‘Resurgence’ or ‘stabilization’? What’s driving Catholic Church growth in Charlotte?
More people are joining Charlotte’s Catholic churches, but experts say they need to see more before declaring a real religious resurgence.
National headlines report churches seeing an uptick in converts and attendance and trends on social media, especially among younger men. Locally, the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte says its population is up 10.7% since 2020. Belmont Abbey, the region’s Catholic college, also reports an uptick in applicants.
But Sean McCloud, chair of UNC Charlotte’s Religious Studies Department, cautions against extrapolating too much from a handful of dioceses and what’s on social media.
“The exciting sort of headlines in some ways hide the fact that we don’t have the empirical data yet,” he said.
Charlotte Diocese, Catholic college report growth
Recent headlines have boasted of a jump in people converting to Catholicism post-COVID, particularly younger adults. Data from two dozen dioceses nationwide showed “a surge of new converts,” while in New York Gen Zers flocked to services in search of companionship, romantic connections and opportunities for TikTok content, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported.
Charlotte’s Diocese has seen a steady increase in adults joining up year-over-year since the pandemic, according to data from the church. The number of adults joining the church in the Diocese grew from 795 in 2022 to 852 in 2023, 1,221 in 2024 and 1,743 in 2025, according to the Charlotte Diocese.
The numbers include people converting from other faiths and those born Catholic entering the church, Diocese spokeswoman Liz Chandler said.
Belmont Abbey, a Catholic college in Gaston County, welcomed its second-largest incoming class in school history in fall 2025, leading to record enrollment, Vice Provost of Enrollment Jesse Dorman told The Charlotte Observer. And applications are still on the rise.
The Diocese doesn’t have data on new members broken down by age. But the church is “definitely seeing an uptick in young adults” showing an interest based on increased participation in religious education and campus ministry programs,” Chandler said.
National trends in religion
McCloud, who studies contemporary American religion, notes that major studies don’t yet show a major shift towards Catholicism or religion in general.
The Pew Research Center’s most recent Religious Landscape Study, published in 2025, found the share of Americans who identify as Christians leveling off after years of steady decline at 62%. But that’s still down from 78% in 2007.
Both the country’s Protestant and Catholic populations “are down significantly since 2007,” Pew found. And the percentage of religious “nones” in the U.S. — people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular” when asked about religion — sits at 28%, up from about 16% in 2007.
“It doesn’t mean that we might not see changes in the next three or four years when we actually do have data that show, ‘Oh yes, people are returning to social institutions, including religion,’” McCloud said. “But we just don’t have that yet.”
What’s driving more people to Charlotte’s Catholic institutions?
The Charlotte diocese attributes some of its growth to the region’s growing population overall, especially folks moving in from more traditionally Catholic areas such as the Northeast, Midwest and Latin American countries, Chandler said.
She added there’s also been a “pent-up demand after COVID” and an uptick in “people searching for stability and hope at a chaotic time in our culture.”
Dorman said he’s hearing from more students and families looking for authenticity.
“They look around them, they see so much in the culture that’s empty, that looks staged. It’s just curated for views, when in reality, they want an authentic experience,” he said.
“A solid number” of applicants grew up in the Catholic Church, Dorman added, but some are newer to the faith.
“They’ll tell us like, ‘I just came into the Catholic Church, and I want to learn and grow more. And I want to be at a place that’s going to foster that growth,” he said.
‘Resurgence’ or ‘stabilization’?
McCloud has also seen the talk about the “loneliness epidemic” — research showing an uptick in Americans, especially men, feeling isolated from their community.
But he’s hesitant to say that’s driving more people to religion without more data.
A “stabilization period” for the number of people who identify with a faith doesn’t guarantee a resurgence is beginning, he said.
While growing areas like Charlotte are seeing an increase in church attendance, other parts of the countries are reporting dips significant enough to close some churches, he added.
Asked whether Gen Z in particular is trending back towards Catholicism and religion in general, McCloud noted folks in their late teens and 20s have long been the most likely age range to join a new religion. That’s often due to people moving away from family that decided their faith or families that weren’t religious, getting introduced to new cultures or converting for a romantic partner, he explained.
“Whether it’s 2026 or whether it was 1986, social identity and social relationships are usually the number one reason that somebody starts attending any religious organization,” McCloud said.
This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "‘Resurgence’ or ‘stabilization’? What’s driving Catholic Church growth in Charlotte?."
