New national polling shows an uptick in religious fervor among young men, even as more churches across the country are shutting their doors.

The big picture: Gen Z still has the highest share of religiously unaffiliated adults in modern history, but small hints of a religious rebound have spawned speculation about how that could reshape politics, culture wars and church strategy for years to come.

• An estimated 4,000 Protestant churches closed in the U.S. in 2024, outpacing the 3,800 that opened, according to Lifeway Research.

Driving the news: A Gallup poll found 42% of young men between 18 to 29 now say religion is "very important" in their lives, up from 28% just a few years ago.

• Young women in the same age group have held steady at about 30%.
• Religious attendance among young men has climbed to about 40% or more each month, its highest level in over a decade.

Zoom in: At Our Lady of Good Counsel in Westport, about 50% of the adult parishioners are between ages 18 and 30, operations director Joe Ibarra tells Axios.

• The parish has roughly 1,000 members, and about a third of its adult parishioners are converts or returning Catholics.

What they're saying: "We are very young," Ibarra says. "In a couple of years, the number of young adults will eclipse the number of older adults."

• "For people interested in becoming Catholic, it skews male," Ibarra adds. "In a world that's very fast-changing, they're looking for something stable. It's always a pendulum thing. Things swing back and forth."

State of play: Recent studies have spotlighted an increase in church attendance among young men, especially in Catholic and conservative evangelical congregations.

• Stories from The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have pointed to packed pews, viral conversions and "TheoBro" culture as signs of a possible revival.
• Some pastors report increased interest from Gen Z men, often tied to searches for community, structure or values.

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Berkley Riverfront is still under construction, even now that the KC Streetcar extension and Grand Boulevard pedestrian bridge are finished.

• Here's your quick hit of what's going on.

🏐 Volleyball courts: New stone blocks placed recently on the north side of the sand courts are keeping sand out of park drains and providing seating and dedicated entry points.

• Mounds of dirt facing the river will become grassy berms.

🕰️ Memorial project: A dedicated space remembering Richard L. Berkley is going west of the volleyball courts. The first phase is a retaining wall, which is already up.

• Berkley, the riverfront's namesake, was Kansas City's longest-serving mayor. He died in 2023.

👟 Trail work: Crews over the next few weeks will construct a concrete trail extension west of the Town of Kansas Bridge toward the barge terminal.

• The park's main waterfront path recently got about 10,000 square feet of new pavers.
• And officials are looking at extending the path past Bally's Casino into the East Bottoms.

🎨 Visuals: The MO River Murals fest over Memorial Day weekend brought in 100 artists and added about a mile of murals west along the levee wall. Port KC communications director Patrick Pierce told Axios it was the largest mural event in the U.S. this year.

• A curved, abstract sculpture called "Rivercloud" by Memphis artist Ben Butler is going up in the center of the park, and a new shipping-container mural is complete.
• Port KC is planning additional signs and wayfinding, plus landscaping and tree planting.

🌳 Founder's Park: Crews have poured concrete paths and erected a water overlook at the 2-acre park by CPKC Stadium

• KC Current spokesperson Dani Welniak says components will be open by mid-June.

🏗️ Apartments: Welniak says Current Landing, comprising two apartment buildings, is targeting mid-July move-in dates.

• The development will have at least four restaurants and shops, which will open throughout the summer.
• On the other side of the park, the second CORE building is shooting for fall.

What we're watching: Paid parking at the park will start June 1.

🏗️ City Council unanimously approved a $1.5 billion master redevelopment plan for the Plaza, greenlighting infrastructure upgrades and commercial projects. The owners, Gillon Property Group, are still seeking incentives.

• But Council tabled a measure that would privatize roughly 15 blocks of Plaza sidewalks. (Kansas City Business Journal)

⚖️ A liquor store is suing the city over its mini-bottle ban. Missouri lawmakers who wanted to preempt the city ordinance failed to pass a bill before the session ended. (Kansas City Star)

🍽️ The Shops of Prairie Village has a new pop-up restaurant called Argentina Inc. Empanadas. Guess what they serve? (Johnson County Post)

Craft breweries in Missouri and Kansas declined slightly last year in both number and production — part of a broader national slowdown in the once-booming industry.

Why it matters: The persistent downward trend is startling brewers and forcing many to rethink their business models and expand into non-beer beverages, Axios' John Frank writes.

Zoom in: Missouri had 170 craft breweries in 2025, down from 181 a year earlier, according to Brewers Association data released this month.

• Kansas went from 85 to 81.
• It was the first time either state saw fewer breweries year-over-year since 2011, which is as far back as the data goes.

By the numbers: Missouri also produced less craft beer, shrinking from more than 297,000 barrels in 2024 to roughly 284,000 in 2025.

• Kansas' production also shrank from nearly 39,000 barrels in 2024 to about 35,000 in 2025.
• Missouri ranks No. 19 in breweries per capita, and Kansas ranks No. 33.

What we're watching: Some of the largest metro breweries are expanding, including Boulevard, KC Bier Co., and Martin City.