Audrey Ellis attended church as a kid. Mostly, she said, because it was just what everyone else did.
“I grew up in the church, but it was very much just like a cultural thing that I did,” Ellis said.
But when she got to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, things changed once she started going to Citylight Church her freshman year.
Citylight in Lincoln is a part of the Salt Network. That means it’s home to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Salt Company, which is the church’s college ministry. The church and the ministry have a large young demographic.
Ellis, who graduated from UNL in May, is a first-year resident for Salt Company. Residency is a full-time two-year ministry role.
“When I started going to Salt and Citylight, I saw that there was, like something different about this church and different about the people who went there," she said.
Since her first time attending Citylight, Ellis has seen it grow. In August, the church opened the doors to its new location situated on the corner of 18th and O streets.
The new location has a capacity of 1,200, whereas its previous location at 2820 O St. could only hold 400.
“I think there has been a huge change with the new building,” Ellis said. “It's essentially on campus, and so students can just walk, and so people who don't have cars, like, that's a huge barrier broken down for people to come.”
Ellis said she’s noticed a mix of college students and young families attend at the new location.
While overall church attendance continues to decline, with only 30% of Americans regularly going to services, attendance by young people is on the rise.
A Barna Group study found that on average, Gen Z and millennial churchgoers attend 1.9 and 1.8 times a month. That number is nearly double what it was in 2020, and the highest it’s been since 2018.
It’s not just Citylight that’s experiencing growth; other churches in Nebraska are expanding, too.
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Elkhorn opened the doors to its new location in June.
St. Patrick’s was previously located at 20500 West Maple Road in Elkhorn and had a chapel capacity of 650. The new campus, located at 18602 West Maple Road, has a chapel capacity of 1,300.
“Since then, we have had an uptick of more than 1,000 people at our weekend masses,” Candace Thompson, the director of communications and marketing for St. Patrick’s, said.
Thompson noted attendees of all ages, including recent college graduates returning to the parish and the general growth of the Omaha metro area.
First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln is experiencing its own growth, too, thanks in large part to its online offerings.
“People watch our services online, and then the first time they finally decide to come physically they're ready to join because they've already decided this was the church I want to worship at,” said Jim Keck, senior minister at First Plymouth.
“We have about 1,200 people physically in church on Sunday, and we have about 4,000 people watching,” he added.
First Plymouth saw over 200 new faces this year of a variety of ages.
“We just reached an all-time record of new members this year! As of today, 230 people have joined First-Plymouth,” the church posted to Facebook on Nov. 10. The post also dove into membership history; the church started in 1866 with nine members.
Online services open the door to the possibility of members from other states. Keck said the church has had a handful of new out-state-members just this year.
Young people are joining too, amongst a variety of ages.
“This week, we had a 24-year old, a 26-year-old, 54-year-old and a 93-year-old join,” Keck said on Dec. 10.
Physical growth isn’t necessarily the main focus, though; it's the people, said Citylight’s Ellis.
“The church isn't like these four walls that we're in, but the church is the people who gather,” she said.
By way of full disclosure, First Plymouth Congregational Church is a financial supporter of Nebraska Public Media.