This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

For decades, the number of people sitting in church pews on Sundays, and other days, has been declining. Especially among churches belonging to some of the legacy denominations across the country

But that's suddenly, and significantly, reversed course.

And it is the younger adults in America, Gen Z and Millennials, who are leading the way.

That's according to Barna,com.

"For the first time in decades, younger adults—Gen Z and Millennials—are now the most regular churchgoers, outpacing older generations, who once formed the backbone of church attendance," the survey organization confirmed.

"This shift signals a new opportunity for ministry. Younger adults are showing spiritual curiosity and a desire for belonging—but even as they attend more often than older adults, they still attend less than half the time, so every touchpoint matters.

"As reports emerge of spiritual interest, rising faith activity, signs of revival—including Barna's analysis of the recent rise in commitments to Jesus—churchgoing frequency is another improving trend among Millennials and Gen Z in the U.S. While overall church attendance trends have been flat in recent years, the return to church among the next generation stands out as a powerful sign of rising openness to faith," Barna reported.

For example, while "all U.S. churched adults" attend church 1.6 weekends per month, for Gen Z it's now 1.9 and for Millennials it's 1.8. "Elders" are there only 1.4, as are boomers, while Gen X is there 1.6 times per month.

"These are easily the highest rates of church attendance among young Christians since they first hit Barna's tracking," the organization reported.

"We were able to analyze our data in a fresh way to show what many pastors feel—that even really regular churchgoers do not attend that often. Among all churched adults, we found that they attend, on average, 1.6 times per month, or roughly two out of every five weekends. This new analysis of the tracking data helps us better understand the frustrations pastors feel when they are trying to build momentum for their congregations, such as series-based preaching and mobilizing volunteers," explained Daniel Copeland, Barna's vice president of research.

"Even so, the fact that young people are showing up more frequently than before is not a typical trend. It's typically older adults who are the most loyal churchgoers. This data represents good news for church leaders and adds to the picture that spiritual renewal is shaping Gen Z and Millennials today."

For the two age groups, Gen Z and Millennials, church attendance nearly has doubled since 2020, when Joe Biden was elected to the White House and launched a concerted effort to undermine Christianity in many ways, to punish members of the faith, to discriminate against church beliefs.

"The rebound of churchgoing among younger adults contrasts with older generations, whose participation is flat … Over the last 25 years, Elders and Boomers are well below the frequency of attendance they practiced in the past; Gen X churchgoing has landed at about the same rate as it was in 2000," Barna said.

Meanwhile, attendance by older Americans is falling.

David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group, explained, "The significant drop-off among older generations shows that the fabric of congregational life is changing. It's more frayed and less gray than it was a decade ago. The influx of new generations represents a massive opportunity for congregational leaders, but this renewed interest must be stewarded well.

"Our research clearly shows that churchgoing alone does not in itself create devoted disciples. Even with the increasing participation of younger generations, there is still the challenge of shaping hearts and minds to live out their faith beyond church participation," he said.

The details were based on Barna's online and telephone interviews within nationwide random samples of 132,030 adults conducted over a twenty-five-year period ending in July 2025. These studies are conducted utilizing quota sampling for representation of all U.S. adults by age, gender, race / ethnicity, region, education and income.