We needn’t fear statistics and studies as palm readings into a certain future. God is God, and his Spirit is alive through his Word.
A new survey, "Quiet Revival," was published recently and showed a surprising increase in church attendance among UK young adults, especially young men. The study's co-author, Dr. Rhiannon McAleer, says, "These are striking findings that completely reverse the wildly held assumption that the Church in England and Wales is in terminal decline."
The survey is encouraging news for those who worry that Christianity has long since died in Britain. The specifics of the survey show a broad increase in church attendance, particularly in Roman Catholicism and Pentecostalism. Over two million more people are attending church now compared to six years ago.
The surprises continue, though, with emerging trends that reverse past statistics. The data shows that men are 13% more likely to attend church than women (10%) and that church decline is reversing. Additionally, the church is becoming more ethnically diverse, with one in five people (19%) coming from an ethnic minority. Just shy of half of young Black people aged 18-34 (47%) are now attending church at least monthly.
Over two million more people are attending church now compared to six years ago.
The survey also found that Bible reading and confidence in the Bible have increased along with Church growth. 67%—a massive number—of churchgoers now read their Bible at least weekly outside of church. These churchgoers are also more likely to give and volunteer at charities and report higher life satisfaction than non-churchgoers.
The new phenomenon of young men attending church in greater numbers than women is not a trend relegated to across the pond. A recent article in The New York Times also traced the trend to churches in the US: "For the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers. They attend services more often and are more likely to identify as religious." What is going on? There are likely many reasons behind the trends.
One likely reason is the success of women over men in universities. Women continue to outpace men in college enrollment and graduation. Research shows girls significantly outperform boys in early education reading. Girls also complete more college-preparatory courses than boys in high school. 46.4% of high school girls took AP or IB courses compared to only 37.8% of boys. 12% of high school girls participated in dual enrollment programs, but only 9.7% of high school boys did. When boys are interviewed about why they didn't finish college, Pew Research found that 34% said, "they just didn't want to (only one in four women said the same)." Successful women are more likely to focus on their careers than traditional ideas of home-rearing and religious volunteerism.
While we can laud the increase of men's attendance at church (and laud it, we most certainly should), we should be cautious not to leave women behind.
54% of Gen Z adults who left their formative religion are women, compared to 46% of men. Emerging research indicates some additional factors for the reversal may be an increase in feminists, focus on equality among Zoomers (which some say translates into more skepticism of traditional values), as well as the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Gen Z women came to age during the height of the #MeToo Movement that focused on sexual abuse and harassment by men towards women, especially men in power. #ChurchToo also trended: a movement that criticized Christian purity culture as a mask that upheld sexual abuse and assault. All of these combined to situate the church—a traditionally masculine-led organization, in a suspicious (and sometimes perceived as dangerous) place for women in this context.
While we can laud the increase of men's attendance at church (and laud it, we most certainly should), we should be cautious not to leave women behind. If churches become more masculine in demographics but also more radically machismo, the victory will be short-lived. The masculinization of the church is not just a worry. Another recent story that made multiple international papers was of a church in the UK that offers "baptisms and bodyslams," complete with a wrestling ring inside the church. The church celebrated thirty new convert baptisms last year.
For years, data has shown that the family will follow if you can get men and fathers to church. That data is about to be tested if this trend continues. Will modern women from Gen Z follow their husbands to church—or will they become like the men of the past who, while not opposing church attendance, rarely go themselves? Only time will tell.
The news out of the UK regarding church attendance is not reflected in the US—at least not yet. However, a recent study did find that Christian decline in the US has slowed and is stabilizing. That same study (it was a significantly large study by Pew Research that used over 36,000 adults) found that 7% of adults now identify with a religion other than Christianity. While the stabilization is encouraging, the authors of the study also believe that such a leveling out is temporary. They anticipate further religious decline in America. However, a recent article in The New York Times argued for something more similar to the recent news out of Britain.
Will modern women from Gen Z follow their husbands to church—or will they become like the men of the past who, while not opposing church attendance, rarely go themselves?
Statistics and studies like these are very useful as they not only give us a picture of what is happening—and, therefore, a context from which we can understand our efforts and how we might reach people with the gospel—but they also inadvertently set the focus on human choice. Since studies cannot assume any theological underpinning as to why people do this or that, they are not able to assume some of the things that Christians assume when looking at the data.
The point is that things are neither as good—nor as bad—as the studies show. If the increase in male attendance leaves girls behind, that's not good. If the trends suggest declining church attendance, that's not always bad—especially if those who are leaving the church were never true believers anyway and only going out of social pressure or tradition. Knowing this, we can minister to them with God's good news unencumbered by the false assumption that those who attend church are believers.
At the same time, people are not completely in or out of faith by their own choice alone. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone means—despite the long-standing debates on free will—that at some point, God is the one ultimately responsible for salvation. Therefore, we needn’t fear statistics and studies as palm readings into a certain future. God is God, and his Spirit is alive through his Word. Revival is always possible from the God who makes all things new.
But at the same time, ignoring studies and statistics because they might challenge the church and her people to make changes in how we relate to people and the culture would also be a mistake. God's Word is power, not magic. It's not an incantational story that can be told with no reference to the one who needs to hear it and to whom the story is addressed. After all, Christ's death is for me, and therefore caught up in my life and context, my fears and concerns.
Ignoring data - in the name of some kind of theological purity – is really defiance and rebellion against God's call to evangelism and service of neighbor. We should care about theological purity. But when theological purity is vaguely defined, it can excuse the church from engaging in complex cultural issues where simple answers fall short, revealing resistance to cultural accommodation.
And there, I said it, the dirty word of cultural accommodation. The word is not inherently anti-Christian, and it should not be understood only by its more extreme and negative connotations. Negatively put, cultural accommodationism means that the church gives up its heirlooms and truth in order to become relevant or important to the culture. Done this way, cultural accommodationism just makes the Church part of the culture. The church loses its distinctives, takes its lead from the world, and loses its prophetic voice (and also, typically, the gospel itself).
But cultural accommodationism can also mean changing the service from Latin to the local language. It can mean taking the best insights of science or psychology and applying them to our understanding of the people we minister to. It can mean understanding objections to Christianity as not real objections but misunderstandings based on a lack of shared language. This accommodationism is about being winsome—not about letting the culture corrupt the church. It is an acknowledgement that the mission field to which our Lord has sent us is filled with biases and assumptions the church, and those outside the church, make about each other. Underneath some of those assumptions, however, are shared values. Without giving up essential Biblical beliefs and doctrines, we should be willing to bridge the gaps to find common ground so that God's law and gospel may be preached without hindrance.
So, let's take these studies seriously and learn from them. At the same time, let's not put so much faith in them that we lose hope in the God who changes hearts. No one said being a missionary and disciple would be easy. But if we strive to use tools like these without overinflating their importance—we equip ourselves to best serve those to whom we have been sent.
