Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host.
Gary Hudson sitting in today. Glad to have you. We're going to have some fun. We got a busy, busy hour for you today. A new report in the UK says that churches are seeing twice as many people dedicating their life to Christ compared to five years ago, pre-COVID.
I wonder if churches in the US are seeing the same trend. We're going to dive into this as time permits today. Planned Parenthood just released their brand new annual report and it's full of data. This is their full report after the dob's decision. And if you thought that Planned Parenthood was going to quietly pack up their scaffolds and shut down shop after the dob's decision, think again. This report, and I've gone through every page of it, it's jaw dropping.
You ready for this? Planned Parenthood still performed over 400,000 abortions and they're a billion dollar business. And some of that money is our tax money as well. We're going to jump into that too. Also, we had a big win for life in my home state of South Carolina with the South Carolina Supreme Court upholding our fetal heartbeat bill this week. Representative John McCravey will join me to talk about the latest in the fight to protect every single life in the Palmetto State. And on this Friday afternoon to take us into the weekend, I have a heartwarming story of a 104 year old World War II veteran who received a surprise birthday message from none other than President Donald J. Trump after he had invited the president to attend his birthday party via a video that went viral and almost a million people watched it. I'll share that story with you too.
And of course, your voice is welcome. 866-348-TRUTH. 866-348-TRUTH is how you joined the conversation today. 866-348-7884. You can email me joey at joeyhudson.com and let me invite you to join my daily podcast, Just the Truth.
Just search for Joey Hudson, Just the Truth, wherever you listen to podcasts. Before we get into some of those issues today, breaking news out of the nation's capital, President Trump's long-promised big beautiful bill as he described it hit a serious snag this afternoon when the House Budget Committee failed to pass it. And this is a pretty major blow to House GOP leadership and their plan for a floor vote early next week.
So here's what's happened here. Despite literally days and days of negotiations and last minute drama, if you will, there were four Republicans on the committee who are holding out for some certain items. For example, Representative Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Bresheen from Oklahoma, Andrew Clyde from Georgia, and from my home state of South Carolina, Ralph Norman from the Fifth District.
They all voted no. And then a fifth, Representative Lloyd Smucker from Pennsylvania, switched from a yes to a no for procedural reasons, which will allow him to potentially revive the bill later, which he plans to do. The bill, of course, is a massive package built from the work of over 11 House committees trying to piece this all together. It includes reforms on border security, tax cuts, energy production, defense spending, and raising the debt ceiling, all stitched together into one reconciliation bill that is aimed at fast-tracking President Trump's second term agenda.
And as you know, the President has been referring to it as his big, beautiful bill. Now this is a setback, and it comes despite a surprise appearance by Representative Brandon Gill of Texas, who had to leave paternity leave in order to tip the scales. They thought that his vote might potentially win this for the Republicans. It didn't.
Chairman Jody Arrington, also from Texas, announced the committee will reconvene late Sunday in hopes of reaching some type of agreement. So why did it fail? Well, here are some of the sticking points, as has been reported. The so-called fiscal hawks, if you will, conservatives like Roy and like Representative Norman from my state, they're not very happy about some of the major reforms like Medicaid work requirements and cuts to Biden-Era's green subsidies. They don't like the idea that these items would not kick in until four or five years later, potentially in 2029. Roy said during the meeting, only in Washington are we expected to bet on the come that in five years everything will work.
And he has a point, doesn't he? I mean, lots can happen in five years. He argued that voters didn't elect Republicans to delay bold action. Now, Representative Norman called for a recess during the markup warning that it would not end well if leadership forced a vote without addressing conservative concerns. Majority Leader Steve Scalise, he tried to keep the talks alive, even meeting with holdouts behind the scenes and promising answers from President Trump's team. But in the end, this afternoon, the vote was called before those concerns were resolved.
And, of course, President Trump, in the wrapping up his Middle East diplomatic trip, he wasn't thrilled on true social. He slammed the bill's GOP opponents as grandstanders and urged unity. Didn't seem to affect the holdout, so Representative Roy posted afterwards that while there was progress, leadership pushed the vote too soon.
He doubled down on demands for immediate Medicaid reforms and full repeal of green energy handouts immediately, not to wait four or five years. And despite the drama, maybe the bill's not dead yet. Again, because Smucker flipped his vote, he can motion to revive it when the committee reconvenes Sunday night at 10 o'clock. They're going to get started late. The House Freedom Caucus, to which some of the holdouts belong, I know Representative Norman is a Freedom Caucus member, has pledged to remain in D.C. all weekend to continue talks and negotiation, trying to reach a compromise. And if a compromise is reached, the bill could then go to the House Rules Committee for some tweaks and could hit the floor early next week. Speaker Mike Johnson still wants a floor vote by Memorial Day, he says, and a final bill on Trump's desk by July the 4th. We'll see. We'll see. But that is a bit of a setback for President Donald Trump.
866-348-7884, 866-34-TRUTH is how you join the conversation on this Friday afternoon. We've got a lot to cover. Big win in my home state of South Carolina for life this week, as the South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously ruled to uphold our state's six week abortion ban. Now, the bill, the law is known as the fetal heartbeat law. And it has been passed a couple of times because when the legislature first passed it, of course, Planned Parenthood was waiting to challenge it.
And they did. They challenged it in court and was able to get it stricken because of some of the wording. And the our Supreme Court at the time, and this was a couple of years ago now. The Supreme Court gave us some hints on what wording needed to be changed in order to pass a bill, revise the bill so that it would survive another challenge.
And that's just what happened in a few minutes. At the bottom of the hour, Representative John McCravey, who is the chairman of the South Carolina House Family Caucus, and one of the main leaders of getting the fetal heartbeat bill passed in our state, not once, but multiple times, even after it was challenged and stricken by the state Supreme Court. Representative McCravey is going to join us and just kind of talk about where we are now. Again, a big win because basically our Supreme Court and I'll get into more detail with you in a few minutes.
Our Supreme Court says that life begins when you can detect a heartbeat, which is basically around six weeks. And once that happens, no abortions in South Carolina. And that's a big, big win because Planned Parenthood had had challenged this and had delayed this. And speaking of Planned Parenthood, have you seen their latest annual report?
If we have time, I've got some of the details for you. It is astounding because, you know, a lot of people thought, well, after Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortions are just, you know, Planned Parenthood's going to be out of business. They're bigger and better than ever. It's scary.
To the tune of over 400,000 abortions. We'll dive into that, too, as time permits. I'm Joey Hudson in with you today. Welcome in on this Friday afternoon edition of Truth Talk Live.
Joey Hudson sitting in with you today. Love to get your voice heard. 866-348-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. You can email me directly. Joey at joeyhudson.com. And let me invite you to join me on my daily podcast as well. Just the truth. Search for Joey Hudson.
Just the truth, wherever you listen to podcasts. More breaking news out of Washington. Just got word that the Supreme Court has rejected the Trump administration's appeal to quickly resume deportations of Venezuelans under the 18th century wartime law that's been in the headlines these past few weeks.
There were two dissenting votes. The justices acted on an emergency appeal from lawyers for Venezuelan men who have been accused of being gang members, a designation that the administration says makes them eligible for rapid removal from the U.S. under the Aliens Enemies Act of 1798. The court has already called a temporary halt to the deportations from a North Texas detention facility in a middle of the night order issued last month. So it looks like that's going to stand for a while longer until something can be worked out.
So those quick deportations are on hold once again. So Planned Parenthood, as I mentioned, they challenged the what we call the fetal heartbeat bill in South Carolina. It was passed by the legislature. And they challenged it.
The South Carolina Supreme Court gave us some hints at the corrections that needed to be made in order for it to survive another challenge. And we got the good news this week that it had, in fact, done that. But a lot of people think that Planned Parenthood had has just kind of gone away after Roe v. Wade was was overturned. And that, of course, was a major victory for life, a decision 50 years in the making.
I mean, I can remember for as long as I have been involved in in conservative politics. We were fighting to overturn Roe v. Wade. But if you thought Planned Parenthood was going to quietly pack up and close down shop, that didn't happen. They just recently released their most their most recent report, annual report. Now, it's actually a year old, but this is this is how they this is their schedule. So these are numbers going into twenty three, early twenty twenty four.
You ready for this? Planned Parenthood performed four hundred and two thousand two hundred and thirty abortions. During the reporting period. Now, let that number sink in four hundred thousand. That's roughly four out of every ten abortions nationwide. They're like the McDonald's of abortion. So let's consider this.
Let's ask a couple of questions. Is that what a health care provider looks like to you? Because, you know, Planned Parenthood, they like to pretend and that's their part of their marketing, is that they're just providing women's health care services. Performing over four hundred abortions is that health care services to you? And what about prenatal care? Well, just seven thousand and eight women. Participated in some type of prenatal care program of theirs.
That's not a typo. Seven thousand. That's a fifty seven to one ratio for every fifty seven babies aborted.
Only one woman received prenatal care. Now, I don't know about you, but to me, that's not a health care provider. That's an abortion mill. And how many adoption referrals are they advising these young ladies? Their options of. Of giving birth to those beautiful young babies and allowing families who want a beautiful young baby to adopt them.
Well, they got two thousand one hundred and forty eight. That's it. So you're telling me that with all this talk about choice. The option of adoption barely even registers with Planned Parenthood.
So I think we see what the real mission here here is, don't we? We see what Planned Parenthood is really setting out to do. Carol Tobias over at the National Right to Life kind of nailed it. She said, quote, The abortion giant's primary mission to destroy preborn children cannot be more clear. And she's right.
This is a business, a big business. Planned Parenthood isn't about helping women or giving them options. It's about one thing, abortion. On demand for any reason, any time, wherever they can possibly do it. And that's why Planned Parenthood fought the South Carolina fetal heartbeat bill like they have.
Because they want that right in South Carolina, they want that ability. They call themselves a force of hope, a force for hope. Are you kidding me? Hope. Hope for who? The unborn baby doesn't stand a chance. What they offer is a dead baby. That's the outcome. That's the end game.
That's their service. Now, let's talk about the business side of this. Let's talk about the money.
Is a racket. You ready for this? Planned Parenthood pulled in over two billion dollars in revenue. Two billion dollars.
And again, this was this was a year ago, probably more this year. That makes him one of the most profitable nonprofits in the country. And guess what?
And this is what just really gets my attention. Nearly eight hundred million of that, seven hundred ninety two point two million, to be exact, came straight from you and me, whether we wanted it to or not. Taxpayers.
That's thirty nine percent of their revenue coming from government reimbursements and grants. Your tax dollars, my tax dollars funding this abortion empire, whether we want to or not. We don't have a choice.
We don't have we don't seem to have get a vote in this unless, of course, we we elect enough people to go to Washington who will just put an end to this nonsense. And remember, in the wake of Dobbs, they couldn't legally perform abortions in some states and they still had over four hundred thousand. Here's what they did in states where they can't legally perform an abortion. They use some of that money, some of our tax money, and just turned around and started facilitating support for women to travel across state lines to abortion friendly states. That means Planned Parenthood became a travel agent for abortion tourism. They do all the coordinating, the funding, they help women cross state borders just to end a pregnancy, just to take a baby's life.
So we defunded abortion in some states and they turned around and used our money to export it somewhere else. It's a brilliant loophole if you're Planned Parenthood is absolutely disgusting, though. If you believe that life really matters now, once you think about this from a basic moral standpoint, Planned Parenthood claims to be about women's health.
So where's the comprehensive care that they talk about? Where's the real help for pregnant women who want to keep their babies? Where's the counseling, the housing assistance, the adoption planning, the prenatal vitamins, all the things that so many other nonprofits around the U.S. And I can think of one in my upstate home of South Carolina, Carolina Pregnancy Center in Spartanburg, Alexa Newman and her team does a great job over there. But it doesn't exist with Planned Parenthood. They're not their health care services, so to speak, doesn't involve this type of counseling because in the end, they don't want these young women to keep these babies. Because they're in the abortion business. Randall O'Bannon, the research director over at National Right to Life, said it perfectly. Planned Parenthood puts abortion above genuine pregnancy related services. And that's exactly right. This isn't a health care provider. It's an abortion first, abortion always machine.
That's exactly what they are. Love to get your comments. 866-348-7884, 866-34-TRUTH. I'm Joey Hudson. In for Stu today.
Thirty two minutes past the hour on this Friday afternoon. On Truth Talk Live, I'm Joey Hudson sitting in today. Glad to have you join us. Your comments are welcome and your voice is welcome as well. 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. You can email me directly.
Joey at joeyhudson.com. I was just talking with you about Planned Parenthood and how they're thriving. They're bigger and better than ever at what they do.
And it's not the health care services that they promote. Had a big win in South Carolina for life this week. As our South Carolina Supreme Court unanimously ruled to uphold our state's six week abortion ban. And one of the men who played a key role in passing that is represented John McCravey. He represents the people of District 13 in the South Carolina House of Representatives. He's been fighting for life for many, many years.
He serves as the chairman of the House Family Caucus and has led the way in getting what is known as the fetal heartbeat bill passed multiple times. I want to welcome Representative Cravey to the show. How are you, sir? I'm great, Joey. Thanks for having me on.
Always a pleasure to talk with you now. I said that you guys that you had led the way for the fetal heartbeat bill to pass multiple times because it has been passed multiple times. Give our listeners a quick summary of what has taken place over the past few years in South Carolina and what led to the state Supreme Court's decision this week. Joey, we started the heartbeat bill initiative back in 2018. We passed it in the South Carolina House of Representatives, and this was, you know, three, four years before Dobbs overturned Roe versus Wade.
And so we we saw this as an effort to challenge Roe versus Wade. And we got it passed back in 2018 in the House when they said we could never pass it. But we did. The Senate did not take it up until 2021 and finally passed it through.
You know, a lot of different things happened. But but we got it passed. It was declared unconstitutional by a Supreme Court that that had at least two liberal justices on there.
Those were those left. Then it was declared constitutional when we rewrote it. So Planned Parenthood has been an eight because they they also had federal court actions going. They filed suit the next day after we passed this bill and they've been trying to sue us ever since.
But thank the Lord. Last August, this bill went into effect for good. And it's been in effect ever since their latest challenge, trying to claim that somehow the heartbeat doesn't begin until nine weeks.
And that's when we should draw a line at nine weeks was dismissed in it. You know, the court just said, look, when you hear a heartbeat on ultrasound, when the heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected. And that's that's just basically what the law says.
You know, I was at a forum, moderated a forum last night that involved our lieutenant governor in South Carolina, Pamela Abbott. And we were talking about this and she made the statement and I've heard others say it. You know, it's kind of interesting that when when doctors, medical professionals, when they want to determine your death, they they listen for a heartbeat. And when there's not a heartbeat, then there's no life. And her point was, why not use that same to determine when life begins?
A heartbeat. And that's exactly what what we're saying now in South Carolina, isn't it? Well, you know, this is something that's easy to understand. And we certainly know that life begins really before the fetal heart develops. So, you know, this bill in South Carolina was not written to be the final bill after Dobbs is the bill that we have right now. And we're certainly trying to pass a law called the Human Life Detection Act that would protect any baby when a woman is known to be pregnant, as long as it's not one of these emergency exceptions, which we have a lot of those. You know, Planned Parenthood is challenging that they're in federal court now challenging the fact that the that our bill they're trying to claim it's it's not clear. It's ambiguous when you can when you can perform a DNC, for instance, on a miscarriage. Our bill is so clear. As a matter of fact, we probably have the best medical clarity of any abortion bill in the in the nation.
We listen to the OBGYN that explained it to us. We put those exceptions in that they asked for. And any time a woman's life or even serious bodily health is in danger, that's an exception in our bill. Yeah. So the lives of the enemy just never stop.
Yeah. With me today, Representative John McCravey from South Carolina. So this is and I was I was about to say the work is not over. You know, obviously it was big news that the state Supreme Court ruled the way they did this week for the fetal heartbeat bill. But you continue to work because you're not finished with that. So let's let's start with the bill that that is in our house and the statehouse.
Now, of course, you guys just wrapped up a week or so ago, but tell us what it the next step, what you want to do. Well, Joey, right now, we are still having two thousand four hundred legal abortions every year where they don't detect the heartbeat yet. And so those abortions are still abortions of life.
And and and it's scientifically proven there's no doubt that this this this person that is a person is a developing human. And so we want to protect the other the last two thousand four hundred that are being aborted for birth control. And, you know, that that's what this bill would be. This bill is very reasonable. It's not extreme.
Like people say. It allows for all the exceptions that that we have in the heartbeat bill that, you know, except for I don't believe in the exceptions personally for disability. I don't believe in exceptions for how a baby is conceived. But nevertheless, those exceptions would probably end up in the bill if it passes. But but nevertheless, for anything for the emergency of a mother, for for any anything that would threaten her bodily harm, that would be an exception. But it will protect anybody where there's a pregnancy.
So so it would it would come back and help those last two thousand four hundred that were released. You know, I wake up every morning and I think about the 11 babies that are aborted in South Carolina legally each business day. So that's never going to leave my mind until those are gone. That's eliminated because I just you know, as far as these exceptions go, I think there were 13 all all the year before last.
You know, they're very rare that you ever have an exception. But nevertheless, we can do better in South Carolina. We can join the other 12 states who who have done this. Yeah.
Yeah. With me, Representative John McCravey. And we have a couple of minutes here left. And I want our listeners to understand, though, we have a supermajority of Republicans in South Carolina. But you've gotten pushback from within your own party with wanting to to take the next step, haven't you?
I certainly have. And I was very surprised because, you know, up to now, voting for the heartbeat bill, that kind of thing was never really controversial in the Republican caucus. But this year in the House Republican caucus, they decided not to bring out the Human Life Protection Act. So our Republican platform, though, says we are to protect life at all stages.
So that decision not to bring this bill out flies in the face of our own South Carolina Republican platform, which says to protect life at all stages. So I've been disappointed. I'm hoping that that we will see a change of heart. And I'm certainly working toward that. Yeah.
Well, this is where prayer can help, because we all need to be praying for the hearts and minds of those. And of course, you're in the middle of a two year session. So the bill's still there. It just wasn't able to get out for for a committee vote or not even a hearing, I guess, this year.
But but there is still hope and you'll continue to work on it. I know. Yes, sir. And I was able to get a hearing under the rule, but I couldn't get a vote.
I couldn't make the committee vote. So they know voted. Yeah. So that's where we ended up.
And it's still there. They could still pull it out any time as the session starts following next year. Yeah. So get your crystal ball out there. I mean, do you think there's a chance that you will be able to get it out to a vote next year? I think I think it's close.
It's a close question. And and I think that since it's an election year, you might see some people turn to pro-life that weren't pro-life as much as they could have been. And hopefully the grassroots will call for this. There are a lot of people in South Carolina that want to protect these lives. And so I've just got to have faith that the Lord is going to get it out somehow and that this will get done.
Yeah, well, and again, that's where that's where prayer can can help. And if you're listening in the upstate of South Carolina on our station in Spartanburg or Greenville, Pickens, Oconee, in that area, call your representative and tell them that you want them to support John McCravey, Representative John McCravey and his bill to to end abortion, as he said, to protect the other two thousand or so that that we're still seeing in South Carolina. Hey, look, if you live in another state, North Carolina, Virginia, wherever you can also call and just let your voice be heard as well. But Representative McCravey, look, I've always admired you. I admire you for what you do and I appreciate the hard work that you put in. And I know that you'll continue to fight and know that I pray for you every day. Well, thank you. And of course, this is a mutual admiration society because I love what you do, Joey. And thank you for getting the word out that people need to hear. And I appreciate all you do. Well, have a great weekend and we'll talk again soon. Thank you, sir.
All right. Thank you, Representative John McCravey from Greenwood, South Carolina. This is a fight in South Carolina to to get to the point to where there are no abortions, to where, as he said, to protect those other two thousand or so that are happening every year. Coming up next, President Donald Trump surprised a World War Two veteran. This is a great story.
And this is just a great story to end the week on as we head into the weekend. This Denver Moore is his name. He just turned one hundred and four. He's a World War Two veteran. And he simply just wanted his president, his favorite president, he said, to come to his birthday party.
So back in the early part of the spring, he produced a short video that was posted on TikTok of all places and said, hey, President Trump, I want you to come to my birthday party. Well, the rest of the story is coming up. You're listening to the Truth Network and Truth Network Dotcom. We continue this Friday afternoon edition of Truth Talk Live. I'm Joey Hudson sitting in today. Your voice is welcome.
Eight, six, six, thirty four, truth, eight, six, six, three, four, eight, seventy eight, eighty four. Email me directly, Joey. Joey Hudson dotcom. And let me invite you to join my daily podcast. Just the truth. Just search for Joey Hudson. Just the truth.
Wherever you listen to podcast. President Trump helped a World War Two veteran make his birthday wish come true yesterday. And I love stories like this.
And this is just a good way to end the week as we head into the weekend. Ohio resident Denver Moore. He turned one hundred and four years young yesterday. He's a longtime supporter of the president. And he went viral back in March after he invited President Trump to his upcoming birthday party on a tick tock video. Now, I don't know who helped him do that.
Maybe he did it himself. But you don't see a lot of one hundred and four year olds on tick tock. That video, though, has amassed over eight hundred and ninety thousand views.
Almost a million people have watched it. So. So let's start with that. Here's his invitation. Denver Moore, his invitation to President Trump to attend his birthday celebration. President Trump, my name is Denver Moore and I'm going to be one hundred and four in May. And I'm inviting you to my birthday party.
This is the 17th here in Canal Fulton. And I'm I'm living in a rest home called Danbury. And I got to vote for you again. And I hope I can vote for you some more.
The video I made, I guess it went viral to thousands of people who got to see it. He's doing most everything right. He's my favorite president.
Most everything right. Well, yesterday, Denver Moore found out that he had received a video message from President Trump delivered by his congressman, Representative Michael Ruhle from Ohio. Here's the president's message. Hi, Denver. I want to wish you a very happy one hundred and fourth birthday from your all time favorite president.
That's me, Donald Trump. And I'm sorry we weren't able to get to your party. I would love to get to your party, but I'm working on Russia, Ukraine, China and all sorts of other places. And I know you want us to do well, but I want to just thank you for your incredible service to our nation and for your support for making America great again. A very, very special man you are. And happy birthday.
Wow. As you know, the president been kind of busy this week, currently wrapping up a whirlwind historic tour to the Middle East. Yesterday, he arrived in the United Arab Emirates, the first U.S. president to travel to the nation in over 20 years. Mr. Moore, as he said, lives in Danbury Senior Living Facility in Massillon, which is a town just south of Cleveland, Ohio. He reacted to the message in a report by WEWS News 5 Channel in Cleveland. Reporter Rob Powers, after watching the video, Moore joked about Trump fulfilling his birthday wish, saying couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Moore spoke to Fox News Digital also about his birthday request to his, quote, favorite president after the video was posted in March. People from all over the country and even as far away as Africa, according to the report, reached out to Moore to cheer him on, sending messages and birthday cards and thanking him for his service to our country. Moore said it's been quite a ride. And think about that.
It would have to be 104 years old and suddenly suddenly you're a celebrity. Boy, a congressman really said that when he saw the viral video of Moore, he was, quote, struck not only by the incredible milestone of his life, but also by his deep sense of patriotism and service. He said, I was even more surprised to learn that this remarkable World War Two veteran was a resident at a facility right in my district. The congressman said he reached out to the White House to see if President Trump could honor Moore's heartfelt request. He really said President Trump and his team went above and beyond recording a special video message just for him. I'm incredibly grateful to the compassionate team at Danbury Senior Living, who worked hand in hand with my office to ensure that Mr. Moore's birthday was truly unforgettable. He said his life and service are a testament to the spirit of our nation, and I'm proud we could celebrate him in such a meaningful way.
This is just a cool story. Moore's been a longtime supporter of Trump. As he said in the beginning of the video, he agrees most of the time with the president.
He did tell Fox News that he may make a mistake or two, but he's doing most everything right. Moore served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War Two before working for the U.S. Postal Service. He raised three children and his late wife, Thelma, to whom he was married for 75 years before she died in 2022 at the age of 95. His family and friends say he's still mentally sharp and stays physically active, and that could be the secret to his long life, I would say, if he is staying active. He said, I was always active doing something. I carried mail for 20 years walking, and that was good. I grew up on a farm. We did everything, and if we didn't have anything to do, we created something. It's just like this. Stay active. And, hey, that's some good advice from a 104-year-old.
Stay active. New study out from the United Kingdom as far as churches, church attendance, and people accepting Christ. According to the report, churches are seeing twice as many people committing to follow Jesus Christ compared to five years ago prior to COVID.
This is their latest research report. It's titled Changing Church, which was published by the Evangelical Alliance in the United Kingdom. The findings reinforce some research recently in what was called the Quiet Revival Report by the Bible Society shows an increase in young men becoming Christians. Danny Webster, Director of the Advocacy for the UK Evangelical Alliance, commented in a news update that more people are approaching churches and exploring the Christian faith. And in this area, smaller churches are seeing salvation at a comparable rate to much larger churches.
So here's the details. This research saw the views of 300 church leaders and nearly 1,000 church members across the UK. They talked with people about their habits, their church attendance habits prior to COVID and following COVID. The Gavin Calver, Chief Executive Officer of the Alliance, said the last five years have significantly impacted the evangelical church in the UK. What I'm seeing as I travel around the country are churches that are adapting well to the landscape, serving their communities wholeheartedly and growing numerically as they confidently share the hope of Jesus with those around them. The data showed that average church attendance has been rising by 13% since January of 2020, which is still considered an underestimate of what's happening across the UK, he said. Larger churches have grown at the same time as smaller churches shrunk, he said. The overall attendance changes across churches surveyed was 22% with larger churches seeing significant growth. Churches with 47 or fewer members dipped by 15%, but a quarter of the churches with more than 165 members grew by 21%. But the big news out of this is not just the church attendance, but it's the fact that young men are seeking Christ, that young men are dedicating their life to serving Christ.
Now again, this is the United Kingdom, so it made me think, well, what about in the US? And I don't have any data on Christian conversions, but I was able to find some information on church attendance. A couple of reports that were just out, an organization called Church Track published their reports. Some of the key stats from that, 20% of Americans attend church every week according to Gallup. That seems like a low number to me, 20% of Americans. 41% of Americans are in monthly church attendance, again, according to Gallup. 57% of Americans are seldom or never in religious service attendance, 57%. You think maybe that's part of what's happening to our country?
Part of why we're seeing some of the things that we're seeing in our country? According to Pew Research, regular church attendance has steadily declined since the turn of the century. Now according to both Gallup and Pew, there's been a significant decline in church attendance since the turn of the 21st century in all denominations. It's not just a particular type of church. But here's the encouraging thing.
Again, it kind of gets back to what we learned from the UK study. 39% of millennials are reporting attending church on a weekly basis. If you dig down a little deeper, although the overall church attendance among all age groups is not where it should be, millennials seem to be turning back to the church. This is a significant increase over years prior, and it places them at a much higher rate of attendance than generation X and even baby boomers, which surprised me.
I would have thought that baby boomers, which I'm one of, would have been one of the highest groups. Most churches are still below pre-pandemic attendance rates. It's like COVID came, and we had the lockdowns, and we haven't gotten over it.
That's just another casualty of COVID, isn't it? That it got people out of the... when some of the churches closed, people got out of the habit, and they've just never picked it back up. That's a prayer there that we have to pray. I'm Joey Hudson, and today, hey, appreciate you spending a few minutes with your Friday afternoon. Have a wonderful weekend. God bless.
