Spiritually speaking, there is hope for America. There are some encouraging trends taking place that could indicate the days of America as a spiritual nation are not yet over.
There is no denying that church attendance overall in the US is in decline. But much of this decline was triggered by the COVID pandemic. Many churches were closed during the pandemic, and after reopening, fewer people returned to church. However, there are encouraging signs. Consider these numbers published by Churchtrac for 2024.
- 39% of millennials attend church weekly, up from 21% in 2019. That’s a huge increase. (Barna)
- Non-white Millennials drive the increase in church attendance. 45% of non-white Millennials are attending church weekly, compared to 35% of white Millennials. (Barna)
Generation Z (18-30) are active in looking for churches to attend, and what they are looking for is encouraging.
- 77.7% of non-churchgoing members of Gen Z are looking for churches that help the poor (Missional Marketing)
- 73.6% of non-churchgoing members of Gen Z are looking for churches that address mental health (Missional Marketing)
- 69.2% of non-churchgoing members of Gen Z are looking for churches that provide opportunities to help others (Missional Marketing)
There are some US churches that are bucking the trend and are actually growing.
- Pentecostal & charismatic churches are the fastest-growing church movement in America. (Christianity Today).
- Nondenominational churches are seeing noticeable growth, with 6.5 million more people attending a nondenominational church in 2020 than in 2010 (US Religion Census).
While there are significant declines in church growth in America, these statistics demonstrate that there is hope that things can turn around.
