Church attendance has dropped during pandemic, according to ‘2020 State of the Bible’ report

The ongoing pandemic and limits on group size has taken a toll on church attendance, a study by the American Bible Society and the Barna Group found. According to the “2020 State of the Bible” report, only 32 percent of Bible users were still attending churches by June, compared to 49 percent were attending in January before the lockdowns.

In addition, when asking the general public, a full 65 percent of people agreed that the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon all express the same spiritual truths. Just more than half (52 percent) of all self-proclaimed practicing Christians disagreed with the statement that the Bible, Koran and Book of Mormon all teach the same spiritual truths.

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Thirty-four percent of Americans said they never use the Bible, and only 31 percent said they read the Bible at least once a week. Forty percent read the Bible even less, reporting that they read the Bible at least once a month. One in in 10 (11 percent) Americans said they use their Bible less than once a year. However, nearly eight in 10 Americans own a Bible, and 68 percent of Americans believe the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans, roughly three out of every five people, wish they used their Bible more often. Additionally, 64 percent of Americans stated their Bible reading has stayed about the same. But roughly 1 in 3 Americans (31 percent) believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God. But among those who are “Bible-centered,” 57 percent report having no frustrations with scripture, with the Bible-friendly and Bible-engaged people also showing relatively high scores of people with no frustrations with scripture.

One of the biggest complaints of the Bible-centered group was not having enough time to use the Bible, with 14 percent reported having difficulty doing so. This shows that, even in a time of unprecedented shuttering of the church, those who cling to the Bible still found time to keep learning and growing in the knowledge of God.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice