At a Glance

• Faith’s importance has dropped 20 percentage points since 2000—more than any other Christian commitment measure.
• Practicing Christians have declined from 46 percent to 24 percent of U.S. adults over the past 25 years.
• Only one in three Christians says they strongly feel a responsibility to share their faith—a long-term downward trend that has only recently stabilized.

In recent reporting, Barna has reported encouraging signs of spiritual openness in America—especially among younger adults. Interest in Jesus is rising, more people are engaging Scripture and church attendance has seen a modest rebound. Yet when we widen the lens, a more complex picture emerges. Barna’s analysis of data from 2000 to 2025 shows that several core indicators of Christian conviction—the importance of religious faith, Christian identity, monthly church attendance and evangelism efforts—have weakened.

As part of the ongoing State of the Church initiative with Gloo, this article looks at those long-term trends to offer a clearer, more grounded view of American faith today. “We’re seeing hopeful signs that the narrative may be shifting,” says Daniel Copeland, Barna’s Vice President of Research. Still, Barna’s new data adds notes of caution and raises important questions about what’s happening more broadly with Christianity in America.