In the past two months, the Barna Group has conducted surveys on who is attending church these days.
Over the last several years, church leaders from several denominations have reported a drop in church attendance.
But there may be a turnaround taking place. Barna’s findings show that younger people and more men are attending services, which raises the question of whether a revival is going on.
Younger men among Gen Z: born between 1999 and 2015, and Millennials born between 1984 and 1998 is where the increase is coming from.
“Contrary to past narratives of broad decline, church attendance in the U.S. is showing signs of renewal, especially among younger generations and men. The latest data suggests a complex but hopeful picture: more Americans are returning to church, and men are attending at higher rates than at any point in the last 25 years of Barna’s tracking,” said the Barna Group
What are some of the reasons why younger men are attending more services?
Dr. Cory Marsh is a professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary. He believes that Gen Z men are looking for something real and are tired of computers and the virtual world run by algorithms and dating apps.
The survey also shows a new trend. Currently, there are more men than females attending services.
That has not been the case in the past. Barna says there’s been a major gender shift where more men are significantly outpacing women in church attendance since the covid pandemic. The 2025 gender gap is 43% of men vs. 36% among women.
Major Gender Shift: Men are significantly outpacing women in church attendance since the pandemic, reversing a long-standing trend in Barna’s decades of tracking. The 2025 gender gap is the largest recorded so far (43% for men vs. 36% among women).
In the early 2000’s, more women attended church at a higher rate than men but that has been on the decline over the last several years.
When surveying females, Barna says increased burdens of work and caregiving and juggling careers is the reason why there has been a drop among females attending services.
Barna’s analysis shows more women are also delaying marriage and remaining single.
