3/31/2025

I find research about the church to be interesting.  You might find interesting these findings from Barna’s 2025 State of the Church report . . .

— Men have outpaced women in church attendance the past three years.  Women had outpaced men in attendance since 2000, then at 47% to 38%, before men began outpacing women in 2022, at 35% to 30%.  In 2024, 30% of men were attending weekly, compared to 27% of women.

— Overall, 2024 closed with 28% of U.S. adults attending church weekly.  But early 2025 shows signs of promise with as many as 32% of adults attending church weekly.

— Weekly church volunteering, at 24% of U.S. adults, surpassed pre-COVID 2019 levels of 18%, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the efforts.

— 65% of U.S. adults, including Christians and non-Christians, believe the church is still relevant in today’s world.

— Most adult church goers actively seek relational connections at church, engaging in conversation before or after church with a pastor (57%), other attendees (53%), or church staff (50%).

— Spiritual encounters make church meaningful, Christians said.  Top spiritual encounters cited were “connecting to God,” chosen by 73% of respondents; the “presence of the Holy Spirit,” chosen by 68% of respondents; “growing closer to Jesus,” 67%; “praying together,” 59%; “emotional comfort,” 58%; and “the sermon” and “worshiping together,” each drawing 56% of respondents.  “Serving,” 47%; discipleship, 41%; and “giving or tithing,” 39%, ranking lowest among factors that make church meaningful.

-Michael