For the last few years, we’ve taken the opportunity during January to reflect on data and trends coming out of institutions like Pew Research Center and Barna. We think its important for our readers, many of which are pastors or church leaders, to stay informed with data which provides a broader perspective than our daily narrow slice. We find it useful to zoom out and get the big picture.
In light of that, one such issue we’ve seen regularly cross our feeds is the idea of a Christian revival. Articles, videos, and posts from all over the internet are asking the question: is the Christian church is seeing a “revival”. You might recall the Asbury Revival in February 2023, which lasted for weeks, and which had double digit thousands of people join the worship services, kick started a discussion on "what constitutes a revival?" Likewise, in the great state of Ohio, the Ohio State revival took place in late 2024 and started when 3 college football players began sharing their testimonies. The result was numerous baptisms on campus and now a 2nd Annual “Invitation for Jesus” on campus in 2025.
More broadly, a survey from Barna titled “Young Adults Lead a Resurgence in Church Attendance” found that among church goers, Gen Z attend more often than Millennials. Likewise, an article by the Bible Society references data in the UK and Whales which suggest Gen Z are showing up to church far more often in 2025 than they were in 2018, a whopping 4X (four times) more.
Both from isolated revivals to broader studies, one could conclude that the Christian church is in the early stages of revival. On the other hand, a closer look at the statistics throws that conclusion into question.
First, Barna’s study focuses on people who are already attending church, not Gen Z as a whole. Essentially, the study found that, of those Gen Z who go to church, they go more often than Millennials that go. While these church going Gen Z might be particularly zealous, they aren’t representative of their generation as a whole. In fact, multiple studies by Pew Research suggest that Millennials are still far more likely to consider themselves Christian than Gen Z are. This is corroborated by Pew's findings that the median age of US Christians has risen from 46 in 2007, to 54 in 2024.
The Bible Society’s data, which they call the "Quiet Revival" is more challenging to fit into this picture. Part of the issue is of course that we’re looking at data from two different populations (the US vs the UK), but as a rule, we tend to think of the US as being more religious than the UK and Europe, not less. The issues seem to be with the fact that the Bible Society’s data didn’t come from a random sample, but from opt-in surveys. The survey was available online, and people who chose to fill it out were rewarded with money to complete the survey, heavily skewing the data. As Sociologist David Voas points out, this just isn’t a reliable way to capture accurate and representative data. Unfortunately, the Quiet Revival may be very aptly named.
Pew’s data, which is both broader (more people) and truly sampled from the population, is more accurate. You can read about their methodology here: Survey Methodology
We shouldn't dismiss the isolated revivals we've seen in places like Asbury, The Ohio State University, or in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination. Many people have come to faith in response to these events. But that doesn't mean that a national or global revival is entirely accurate either.
But there is good news. The aforementioned study by Pew finds that Christianity is holding relatively steady, and that the precipitous decline of the last two decades has mostly plateaued. It might be too early to call this a true revival, but there is a genuine uptick in church attendance in the last few years, albeit only a percentage or two.
For our churches, this means that we might be building momentum, particularly with young men, as Pew found that the gap between young women and young men has narrowed to the point of near equality. The data shows that young women are less likely to consider themselves Christian than before, but that young men are now more likely.
Churches ought to find this instructional. Young men may be more engaged than before, and churches should find ways to build from that, ensuring that young men are being discipled, mentored, and given opportunities to lead. On the other hand, churches ought to consider why women aren’t finding church attendance to be as meaningful as they once did, and if there are opportunities to minister to women in new ways. Indeed, many of the same strategies are applicable. Are women being discipled, mentored, and finding places to contribute and lead in the church?
On the whole, Pew, the General Social Survey and Gallup polling all found that young people are simply less religious than older people are. It’s well known anecdotally, and strongly supported by the data. And it corresponds with our own data from our yearly ministry review. Again, churches and denominations ought to continue pouring resources, strategy, and prayer into reaching young people for Christ. Whether or not we're in the midst of a revival, we still have many opportunities to reach people with the beautiful, powerful, soul saving message of Christ. And we should feel great urgency to do so.
CGGC eNews—Vol. 20, No. 3
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