Across US, houses of worship struggle to rebuild attendance

By DAVID CRARY
AP National Writer

In-person attendance at houses of worship across the U.S. has slowly risen from dramatically low levels when the pandemic surged in the spring of 2020. But in many cases, attendance is still not back to pre-pandemic levels — and in some cases, it’s less than half. For example, the First Church of God in Columbus, Ohio, used to draw a total of about 2,500 worshippers to three services each weekend. Now there’s a single service on Sunday, and only 500 worshippers – with masks and proof of vaccination — are allowed into a sanctuary that can seat more than three times that number.