Tearfund COVID-19 Prayer Public Omnibus Research

Tearfund commissioned Savanta ComRes to explore the role of the church and prayer in the current COVID19 situation among the general public. The research also aims to gauge how people are responding to COVID19, particularly looking at spiritual practice during the lockdown.

Over two in five (44%) UK adults say they pray, including a quarter of adults (26%) who say they pray regularly (i.e. at least once a month or more often).
A quarter (24%) of UK adults say they have watched or listened to a religious service since lockdown (on the radio, live on TV, on demand or streamed online).
Over half (53%) of UK adults who pray say they have prayed about family during the COVID-19 lockdown. A third say they prayed about friends (34%), while over a quarter say they prayed about frontline services (27%) during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Two thirds (66%) of UK adults who pray agree that prayer changes the world. A third (33%) of UK adults who pray say they prayed since the COVID-19 lockdown because they believe that prayer makes a difference.

Date Published: 03/05/2020

Categories: Faith | GB | Public and communities

Client: Tearfund

Methodology

Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,101 UK adults aged 18+ online between 24th and 27th April 2020. Data were weighted to be nationally representative of all UK adults by age, gender, region and social grade. Savanta ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.