Protestant Bible Reading Habits: A Closer Look
Amid a landscape of changing church attendance, a recent Lifeway Research report sheds light on the Bible reading habits of Protestant churchgoers. While fewer than one in three engage with Scripture daily, the trends reveal both challenges and opportunities for spiritual growth.
The latest findings, part of The Lifeway Research State of Discipleship study, indicate that only 31% of Protestant attendees who frequent church services at least monthly read the Bible daily. In comparison, 30% read it a few times a week, 14% once a week, and 11% engage with it a few times a month. Meanwhile, 5% read it once a month, and 9% said they rarely or never read the Bible.
Interestingly, the data reveal an upward trend in daily Bible readership over the years—rising from 16% in 2007 to 19% in 2012. According to Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, the rate of daily Bible reading has stabilized since 2019. He noted, “The 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.”
McConnell further emphasized the shifting dynamics within Protestant church attendance. “A 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,” he stated.
Conducted between March 19-26, 2025, the study involved an online survey of 2,130 Protestant churchgoers. The findings come with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.21% at a 95% confidence level.
Beyond reading habits, the report highlights that 74% of respondents acknowledge the Bible’s authority over all life aspects, while 15% were unsure and 11% disagreed. Furthermore, 72% reported thinking about biblical truths throughout the day, contrasted with 19% unsure and 10% disagreeing.
Lifeway Research’s earlier 2019 study found that 32% of regular churchgoers read their Bible daily, and 27% did so a few times weekly. At that time, 12% of respondents admitted to rarely or never reading the Bible.
Reflecting on the 2019 statistics, Dirk Smith, vice president of Eastern European Mission, attributed the trends to a culture of distraction and superficial spirituality. In an op-ed for The Christian Post, Smith remarked, “We take the Bible for granted and allow ourselves to ‘unwind’ by doom scrolling — only to increase anxiety and depression levels.”
He added, “The growing churches in America right now aren’t the ones with the flashiest worship teams or trendiest branding. They’re the ones that open the Bible and teach it line by line, verse by verse, book by book.”
This article was originally written by www.christianpost.com
