American churches aren’t staging a comeback — they’re doing something researchers find even more compelling.
A new report from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research shows congregation attendance is up for the first time in 25 years. But the scholars behind the study are quick to pump the brakes on revival talk. What’s actually happening, they say, is harder to label and potentially more lasting.
“What it is not is a story of revival or return to a previous era of sort of congregational glory,” said Alison Norton, co-director of the Hartford Institute. “Congregations have been through an extraordinary period of disruption, and though it has taken a while, many have come out of it with greater clarity about who they are and what they’re called to do.”
The study surveyed leaders at 7,453 congregations between September and December 2025. Median in-person attendance climbed to 70 adults — up from a COVID-era low of 45, though still far below the 137 recorded in 2000.
Researcher Charissa Mikoski said the growth reflects hard-won adaptation. “This is not just recovery, it’s adaptation and experimentation,” Ms. Mikoski said.
Clergy morale is rising, volunteerism is up, and median congregation income nearly doubled — from $120,000 in 2020 to $205,000 in 2025 — driven largely by a boom in online giving.
Read more:
• Worship attendance at churches up for the first time in decades, according to new report
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