October 2, 2026
As many American churches struggle to reach kids and students or retain young adults, a third of the average U.S. Hispanic Protestant church is under 30, including nearly one in five under 18. Pastors at those congregations credit prayer, priorities, and programs for their ability to reach and keep the next generation.
“Hispanic churches in the U.S. tend to be comprised of members of different nationalities and cultures,” said Giancarlo Montemayor, director of global publishing for Lifeway Recursos. “Despite sharing a common language, those nationalities and cultures have unique challenges and needs. If you add to the equation that kids of the church members will likely prefer English as their main language, you end up with a complex, messy, but beautiful ministry.”
When asked specifically to choose up to five of the most important reasons their church has been able to reach youth and young adults, most pastors say their congregation prayed specifically for them and communicated the importance of reaching them. Others say they put special events on the calendar.
Around 2 in 5 say they took time to meet one-on-one with individuals, enlisted someone who spoke English well enough to teach those ages, and older members demonstrated younger members are a priority. A third of churches specifically prepared sermons with them in mind and set aside budget and resources to reach them. Only 1 in 5 say they intentionally prioritized reaching youth and young adults over other age groups.
“Hispanic churches are proactive in reaching out to adults in their own language and cultural expressions, but they also have activities to offer in English to reach the second and third generations,” Montemayor said. “This is one of the reasons Hispanic churches have been successful and intentional when it comes to ministry outreach.”
Once a young person has connected with the church, pastors say relationships and being involved are keys to keeping them. The overwhelming majority of U.S. Hispanic Protestant churches say the following factors are important to helping youth and young adults stay involved in the church and grow spiritually: for those members of the next generation to attend worship services regularly, for them to be received with acceptance and not judgment, and for them to develop friendships with Christian peers at church.
Others point to the importance of that age group having parents who love the Lord, participating regularly in fellowships, joining a small group Bible study or Sunday School class, developing friendships with caring adults at church, and receiving tangible help from members during a personal crisis. Two in three say one-on-one time with the pastor to answer questions, while around half believe it’s important to conduct activities in English.
Most pastors at Hispanic Protestant churches say they’re involving the next generation in the ministry of their church and are strategic about how they reach them. Nearly all involve young adults and youth in teaching, serving, and leading areas of ministry. More than 3 in 4 intentionally conduct youth and young adult outreach and say their youth regularly invite friends to church activities. More than half of the pastors say they have strategies to reach youth and young adults.
While no single activity for kids or students happened in a majority of U.S. Hispanic churches, most congregations say they did something to reach those age groups last year. They were more likely to do an outreach event for kids than students.
Among activities for children, Vacation Bible School was the most popular, followed by children’s church or children’s worship services, hosting a community party, and having a social or fellowship gathering. Fewer churches did family nights, dramas or musical programs, recreational activities like sporting events or amusement parks, children’s camp, outdoor trips like camping or fishing, some type of kids’ club, or a sports tournament.
When asked which of those children’s activities has been most effective at fostering meaningful spiritual growth, VBS topped the list of a quarter of churches, while around 1 in 5 pointed to children’s church.
The most popular activities conducted by churches to reach students last year include a social or fellowship gathering, a local or regional event with other churches, youth praise and worship nights, hosting a community party, taking youth to a Christian camp run by someone else, recreational activity trip, game nights at the church, youth retreats, and youth camp run by the church. Fewer pastors say their church did sports tournaments, dramas or musical programs, or youth mission trips. More than 1 in 5 say they didn’t do any of those activities in the past year to reach students.
Pastors identify the activities most effective at fostering meaningful spiritual growth among their students as youth praise and worship night , youth camp run by the church, taking youth to a Christian camp run by someone else, local or regional event with other churches, and social or fellowship gatherings.
In addition to the many activities churches do to reach kids and students, most Hispanic congregations encourage the spiritual growth of children with weekly Sunday School classes or small groups. Almost half have weekly Sunday School classes or small groups for students.
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