Mother's Day packs church pews behind Christmas, Easter

Photo ~ A survey says that Mother's Day ranks 3rd in holidays that draw crowds to church. Here Catholics attend mass on Ash Wednesday on Feb 22.

Mother's Day packs church pews behind Christmas, Easter

Hold the chocolate and flowers. Hold the brunch reservations. What mom may really want for Mother's Day is for the whole gang to go to church first.

A new survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors finds Mother's Day ranks right after Easter and Christmas in peak church attendance.

Father's Day, however, is near the bottom of the poll although both holidays were founded as church events more than a century ago.

"It seems that on Mother's Day, moms say, 'Let's all go to church.' But on Father's Day, dads say, 'I'm going to go play golf,' " says Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, the Nashville-based Christian research firm that conducted the survey.

According to pastors:

•93% say Easter ranks first, second or third in church worship attendance with 55% saying it's No. 1.
•84% name Christmas in the leading three, and it's tops in 29% of churches.
•59% list Mother's Day in the top tier, although only 4% say its the highest attendance day.

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