How church switchers find a new church
Percent who used each method (in percent)
Key finding
Visiting in person and asking friends beat every online channel.
- Visited in person: 71%
- Recommendations: 56%
- Church website: 37%
Source: Lifeway Research, Church Switchers · n=1,001 Protestant churchgoers who switched churches, Jul 26 to Aug 4, 2023. Published Nov 9, 2023.
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Questions about this statistic
What does this statistic show?
Visiting in person and asking friends beat every online channel. Visited in person: 71%. Recommendations: 56%. Church website: 37%.
Who published this data?
Lifeway Research, 2025. Source: Lifeway Research, Church Switchers (https://news.lifeway.com/2023/11/09/church-switchers-identify-factors-behind-their-decision-expect-a-lot-from-new-congregation/).
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More Visitors statistics
- How people were first introduced to their church Lifeway Research, 2025
- New attendees who did not previously attend church at all Lifeway Research, 2025
- Ways Protestant churches welcome guests Lifeway Research, 2025
- What matters when choosing a church Lifeway Research, 2025
- Where new congregation attendees came from Lifeway Research, 2025
- Likelihood of attending church at Christmas if invited Lifeway Research, 2024
About this data
Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research by organizations such as Lifeway Research, Barna Group, Springtide, the American Bible Society and PRRI. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Figures are reproduced from the publishers named above; see the source for full methodology.