Fewer than half of female middle and high school students in South Korean churches say they are confident in the Christian gospel, and youth worship attendance remains well below pre-pandemic levels, according to a major new survey of the country's next generation of churchgoers.
The Pastoral Data Research Institute (PDRI), known in Korea as Mokdeyeon, published findings from its "Korean Church Next Generation Trend 2026" study on Aug. 18, according to reporting by Christian Daily Korea. The research, conducted over roughly a year beginning in 2025, surveyed 3,308 people across seven groups, including students, parents, teachers and ministry workers.
Overall, just 53% of middle and high school students attending Sunday school said they "believe" in the gospel with confidence. The figure varied sharply by gender: 57% of male students responded affirmatively, compared with 48% of female students. Students who described a close relationship with their parents reported higher gospel confidence at 59%, while those whose families hold regular home worship services reported the highest rate at 75%.
"The relationship with parents and family worship showed relatively high rates in connection with confidence in the gospel," PDRI said in its published findings.
The survey also documented a persistent gap in worship attendance between youth and adults since the COVID-19 pandemic. Using pre-pandemic attendance as a baseline of 100, adult worship participation had recovered to 94% as of May 2026, while Sunday school attendance stood at 81% — unchanged from January 2024, according to PDRI data.
That gap extends to weekly attendance. Among adult churchgoers surveyed, 75% said they attend worship every week, against 60% of youth — a 15-percentage-point difference. Of those youth who do attend, 43% said they participate in worship only, 30% in worship and Sunday school study, and 27% in a fuller range of church activities and fellowship.
Despite these figures, overall satisfaction among youth was relatively high. Some 64% of middle and high school students said they were satisfied with church life, giving it an average score of 3.9 out of 5. The leading reason for satisfaction was friendships, cited by 41%, followed by the pastor or associate pastor at 36%, and praise and worship at 32%.
Among dissatisfied students, 43% pointed to church programs and activities as the main problem, with the pastor and sermons each cited by 27%. Satisfaction with Sunday school teachers stood at 61%, three percentage points below the overall church satisfaction rate.
On factors that had supported their spiritual growth, students ranked summer and winter retreats first at 42%, followed by praise and worship at 39%, sermons at 28%, and fellowship with peers at 25%.
PDRI said its findings point to an ongoing need to strengthen retreat programming and praise ministries for youth, and called on churches to engage parents early in the year to encourage their children to attend retreats. The institute noted that declining birth rates and rapid social change are reshaping the environment surrounding the next generation of Korean Christians, making it essential for churches to assess where young people actually stand in their faith.
