The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) reports the study found an overall increase of almost 30 million Americans who have given their lives to Christ compared to five years ago.
Many pastors expect to see larger crowds on big Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter.
What surprised Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Church in Southern California was what happened after his church’s Easter service.
"We saw 500 people make a profession of faith. We called them forward in public invitations. It was fantastic. I can't remember an Easter where we had a response like that," Laurie told CBN.
Christian media, films and television series like “The Chosen,” are also having influence among young people, CBN reported.
Alex McFarland, of Alex McFarland Ministries and co-host of AFN’s “Exploring the Word,” shared his thoughts on the matter.
“It’s very encouraging, not only for Christians, Christian leaders, but just those who care about the future of the country, that more and more young people are skewing politically, socially, and spiritually conservative. Bible sales are up. Young people are coming to church, and not just contemporary type services, but traditional worship services.”
But it's not just going to where the Bible is taught. This movement goes deeper in a way that could positively impact families.
“More and more young men are expressing the desire for marriage and family. I know we've gone through a number of decades where millennials and younger come from broken families, blended families. Sadly, a majority of children born over the last 25 years have not grown up under the same roof with their biological mother and father," McFarland said.
He said the trend appears to be that Gen Z and younger are wanting marriages and children.
“It’s almost like they long for the family that they never had themselves. So, this is encouraging because in the context of family, Christianity is passed on most effectively."
McFarland added the birthrate is too low.
“Demographers and sociologists are lamenting the fact that birth rates have been down. Countries like Japan and even China are heading towards what is called 'demographic winter,' because there are not enough births to achieve replacement rate. If you want a dozen human beings, you need to have 15 to 18 babies."
The impact of abortion
He said in America, certainly in the west, the prominence of abortion plays into poor population numbers.
“The work of child rearing has not been affirmed and valued. We need to increase the birthrate. The problem is not overpopulation. The problem is underpopulation,” McFarland said.
Fortunately, McFarland says, there have been signs among younger people of increased interest in starting families.
“Hopefully, as marriage rates increase, birth rates will increase. All of these things are good trends, positive indicators, that young people are caring about family, marriage, children, and most importantly, they appear to be caring about the Lord Jesus."
