for some congregations across the country.

A just-released survey from Lifeway Research found just under half of Americans (47%) say they typically attend church services during the Christmas season, with 48% saying they don’t, and 5% saying they are unsure of their holiday plans.

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“The very name ‘Christmas’ originates in the church’s celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth,” explained Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell. “In the mid-14th century, the words ‘Christ’s Mass’ were first merged as a single term for this celebration.”

He went on to state that, while 90% of Americans do something to celebrate Christmas, fewer than half usually attend church at Christmastime today.

Like with many things, the U.S. is sharply divided on holiday church attendance.

Protestants (57%), Catholics (56%), and those from other religions (53%) are much more likely than the religiously unaffiliated (21%) to report usually attending a church service. The last group — those who hold to no religious conviction whatsoever — are most likely to say “no” (71%) to attending a church service during Christmastime.

Christians who already attend church services occasionally are, unsurprisingly, more likely to show up for services around this time of year. Believers who attend roughly once a week (76%) and those who attend once or twice a month (69%) are more inclined than those who rarely or never attend church services (52%) to come during Christmastime.

Interestingly, those who largely skip out on church during the holidays said they are simply awaiting an invitation.

The majority (56%) said they would likely attend a religious service if someone invited them during the Christmas season, including 17% who said they were “very likely” to respond affirmatively to an invitation.

McConnell, however, warned a positive reply should never be what motivates Christians to invite nonbelievers to attend Christmas church services. Rather, believers should be motivated by the Gospel message itself.

“[A]nticipating a positive response may not be the best motivation for a churchgoer to invite people to a Christmas service,” he said. “A different motivation in the chorus of an African-American spiritual appeals to everybody: ‘Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.’ This chorus suggests that the Hallelujah-inspiring good news of Jesus being born is reason enough to tell it on the mountain or on the city wall.”

You can read more from the Lifeway Research report here.