{"id":857593,"date":"2025-10-02T05:00:59","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T10:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=857593"},"modified":"2025-10-01T11:56:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:56:56","slug":"the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church Number: 55% Younger Adults Prefer Smaller Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-preview\"><p>It\u2019s a massive change that few church leaders are noticing.<\/p> <p>For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a <b>majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches<\/b>.<\/p> <p>And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from <i>This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States<\/i>, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, <i>Faith Communities Today (FACT)<\/i>.<\/p> <p>The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in <b>late 2023,<\/b> it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with <b>a nationally representative sample <\/b>across regions, ethnicities, and denominations.<\/p> <p>The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-block\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-block-login login-toggle\">Already a member? <a href=\"#\">Log in<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-block-content\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2>Unlock premium content!<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Get access to all Church Answers premium content from our expert contributors plus many other membership benefits.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<h3>$9.97 per month<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Unlimited access<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/join\/\" class=\"button\">Join Now<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-preview\"><p>It\u2019s a massive change that few church leaders are noticing.<\/p> <p>For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a <b>majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches<\/b>.<\/p> <p>And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from <i>This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States<\/i>, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, <i>Faith Communities Today (FACT)<\/i>.<\/p> <p>The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in <b>late 2023,<\/b> it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with <b>a nationally representative sample <\/b>across regions, ethnicities, and denominations.<\/p> <p>The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-block\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-block-login login-toggle\">Already a member? <a href=\"#\">Log in<\/a><\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content-restriction-block-content\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2>Unlock premium content!<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Get access to all Church Answers premium content from our expert contributors plus many other membership benefits.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<h3>$9.97 per month<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Unlimited access<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/join\/\" class=\"button\">Join Now<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,183,184,182,190,179,175,186,192,177,178,14796,180,194,18058,176,187,185],"tags":[21257,110,21256,21254,21255],"class_list":["post-857593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-discipleship","category-facilities","category-family","category-first-impressions","category-grow","category-health-and-metrics","category-how-to","category-lead","category-membership-and-assimilation","category-monday-wednesday-featured","category-outreach-and-evangelism","category-preaching","category-premium","category-revitalize","category-smaller-churches-and-communities","category-worship","tag-church-planting","tag-evangelism","tag-smaller-churches","tag-the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches","tag-young-adults","membership-content","access-restricted"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Church Number: 55% Younger Adults Prefer Smaller Churches | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s a massive change that few church leaders are noticing. For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches. And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, Faith Communities Today (FACT).The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in late 2023, it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with a nationally representative sample across regions, ethnicities, and denominations. The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined as those with fewer than 250 attendees. For many churches in the U.S.\u2014especially those under 100 in attendance\u2014this number may feel aspirational. But within the broader church landscape, 250 still signals intimacy, relationship, and visibility. And \u201cfewer than 250\u201d does not mean 250. It could mean 50, 85, or 126.In short, the 55% number is more than a stat. It\u2019s a directional signal. If you&#039;re in a smaller church, this may be the most hopeful news you&#039;ve heard in years. And if you&#039;re leading a larger church, it\u2019s still good news\u2014it just means you&#039;ll need to work harder to create small environments inside your big one. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what this number means\u2014and why it\u2019s a wake-up call.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Church Number: 55% Younger Adults Prefer Smaller Churches | Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s a massive change that few church leaders are noticing. For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches. And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, Faith Communities Today (FACT).The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in late 2023, it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with a nationally representative sample across regions, ethnicities, and denominations. The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined as those with fewer than 250 attendees. For many churches in the U.S.\u2014especially those under 100 in attendance\u2014this number may feel aspirational. But within the broader church landscape, 250 still signals intimacy, relationship, and visibility. And \u201cfewer than 250\u201d does not mean 250. It could mean 50, 85, or 126.In short, the 55% number is more than a stat. It\u2019s a directional signal. If you&#039;re in a smaller church, this may be the most hopeful news you&#039;ve heard in years. And if you&#039;re leading a larger church, it\u2019s still good news\u2014it just means you&#039;ll need to work harder to create small environments inside your big one. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what this number means\u2014and why it\u2019s a wake-up call.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-02T10:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Young-adults-in-a-small-group.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom S. Rainer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thom S. Rainer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Thom S. 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The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined as those with fewer than 250 attendees. For many churches in the U.S.\u2014especially those under 100 in attendance\u2014this number may feel aspirational. But within the broader church landscape, 250 still signals intimacy, relationship, and visibility. And \u201cfewer than 250\u201d does not mean 250. It could mean 50, 85, or 126.In short, the 55% number is more than a stat. It\u2019s a directional signal. If you're in a smaller church, this may be the most hopeful news you've heard in years. And if you're leading a larger church, it\u2019s still good news\u2014it just means you'll need to work harder to create small environments inside your big one. 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For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches. And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, Faith Communities Today (FACT).The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in late 2023, it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with a nationally representative sample across regions, ethnicities, and denominations. The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined as those with fewer than 250 attendees. For many churches in the U.S.\u2014especially those under 100 in attendance\u2014this number may feel aspirational. But within the broader church landscape, 250 still signals intimacy, relationship, and visibility. And \u201cfewer than 250\u201d does not mean 250. It could mean 50, 85, or 126.In short, the 55% number is more than a stat. It\u2019s a directional signal. If you're in a smaller church, this may be the most hopeful news you've heard in years. And if you're leading a larger church, it\u2019s still good news\u2014it just means you'll need to work harder to create small environments inside your big one. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what this number means\u2014and why it\u2019s a wake-up call.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Church Number: 55% Younger Adults Prefer Smaller Churches | Church Answers","og_description":"It\u2019s a massive change that few church leaders are noticing. For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches. And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, Faith Communities Today (FACT).The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in late 2023, it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with a nationally representative sample across regions, ethnicities, and denominations. The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined as those with fewer than 250 attendees. For many churches in the U.S.\u2014especially those under 100 in attendance\u2014this number may feel aspirational. But within the broader church landscape, 250 still signals intimacy, relationship, and visibility. And \u201cfewer than 250\u201d does not mean 250. It could mean 50, 85, or 126.In short, the 55% number is more than a stat. It\u2019s a directional signal. If you're in a smaller church, this may be the most hopeful news you've heard in years. And if you're leading a larger church, it\u2019s still good news\u2014it just means you'll need to work harder to create small environments inside your big one. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what this number means\u2014and why it\u2019s a wake-up call.","og_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/","og_site_name":"Church Answers","article_published_time":"2025-10-02T10:00:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":628,"url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Young-adults-in-a-small-group.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Thom S. Rainer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thom S. 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For decades, the conventional wisdom was simple: younger generations flocked to bigger churches with contemporary music, better tech, and full-service programming. That assumption may now be outdated. According to a groundbreaking 2023 national study of churchgoers, a majority of 18- to 34-year-olds\u2014exactly 55%\u2014say they prefer smaller churches. And this isn\u2019t just some internet poll or denominational one-off. The finding comes from This Place Means Everything to Me: Key Findings from a National Survey of Church Attenders in Post-Pandemic United States, published by PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) and the New York-based nonprofit organization, Faith Communities Today (FACT).The survey is large, recent, and credible. Conducted in late 2023, it offers one of the most detailed snapshots of what church life looks like post-pandemic, with a nationally representative sample across regions, ethnicities, and denominations. The phrase \u201csmaller churches\u201d was clearly defined as those with fewer than 250 attendees. For many churches in the U.S.\u2014especially those under 100 in attendance\u2014this number may feel aspirational. But within the broader church landscape, 250 still signals intimacy, relationship, and visibility. And \u201cfewer than 250\u201d does not mean 250. It could mean 50, 85, or 126.In short, the 55% number is more than a stat. It\u2019s a directional signal. If you're in a smaller church, this may be the most hopeful news you've heard in years. And if you're leading a larger church, it\u2019s still good news\u2014it just means you'll need to work harder to create small environments inside your big one. Let\u2019s take a closer look at what this number means\u2014and why it\u2019s a wake-up call.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Young-adults-in-a-small-group.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Young-adults-in-a-small-group.png","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"Young adults in a small group"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/the-church-number-55-younger-adults-prefer-smaller-churches\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Church Number: 55% Younger Adults Prefer Smaller Churches"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/","name":"Church Answers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90","name":"Thom S. Rainer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8c3ff1affa60c1a7bb88c4be178b40a86d32ab697f24a7e5802cc5875ab6eae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8c3ff1affa60c1a7bb88c4be178b40a86d32ab697f24a7e5802cc5875ab6eae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thom S. Rainer"},"description":"With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/thomrainer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857593"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857602,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857593\/revisions\/857602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}