One in three young adults say they are attending church more often than they were a year ago, with prayer emerging as their leading spiritual motivation, according to new research from Barna.
The study, conducted as part of the State of the Church initiative with Gloo, surveyed Gen Z and Millennial adults about their church attendance and the reasons they attend.
The research found that 34% of young adults are attending church more frequently, while 45% say their attendance has remained unchanged and 21% report attending less often.
Barna’s vice president of research, Daniel Copeland, said the findings challenge the idea that young people are either returning to church or leaving in a single, widespread movement.
“We keep asking whether young people are coming back or falling away, as if it’s one tide moving in one direction,” he said. “For nearly half, nothing has changed. The real story isn’t the average, it’s who’s stirring at the edges and what they are looking for.”
Prayer was the most commonly selected spiritual reason for attending church, with 45% of young adults identifying it as a motivation. Worshipping Jesus alongside others followed at 38%.
Attendance increases were not evenly distributed across demographic groups. Young men and Black young adults were among those most likely to report attending church more often, at 41% each, followed by Hispanic young adults at 36%.
Barna’s research also found differences in the spiritual motivations reported by men and women.
Young women were more likely than young men to say they attended church to worship alongside others. Meanwhile, young men in both age groups were more likely to cite confessing their sins.
The study also found that followers of Jesus, whether new to the faith or long-term Christians, were strongly motivated by prayer, worship and experiencing joy in Jesus.
Copeland said the findings highlighted the importance of helping new believers develop a deeper and lasting faith.
“The data reminds us that new followers arrive with real needs while a lifelong follower wants to go deeper,” he said. “The real opportunity for leaders is to help the first become the second, to transform that early curiosity into a craving for depth.
“There’s a temptation to think reaching young adults takes something new—better production, a sharper program, or a provocative message.
“This data points the other way. They’re showing up for the simple offerings—prayer and worship shoulder to shoulder with other people. The opportunity isn’t to reinvent, but to get back to the basics and meet people where they are.”
Barna described the findings as a pattern rather than evidence of a "sweeping spiritual movement".
The research forms part one of a series exploring what young adults want from church. The next part will examine the social reasons they attend and what they hope to find in their relationships with other churchgoers.
