❓WHAT HAPPENED: Christianity in America is projected to lose its majority status by 2070, as Islam, other religions, and people with no religion increase.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Christians in America, Muslims, the irreligious, and Pew Research Center.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Families and churches today have relaxed standards for what constitutes Christianity, and parents aren’t raising their children in the church like they once were.” – Dr. George Barna, Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University
🎯IMPACT: The decline of Christianity and the rise of Islam could reshape America’s religious landscape within decades.
Christianity in the U.S. is facing steep declines, with the share of Americans identifying as Christian falling from about 90 percent in 1970 to 62 percent today, and projected to drop to 46 percent by 2070, according to the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, Islam is growing, aided by a younger median age (35 versus 54 for Christians in the U.S.) and higher fertility rates. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of U.S. mosques rose 31 percent, while roughly 1,500 Christian churches closed during the same decade.
However, it is people of no religion, including atheists, agnostics, and the so-called unaffiliated, who are projected to first displace Christians as the largest group in America, comprising 52 percent of the population by 2070.
Christian leaders are warning that the faith’s slide is rooted in both cultural shifts and internal change within Christian communities. Pastor Brent Madaris of Hometown Hope Ministries, for instance, warned that seminaries “are certifying people to lead churches who have no business doing so.”
Dr. George Barna of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University noted, “Families and churches today have relaxed standards for what constitutes Christianity, and parents aren’t raising their children in the church like they once were.”
At the same time, the religious landscape is shifting in other ways. President Donald J. Trump has spoken publicly about what he calls “anti‑Christian bias.” In February 2025, he announced an executive order creating a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias. “I created the first‑ever Department of Justice task force to eradicate anti‑Christian bias. You hear about anti‑Semitic, but you don’t hear about anti‑Christian,” he stressed.
In contrast, a European anti‑terror police recently raided a charity that supports Middle Eastern Christians, a case some say highlights how Christian communities face pressure globally as they lose majority status across the West.
There have been some signs of renewal, however, with young people in England increasingly embracing Catholicism, while the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has also sparked a renewal in interest in the faith.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.
