Last year, a UK study called The Quiet Revival made headlines worldwide by reporting a rise in church attendance led by young adults. This year, the researchers pulled it back.

In Outreach, Ed Stetzer explains what happened. The Bible Society, which commissioned the study, pressed YouGov more than once because the findings were so surprising. YouGov eventually confirmed it had not followed proper procedures and the data was wrong.

Stetzer's answer to whether revival is here: no. "If you have to ask if something is a revival, there is not yet a revival." He calls what we're seeing brush fires. A revival would be a prairie fire.

The brush fires show up in the data. Ryan Burge reports the share of Americans with no religious affiliation has dropped three years in a row. Gallup finds 42% of young men now say religion is very important to them, up from 28% in 2022-2023. The Hartford Institute puts the median congregation at 70 people, up from 65. But women of all ages and older men are at or near historic lows, and median attendance is about half what it was 25 years ago.

Ultimately, the interest is real, and it’s lopsided. Young men may be walking in the front door while the women who run your children's ministry and the retirees who have prayed for your church for decades drift out the side. A church that celebrates only the newcomers will lose the people who made it a home. Healthy growth means welcoming the curious and holding on to the faithful. 

Three steps this week:

Youth Group Attendance Is Not the Same as Formation | Barna

Barna and Christ In Youth report that 57% of Christian teens attended a youth group in the past three months. Boys outpace girls 63% to 52%, the same gender gap showing up among adults. Among teens who attend, 29% qualify as Faith-Activated, meaning they score high in at least five of six areas: spiritual practices, evangelism, service, faith integration, belonging, and calling. Barna's Daniel Copeland says the better question is whether teens are "better off because they attended."

This week: Sit down with your youth leader and go through the roster. Mark who serves, who invites friends, and who has an adult in the church who knows them by name.

Fall Opens the Door. Follow-Up Decides Who Stays. | Gloo

Barna and Gloo's State of the Church research finds churched adults attend about 1.6 times a month, or two weekends out of five. That figure describes the people who call your church home. Gloo argues fall matters because households are deciding what to commit to for the year, and that follow-up is where churches lose people. When your most faithful members are present less than half the time, the relationships that hold people together have to form between Sunday services.

This week: Name one person who owns first-time guest follow-up, with a goal of personal contact by Thursday each week.

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