Young Men Are Showing Up at Church Again. Who Will Walk With Them?

The news

On Wednesday, October 28, the Pew Research Center released an updated picture of faith in America. The headline: after a long decline, American religion has been stable since 2020. In 2026, 70% of adults identify with a religion, 47% say they pray daily, and 34% say they attend religious services at least monthly. In a June survey, 45% said they had attended a service in the past month, in person or online, the highest share since Pew began asking in 2020.

The finding that stands out is among the youngest adults. Among Americans ages 18 to 22, 41% attend services at least once or twice a month, above the national figure (33% in the combined 2025–26 data). And for the first time in Pew’s surveys, young men in that age group attend more than young women: 47% versus 35%.

Pew urges caution, and so do I. The sample for that age group is small (443 respondents, a margin of error of 5.7 points, and wider still when split by gender). Adults ages 23 to 26, just above them, are now the least religious age group in the country (27% attend monthly). And Pew notes that earlier generations also entered adulthood relatively religious and then cooled over time. This could be a turning point. It could be a blip. “Time will tell,” the authors write.

What encourages me

I walk alongside couples in crisis, and through Legendários I spend a lot of time with men. I know what it means when a 19-year-old decides, on his own, to walk into a church on a Sunday morning. Nobody is making him. The culture doesn’t applaud. His friends may laugh.

That’s why this number encourages me. For years people said church was “for women,” and men only showed up for weddings and funerals. Today’s data shows a generation of young men looking for something their phones, the gym and money haven’t given them. I don’t think that’s an accident. I think many of these young men are tired of hearing that being a man is a problem, and they’re looking for someone to tell them what they’re for.

John wrote:

“I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:14, NIV)

Notice where a young man’s strength comes from in Scripture. Not his arms. The Word that lives in him. That’s exactly where my concern begins.

Seed that sprouts fast doesn’t always last

Pew’s warning, that earlier generations also started strong and then faded, reminded me of the parable of the sower:

“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” (Matthew 13:20–21, NIV)

Receiving with joy is good. But joy is not a root. The young man who came back to church at 19 will face college, his first job, his first major temptation, his first disappointment with a leader, his first serious relationship. The data shows that ages 23 to 26 are exactly where faith is weakest. That’s when many people leave home, start working and often begin thinking about marriage.

If his faith is only a good Sunday atmosphere, it won’t survive the Monday of being 24. Roots form another way: through people.

A word to older men

Paul gave Titus an instruction I think should hang on the door of every church:

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good.” (Titus 2:6–7, NIV)

“Set them an example.” Not a program, an event or a podcast. An older man who lives it where they can see it. So let me speak directly to you, husband and father:

• These young men are watching your marriage. Many of them grew up watching marriages fall apart. When they come to church, they want to know whether what’s preached actually works at home. How you treat your wife in the parking lot after service preaches louder than the sermon.
• Invite one of them to your table. A Sunday lunch with a family that loves each other, prays together and apologizes in front of others teaches more about marriage than ten seminars.
• Be honest. I always say it: I used to be the problem in my marriage. A young man doesn’t need a flawless hero. He needs to see a man who fell, repented and was rebuilt by God, brick by brick.
• Don’t leave this to your wife alone. Young men attending more than young women is new. For generations, mothers and grandmothers carried the faith forward. If God is bringing young men back, men need to be at the door to welcome them.

And a word to couples

Maybe you don’t have kids that age. The news still says something about your home. Faith that lasts isn’t passed down as cultural heritage. Kids have to see it, watch you live it and hear you talk about it. Your children, little or grown, will judge the gospel largely by what they see between the two of you.

Joshua made a statement that wasn’t about one man alone but a whole family:

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15, NIV)

Not “me and my church programs.” “Me and my household.” So here’s my question for you today: if a young man who just came back to church spent a week inside your home, would he leave more eager to follow Christ and to marry, or less?

A wave or a root?

I don’t know whether these numbers will hold. Nobody does, not even Pew. But I know waves pass and roots remain. In God’s kingdom, roots grow in the soil of relationships: present fathers, faithful husbands, older men who give their time, and churches that disciple instead of just entertaining.

If God is knocking on the door of this generation of young men, may they find men willing to open it, and marriages that show it’s worth it.

For more on building a marriage with Christ at the center, join Vanessa Lima and me, Ricardo Martins, on the O Casal Legendário YouTube channel and on Instagram.