Houses of worship in the United States reported a rebound in in-person worship attendance in 2025, according to findings from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research. The study, based on a survey of leaders at 7,453 congregations conducted between September and December of 2025, found median attendance rose to 70 adults, after declining to 45 during the COVID-19 period. Researchers said the results signal a cautious turn for some churches after years in which attendance fell and closures and religious disaffiliation drew attention.
Alison Norton, co-director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, described the overall takeaway as “cautious optimism” during remarks to reporters at the annual conference of the Religion News Association in Atlanta. She said the data told a story of “resilience and recalibration,” reflecting congregational efforts to adjust and plan for the future rather than simply endure disruption.
In the report released Friday, Norton and the other authors wrote that “Across a range of indicators, there are signs of recovery and, in some cases, renewal.” The institute said the median attendance figure is based on leaders’ self-reported counts and that, while the growth is not enough to reverse long-term decline, it marks a break in a trend that had persisted for decades.
The Hartford institute said median in-person attendance had dropped from 137 in 2000 to 45 during COVID-19 and that the 2025 median of 70 adults is the first positive gain in the measure in 25 years. Researchers also contrasted the new number with an earlier Hartford survey that had found a median of 65 adults in 2020.
Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, said researchers had expected continued decline and withdrawal from in-person worship, making the 2025 uptick notable. “We were pretty surprised when we saw the 2025 data,” Thumma said, adding that for some congregations it may be the first sign the trajectory of decline might be shifted. He also said the uptick was “the first positive gain in median attendance in 25 years,” and he pointed to the fact that larger congregations were more likely to grow while smaller churches were more likely to decline.
Thumma told reporters that larger congregations were more likely to see growth, but that it still remained an uncertain indicator for the overall direction of church life. He said “After years of constraint, even modest gains can feel like recovery for these congregations,” reflecting how leaders interpret small changes when they have been experiencing losses for years.
Hartford’s findings also described how congregations were managing staffing and participation. The study found just under half of congregations, 43%, reported growth of at least 5%, while 46% reported declines of at least 5%, with the remainder reporting stability. Researchers said the pattern suggests that more congregations are stabilizing or growing rather than shrinking.
Charissa Mikoski, an assistant professor at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and a co-author of the study, said the results followed a period in which congregations initially adapted quickly during the pandemic by shifting to streaming and other ways of continuing ministry. She said there was later a lull as the pandemic stretched on and churches moved into survival mode, and that “Now that period seems to be over.” Mikoski said the churches that are growing are “implementing the lessons of resilience they learned during the pandemic,” adding, “This is not just recovery, it’s adaptation and experimentation.”
The institute said it responded cautiously when the attendance data first appeared, with Mikoski saying, “We did go back and check very thoroughly.” She said other research, including work by the Pew Research Center showing that the decline of religion in the U.S. has stabilized at least for now, aligned with the broader environment in which congregations were making changes.
Hartford also reported signs of improved outlook among church leaders. The study found fewer clergy were thinking about leaving the ministry, and Thumma said it was not “too surprising” if congregations were feeling better and more volunteers were showing up, which in turn could improve clergy outlook. Thumma also described the pandemic as a “wake-up call” that forced churches to confront limits and start planning for the future.
Beyond attendance, Hartford’s survey said giving increased, “in large part because of a growth in online giving.” Thumma said, “People no longer need to be physically present or even remember to give in the moment.” The report said median income grew from $120,000 in 2020 to $205,000 in 2025, while the share of churches offering online giving rose from 58% in 2020 to 76% in 2025. Hartford said that as of 2025, about 40% of revenue came from online giving, and that evangelical and non-Christian congregations were most likely to report a surplus, while Mainline churches were more likely to report deficits.
The report also noted higher expenses for churches, including for insurance and other building costs, and Thumma said it would take time to know whether the gains in attendance and financial measures would continue. Hartford said it is planning a major survey of congregations in 2030 that may shed more light on whether the 2025 shift proves durable.
Even with the uptick, Hartford’s authors said the findings did not amount to a large-scale religious revival. Norton said, “What it is not is a story of revival or return to a previous era of sort of congregational glory in the United States.” She added that congregations had been through an “extraordinary period of disruption” and that, while it took time, many had come out with greater clarity that was “showing up in the data in ways that are genuinely encouraging.”