The State of the Church research shows that Gen Z and Millennial men are driving this trend, while single parents remain the least regular church attenders
BOULDER, Colo. — New research from the State of the Church initiative by Barna Group and Gloo reveals significant demographic shifts in church attendance. For the first time in 25 years, men are consistently outpacing women in church attendance. This reverses a long-standing trend from the early 2000s when women were more regular attenders than men by a wide margin. Over the years, women’s attendance steadily declined, while men’s remained more stable. As of 2025, 43% of men and 36% of women report attending church regularly on a weekly basis, the largest gender gap Barna has recorded in the past 25 years of tracking this key measure of religious engagement.
“Church attendance in the U.S. is in the midst of complex changes,” said Daniel Copeland, Barna’s VP of Research. “While it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions on whether this is a story of women stepping back or men stepping up, both dynamics are likely at play. The data presents important questions for leaders to consider to ensure churches are places where women can easily participate, are valued, and feel supported, while encouraging men’s discipleship journeys.”
Gen Z and Millennial men are driving much of the upward trend. In 2025, 46% of Gen Z men and 55% of Millennial men have attended church in the past week, compared to 44% of Gen Z women and 38% of Millennial women. Overall, younger adults, including men and women, are now the most regular churchgoers, surpassing older generations, as revealed in a recent State of the Church release. Since 2019, both Gen Z and Millennials were the least likely generation to frequently attend church, and today, they are the most engaged.
“This shift in gender attendance patterns is a chance for pastors to evaluate things across the board — from programs and teaching to preaching and even budgets,” said Brad Hill, president, Gloo Media Network. “With each new development nationally on this topic, the need is more urgent than ever for churches to get a pulse on their people locally. Comparing the ‘macro’ trends to the ‘micro’ trends will help a church better understand the evolving demographics and flourishing of its congregants.”
The data also reveals a gap between single parents and married parents when it comes to regular church attendance. Of current parents of children (kids under 18 years old), 24% of single moms and 21% of single dads attend church weekly compared to 30% of married moms and 41% of married dads.
“These shifts in church attendance reveal that different groups may experience community and support in different ways,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. “It’s an invitation to look closely at the barriers facing groups like women and single parents who are less engaged in church life. Listening well to their experiences and responding to their needs can help churches create spaces where everyone can grow spiritually and be fully included.”
The detailed findings of this month’s release are available here. As part of the State of the Church initiative with Barna, Gloo provides every church with free assessment tools to know the health and vitality of their church. Learn more at stateofthechurch.com.
About the Research
Barna Group’s tracking data is based on online and telephone interviews within nationwide random samples of 132,020 adults conducted over a 25-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. Minimal statistical weighting has been used when necessary to maximize statistical representativeness. Included in this data is 5,580 online interviews that were collected between January and July of 2025, which also utilized quota sampling and minimal statistical weighting.
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Gloo is a leading technology platform connecting the faith and flourishing ecosystem by providing values-based AI, resources and solutions so people flourish and communities thrive. Gloo serves over 140,000 faith, ministry and nonprofit leaders and is based in Boulder, Colorado. For more information visit Gloo.com.
Barna Group is a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture. Since 1984, Barna has conducted more than two million interviews over the course of thousands of studies and has become a go-to source for insights about religion, leadership, vocation and generations. Barna is an independent, privately-held, nonpartisan organization based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas.
Contact:
Sarah Bunyea
Gloo
571-205-1931
[email protected]
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RNS or Religion News Foundation.
