The State of the Church research shows that Gen Z and Millennial church attendance has nearly doubled since 2020
BOULDER, Colo. — New research by Barna Group and Gloo, as part of their State of the Church initiative, reveals a historic shift in church attendance. For the first time in decades, younger adults, specifically Gen Z and Millennials, are now the most regular churchgoers, surpassing older generations who have traditionally led in church attendance. The typical Gen Z churchgoer now attends 1.9 weekends per month, while Millennials average 1.8 times, representing a steady upward shift since the attendance decline observed during the pandemic. In fact, the frequency of churchgoing for Millennials and Gen Z has nearly doubled in just five years, rising from approximately one weekend per month in 2020 to nearly two in 2025.
“The makeup and rhythms of church life are shifting,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. “Young people today are showing a renewed openness to faith, and many are finding their way back into church communities. This moment invites leaders to lean in and guide young people toward deeper faith. While churchgoing alone doesn’t form disciples, churches that offer relational connection, volunteer engagement, and clear discipleship pathways that resonate with younger generations can help them build a resilient and lasting faith.”
Overall, the data shows that even regular churchgoers do not attend often. Among all self-described Christian churched adults, the average attendance is 1.6 times per month, or roughly two out of every five weekends. While older adults have historically been the most reliable churchgoers for decades, their participation rates have consistently declined over the past 25 years. Looking back, Elders (those born before 1946) who attended about 2.3 times per month in 2000 now attend around 1.4 times, and Boomers’ attendance has dropped from 2.0 to 1.4 times per month. Gen X attendance has remained steady, sitting at 1.6 times per month, but has not seen growth.
“These shifts in church attendance open the door for leaders to innovate in how they engage with their people,” said Brad Hill, president, Gloo Media Network. “Since many aren’t in the pews every week, churches that prioritize relational touchpoints and digital engagement — through text, social media and other online tools — can better reach younger generations where they already are. Every interaction counts, and this trend presents an opportunity for leaders to help grow their faith in new and impactful ways.”
The detailed findings of this month’s release are available here. Leaders can learn more about the largest initiative for the Church at stateofthechurch.com.
About the Research
Barna Group consistently surveys U.S. adults on their religious behaviors, including church attendance. For this analysis, we focus on Christian churchgoers—adults who have attended within the past six months. Concentrating on this group highlights the rhythms of people already engaged in church life, providing leaders with a realistic picture of the attendance patterns they can expect from their congregants. To capture this, Barna calculated the frequency of their attendance in a given month.
Barna Group’s tracking data is based on online and telephone interviews within nationwide random samples of 132,030 adults conducted over a twenty-five-year period ending in July 2025. These studies are conducted utilizing quota sampling for representation of all U.S. adults by age, gender, race / ethnicity, region, education and income. Minimal statistical weighting has been used when necessary to maximize statistical representativeness. Included in this data is 5,580 online interviews that were collected between January and July of 2025. These interviews were also conducted utilizing quota sampling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education and income, and minimal statistical weighting has been used to maximize statistical representation.
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Gloo is a leading technology platform for the faith ecosystem, providing values-based AI, resources, insights and funding so people and communities flourish and organizations thrive. Gloo serves over 100,000 faith, ministry and nonprofit leaders and is based in Boulder, Colorado. For more information visit Gloo.com.
Barna Group is a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture. Since 1984, Barna has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about religion, leadership, vocation and generations. Barna is an independent, privately-held, nonpartisan organization based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.
Contact:
Sarah Bunyea
Gloo
571-205-1931
[email protected]
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