{"id":296,"date":"2024-04-10T15:01:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T19:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/?p=296"},"modified":"2024-04-10T15:01:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T19:01:27","slug":"what-other-church-holidays-appeal-to-non-christians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/latestnews\/2024\/04\/10\/what-other-church-holidays-appeal-to-non-christians\/","title":{"rendered":"Study Reveals Top Church Holidays Beyond Easter and Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mother’s Day joins the big two church holidays for most attendance, Easter and Holidays (Sources: iStockPhoto)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The anomalous attendance at Easter church services causes pastors to consider evangelistic opportunities, church growth, and community extension\u2014but what about the other “church holidays?”<\/p>\n

A Lifeway Research study<\/a> shows that Resurrection Sunday attracts more non-Christian or casually religious people than any other special day on the calendar, as 52% of U.S. Protestant pastors nationwide claim.<\/p>\n

\"Lifeway<\/p>\n

This same discovery has only decreased by three points since 2011. The second of the church holidays that bring in the most people is what most would presume is Christmas (Eve or Day). A distant third among those special days should not be a surprise\u2014Lifeway’s results show it’s Mother’s Day.<\/p>\n

Should that be surprising, considering the importance of women to the Gospel? The return of Christ, the birth of Christ, and the reason Christ arrived in a manger in the first place.<\/p>\n

What is it about these church holidays that attract millions of people who don’t claim or experience a strong relationship with God?<\/p>\n

The Reality and Reasons for Church Holidays<\/h2>\n

As Mother’s Day, May 12, is among the top three most attended special days in church, a few other days not on the calendar made the researched group. Coincidentally, Father’s Day was the least attended, with only 3% of pastors acknowledging it.<\/p>\n

In 2023, director of Lifeway Research, Scott McConnell, said about the same “telling” result<\/a> via Charisma News, “Either churches are less effective in affirming fathers, or families believe Christian fathers don’t value their participation in worship services.”<\/p>\n

Other days\u2014church holidays, calendar listed, or otherwise\u2014were designated days for members to invite friends (20%), Homecoming or Church Anniversary (18%), Fourth of July (3%), and Father’s Day (3%). Days with less than 3% included All Saints Day, Baptism, Christmas Eve, Palm Sunday, and Reformation Day.<\/p>\n

The connection between the three significant days could be perceived as guilt and respect. Thom Rainer, founder and CEO of Church Answers, once noted reasons<\/a> for the spikes in attendance over the trio of popular Sunday services that still appear to carry true today.<\/p>\n