Download the 5 Strategic shifts to boost momentum at your church in 2026—Insights from our Carey Nieuwhof webinar
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Today, many are reporting surges in church attendance on Sunday mornings—especially from the younger generations who are hungry for authentic connection. How can other churches make the most of this cultural moment and boost engagement in the year ahead?
To answer this important question, we’ve partnered with Carey Nieuwhof, best-selling author and innovative church leader with over two decades of pastoral ministry.
As the youngest generations turn to seasoned Christians, pastors, and church leaders for truth, they’re also looking for authentic connection, community, and technology-forward churches that are ready to meet them exactly where they’re at.
Is your church ready for the challenge?
In this webinar, we explain how to prepare to meet these new visitors. With these five strategic shifts, your church can reach out a welcoming hand and boost momentum at your church in 2026! Take a look at some of the highlights below.
As Carey Nieuwhof powerfully explained, the average age of a pastor today is 57, which means that many church leaders today still come from a “broadcast” mindset. From radio to television to Sunday mornings, pastors have broadcast their messages into homes and churches for decades.
However, this “one-way communication” has been simply that: one-way. Young people today want more than one-way communication. Instead, they want to be able to ask questions, speak up, share their story, and be involved at church where they can feel valued and heard.
The challenge? When focusing on one-way communication methods, you risk losing the next generation who are used to two-way engagement tools—such as YouTube, social media, apps, and more! That means one-way church communication is no longer sufficient.
The loneliness epidemic is real, especially among the younger generations. Yet as Carey pointed out, “Nobody should be better at community and getting people connected than the local church.” Amen!
The right outcome for each visitor at your church is for them to know Jesus and be discipled. So, how can you engage visitors so that everyone is known and has the opportunity to connect? How does your own church get visitors connected into your community?
Chances are, there’s only a one-track system that every visitor gets funneled into. However, as Carey explained, you can and should be using your church technology to funnel different types of visitors onto different tracks—the right one that suits each individual.
A one-track method alone will not help visitors feel known. Instead, while some visitors come from an unchurched background, others are simply transplants from another city. In other words, in order to help every person feel known, it’s important to make sure they’re treated as individuals with different backgrounds and different needs, and therefore funnel them into unique tracks that will treat them as individuals rather than generic visitors.
What daily connection tools do church leaders use to keep people engaged? Among pastors polled, social media ranks among the highest.
However, as Carey explained, due to all the online noise, only about 10% of a church’s audience is engaging with them on social media–making social media one of the least effective avenues for digital engagement.
On top of that, 74% of churchgoers report wanting their church to create a digital resource hub. Visitors and members are hungry for discipleship resources and tools to turn to throughout the week—beyond just a Sunday service.
Today, a high percentage of churchgoers engage with your church outside of Sunday morning. Thus, “If you have an average church attendance on Sunday of 100 people,” Carey explained, “you probably have 200 to 300 people who call your church home.” That means they’re engaging with your church via church apps, live streams, notifications, and small groups—they just aren’t showing up every single Sunday.
In short, your community is interacting with your digital tools and resources more frequently than your Sunday services.
Many churches today still use analog methods, such as passing the basket on Sunday mornings, to collect tithes and offerings. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, churches today also need to offer convenient giving tools to make tithing as easy and simple as possible for their donors.
As the Ethiopian Evangelical Church in Minnesota (EECMN) recently discovered, adding an online giving option increases overall church donations by 32%! After the EECMN switched from merely passing the basket to using the Subsplash Giving Campaign tool, they quickly raised over $500k towards their $5 million goal to purchase and renovate a former gym into their new permanent church building.
And just like the EECMN discovered, your church needs to offer online giving options to cultivate generous disciples. As Carey said, “86% of all transactions in the U.S. that involve money are a digital transaction. 14% are cash and check. Church adoption is way behind this curve. Here’s my theory: People who want to give – if they’re not presented with an easy option – will not give.”
Church leaders today are reporting that Gen Z is experiencing deep despair by our current culture. Now, they’re desperately looking for wisdom, for truth, and for answers—and they’re willing to walk through the doors of a church to find it!
That means they’re not looking for churches to parrot what’s happening in the culture. They’re looking for another way—the “Way” of the Gospel (Acts 24:14).
As Carey said, “The key is not for us to be echoing the left or the right or wherever we happen to be, but to find the Gospel narrative and share that story of hope.” The Gospel requires a boldness from the Church to lead culture and offer an alternative way.
The full conversation with Carey Nieuwhof is packed with practical insights for pastors, staff, and board members who desire to meet these younger generations and new church visitors with truth, innovation, and wisdom at this cultural moment.
And for an even deeper dive, download our free ebook with Carey Nieuwhof, 5 Strategic Shifts to Boost Momentum at Your Church in 2026, and discover how to build lasting momentum in 2026 and beyond.
Let’s make sure to shift into a greater season of community, innovation, and leadership to help even more people discover the truth of God’s Word. The time is now!
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