Some pastors have reported seeing a rise in church attendance following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, particularly amongst young adults, a few of whom haven’t attended a worship service in years.
JP De Gance, the founder and president of Communio, a ministry that helps churches evangelize higher and expand their outreach capacities, believes that Kirk’s message has inspired many young people to experience the Christian faith through a church community.
“[There has been] a variety of anecdotal feedback from churches in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Douglas County, Colorado, reporting that they’ve seen a rise [in attendance] over the past two Sundays,” De Gance told The Christian Post.
“There’s one church in Michigan that said numerous young adults who were raised within the church [but] who hadn’t been there, and folks hadn’t seen them for years, showed back up.”
Communio, which serves around 400 churches nationwide, has received reports of increased attendance from various religious denominations, including Anglican, non-denominational, and Catholic churches.
Speculating on why Kirk’s death, which was headline news worldwide, may need been the driving force to get young people to attend church, De Gance said that perhaps some began to take stock of their lives after hearing that somebody inside their age range had died a violent death.
Many young people, especially those of their 20s, often imagine that they’ve an extended time before they’ll die, De Gance explained. Kirk’s murder, nevertheless, appears to have caused youth throughout the country to reassess their lives and search out a Christian community.
Kirk, leader and co-founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA and TPUSA Faith, was only 31 when he was fatally shot at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 during a Q&A with the audience just moments after he was asked about mass shootings by transgender-identifying individuals. The alleged suspect is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
De Gance also believes that more young individuals are coming to know who Kirk was and what he needed to say about marriage, family and living for Christ, beliefs that reportedly were the rationale why Robinson targeted him.
“And I believe that causes a level of introspection,” the Communio founder told CP. “I believe that causes people to ask, ‘What am I living for at once?’”
Despite the reported spike in worship attendance at multiple churches, De Gance encourages religious leaders to implement plans to be sure that those that attended church for the primary time or after an extended absence proceed to accomplish that and turn out to be more involved.
While churches must share the Gospel, De Gance maintained that the perfect method to do that is when there’s a “relationship of trust between the hearer and the presenter.”
“Our message to churches is just — how can we be thoughtful about creating that environment where authentic trust and community can exist, so which you could share the Gospel more effectively?” he asked.
The Communio founder advised churches to develop a plan for including newcomers and folks returning to the church in other activities outside of worship services.
“For instance, a few of our churches organize social activities that are not heavily didactic for young adults. Something so simple as ultimate frisbee or kickball or something fun for people to have interaction in and form relationships,” De Gance said.
Other activities he suggested that might keep people engaged with the church and the religion community included board game nights or social events geared toward young parents.
“Where there’s authentic person-to-person community within the context of playful fun, meaningful relationships can form. And in that context, testimony might be shared,” De Gance said. “In that context, you’ll be able to learn any individual’s own story, and folks who show up on the church feel like they’ve gotten to know any individual, that the church is desirous about them.”
“And that they’re finding a spot to belong.”
Earlier this month, the Barna Group released data suggesting that Gen Z churchgoers attend services more continuously than their counterparts in older generations. The group obtained its data from 5,580 online interviews conducted from January through July.
After examining the church attendance patterns amongst 3,579 churchgoing adults, the group found that the typical attendance rate was 1.6 times per 30 days. That number rose to 1.9 times per 30 days amongst Gen Z.
Barna also examined data collected from 132,030 U.S. adults, dating back to January 2000 and lengthening through July of this 12 months, and located that monthly church attendance rates among the many two youngest groups of American adults nearly doubled from 2020 to 2025.
However, one other evaluation of church attendance from the American Bible Society’s USA 2025 report found that Gen Zers are significantly less engaged with church than their older counterparts.
The subgroups analyzed for the report included Gen Z, millennials born between 1982 and 1996, Gen X born between 1965 and 1981, and baby boomers and elders born in 1964 or earlier.
Based on an assessment that asked respondents five inquiries to measure church engagement, the report found that only 35% of adult Gen Z participants agreed or strongly agreed that “In the past 12 months, I actually have had opportunities to learn and grow in my faith.”
Meanwhile, 46% of millennials, baby boomers and elders agreed or strongly agreed that that they had opportunities to grow of their faith, together with 48% of Gen X respondents.
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