Fact check: Is Gen Z leading a US church revival?
October 8, 2025
In recent months, social media users and some news outlets have claimed that churches in the United States are experiencing a revival, led by young worshippers. The narrative has gained momentum amid President Donald Trump's emphasis on religion and his administration's establishment of a National Religious Liberty Commission, widely seen as part of a broader effort to appeal to conservative Christian voters.
Against this backdrop, headlines and countless social media posts have suggested that Generation Z is attending church more frequently than older Americans and spearheading a resurgence in faith. Many of these claims cite a recent study by the Christian research firm Barna Group.
But does the data actually support this narrative? DW Fact check takes a closer look.
Social media misinterpretations
Claim: "New studies reveal Gen Z men are returning to church at an alarming rate."
A post on X(formerly Twitter) making this claim was viewed over 670,000 times and shared by more than 2,000 accounts.
DW Fact check found numerous similar postsacross social media platforms, all citing the Barna Group's 2025 study.
DW Fact check: False
The claim misrepresents the findings of Barna's research. While the study notes a slight increase in church attendance among Gen Z churchgoers compared to other age groups, it does not suggest that Gen Z is "returning to church at an alarming rate."
According to the Barna study: "The typical Gen Z churchgoer now attends 1.9 weekends per month, while Millennial churchgoers average 1.8 times. Among all churched adults, they attend, on average, 1.6 times per month."
Barna also reports that "for the first time in decades, younger adults — Gen Z and Millennials — are now the most regular churchgoers, outpacing older generations." The report also does not specify that young men are driving this trend.
Importantly, Barna's data measures attendance frequency among existing churchgoers — not the likelihood of attending church across the entire population. In other words, it compares how often people who already go to church attend, rather than how many people from each generation go at all.
That distinction is crucial. While Gen Z churchgoers may attend slightly more often, the overall share of Gen Z Americans attending church remains low. The study itself confirms a continued nationwide decline in church attendance.
Similar claims have circulated online, with some influencers assertingthat "Gen Z now attends church more times per month than any generation in the United States, according to a brand new study from Barna."
These claims overlook the same nuance: older generations have a higher proportion of churchgoers overall, even if they attend less frequently. Other studies, discussed below, show that Gen Z is significantly less likely to attend a house of worship than their Millennial elders.
What is the Barna Group?
Barna says its latest findings are based on 132,030 interviews conducted over a 25-year period ending in July 2025, along with 5,580 online interviews collected between January and July 2025.
According to its website, the Barna Group is a Christian research firm based in Texas that has studied faith and culture in the United States since 1984. It is a private, for-profit company that generates revenue through report sales, commissioned research for churches and ministries, and subscriptions to its data platform.
In 2025, Barna received investment funding from Gloo, a faith-tech company. Some of its major studies are co-sponsored by church networks and faith-based organizations.
Other studies show no sign of a religious revival among Gen Z
Other research, which looks at all Gen Z young adults, not just churchgoers, paints a different picture.
A Pew Research Center survey released in February found that older Americans are still more likely than younger Americans to participate in religious services monthly when considering the entire U.S. population.
"Young people in the US are a lot less religious than older people. That's been true for a long time, and it’s still true today," Gregory A. Smith, Senior Associate Director of Religion Research at Pew Research Center, wrote in an interview with DW.
"Three quarters of today's youngest adults (those born after 2000) say they attend religious services a few times a year or less or not at all. By contrast, older adults are far more likely than young people to say they attend religious services regularly," he added, referencing Pew's Religious Landscape Studies.
Several other studies support this trend. For example, a report released by Impact 360 Institute — a Barna Group partner — found that between 2020 and 2023, the number of Gen Z respondents who say they have no religion or do not attend church increased by nearly 10 percent. This group, often referred to as "nones" in survey data, has grown steadily over the years.
However, these numbers do not necessarily indicate that Gen Z is becoming less spiritual. According to several databases,the share of people who say they do not believe in God or identify as agnostic remains relatively small across all generations.
Religious affiliation and practice are complex, multifaceted social behaviors. But for now, the available data show no sign of a religious revival among Generation Z.
Hussna Mohamed contributed to this report.
Edited by: Rachel Baig