The Church Is Not Dying, But Something Is
The Reversible Decline in Christian Identity
Pew Research published findings in 2025 that are encouraging and sobering. They report that the decline in Christian affiliation in the United States has begun to slow down. That is to say, the sharp drop of the last two decades may be leveling off. Research from the Barna Group reports that Christian identification has, in fact, stabilized. But the centrality of faith among self-identified Christians has dropped 20 percentage points over 25 years. In 2000, 74% of Christians said their faith was central to their lives. Today that number is around 54%.
Think about that. The building still stands but our foundation is shifting.
I don’t believe this is a story about cultural pressure, though that is real. It is a story about formation. When faith is reduced to identity without practice, affiliation without transformation, belonging without discipleship, it becomes thin. And thin faith is not particularly sticky. It’s not transferable. It lacks substance.
Thin faith is not transferable.
Our goal as ministers is not to increase attendance. Attendance is the outcome of our ministry but it cannot be it is not the goal. We reach more people, and therefore increase attendance, but fulfilling our responsibility as pastors to equipping people for ministry. Paul reminds church leadership in Ephesus to, “equip the saints to do the work (Eph. 4.12).” This is how the church is built and how we reverse the decline in Christian attendance.
The research is not a verdict. It is a question that we need to consider honestly. Are we making disciples of Jesus that are equipped and challenged to pass on their faith? Or are we making consumers of Christian culture where our churches have become the marketplace of a thin and fleeting faith?
Sources: US Christian Decline Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off — Pew Research Center | Faith’s Shrinking Influence — Barna Group