Gloo and Barna Group today announced new findings from the latest State of the Church research. The report, which focused on five key trends, highlighted one surprising finding: belief in Jesus among Americans has reached its highest level in a decade since 2013. The April research release unpacked this trend and provided additional insights for Christians and church leaders as they approach the Easter season and beyond
The research release focused on five key trends:
• The rise of personal faith in Jesus
• Understanding the “spiritually open”
• Faith sharing: how motivated are Christians to share?
• Spiritual conversations: what works and what doesn’t
• What Americans seek spiritually
“The trends we explore this month are not only encouraging, but instructive,” said Brad Hill, chief solutions officer at Gloo. “It’s heartening to see that more people are finding and maintaining a personal relationship with Jesus, especially among younger generations. The other trends in this report really speak to the question, ‘How can we, as parents, friends, neighbors and church leaders, show up well for others?’ This research helps us better understand where we might start.”
Key highlights:
Since 2021, belief in Jesus has been on the rise among U.S. adults, increasing from 54% to 66%, a notable 12% growth. This upward trend is particularly pronounced among younger generations, with commitment to Jesus among Gen Z men surging by 15 percentage points from 2019 to 2025. Additionally, Millennial men experienced a similar boost, with their belief increasing by 19 percentage points during the same period.
Spiritual openness in the U.S. has notable connections to Christianity, as nearly two in five spiritually open non-Christians (37%) report having been raised Christian, and over half (55%) have identified as Christian at some point in their lives. Among those with Christian backgrounds, more than half (51%) moved away from Christianity to distance themselves from what they perceive as the “politics of the Church.” Additionally, while 61% of current U.S. Christians believe they have a personal responsibility to share their faith, only 28% feel strongly about this obligation. Furthermore, nearly three in four non-churchgoing U.S. adults (74%) indicate that they have not personally received an invitation to church in the past year.
“These findings point to the spiritually open moment we’re in,” said David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group. “Belief is on the rise from what has been a consistently downward trend since 2009. Spiritual openness continues to climb. This data gives us a window into how culture is changing and an incredible opportunity to share our faith in Jesus and increase our confidence that the decline of Christianity is not inevitable.”
Image Credits:
• via Pexels by Pavel Danilyuk with usage type - Creative Commons License
Featured Image Credit:
• via Pexels by Pavel Danilyuk with usage type - Creative Commons License