{"id":18946,"date":"2026-02-16T06:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=18946"},"modified":"2026-02-16T06:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T06:35:11","slug":"less-than-a-third-of-churchgoers-read-the-bible-daily-lifeway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=18946","title":{"rendered":"Less than a third of churchgoers read the Bible daily: Lifeway"},"content":{"rendered":"


By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, February 13, 2026<\/span><\/a>Getty Images\/Grace Cary<\/span><\/p>\n

Fewer than one in three Protestants who attend church services at least once a month read the Bible on a daily basis, according to a recent report from Lifeway Research.<\/p>\n

A report published Tuesday, based on The Lifeway Research State of Discipleship study, found that 31% of Protestant churchgoers read the Bible every day, while 30% do so a few times a week.<\/p>\n

Additionally, 14% of respondents said they read the Bible once a week, 11% said they engage in it a few times a month, 5% said they only read it once a month, while 9% said they \u201crarely or never\u201d do so.<\/p>\n

According to Lifeway, the Bible reading rates have gone up compared to past years. For example, in 2007, only 16% of respondents said they read the Bible daily, while in 2012, it was 19% of respondents.<\/p>\n

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, was quoted in the report as noting that the number of daily Bible readers has remained fairly steady since 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe portion of churchgoers reading the Bible a few times a week or more on their own has leveled off recently after rising dramatically since 2007, but the churchgoer population was also changing during this period,\u201d stated McConnell.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lower percentage of Americans attend a Protestant church once a month today than when this series of studies began. Clearly, the remnant of Americans attending church each month are more willing to regularly read the Bible on their own than when churches were more populated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data for the report came from an online survey of 2,130 Protestant churchgoers conducted March 19-26, 2025, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.21% at the 95% confidence level.<\/p>\n

The report also found that 74% of Protestant churchgoers said \u201cthe Bible has authority over every area of their lives,\u201d while 15% of respondents were unsure and 11% disagreed.<\/p>\n

Additionally, 72% of respondents found themselves \u201cthinking about biblical truths throughout the day,\u201d while 19% were not sure, and 10% of respondents disagreed. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In a 2019 report, Lifeway Research found that 32% of regular churchgoers read their Bible on a daily basis, while 27% said that they read Scripture a few times a week, and 12% said they rarely to never read the Bible.<\/p>\n

Regarding the 2019 study, Dirk Smith, vice president of the Bible distribution ministry Eastern European Mission, said in an op-ed published by The Christian Post last year that he believed the numbers were because of \u201cthe culture we\u2019ve built around distraction, quick fixes and shallow spirituality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take the Bible for granted and allow ourselves to \u2018unwind\u2019 by doom scrolling \u2014 only to increase anxiety and depression levels,\u201d he added. \u201cThe consequences are undeniable. Weak churches, weary Christians and a restless society searching for peace in all the wrong places.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growing churches in America right now aren\u2019t the ones with the flashiest worship teams or trendiest branding. They\u2019re the ones that open the Bible and teach it line by line, verse by verse, book by book.\u201d<\/p>\n

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