The Social Reasons Why Young Adults Go to Church

Researchers have been tracking a return-to-church trend, affecting millions of young adults. In fact, Barna’s surveys show that one in three young adults say they are attending church more often than a year ago. Their reasons for showing up vary, and in this three-part State of the Church article series, produced by Barna in partnership with Gloo, we’re exploring the spiritual, social and personal motivations driving 18 to 35-year-olds to attend church. In part one, we looked at the spiritual reasons—prayer topped the list. 

Here, in part two, we turn to the social factors: the relationships, friendships and family ties that draw young adults to church, and who among them feels that pull most.

Real Relationships, Real Discipleship

Many people attend a church for social or relational reasons. Barna asked survey respondents, ages 18 to 35, which motivations played into why they attended church. For nearly one in four young adults (24%), wanting deeper relationships with other Christians and learning from others who have gone through similar things top the list of social reasons for going to church. 

At the bottom of the list are reasons aimed outside a young adult’s existing circle—meeting people not like them (14%) and bringing non-Christians along (12%).

“There’s no single social reason for why this generation attends church,” says Daniel Copeland, Barna’s vice president of research. “But the data show young adults want deep, high-quality relationships—a place to share what they’re going through and learn from others. The church is one of the few places for this kind of social connection.”

Young Women Are Looking to Belong

Young women gravitate to social and relational reasons for church attendance. Across nearly every social reason measured, young women report higher desire for community than young men in the same age bracket. 

Women, ages 18 to 24, are more likely than men that age to say they attend to learn from others’ similar experiences (28% compared to 22%), to have deeper relationships with other Christians (26% compared to 20%) and because church is fun and enjoyable (26% compared to 17%). The pattern holds among older Millennials too: Women, ages 25 to 35, are more likely than any other group to say they attend so their kids or family can experience church (29%).

The one exception is sharing personal experiences with others, where men, ages 25 to 35, report the highest rate of any group (27%), ahead of women the same age (20%).

New Believers Are Looking for People Who Are Different from Them

The longer someone has followed Jesus, the more likely they are to say deepening relationships with other Christians draws them to church: 37 percent of long-time followers say so, compared with 29 percent of new followers. Non-followers who still attend church are the least likely to cite this reason by a wide margin (6%).

That pattern reverses on a different measure. New followers are the most likely of any group to say they attend to meet people not like them (21%), compared to 16 percent of long-time followers and 9 percent of non-followers. For those newest to faith, church may function as much as a bridge to different people as a bond with familiar ones.

Two Reasons to Show Up

Part one found a single spiritual motivation, prayer, standing well above the rest. The social reasons tell a different story: young adults are looking to grow and deepen relationships with the Christians, friends and family already in their lives, more than getting to know strangers or people unlike themselves. For Christian leaders, the data suggest the young adults filling their rooms each week didn’t arrive for just one reason, and won’t necessarily stay for one either.

Part three of this series turns to a different kind of motivation: not what young adults believe and not who they’re hoping to sit next to, but what they’re privately hoping church will do for them personally. Their reasons speak to the individual aspirations and needs young people are holding as they come to church.

This article is part two of a series on What Young Adults Want from Church, produced by Barna in partnership with Gloo as part of the State of the Church initiative. Read part one, “What Young Adults Are Looking for Spiritually at Church.”