Evangelical, Midwestern, Southern Churches Most Likely to Be Meeting in Person Again

(RNS) — Which churches have resumed gathering in person amid the coronavirus pandemic?

Mostly evangelical Protestant churches rather than mainline Protestant and, more often, those that are located in the South or Midwest, according to a new survey released Friday (July 24) by LifeWay Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

But even for those churches that have reopened, services likely don’t look like they did before COVID-19 upended everyday life in the United States.

“Resuming in-person worship services has not been reverting to worship as usual,” LifeWay Research Executive Director Scott McConnell said in a written statement.

By theological affiliation, 82% of pastors who identify as evangelical — traditionally, more conservative — said their churches gathered in person for worship last weekend (July 19), compared to 57% of pastors who identify as mainline.

Doctrinally, that shouldn’t make a difference, McConnell told Religion News Service. But many evangelicals also tend to be more politically conservative, and the split falls along political lines as the pandemic has become politicized.

And by region, 78% of pastors in the Midwest and 75% in the South said they met last week in person, compared to 61% in the West and 55% in the Northeast, according to the survey.

Those numbers dropped off this past weekend in the West as California has…