For most of the past two decades, the story of American Christianity was one of steady decline. Pews emptied, congregations merged, and each new generation looked less religious than the last.
Lately, that story has started to change. And if you serve on a church tech team, this shift has a lot to do with you.
The numbers behind the shift
Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study, one of the largest surveys of American religion, found that the share of adults who identify as Christian has stopped falling. After dropping 16 points since 2007, it has held steady at around 62% since 2019.
The bigger surprise is among the young. Barna Group found that Gen Z churchgoers attended about 1.9 times a month in 2025, nearly double their 2020 rate and the highest Barna has recorded for the group. Millennials followed a similar path. Both now attend more often than older generations, reversing a long-established pattern.
The interest shows up outside church walls, too. Americans bought about 19 million Bibles in 2025, the most in more than two decades, according to Circana.
Not everyone is ready to call it a revival, and some sociologists urge caution. But even the cautious agree the long slide has, at least for now, paused. For churches, that’s an open door.
Young people find your church online first
I spent nearly two decades in audiovisual and video production, most recently as CEO of PTZOptics. I watched churches go from a camcorder on a tripod to full livestreams almost overnight.
What stood out to me was who was watching. Young people were finding churches online first, through a livestream or a clip a friend shared, long before they ever walked in the door. Your livestream and your social media are now your church’s front porch.
The lone volunteer problem
Most church leaders already know this. In Church Production Magazine’s June 2026 survey of church technical leaders, the share naming content creation as a priority doubled in two years, from 30% to 60%.
But in a typical congregation, the livestream, slides, sound and social media all fall to one audiovisual volunteer. That person is often worn down by tight budgets, aging equipment and workflows only they understand. The same survey found that training and skill development is now the top challenge for church tech teams, cited by 57% of respondents.
Churches need more video than ever, and the systems are so complicated that the people who could help get scared off. Meanwhile, the kids in your youth group are editing video on their phones every day.
Video production as a ministry
We believe that gap is an opportunity. Video production can be a ministry in its own right, one that fits the gifts of a tech-forward generation.
Here’s what that can look like on a Sunday:
- Sermon reviewers watch the pastor’s message and find the moment that will resonate with their friends.
- Clip editors cut those moments into short videos for Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
- Stream operators help run the livestream from a laptop or phone.
- Social media helpers schedule posts and respond to comments during the week.
Each role keeps students engaged with the message more deeply, and helps carry it further into the community.
Along the way, they gain real experience in video production, broadcast and livestreaming. Those skills lead to college AV departments and careers in corporate video and media. A student can serve their church on Sunday and put real production work in their portfolio on Monday.
It becomes a flywheel. Students engage with the message, their clips reach their friends, more young people come through the door, and some of them join the team.
How WorshipMetrics makes room for them
That’s why I co-founded WorshipMetrics with my pastor, Andrew Esqueda, and our digital pastor, Seth Haberman.
WorshipMetrics takes the pressure off the lone volunteer in the booth. Your church connects a single audiovisual terminal to the cloud, and everyone else on the team can join from their own laptop, tablet or phone with a meaningful role to play. No one has to master the whole system to contribute.
Starting close to home
We’re putting this into practice in our own backyard. We’re working with First Presbyterian Church in West Chester, Pennsylvania, to start a student audiovisual club that will work alongside the youth ministry, reviewing sermons and creating clips for social media. We’ll share how it goes as it gets off the ground.
Bring this to your church
Young people are looking for somewhere to belong and something meaningful to do. Churches can give them both.
If you’re in southeastern Pennsylvania, northern Delaware or New Jersey, I’d love to visit your church and talk with your pastor, youth leaders and tech team about starting a student production ministry. Contact us to set up a visit.
Wherever you are, join our free First Friday webinar to see how it works.
Paul Richards is a co-founder of WorshipMetrics, where he leads education and customer success. He was previously CEO of PTZOptics. Read our story.