Church Attendance Going Up!

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Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood (Acts 20:28, ESV).

The Barna Organization conducts statistical studies of the church. 

I’ve subscribed to their services for years for two reasons — first, I enjoy being a geek with numbers, and second, I enjoy keeping us updated about recent trends in the church.

A research focus of Barna has been its State of the Church article series. For 25 years, they’ve been tracking church attendance and cultural shifts within local churches. Recently, I went online to check out their recent research, and I was stunned by the following headline …

A Dramatic Reversal in Church Attendance!

Reading further, I found that Barna reports, for the first time in their 25 years of tracking church attendance, the number of people attending church in the USA is increasing. I guess Jesus knew what He was talking about when He said, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

Below are a few points from the Barna study …

• For the first time in decades, younger adults — Gen Z and Millennials — are now the most regular churchgoers, outpacing older generations, who once formed the backbone of church attendance. Hallelujah!  The church is getting younger. The OGs (Old Guys) no longer rule.

• Men are significantly outpacing women in church attendance since the pandemic, reversing a long-standing trend in Barna’s decades of tracking (used to be more women than men). The 2025 gender gap is the largest recorded so far (43% for men vs. 36% among women). What a joy to see men show up for church on Sunday!

• Across every generation, women are trailing men in weekly church attendance, especially among Gen X and Millennials. Discernment is needed as to why women aren’t keeping pace. Some think that church attendance becomes cumbersome for young and single mothers. Others consider that women still feel frustrated with what they perceive as a male-dominated culture.

• Weekly Bible reading among U.S. adults has climbed to 42 percent, up 12 points since a 15-year low in 2024! All revivals start with elevating God’s Word. Just reading the Bible changes our lives significantly.

Barna gives this summary of their current State of the Church attendance statistics … 

Contrary to past narratives of broad decline, church attendance in the U.S. is showing signs of renewal, especially among younger generations and men. 

I believe in a latter-day revival. Considering these statistics from Barna, along with reports of large Jesus rallies on campuses, I pray that we will see more people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior in the next couple of years than we currently think possible.

Come, Lord Jesus! Revive us again.