This might be a moment to talk about church a little more openly—and more courageously.
For years, we’ve all heard the “leaving church” story: people are exiting, and they’re not coming back. There’s been an overall decline in the American church since 2001 (the year I committed to entering ministry!). It has felt discouraging.
But of late, I’m hearing a little different story—a more hopeful one. The Pew Research Center published research in early 2025 that suggests the long decline of Christianity in the U.S. may be slowing. The Catholic Church reports recent significant increase in the number of people joining that tradition. An episode of The Daily podcast by the New York Times last week clarified that this shift is proving true for progressive as well as conservative religious expressions.
This doesn’t mean that the trends have reversed. People aren’t rushing back to church in droves. But after a long decline, this slowing matters.
It demonstrate that people’s spiritual hunger hasn’t disappeared. It means that people’s search for spiritual sustenance outside the church haven’t proved satisfying. In that ongoing search—for meaning, for community, for ritual, for hope—some people are turning back to the ways we as churches offer those things.
Which means people may be more open than we think. To what we’re doing here.
I think we caught a glimpse of that here on Easter. We had just shy of 300 people in person—just a year after Easter 2025 when 200 bulletins were more than sufficient! That one Sunday does not prove a trend. But it did feel significant. The room was full. There were familiar faces and new ones. We got to show people that day what we’re here for, at our best: connection, beauty, honesty, hope, and a community centered in God through Jesus Christ, that helps hold life together.
Weighing all this together, my curiosity kicks in. If people are more open to religion, how do we respond? For those who are inclined to a progressive, inclusive theology and the practice of love and compassion, how do they find us? So much of the public conversation about Christianity and politics is dominated by conservative voices; how can we remind people there’s another way to be Christian—one rooted in grace, justice, humility, and genuine welcome?
So maybe the invitation for us is to stay attentive—and maybe even a little brave. I wonder whether there are people in your life you have quietly come to think of as anti-church or post-church, and whether that assumption has made it easier not to bring up church at all. Maybe you have held back from even mentioning this community because it seemed safer not to go there.
But if people are more curious than we realized, this may be a time to feel our way back into those waters. Not pushy. Not salesy. Just open. Honest. Willing. If people are asking spiritual questions and we stay silent, they may go looking for answers elsewhere—and they may never discover that there is a church like ours.
It’ll take some courage, and probably some awkward moments. But I hope you’ll dare—in line with the themes we’ve been considering in recent weeks: Love Boldly, Serve Joyfully, Lead Courageously. Loving boldly might just mean loving that friend well enough to help them find what you’ve found here.
