Download the National Back to Church Sunday: What to know for 2025
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As summer winds down and fall approaches, there’s an incredible opportunity to bring fresh energy and purpose into your church community!
National Back to Church Sunday is September 21, 2025, a nationwide movement designed to help churches reconnect with those who’ve drifted away, as well as reach new families and visitors in their communities.
If you’re looking for National Back to Church Sunday 2025 ideas and information, you’ll find everything you need to know here to plan an impactful and welcoming event.
This fall, you can turn back-to-school into back-to-church, helping families get reengaged and involved at church in meaningful ways after summer break. It can all start on Back to Church Sunday!
National Back to Church Sunday started in 2009 with a simple but bold idea: What if churches made a special effort to invite people back to church on one Sunday of the year? This day was set aside for churches to rally together after summer break, welcome their communities through their doors, and remind people that hope is found in Jesus and in the Church community.
According to experts, 82% of people say they’d attend church if a friend simply invited them, but only 2% of churchgoers ever do. Back to Church Sunday aims to close that gap. Each year, those churches who participate often see a 25–27% increase in attendance on that Sunday alone!
With the right planning and intentional outreach, Back to Church Sunday can serve as a springboard for fall ministry, small groups, and deeper connections within your church family.
Getting started is easy, and registration is free. BacktoChurch.com offers a robust free digital kit to guide your planning from start to finish. When your church registers, you’ll receive access to:
Since its inception in 2009, over 40,000 churches have participated. And while the event is ideally for the third Sunday of September, your church is free to host your event on the Sunday that works best for you.
Most churches plan well in advance, giving time to organize a team, promote the event, and mobilize the congregation to pray and invite others.
The National Back to Church Sunday theme for 2025 is “Life Is Better Together,” a timely message in a world where loneliness and disconnection are all too common. It’s a chance to remind your neighbors, co-workers, and friends that the Church is still a place of love, community, healing, and hope. You can create your sermon, invitations, and social media graphics around the 2025 theme too.
Encourage your members to invite family, coworkers, friends, and neighbors. Use services leading up to the day to stir up excitement. Share stories of life change. Create a countdown on social media. Equip your congregation to own the mission of inviting others. It’s an important day!
This amazing day is designed with outreach in mind, helping your church promote your Sunday service and reach as many souls as possible in your community.
If you’re looking for Back to Church Sunday ideas, consider combining your event with:
By creating buzz and excitement around this event, offering fun activities, providing gifts or food, and promoting your event to the community, you can draw in new families, reconnect with those who’ve been away, and set the tone for a vibrant and impactful fall season at your church.
Getting families back into church life can be a challenge after summer vacations, school transitions, and weekend sports schedules. But Back to Church Sunday serves as a great initiative. The new school year has started, families are settling into routines, and there’s a longing for meaningful connection.
Families today are looking for a place to grow spiritually together. Back to Church Sunday provides the perfect opportunity to invite them back—not just for one Sunday, but to start a new chapter of involvement in your church’s life.
In 2025, more people are spiritually hungry but uncertain where to turn. Post-pandemic habits have shifted social habits and many people who once attended regularly have since stepped away from the church for various reasons. Others who have never been to church are searching for meaning, belonging, and community.
National Back to Church Sunday 2025 is an open door to invite those people—families, neighbors, friends—back to what truly matters. And in doing so, you won’t just boost one Sunday’s attendance, but many more to come.
Now is the perfect time to get your church involved in Back to Church Sunday 2025. Head to BacktoChurch.com to register your church, download the planning kit, and start preparing your team.
Let this September be more than just the start of fall—let it be the start of something new in your church and your city. Because life really is better together with a church family.
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