Millennials and Gen Z Christians are attending church more frequently than before and much more often than are older generations. The typical Gen Z churchgoer now attends 1.9 weekends per month, while Millennial churchgoers average 1.8 times—a steady upward shift since the lows seen during the pandemic. These are easily the highest rates of church attendance among young Christians since they first hit Barna’s tracking (Source).
The latest research released from Barna this week has been met by many who serve in ministry with surprise – the data appears to indicate that the rising generations, specifically Gen Z and Millennial generations, have begun to attend church more while older generations, Gen X and Boomer, have declined in their church attendance.
This data comes as part of a larger State of the Church survey that Barna has been involved with for several years. According to the website, “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.” That comes out to roughly 5,280 persons per year. Gallup estimates that 41% of Americans go to church at least once a month or roughly or around 136 million people (Source). That means the Barna survey hit about .004% of monthly churchgoers.
Now, that may not seem significant, but the longevity of the survey and its consistency over time, does lend a great deal of significance to the shift being noted in the last six months. As this survey is not looking at church membership but church attendance, it actually stands in line with previous research done on rising generations.
Last year, Springtide Research released their study on 13-year -lds which found that 74% of them considered themselves religious in some way and over 40% considered religion to be important in their lives (Source). In 2023, Springtide shared in their Exploring the Sacred research for Gen Z, that “two-thirds of young people say that their belief in a higher power overrides any doubt or that they do not doubt at all.” In other words, there has been a consistent trend of interest in spirituality and religion from younger generations that is in line with an increase in church attendance.
But we need to ask a few questions of the data and of our own faith community:
Is attendance the goal?
As much as we’d like to immediately say “No!” we need to consider, is that how we come across? Are we depending on numbers and on seats in the seat as an indication of church health and spiritual formation? One of the findings of the Fuller Youth Institute way back in 2010 when they released their Sticky Faith research was that ministers and parents/caregivers overestimated students’ faith maturity based on youth group attendance and participation; in other words, just showing up consistently didn’t mean that discipleship was taking place.
How and where is discipleship happening?
Attendance, while important, isn’t necessarily an indication of discipleship. Rising generations are, in fact, drawn to spirituality and community, but these can be experienced in church without leading to a relationship with Christ and lifelong discipleship.
That same Sticky Faith research found that “Contrary to the assumption that involving teenagers in youth group and peer activities is the key to vibrant spirituality, students’ participation in all-church worship during high school was more consistently linked with developing a mature faith in both high school and college than any other participation variable.” This and other ongoing research shows us that intergenerational community is essential to lasting faith.
What’s happening to our older generations?
In light of question #2, this is an especially important question – why are we seeing a decrease in attendance of older generations and how is that going to impact generational discipleship in our churches? Have we made church inaccessible to older generations by trying to become ultra-accessible to younger ones? Are our environments too loud, our communication too technological, our music too modern, and our events too active to allow for those who have hearing issues, lack of tech experience, a love of hymns and liturgy, and a need for quiet spaces or the ability to sit rather than stand for long periods of time?
How does this apply to us?
This is an important question. While this data can be broadly applied to the wider church experience in North America, it doesn’t necessarily reflect what is in your church. There is no cookie cutter experience for every church and every congregation. We must respond to our people, our community, and meet the needs that are there.
- Do we have more rising generations showing up? Fantastic, find out what they need, connect them to older generations in relationships, and create spaces for communal faith formation that lasts.
- Are we beginning to see a decrease in our older generations? Figure out why. Reach out. Ask them how they are. Discover what needs they have. Create a space for legacy-leaving and story-telling. Make a plan to connect them in generative life experiences with rising generations and meet them where they are.
- Is attendance overall up? Wonderful! But don’t assume higher attendance translates to discipleship and faith formation. Touch base with every generation on a regular basis to see if they are experiencing continued spiritual growth and have a way to pour back into their community and congregation in formative ways.
- Is attendance overall down? Care for the ones who are there. Build a community that is connected and curious, that desires to learn more from each other and with each other and focuses on lifelong discipleship and faith maturity rather than seats in the seats.
Connecting generations in meaningful relationships for lifelong discipleship isn’t a quick fix or a rapid response to a new data or old problems, but it is the way of the church; it has been since the start. Regardless of how our faith community fits into these new findings, we can be sure of one thing – it is never a bad idea to build a community that connects with one another across generations in faith formation.
Generations Together is an online conference designed to inspire and equip church leaders, volunteers, and ministry teams to build bridges across generations.
Hosted by Dr. Christina Embree of ReFocus Ministry, this interactive experience features:
- Dynamic Keynote Sessions with thought leaders in intergenerational discipleship
- Breakout Workshops led by practitioners who’ve seen transformation in real congregations
- Ministry Meetups where you’ll connect directly with speakers and other attendees in live chat spaces
- VIP Access to all session recordings, exclusive digital resources, and Q&A panel with leading voices
Whether you’re new to intergenerational ministry or looking to deepen what you’re already doing, this conference will give you practical tools, inspiring stories, and meaningful connections to help your whole church grow—together. LEARN MORE
🎟 General Admission: $30
🌟 VIP: $50 (includes exclusive panel discussion + digital resource packet + all session recordings)
About the Author
Christina Embree is the founder and director of ReFocus Ministry. She holds a masters in ministry focused on Children, Youth, and Family Ministry and a doctorate in spiritual formation with a focus on age segregation and intergenerational ministry. In addition to coaching churches of multiple denominations and traditions all around the globe, Christina serves as the Minister of Generational Discipleship for the Great Lakes Conference of the Brethren in Christ and as a pastor at Plowshares Brethren in Christ in Lexington, Kentucky. She is widely recognized as a speaker and author in the areas of generational discipleship, intergenerational ministry, and family ministry. As the mother of three children, she is familiar with the challenges of faith at home and pastoral ministry. She along with her husband Luke share a love for the church, their community, and the global work of peace and restoration through Jesus.
