CNN, Christianity Today, Gallup, Pew Research Center and many church pastors share a common insight: More people attend church on Easter Sunday than on most other Sundays.
Christmas and Mother’s Day are the second and third highest days of attendance.
The Pew Research Center reported in 2014 that online searches for church also spike around Easter.
Easter is the most important holiday in Christianity. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an event that is the basis of Christianity. So, many people seek out religious services to celebrate that event.
Some Southern Illinois churches see that trend exhibited in their Easter services.
“For us, it’s higher. I would say about 33 percent higher. We are probably a good 30 percent up on that day,” said Joe Wagner, pastor of First Baptist Church in Du Quoin.
People are also reading…
He said for some, it is all about tradition. They were raised going to church, so Easter is when they go to church.
For other Christians, Easter is about celebrating the resurrection of Christ.
“Easter is a day we celebrate our Lord, and they really do come to do that. They set that day aside,” Wagner said. “We believe and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It’s just a huge day of celebration.”
First Baptist does several things to invite folks to attend on Easter Sunday, such as direct mail, Facebook and social media invites, and a free community event the week before Easter.
“We try to do community events and mailers, just different ways to let people know we are here and we want them to come," Wagner said.
Father Gary Gummersheimer of St. Andrew Catholic Church and the Rev. Larry Gilbert of Murphysboro United Methodist Church both say they do not see a large uptick in attendance numbers on Easter Sunday.
Gilbert said attendance at mainstream denominations continues to slowly decline throughout the year, and his church is no different.
“Attendance at traditional churches is being offset by a lot of newer, non-traditional churches,” Gilbert said.
“If we are going to continue to be a presence in society, we have to do more evangelism,” Gummer added, saying that by evangelism he means living faith in the gospel in relevant ways that impact people.
“In Africa, if you want to go to school, you go to a church school. If you need to go to the hospital, you go to a church-sponsored hospital,” Gilbert said.
The men say Americans sometimes forget that many of our great social and educational organizations were started by church denominations.
The Rev. Dr. Troy Benitone, directing pastor of Community of Faith Church in Marion and a former Methodist minister, said he has seen that attendance trend played out in some of the churches he has pastored, but not really at Community of Faith.
“When I was mainline pastor, we would see two times the attendance,” Benitone said. “When I moved to independent churches, I saw a slight increase.”
He said independent churches are more likely to treat Easter and Christmas like any other Sunday.
“They treated every Sunday like it was Easter and Christmas. I’m not saying we would not get a few more. We do see a little bit of an increase, maybe 10 or 15 percent, but we would see that on any Sunday we are doing something special.”
Benitone said the average age of the congregation makes a difference, too. If members of the congregation are between 25 and 45, they tend to go home to visit parents or grandparents for Easter, causing a slight downward tick in attendance.
If the ages fall between 55 and 75 or even 65 to 85, attendance goes the other way.
“At Community of Faith, people are proud to invite their friends and family and are bringing someone because there was a really good chance to invite them,” Benitone said. “A lot of people’s hearts are open to come to church on Easter, Christmas and mother’s day.”
Community of Faith will have a regular service, a resurrection service, on Easter Sunday.
“While we will be celebrating Easter and people will be a little more dressed up, it will feel like a regular Sunday,” Benitone said.
