Is America Going Back to Church?
Cultural “vibe shift” talk may be pointing to something real: signs of openness to faith, especially among younger adults. Survey data shows long-term decline in Christian identification has leveled off in recent years, while other measures—like churchgoing frequency among Gen Z churchgoers and weekly Bible reading—have seen encouraging movement. The long-term picture remains mixed, but the moment presents renewed opportunity for churches to invite neighbors and disciple well.
- Pew data suggests the decline in Christian identification has stabilized in the low 60s since around 2019.
- Barna/Gloo report Gen Z churchgoers attend most often and Bible reading rose sharply last year.
- Church leaders describe both growth and ongoing strain, with clear opportunities for outward focus and community connection.
by James Thompson
Vibe.
If you are a part of (or interact with) Generation Z, I would guess that you frequently hear that word in some form or another. While certainly not a new term, today’s youth have remixed it in a number of unique ways. “Vibe check,” “matching the vibe,” and “vibe coding” are all examples of phrases that can prompt Boomers, Gen Xers, and even Millennials to wear a confused look and quickly open the Google app on their phone.
Some of these expressions are a bit more self-explanatory and have become more widely understood. Vibe Shift, for instance, has started to enter broader usage. Reverso English Dictionary defines it as a “major change in the current zeitgeist.”
For decades, both the vibes and the data have reflected a worrying decline in church attendance in America. Now, though, many cultural commentators and consistent churchgoers are asking if this could be changing. In the last few years, many have perceived a change in general attitudes toward church and faith across society, with more people seeming to be open to (or at least curious about) Christianity. News stories and anecdotal accounts have reinforced this feeling.
Are we living in the midst of a religious vibe shift? Or is this a fleeting trend that will fade before making a lasting impact? While faithful believers across the country pray for revival, the answer may not be clear for years to come.
More Than Just Vibes
Whether or not we are actually entering a period of revival, survey data does seem to indicate that something has changed.
When the Pew Research Center conducted its first “Religious Landscape Survey” (RLS) in 2007, it found that 78 percent of American adults identified themselves as Christians. When it was administered the next time in 2014, only 71 percent did. The most recent RLS, which polled over 35,000 respondents during 2023 and 2024, found that the new number is 62 percent.
That doesn’t exactly sound good, but Pew says that these three data points don’t tell the whole story. Using supplemental polling, the Center estimates data for other years even when a full survey is not conducted. Based on these assessments, the precipitous decline of Christianity in the U.S. seems to have leveled off around 2019. Since then, the share of the American population claiming Christianity has remained relatively stable in the low 60s.
While Christians doubtless hope this apparent plateau will hold or perhaps even begin to reverse, researchers at Pew suggest that further declines may be on the horizon. To support this view, they note that younger generations are still far less religious than their elders, and that “no recent birth cohort has become more religious as it has aged.”
Other data complicates that picture. The State of the Church initiative from Barna Group and faith-focused technology platform Gloo points to the youngest adults as the ones leading a church attendance comeback. Of all U.S. churchgoers, those from Gen Z attend most often at 1.9 weekends per month (up from less than once a month in 2020), with millennials right behind at 1.8. Baby Boomer and elder churchgoers were present an average of only 1.4 weekends per month, which is below the overall average of 1.6.
In a post on their website, Barna noted that “overall church attendance trends have been flat in recent years,” but contended that “the return to church among the next generation stands out as a powerful sign of rising openness to faith.”
While these are certainly exciting statistics, it’s important to note that Barna’s data reflects the habits of Americans who attend church, excluding those who never attend at all. Churchgoing Gen Zers may be attending worship services more often, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that young people overall are suddenly becoming more religious and flocking to the pews.
Nevertheless, Barna’s data reveals other encouraging developments, such as a sudden spike in Bible reading. After registering at a 25-year low in 2024, the percentage of all U.S. adults who read the Bible weekly last year jumped 12 points to 42 percent. Again, Gen Z and millennials were the biggest force behind the sudden jump.
In the Restoration Movement
While researchers and pundits puzzle over surveys and their implications, churches and pastors plow ahead with their ministries. Among Restoration Movement congregations, there are many examples of churches reflecting the positive trends shown in Barna’s data. Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV), a large multi-sight congregation in Arizona, saw in-person weekly attendance rise from 48,795 in 2024 to 56,216 last year, an increase of just over 15 percent. The number of baptisms jumped nearly by half, from 6,243 to 9,301.
Increased attendance and participation by younger generations have been a major force behind these gains at CCV. The church tries to lean into this and ensure that youth remain connected as they approach adulthood. One example of this is occasional “walkover weekends,” where the adolescents who would normally attend youth services join the adults for worship. CCV also tries to connect Gen Z attendees to young adult groups that offer community beyond the weekend services.
“God is stirring with Young Adults,” CCV’s Senior Pastor Ashley Woolridge wrote in a statement to Christian Standard. “To steward that, we want to keep leaning in with young adults through strategic gatherings and even more so in young adult groups . . . . The future of the church hinges on how we steward this moment with young adults.”
Making sure that younger generations are connected to the whole church is a priority for smaller congregations as well. First Christian Church of Monticello, Kentucky (FCC) serves a town with a population of approximately 6,000. About 500 people attend there every weekend, which is up from around 300 in 2019. Senior Minister Joe Tipton told Christian Standard that the church has had a “shift in mindset” when it comes to engaging with young adults.
“We’re not just trying to get members of Gen Z to attend events as much as we’re trying to get them plugged into the community,” Tipton said. “We still have events specifically for them, but I think our strategy has shifted to where they’re now part of the larger body of what’s happening. They’re a part of these different ministries that are taking place, and they seem to have really responded to that.”
Christ’s Church and First Christian both try to make their congregations a place where people feel invited to give church a chance, or even a second or third chance. The leadership at CCV tries to shape the church’s gatherings to be a place where attending for the first time feels natural, and the church’s various ministries prioritize reaching out to those who aren’t following Jesus. First Christian serves its neighbors through a thriving addiction recovery ministry and being involved in the local school system.
“If somebody thinks of going to church, we want to be the first church they think about,” Tipton said. “The best way to do that is building those bridges into the community.”
Helping Struggling Churches
David Vaughan, a church consultant, retired pastor, and Christian Standard contributor, is encouraged by positive data and success stories. But he also knows there are plenty of struggling congregations out there, including many that have not recovered from the effects of the pandemic.
“Covid accelerated what was already happening,” Vaughan observed. “Some [congregations] have come out of it well, but my observation is that bigger churches continue to get bigger, and smaller churches continue to get smaller. Middle churches are evaporating.”
Vaughan feels that the strain on pastors from navigating challenges like public health emergencies and political polarization have left many drained, overwhelmed, and fearful. This dismal state often trickles down to the congregation the pastor leads.
When Vaughan begins coaching a congregation, its members are usually facing an inflection point. Vaughan tries to put the choice they have to make in stark relief: Do they want to “die with dignity” or do they truly desire to “resurrect” and become “outward-focused” and “healthy”?
“There are churches that really take the bull by the horns,” Vaughan said. “It’s a jolt to their system, and they get it right, and they get on the path to health again. Others just are, sadly, happy to be in a hospice church.”
In the case of some struggling churches, an overcorrection may be at least partly to blame. Vaughan observes that the “attractional,” “baby boomer model” of church has given way to a focus on disciple making. While agreeing that a greater priority on discipling was long overdue, Vaughan also believes that this shift has sometimes contributed to churches losing their evangelistic edge, and that helping floundering churches begin to regain that edge can help put them on the path to health.
Reality and Opportunity
What should Christians make of the numerous, confusing, and sometimes even contradictory signals about the current state of Americans’ engagement with church?
One safe conclusion: The passage of time will offer us a clearer sense of what is real and what is just . . . well, vibes. God certainly could choose this moment as the time to reverse the long-term decline of church attendance in the United States, and we should pray that he does.
But no matter what the surveys or projections tell us, we have the privilege of worshiping joyfully, serving faithfully, and inviting our neighbors to join us. Where that takes our nation is ultimately up to him.
Author: James Thompson
James Thompson is an international campus minister and a freelance journalist.
