Survey: 68% of Churchgoers Watched a Christian Movie in 2024 

Religious films have been around for a long time. The noteworthy Christian movie The Ten Commandments was released back in 1956. But the modern faith-based movie industry arguably began with Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ in 2004. Several years later, the Kendrick Brothers released Facing the Giants (2006). A decade after that, God’s Not Dead (2014) became a surprise box-office hit. Since then, the faith-based entertainment industry has grown exponentially—both in quantity and quality.     

A recent survey by Lifeway Research has shed some light on the movie-watching habits of American Protestant churchgoers. The survey found that nearly 7 in 10 (68%) respondents claimed they watched a “Christian movie” in the last year. Interestingly, only 48% of those surveyed reported watching a “secular movie” during that same period.   

This discrepancy may suggest that the substantial growth of faith-based entertainment has fostered a subculture in which many Christians have spurned mainstream Hollywood media. The research group acknowledges, however, that the terminology of the question may have caused some misunderstanding, with some respondents perceiving “secular” to encompass only aggressively anti-Christian content. Regardless, there is clearly a sizable (and growing) audience for faith-based entertainment.       

A frequent criticism of faith-based movies is that they are “preachy” or “message driven.” Despite those concerns, many Christians are optimistic about cinema’s evangelistic potential. According to the Lifeway Research survey, 81% of respondents agreed that “Christian movies are effective evangelism tools.” To that end, 12% of people surveyed reported inviting a non-Christian to watch a Christian movie with them last year.  

The entertainment industry is constantly in flux, but films continue to play a prominent role in American life. Despite decreased movie theater attendance, an estimated 817,855,845 movie tickets were sold in 2024. The industry is changing, and it seems likely that faith-based entertainment will play an expanding role in the years ahead.