7 Out of 10 Churchgoers Never Open Their Bible During the Week

New Study Reveals Most Churchgoers Don't Read the Bible Every Day

A new report from Lifeway Research has found that fewer than one in three Protestant churchgoers who attend services at least once a month read the Bible on a daily basis.

The online survey, conducted March 19 through 26, 2025, polled 2,130 Protestant churchgoers with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.21 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

According to the findings, 31 percent of respondents said they read the Bible daily. Another 30 percent reported reading it a few times per week, while 14 percent read it once a week. Eleven percent said they read Scripture a few times per month, 5 percent read it once a month, and 9 percent said they rarely or never read the Bible.

Historical data shows that the daily reading rate has nearly doubled since 2007, when just 16 percent of churchgoers reported reading the Bible daily. That number climbed to 19 percent in 2012 and peaked at 32 percent in 2019 before settling to 31 percent in the current survey.

The portion of churchgoers reading the Bible a few times a week or more on their own has leveled off recently.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said in the report.

Despite the low daily reading rates, 74 percent of respondents affirmed that the Bible has authority over all areas of life. Fifteen percent were unsure about its authority and 11 percent disagreed. Additionally, 72 percent of churchgoers said they think about biblical truths throughout the day.

Dirk Smith of Eastern European Mission offered a blunt assessment, attributing the low reading rates to what he described as "the culture we've built around distraction, quick fixes and shallow spirituality."

Why Are So Few Christians Reading Their Bibles? Lifeway Data Exposes a Growing Crisis

The data paints a troubling picture for the state of personal discipleship in American Protestant churches. While weekly church attendance is a baseline marker of faith engagement, daily time in Scripture has long been considered a cornerstone of spiritual growth by pastors and theologians alike.

The plateau in daily reading rates after years of steady growth raises questions about whether churches are doing enough to encourage personal Bible study among their congregations.

The Crusader's Opinion

Let that number sink in. Only 31 percent. Seven out of ten people sitting in our pews every Sunday are not opening the Word of God during the rest of the week. We wonder why the Church feels weak. We wonder why Christians buckle under cultural pressure. We wonder why so many believers cannot articulate what they actually believe. This is why. You cannot fight a spiritual war with a sword you never pick up. The Bible is not a Sunday accessory. It is the living Word of the Almighty God. If we are too busy, too distracted, or too comfortable to read it daily, we have no right to be surprised when the world steamrolls over us. The early Church was willing to die for these words. We cannot even be bothered to read them.

Take Action

• Commit to a daily Bible reading plan today. The YouVersion Bible App offers hundreds of free plans at www.bible.com
• Start a small group Bible study at your church focused on reading Scripture together throughout the week
• Talk to your pastor about what your church is doing to encourage personal Bible reading and discipleship beyond Sunday services
• Share this article with fellow believers and challenge each other to read the Bible every single day for the next 30 days
• Support organizations that distribute Bibles and promote biblical literacy. Consider giving to www.TheShepherdsShield.org to support Christian communities worldwide