Leader Insights

Evangelism and Baptism Statistics 2027: Latest 2026 Data and Trends

How many churchgoers share their faith or invite someone, how many people are baptized, and how do newcomers find a church? The latest sourced figures from Lifeway Research, Barna Group and the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Church Profile. Every figure links to its original study. Updated October 2026.

Evangelism statistics at a glance

StatisticFigureYearSource
Baptisms in Southern Baptist Convention churches only (2025, highest since 2016)263,0752025Lifeway Research
Southern Baptist baptisms by age (2025): 25% youth, 22% children, 20% young adults33% adults2025Lifeway Research
Baptisms in Southern Baptist churches only (2024, most since 2017)250,6432024Lifeway Research
Protestant churchgoers with significant relationships outside church for evangelism (2025)45%2025Lifeway Research
Protestant churchgoers who invited no one to church in the past six months (2024)33% none2024Lifeway Research
U.S. adults likely to attend church at Christmas if invited (2024)56%2024Lifeway Research
How church switchers were first introduced to their church (2023 survey), 29% word of mouth31% invited by a friend2025Lifeway Research
Church switchers who visited in person when finding a church (56% used recommendations)71%2025Lifeway Research
Worshippers at churches launched 2008 to 2014 who were previously unchurched (published 2021)42%2021Lifeway Research
Protestant churches that retained all new commitments to Christ (2023)56%2023Lifeway Research
People in Southern Baptist small groups only (2025)2.65 million2025Lifeway Research
Worship attendees who join small groups at the average church (2025)44%2025Lifeway Research

How many people are baptized?

How many Christians share their faith?

Do churchgoers invite others, and will people come?

How newcomers find a church

New commitments, retention and small groups

Looking ahead to 2027: what the latest data points to

No 2027 statistics have been published yet. Here is what the newest readings suggest. We update this page as new research arrives.

Evangelism statistics: common questions

How many baptisms are there in Southern Baptist churches?

Southern Baptist churches reported 263,075 baptisms in 2025, the highest total since 2016, up from 250,643 in 2024 (Lifeway Research, Annual Church Profile). These figures cover Southern Baptist Convention churches only, not all U.S. churches.

What age are most Southern Baptist baptisms?

In 2025, 33% of Southern Baptist baptisms were adults, 25% were youth, 22% were children and 20% were young adults (Lifeway Research analysis of the Annual Church Profile). Adults were the largest group.

How many Christians share their faith?

In a 2025 Lifeway Research survey, 45% of Protestant churchgoers said they have significant relationships outside church for the purpose of evangelism. In 2013, Barna Group found 52% of born again Christians had shared the Gospel at least once in the past year. The surveys, years and groups differ, so the figures should not be compared directly.

How many churchgoers invite people to church?

Lifeway Research found in 2024 that 33% of Protestant churchgoers invited no one to church in the past six months, while 20% invited three or more people. Separately, 56% of U.S. adults said they would be likely to attend church at Christmas if invited.

How do people find a new church?

Lifeway Research's 2023 survey of church switchers found 71% visited in person and 56% used recommendations, while 37% used a church website and 27% an online search. Asked how they were first introduced, 31% said invited by a friend and 29% said word of mouth.

Open all 1,870 statistics, free

Full charts, CSV and PNG downloads, citations, branded share images, boards and board briefs with a free account.

Create your free account

More church statistics

About this data

Leader Insights collects statistics about U.S. churches from published research. Every number is checked against the wording of the original source before it is published, and each statistic links back to the study it came from. Different studies define the same topic differently, so figures from different sources are not directly comparable; each is labeled with its publisher and year.