Gen Z and Millennials Drive Explosive Church Growth

Attendance at The King’s Church in Washington, D.C., has increased by 2,000 percent over the last seven years. Church leaders attribute the remarkable growth to Gen Z and millennial generations returning to church after the pandemic and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

“We just had a lot of grit, a lot of God’s grace the first couple of years to endure the storm,” Pastor Ben Palka says. “And then during COVID, we decided to stay open, and the Lord really blessed that time. We grew. It felt like every month, we doubled.”

Wesley Welch, another staff pastor at the Southern Baptist congregation, told the “Christian Post” that after a period of stagnant growth from 2018 to 2020, a revival took place in mid-2020 and continues. There were typically 30 attendees in 2018 and 50 in 2019. This number rose to 150 in 2020, 300 in 2021, 350 in 2022, 450 in 2023, 550 in 2024 and 650 in 2025, with year-over-year increases of 30 percent to 100 percent.

Influx after the assassination

The King’s Church saw another influx in attendance, particularly among young people, after Kirk was killed last September Staff Pastor Daniel Davis believes another reason why some studies have reported higher worship attendance among Gen Z is that younger people have had to grow up in a world that is devoid of meaning.

READ: Barna Research and the State of the Church Report

“They’ve been fed the idea that you have to make your own identity, your own meaning, to become your own source of significance, and that’s a burden that no one can carry,” he said. “They live in the ruins of Christianity, Christian institutions and ideas that have just been trashed to a certain degree and torn down,. They have very strong intuitions, but they’re not able to ground them in anything transcendent or eternal.”

Barna Group research found Gen Z churchgoers attend services more frequently than older generations. Analyzing the attendance patterns of 3,579 churchgoing adults, researchers discovered an average rate of 1.6 times per month, which rises to 1.9 for Gen Z and 1.8 for millennials. Barna’s 2023 report noted, “While Gen Z is less likely to claim a religious identity than older generations, those who do participate in faith practices are deeply committed and highly engaged.”

READ: Military church attendance surges

Gen Z values church community

The report also observed, “Gen Z values authenticity and community, and they are more likely to seek out faith experiences that feel relevant and relational.” These findings align with studies detailing the resurgence of faith and community engagement among young adults.

In addition to seeking answers, Davis says younger generations crave community. While most are comfortable with digital media, many are realizing that technology “is not going to love them or be their friend.” He added, “there’s really a desire to recover human relationships and friendships. And that’s not the same as the gospel, but that leads to the gospel. The gospel produces those things.”

Barna’s report supports this, stating, “Gen Z is searching for a place to belong, and churches that foster genuine relationships are seeing growth with this demographic.”

–Alan Goforth