Christian leaders who believe the nation is experiencing a spiritual awakening received perhaps their strongest evidence yet in recent days when a major new report showed church attendance had increased for the first time in more than two decades.
The new data, from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, found that median church attendance increased for the first time in the history of the Faith Communities Today project, rising from 45 attendees in 2021 to 70 attendees in 2025 – and, significantly, surpassing the pre-pandemic median of 65 attendees. (In other words, half of congregations reported attendance above 65 people and half reported fewer.)
The very first Faith Communities Today project was released in 2000.
“This growth not only represents a post-pandemic rebound, but also is the first positive gain in median attendance in 25 years,” the report said.
Attendance wasn’t the only encouraging trend in the new data. For example:
- The average yearly percentage of new congregants increased to 4%, up from 3% in 2022.
- The percentage of congregants who volunteer regularly jumped to 40%, up from 15% in 2021 and 20% in 2022.
- Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) congregational leaders said their church is “somewhat stronger” or “much stronger” than it was before the pandemic – up from 51% who said the same in 2023.
Catholic and Orthodox congregations reported the highest median attendance at 200, followed by evangelical Protestant churches at 75, mainline Protestant congregations at 50 and other religious traditions at 22.
The report wasn’t entirely positive. Overall, smaller churches continue to shrink while larger churches keep growing. In fact, the nation’s largest congregations now account for 78% of all regular weekly worship attendees nationwide.
“Taken together, the 2025 findings point to a meaningful, though uneven, rebound in congregational life,” the report said. “Across multiple indicators – attendance, financial giving, clarity in mission and identity, openness to change, volunteering, programming, clergy well-being, and future outlook – there are clear signs of recovery following the disruptions of the pandemic.”
The report’s authors cautioned that the findings may not amount to a full-fledged “revival” – and certainly not a return to the median church attendance of 137 recorded in 2000 – but there are other signs from broader national data suggesting the nation may be experiencing a movement of God, whatever one chooses to call it.
For example, Bible sales in the United States surged to record levels in 2025. According to Publishers Weekly, citing data from Circana BookScan, the nation reached a 21-year high in Bible sales, with 19 million copies sold.
Young adults are attending church more frequently than older generations, with Gen Z churchgoers now averaging 1.9 services per month and Millennials averaging 1.8 – both up steadily from pandemic-era lows, according to a September 2025 report.
Meanwhile, Unite US rallies continue to pack college arenas nationwide with thousands of students gathering for worship, prayer and baptisms – a level of campus spiritual enthusiasm that simply was not taking place a decade earlier. At the same time, faith-centered television dramas such as The Chosen and House of David have drawn massive mainstream audiences, signaling a growing cultural appetite for Bible-based entertainment.
The Hartford Institute for Religion Research survey was based on interviews with leaders from 7,453 congregations across multiple denominations and faith groups.
