Younger Adults Are Going To Church More

A recent study has shown that young adults in America have increased their attendance at church. World reported, “Researchers found that Millennial and Gen Z Americans attend church the most consistently of any generation, according to a report released Tuesday by Barna Group and Gloo…According to the new report, Gen Z attends church an average of 1.9 weekends per month, while Millennials attend about 1.8 times per month. That is nearly double from the rates reported in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when both groups attended about once a month. The rate is also higher than the total churchgoing population, which attends service about 1.6 times per month, according to the study.” This is wonderful news. I have also seen an increase in attendance from this age group in both our church and from other churches I know across the country. Many pastors across America have been reporting this very thing. It is truly a blessing to witness this.

What was interesting to me from this research was not so much the increased attendance by a younger generation, but the conclusions drawn from it. While yes, attendance has increased, the attendance is still irregular. As the data just previously mentioned shows, it is not quite two times a month. So then the question remains, how do we increase that attendance? Gloo, a church technology company that was a part of this research, says we should tailor our church practices to the younger generation. Gloo president Brad Hill told Christianity Today, “These shifts in church attendance open the door for leaders to innovate. Churches that prioritize relational touchpoints and digital engagement—through text, social media, and other online tools—can better reach younger generations where they already are.” And David Kinnaman, the CEO of Barna, said, “The fabric of congregational life is changing,” he told Christianity Today. “We really need to grapple with the learning needs, the content needs, of younger generations and how we’re structuring discipleship and teaching calendars and building communities when people are at church two out of every five Sundays.”  

To summarize, what they believe is the answer to these findings is to cater to the younger generation. Cater to them in a digital and pragmatic way. Using things like social media and texting to really relate to them. While both of these companies that did the research are supposedly Christian, this advice could not be any more unbiblical. For starters, none of their advice has any biblical reference. It is all worldly, business-like, existential, and pragmatic. The whole approach is how a business would look at gaining more customers. This is never how a church should operate. A church is to be holy, not “successful”. The church is to be faithful and grow in fruit, not in attendance numbers.

The other issue I have with their conclusions is the exclusion of other generations. They are actually saying it is a good idea that a church focuses its attention on only the young people. Since when are we ever called to prioritize one generation over another in the bible? Or prioritize anyone over anyone else from any other categorization? Favoritism in any way is sinful! “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (James 2:9) So if you prioritize the young over the old, that is sin. If you prioritize the longest members over the newer members, that is sin. If you show emphasis to the more well-off members as opposed to the poorer members, that is sin. If you show preference to the new Christians over the more mature Christians, that is sin. If anything, God tells us to prioritize the ones in your church that may be less desirable: “On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” (1 Corinthians 12:22–25) This is where business practices applied to a church can lead you into ungodly application.

But still, the greatest dispute I have with their conclusions is thinking that worldly methods will translate into spiritual growth. We have younger people coming to church every couple of weeks. And their solution to bring them to a point of coming more often is digital connections? Why are they even attending more often to begin with? Have they ever thought of asking that? More than likely, it is due to the church being the only institution left in our society that practices common sense. With all the crazy beliefs and thinking today, the church is the only place left operating on truth, logic, and common sense, regardless of how people feel.  Regardless, to bring anyone (young or old) to a point of coming to church all the time, they need to want to come. And the reason they should want to come should be God, not technology. If digital technology is what brings someone to church every week, can you really say you have them there for the right reasons? Can you really say they are a disciple of Christ? Can you really say they have grown in their relationship with God because now they are coming more often because of the church’s Facebook page? They are completely missing the point. What matters is not that they just attend more often, but that they come for the right reasons. If you are successful in getting them to come to church more, but they are not doing it to worship God, does it really matter?

I had a professor at seminary wisely say that whatever you use to bring people into your church, that is what you will need to have to keep them there. If you use fancy technology to bring them in, then fancy technology is what will keep them coming every week. But if it is the truth of God that brings them in, if it is the gospel that brings them back, then you will have a true disciple who will attend for all the right reasons. And it won't matter what kind of music, technology, building, service, chairs, location, or service time you have, because that is not why they are there. They are coming for God, and this is all that matters. Because it is for God that we should be coming to church to begin with. This is why, again, business practices applied to a church can lead you into ungodly application.