Since before the pandemic, Barna has been tracking “worship shifting” and the uncertain digital and physical realities of churches in America. As the pandemic era accelerated the reality of a “New Sunday Morning,” many pastors have been been asking “what is going on with church attendance?”

Patterns of attendance among younger generations can be especially important—and perplexing—for pastors to understand, in their own church and at large. Barna Group has studied the intersection of faith and culture for nearly four decades, with an emphasis on generational trends. This article explores recent data to help church leaders ground themselves in the present reality of church attendance across generations—especially Millennials—in 2022.

How Millennial Church Attendance Has Shifted During the Pandemic Aggregate data for 2019 through 2022 highlights some of the fluctuations that have surrounded church attendance through the pandemic, affecting all generations in similar fashion. In 2021, there was less than a 10-percentage point difference between the church attendance of Millennials, Gen X and Boomers (taken together, today’s 23–75-year-olds). Although Millennials (and, emerging behind them, Gen Z) are known for declines in religiosity, data show that, since 2019, the percentage of Millennials reporting weekly church attendance has increased from 21 percent to 39 percent. Among Gen X, attendance has increased 8 percentage points (24% to 32%). While Boomers show an increase in their attendance during the pandemic in 2020 (31% weekly), recent numbers show a decrease in attendance (25% in 2022).

It may seem counterintuitive that attendance could have climbed in 2020, but this engagement may also include online forms. “In 2020 and 2021, our data represents churchgoers either settling into or opting out of online attendance,” Daniel Copeland, Associate Vice President of Research at Barna Group, explains. “Despite all of the disruptions of 2020, the opportunity of online worship actually helped to boost attendance across all generations. However, in 2021, the novelty seemed to have worn off and people’s church attendance declined significantly. Now, in 2022, younger generations especially are re-engaging in church, a shift that might potentially mark a new chapter in church attendance.”