The 'Great Dechurching' has stopped. For the first time since Pew Research began tracking it, the decades-long trend of Americans leaving churches has leveled off around 2020, Lauren Jackson reported on The Daily. The exodus, which saw roughly 40 million departures over 30 years, hit a wall.
Gen Z adults aged 18 to 23 are now slightly more likely to attend monthly services than the cohort just older than them. Gallup data shows a sharper reversal: religious importance among young men under 30 spiked from 28% to 42% in just two years. Jackson clarifies this isn't a traditional revival, but a curiosity phase. The share of non-religious Americans declined in 2025, with atheist numbers back to 2014 levels.
The pandemic created a psychological rupture. Jackson found that forced confrontation with mortality revealed the inadequacy of secular substitutes like CrossFit, astrology, and careerism. Many interviewees realized 'corporate bullshit' couldn't provide existential grounding or the tactile care - like a 'meal train' - found in religious communities during crisis.
"Isolation in nuclear families has reached a breaking point. Secular life lacks the immediate, tactile care found in religious communities during a crisis."
- Lauren Jackson, The Daily
Political polarization is reshaping faith’s appeal. Jackson profiled Nick Woomer-Daters, a public defender and former 'insufferable' atheist. After 2016, he viewed the rise of 'alt-right' ideologies as profound evil that secularism couldn't answer. He argued politics, without a transcendent framework, devolves into poisonous tribalism.
On the left, figures like Texas Representative James Talarico are reclaiming scripture to combat Christian nationalism and frame faith as a tool for economic populism. Digital gateways, like Father Mike Schmitz's podcasts, allow the 'religiously curious' to explore faith alone before committing to a sanctuary. The search starts in secret, driven by a desire for structure and accountability, not dogma.
"He argued that without a transcendent, universalist ideology, politics devolves into a poisonous 'us against them' dynamic."
- Nick Woomer-Daters, The Daily
The momentum has shifted from abandonment to re-examination.
