Marissa Postell Sullivan

Most Protestant churchgoers say their churches encourage them to serve people not affiliated with their church and that they want to do so. But few have volunteered in the past year.

On average, Protestant churches say 44% of their current weekend worship attendees are involved in a small group, Sunday School or similar group, indicating a decline in average small group attendance since 2010 (49%).

Compared to a 2016 Lifeway Research study, more pastors are socializing with neighbors of other ethnicities (70% v. 57%), discussing the issue with church leaders (63% v. 51%), meeting regularly with pastors of other ethnicities (46% v. 40%), and investing church funds in changing local economic inequalities (44% v. 31%).

According to a study by Lifeway Research, nearly 2 in 3 Protestant churchgoers (65%) intentionally spend time alone with God at least daily, with 44% saying daily and 21% saying more than once a day.

Religious beliefs and practice also play a role in attitudes toward suicide. Those with evangelical beliefs are more likely than those without evangelical beliefs to say suicide is selfish (48% v. 35%) and automatically leads to hell (39% v. 18%).

There is no consensus among Americans on who is in the best position to generate healthy conversations around challenges in society.

Most Americans are open to a variety of denominations of Christian churches, including many people of other faiths or no faith at all.

More pastors identify stress (31%) as their greatest mental challenge in ministry than any other challenge.