Owing to the politicization of virus restrictions, the decision to reopen a church for public worship has also become political. Left-leaning churches are more likely to stay closed because the political Left favors greater coronavirus restrictions than the Right. Right-leaning churches are more likely to reopen, a phenomenon shown in that the churches covered by the media for opening prematurely tended to lean to the Right. 

A large swath of U.S. churches have not reopened for in-person services even though they have legal license to do so. It’s a decision that may very well spell destruction — with dwindling congregations and empty coffers — but it’s a decision many pastors are making nonetheless.

Almost one-third of church-going adults, 31 percent, attend a church which was still closed for public worship as of mid-July, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center published Thursday. In addition, half of church-going adults (those who attend services at least once a month) said they have not attended any in-person religious services for the past month. At the time of the survey, July 13-19, public worship was permitted everywhere in the United States except in some counties in California.

Owing to the politicization of virus restrictions, the decision to reopen a church for public worship has also become political. Left-leaning churches are more likely to stay closed because the political Left favors greater coronavirus restrictions than the Right. Right-leaning churches are more likely to reopen, a phenomenon shown in that the churches covered by the media for opening prematurely tended to lean to the Right.

Mainline Protestants, who lean Democrat, were more likely to tell Pew their churches remained closed than Evangelical Protestants, who lean Republican.

Additionally, Democrats were more likely to say their church remained closed than Republicans: 42 percent of Democrats said their church is closed compared to 23 percent of Republicans who said the same, a divide reflecting a greater proportion of churches with more left-leaning congregants remaining closed.

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