Download the Q3 2025 Unstuck Church Report
Every quarter, our team at The Unstuck Group pulls together the latest data to keep an eye on what’s happening in churches across North America.
For this report, we’re focusing on churches that took part in our July 2025 survey, giving us a fresh look at ministries of all shapes and sizes.
Through the survey, we heard from 252 churches who have weekly in-person attendance totals ranging from just over 100 to more than 12,000. On average, these churches see about 1,169 people in their worship gatherings.
Even more exciting: In the past year, these churches reported over 35,000 people making decisions to follow Jesus!
Key Findings from the Q3 2025 Unstuck Church Report
Over the past few years, our Unstuck Church Reports have told a pretty encouraging story. On average, churches are seeing double-digit growth. In fact, if you look back at the last 13 quarters, attendance growth has landed somewhere between 13% and 30%. Incredible!
But let’s be honest, not every church is experiencing that kind of momentum. Some are still stuck or even losing ground. So, for this quarter, we decided to dig into what sets the fastest growing churches apart:
- Churches growing by more than 10% are seeing bigger jumps in their kids’ and student ministries—15% and 23% growth, respectively. By comparison, churches with less or no growth are only seeing a 3% increase in kids and 9% in students. This difference suggests that growing churches are doing a better job connecting with young families.
- When it comes to groups, churches with 10%+ growth saw a 10% increase in participation, and they’re 40% more likely to offer only home groups. Meanwhile, churches with less or no growth actually saw a 4% drop in group involvement.
- Volunteer engagement is another big difference. Growing churches saw a 23% bump in volunteer participation last year, while others only managed 6%. Clearly, these churches have figured out how to get more people off the sidelines and into ministry.
- Staffing looks a little different, too. Growing churches are running a bit leaner, with one full-time staff member for every 65 attendees. Other churches have one for every 58. And when it comes to budgets, growing churches are spending less on staff: 46% of their budget compared to 54% in other churches.
- Generosity is up as well. Churches growing by 10% or more saw a 13% increase in giving, while others only saw a 2% bump. Interestingly, per capita giving is actually lower in growing churches ($55 per person, not counting kids) compared to $63 in other churches, which is something we’ve seen consistently. As churches reach more new people, it takes time for those folks to start giving.
As you dive into the rest of this report, my hope is that you’ll discover not just helpful data, but real-world ideas and fresh encouragement you can put to work in your own ministry.
Whether your church is growing, plateaued or somewhere in between, I believe you’ll find insights here that can spark new momentum and help you lead your church toward greater health and impact.
This quarter’s report was sponsored by MortarStone:
MortarStone equips churches with actionable giving insights that drive real ministry impact.
Generosity is more than numbers—it’s discipleship, spiritual formation, and lasting Kingdom work. MortarStone combines powerful analytics, custom dashboards and real-time reporting to help you understand and grow your church’s giving. Confidently build budgets, forecast with accuracy and make informed decisions with tools designed for ministry. Plus, you’ll partner with a dedicated coach to create a tailored, data-informed strategy that supports your unique mission and goals.
Learn more and get started at mortarstone.com.
Get Your FREE Copy of The Q3 2025 Unstuck Church Report
Our goal for this report is that it spurs healthy conversations among the leaders on church teams as we take a look at:
- Ministry Reach: Trends in in-person and online attendance, decisions for Christ, worship styles, and multisite expansion.
- Ministry Connection: Insights on groups, volunteer engagement, and leadership development.
- Ministry Staffing & Structure:Staffing benchmarks, leadership models, and board/committee structures.
- Ministry Finances: Giving trends, budget allocation, cash reserves, and debt management.
- Next Steps: Practical next steps based on each area of data.
The report also highlights what sets the fastest-growing churches apart, offers practical next steps for ministry health, and features additional insights from our sponsor, MortarStone, to help you strengthen engagement and generosity in your church.
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