Big drop in church attendance since the Covid pandemic

Almost exactly three years after churches had to stop physical services due to the coronavirus, three in five still have fewer attendees than before the pandemic, Nederlands Dagblad reports after surveying 750 churches and parishes across the Christianity spectrum.

On 15 March 2020, churches had to close their doors to churchgoers to prevent coronavirus outbreaks at these gatherings. Sunday services were held online or only with a handful of attendees. Many churchgoers still haven’t returned, according to the newspaper.

Most responding churches estimated the decline in attendance somewhere between 10 and 25 percent. About a tenth of churches have seen attendance decline by over a quarter.

The decline in attendance affects all churches, from liberal to very orthodox. Especially people in their 30s stopped going to church.