The Nine Most Common Low Attendance Days in Churches

Church leaders have pretty clear perspectives about low attendance days.

They know when to expect them. Some are common across different regions and cultures. Others are unique to specific localities. Most of them are painful for pastors and other church leaders.

So, when I put the question out on social media, the responses were fast, funny and, sometimes, furious. I doubt there will be many surprises on this list. They are still good reminders we are all dealing with the challenges of commitment. Here are the nine most common low attendance days in order of frequency of response.

  1. Spring break. “We get hit hard on both the weekend before Spring break and the weekend after. I’m ready to move to a church in a retirement community.”
  2. Holiday weekends. “Labor Day. MLK Day. Memorial Day. You name it. As long as there is a long weekend ahead, our folks will find an excuse to miss church.”
  3. Bad weather. “We don’t get much snow, so any accumulation above 1/1000 of an inch sends people to get milk and bread at the grocery store, and makes them stay away from church lest their lives are at risk with such dangerous precipitation. But they will be okay to go to work on Monday.”
  4. Good weather. “We miss as many folks in really good weather as we do in lousy weather. They will stay away if there is a 5% chance of rain; but they will really stay away if there is a 20% chance of sunshine. The lake calls.”
  5. Sports. “Travel teams. College football. NFL. Kids playing soccer and football. In the Old Testament they worshipped false gods. We still do today. They are called sports.”
  6. Summer. “Our attendance always takes a hit in the summer time. Vacation. Staycation. Sleep-in. When schools out, any excuse works.”
  7. Time change. “Let’s see how loud the businesses would scream if the time change took place on a weekday. It’s really convenient to hurt the churches.”
  8. Pastor on vacation. “I’m almost to the point of not letting anyone know when I go on vacation. When the pastor’s away, the members will play.”
  9. Christmas to New Year. “Whether that’s one or two Sundays, it’s always lousy for us. Bah humbug.”

What are the low attendance days in your church? Have you found an approach to countering these trends? Let me hear from you.

Posted on April 8, 2019


With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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86 Comments

  • Here is another one…. if your church hosted a church event on Friday or Saturday, Sunday attendance always takes a hit.

  • Same as Danny above. Sunday after Easter is a killer for us. That date usually falls on the end of spring break so double wammy! I’ve also heard the Sunday’s before and after July 4 are two of the lowest of the year.

  • Ron Cousineau says on

    We are planning a Wednesday night church-wide cook-out, six-week small group study on the church campus to allow people during mid-June through July to get people together during the week that might likely be away boating on weekends. People DO need to work!

  • Neil MacQueen says on

    What are churches doing differently on those Sundays to break bad habits? (Both the church’s and member’s habits)

    What are churches doing to equip members to observe the sabbath on Sundays they cannot get to church?

    • More on that in the future . . .

    • Craig Giddens says on

      There’s no reason for anyone in the church to observe a sabbath.

      • Neil MacQueen says on

        No sabbath? Hmmmm. Hebrews 4:9-11

      • Craig Giddens says on

        Exodus 31
        16. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
        17. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

        Romans 14:5 – One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

        Colossians 2
        16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
        17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

        No sabbath for the church.

  • Ironically, our lowest attendance Sunday, is the Sunday after Easter. We call it the Easter Let Down. The next week it’ll be back up, but that one Sunday gets us every year.

    • For several years now, our church has deemed the Sunday after Easter “Next Generation Sunday.” This is a service led by our youth pastor who preaches, but also is a time to incorporate teenagers into most aspects. They greet, pass out bulletins, partner with an adult in each aspect of the worship service (except for preaching). It’s also a Sunday that we celebrate and recognize graduating high school seniors.
      Logistically, it is harder for the youth team to coordinate, but overall is a win-win for all involved. The regulars get a bit of a break, the service has a lighter feel to it, and it energizes people to come expectant the Sunday after Easter (which otherwise can feel like a let-down).

    • As we call it, Thomas’ Sunday (in the Episcopal Church the passage from John’s gospel about Thomas is always read) is notorious for being the lowest attendance Sunday in the year.

    • Traditionally, the Sunday after Easter is called “Low Sunday”. While this article http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09400a.htm says it has to do with the contrast between it and the feast day of Easter preceding it, it also happens to be one of our lowest attendance Sundays. So the name often fits.

  • Fast, funny and furious is accurate. So is the list. I’ve experienced them all. I would add the Sunday after Easter. I guess everyone is exhausted after making such a profound effort the previous Sunday.

  • Or as I used to call them “Associate Minister Preaching Days.”

  • The list pretty much nails it for us. Something I’ve tried to do to minimize the impact of number eight is to plan my vacation after Christmas and other traditional low attendance times.

    • A Pastor should never announce when he will be on vacation! There are many reasons why but one of the biggest is safety. If the wrong person finds out you are out of town you may come back to a robbed home. Or, say you are going hunting on vacation and your wife is home by herself – do you really want people to know?

  • Haha. Great list. I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday about the good weather answer. Being in DC area, we had the cherry blossoms and a nice day yesterday. Our morning attendance was significantly lower than usual.

  • Billy Dowdy says on

    Over the years I have noticed that when members say they are having company in for the weekend…the church is left out. And family reunions, why do they need to be held on Sunday at 1000am. I am from the south and it seems everyone remotely familiar with a family will attend, or st least they say they do.

  • Being in a bit of a vacation town, some of these are actually high-attendance days for us (1, 2, and 6). In fact, our “record,” if you will was Memorial Day. However, that pesky #8 is our biggest struggle.

    • A Pastor should never announce when he will be on vacation! There are many reasons why but one of the biggest is safety. If the wrong person finds out you are out of town you may come back to a robbed home. Or, say you are going hunting on vacation and your wife is home by herself – do you really want people to know?

  • July is our absolute worst month of the year. We have a lot of school teachers in our church. They usually can’t get away in June, and they have to go back to work early in August, so guess when they all take their vacations? I can’t blame them for going on vacation, so it’s just something I’ve learned to accept. Still, I always dread July.

      • One of the most notable for us has been oddly, Mother’s Day. 20 years ago it was always one of the highest next to Easter. The way kids honored their Mothers was to go to church with them. Of course, then most mothers were faithful attenders. The unsaved kids would bite the bullet and attend just for Mom. Also, family ties were big then so many of the kids attended that church and would make sure they were there for Mother’s Day. Today, the advent of the “Mother’s Day Brunch” has literally killed attendance. It’s Satan’s greatest tool. Here’s the attraction. As a family we can all be with Mom but not have the burden of going to church…this really appeals to the kids that are not believers. Now we can all get together at 10:00 and celebrate Mom. Now Mom and Dad aren’t even in church and the blessing of being with her children makes Mom be OK with it. It also has a bearing on the fact that in this culture, Mom misses way more services in a year than Mom did 20 years ago. Since Dad’s are less and less being spiritual leaders in homes and Moms are seeing less significance in church attendance, it creates the perfect atmosphere to move Mother’s Day to a secular celebration rather then one of faith.

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