Men have outpaced women in church attendance the past three years, reversing a longstanding trend of more women in the pews that narrowed in 2016, Barna said in its 2025 State of the Church release, created in partnership with Gloo.
Women had outpaced men in church attendance since 2000, then at 47 percent to 38 percent, before men began outpacing women in 2022, at 35 percent to 30 percent. In 2024, 30 percent of men were attending weekly, compared to 27 percent of women.
“As a leader,” researchers said, “consider how your church is reaching and connecting with women, who have traditionally been more engaged but now waver.”
Several reasons could be driving the gender flip in attendance, researchers told Baptist Press, but cited none as definitive to any degree. Among them:
— Women are overwhelmingly responsible for homecare and childcare and increasingly work in the marketplace because of a rising cost of living.
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— “More women are single today than ever before,” researchers said, “and many feel discouraged by the dating pool at church, as church attendees are more often married than not.”
— Researchers pointed to the lingering trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic and its shift on remote engagement in church and work.
— “A troubling number of Christian ministry leaders have publicly and egregiously fallen to sexual sin, which tends to make women in particular feel uncomfortable and unwelcome,” researchers said. “These hurtful experiences cause great dissonance for women.”
Overall, 2024 closed with 28 percent of U.S. adults attending church weekly. But early 2025 shows signs of promise with as many as 32 percent of adults attending church weekly, researchers said.
The gender flip in attendance was among five top trends Barna and Gloo announced in their State of the Church report released March 13. Other trends cited:
— Weekly church volunteering, at 24 percent of U.S. adults, surpassed pre-COVID 2019 levels of 18 percent, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the efforts.
— 65 percent of U.S. adults, including Christians and non-Christians, believe the church is still relevant in today’s world.
— Most adult church goers actively seek relational connections at church, engaging in conversation before or after church with a pastor (57 percent), other attendees (53 percent), or church staff (50 percent).
— Spiritual encounters make church meaningful, Christians said. Top spiritual encounters cited were “connecting to God,” chosen by 73 percent of respondents; the “presence of the Holy Spirit,” chosen by 68 percent of respondents; “growing closer to Jesus,” 67 percent; “praying together,” 59 percent; “emotional comfort,” 58 percent; and “the sermon” and “worshiping together,” each drawing 56 percent of respondents. “Serving,” 47 percent; discipleship, 41 percent; and “giving or tithing,” 39 percent, ranking lowest among factors that make church meaningful.
Volunteerism
Volunteerism is rebounding from the hit it took during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found, with the highest rates of weekly volunteering seen in adult Gen Z, at 21 percent, and Millennials, 19 percent. That’s far more than the 9 percent of Boomers and the 12 percent of Elders who volunteer weekly, and far different than 2000 when the older generations were the top volunteers.
Researchers suggest the flip might amount to the dynamics of life stage and desire. Younger generations have more time flexibility, physical energy, excitement and opportunities to serve, researchers said, and are more able to give through service than financial resources.
“It could be that young people are offering what they have in abundance: their time, presence and passion,” researchers told Baptist Press. “It’s also important to think about this from not just the rise in volunteerism among next generations but the decline in volunteerism among older adults. Post-Covid, a plurality of Boomers and Elders have not rebounded back into active life.”
Gen Z, tending to be cause-driven, sensitive to problems and injustices, and wanting to see real change, appreciate the structured opportunities churches provide to make a difference, researchers said.
“Many churches have well-established volunteer programs and deep community connections,” researchers pointed out, “offering young people both meaningful ways to serve and the ability to see concrete results from their efforts.”
Relevant Church
While both Christians and non-believers said church is relevant today, church is relevant for more practicing Christians, 88 percent, and non-practicing Christians, 67 percent, than non-Christians, 46 percent. The average among all U.S. adults is 65 percent. Specifically, researchers presented respondents the statement, “Church is no longer relevant in today’s world,” and asked them whether they 1)definitely disagree 2)somewhat disagree 3)somewhat agree or 4)definitely agree.
“Church relevance is more pronounced among practicing Christians, those who more regularly attend church and see their faith as a central part of their lives,” researchers told Baptist Press. “Knowing this, it could be that those who see church as relevant have experienced or seen some of the meaningful benefits that come with church community.”
Among benefits, researchers pointed to relational connections, a sense of purpose, growth opportunities, and transcendent experiences relating to peace, inspiration and God.
Researchers cited several possibilities that might cause someone to judge church as irrelevant, including past negative experiences in the church, having found connection in alternative communities, and online access to a variety of content and perspectives that challenge the need for more traditional sources of spiritual growth.
“Sometimes as Christians we over complicate church into thinking about it as the ‘good’ or ‘correct’ thing for people to do,” Daniel Copeland, vice president of research at Barna, told Baptist Press.
“However, what if we simplify church attendance down to: is it helpful for a person? Does it functionally do anything for them? Birth friendships of community? Purpose? A connection to Christ?
“The church won’t be seen as relevant until it’s seen as helpful to a person’s flourishing.”
Barna and Gloo drew State of the Church 2025 from several studies, including church attendance and volunteering data based on 131,539 online interviews conducted between January 2000 and February 2025; the February 2025 Barna OmniPoll of 1,532 U.S. adults; the Discipleship in Community online survey of 4,063 U.S. Protestant churchgoing adults conducted March 18-27, 2024; and the Making Space series of data and analysis based on an online quantitative survey of 2,000 US. Adults, conducted Feb. 28 – March 9, 2022.
This article was originally published by Baptist Press and has been reprinted with permission.
Diana Chandler is senior writer for Baptist Press.
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11 Responses
I think many women are also waking up to the fact that though their efforts and service are welcome at many churches (for childcare, extensive volunteering, coordinating and administration assistance, etc), their decision making or opinions about the direction and mission of the church are not. At many churches, these leadership roles are reserved for men only. When women try to engage or participate in these areas, they are told they are “jezebels” trying to ursurp power.
In other words, many churches want what women can give them (their time and energy for whatever tasks assigned to them), but they are not willing to treat women with the same level of dignity and respect given to men. It is not a surprise to me that many women who DO know their value are simply saying, “I’m tired, and I’ve had enough.”
For a long, long time, women have put up with a lot of horrible treatment and minimized/less “important” roles at church because they know it is Christ they serve, not men. But I think more and more women are realizing they can apply their talents meaningfully and serve God too! Just maybe not at church.
I have a lovely Christian friend who can’t bear to put her feet down at churches in her area because of the way women are so often treated and spoken about. Most folks might say, “Well, why doesn’t she just get over it and move on?” Well, for the same reason you wouldn’t trust a friend who has spoken poorly to you behind your back and to your face and refuses to recognize their unacceptable behavior. Trust has been broken.
I completely agree with you.
The message of Jesus is still compelling, but the male dominated Evangelical church is increasingly unsafe and demeaning for women. My wife and I are members of an American Baptist church that is egalitarian. We have women as pastors, teachers and board leaders. They have left the type of church you describe and love to worship, learn, teach and lead. Meanwhile, men increase in numbers in numbers atchurches that women are leaving. How is this good news?
It’s not just that too many Christian ministry leaders have been found to have committed sexual sins; it’s the response that comes from the ministries when sexual misconduct is revealed. The ministry has no or inadequate safeguards and policies addressing sexually inappropriate behavior, and then when it happens they protect the perpetrator while blaming the victim. The churches where this hasn’t happened (or hasn’t been found out) don’t learn from example and continue with their existing lack of safeguards. Of course women don’t feel comfortable or safe in these environments. It’s because the environment isn’t safe.
One thing not mentioned in this report is that the current political climate has made women feel uncomfortable around pastors and church members who are so vocal in their support of the current president and his policies. If you are a blue or even a purple dot in a sea of red, it can feel mentally unsafe.
I am sorry but it was the blue politics that lead to men in women spaces, like in sports and the bathroom. It was this current POTUS who is and trying to kick men out of women sports and bathrooms. And you blame the red politics for being unsafe??
Jamie – chiming in here as someone who is currently looking for a church home where I feel safe and accepted due to this:
It’s not so much the “gender politics” themselves that is the problem (at least in my case). It’s the condescension, assumptions, accusations – and in some cases, outright vitriol – for daring to vote blue. It’s the exclusionary words and attitudes of “you’re not one of us”, “you’re not a REAL Christian” that is threatening and belittling – and in some cases it comes straight from the pulpit, only to be met with nodding heads and loud “Amens”. And I don’t have to tell you if I’m welcome to serve in a ministry once people “know I vote Democrat”.
I’m in church to praise and worship, serve, and for discipleship to grow in my walk with Christ. To be belittled, excluded, or told my faith isn’t “real” because of how I voted is demeaning – not to mention it reduces my saving faith to what I believe politically instead of what I believe about Jesus Christ.
Are we attending churches that uses Paul’s views on women, not a church holding all to the standards of God’s Commandments, and Jesus’ ministry, this will continue.
Maybe the question is do our political views serve God, or the culture? We cannot serve both.
Rev 3:16
“So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
Women have more power and influence in the USA in all of human history, made possible by men, who shed there blood in war, and fought for freedom. It was Christian men, who helped the West be more Christian. But these women still like to complain about how bad things are. The problem with women in the west is they don’t know history and they aren’t taking responsibility for there on actions. Yes, some pastors have been falling in to sin more than lately but an adult women, who sleeps with them are not innocent. We ain’t living in the ancient world ladies! Your not Bathsheba!
This blog is full of stories about male pastors preying on and exploiting not mature, adult women with agency, but children and minors. In fact, almost all of these stories include vulnerable young girls and children being used and then thrown aside by these men. What about those little ones? Are they “guilty” too? I wonder what Jesus would say. In fact, I think he did talk about this…
Matt. 18:3-9
Jamie –
“The problem with women in the west” – I didn’t need to read anymore to know what would follow would be sweeping generalizations and condescensions about your “sisters in Christ”. Did it occur that perhaps you’re proving their point?
It both saddens and concerns me that this sort of worldly, anti-woman attitude is festering among the body of Christ.
Christian men are to protect and love Christian women as their sisters in the Lord. Not join the world in belittling them.
Interesting article. It would be instructive to see how the rates of increase and decline of men and women in the pews break down across more conservative and progressive denominations.
In as much as the White-Evangelical voices are some of the loudest in the room in the USA, I would not at all be surprised if women take a look at what they are being offered and say “No thanks”. When the leadership of the largest evangelical denomination (sorry, “Convention”) is more concerned with keeping women out of the pulpit and protecting their budget, than in solving the massive sexual abuse crisis in their midst, staying home on Sunday may seem like the safer choice for women and their children.