A Deep-Dive Into the Woman Calling Churches Experiment on TikTok

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Trend expert Shayan Faraz explains what this social experiment is & how people are responding

Co-authored by Shayan Faraz and Devin McSween

Last Updated: December 4, 2025 Fact Checked

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Why is the woman calling churches?

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What are the results?

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Churches’ Responses

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Viewers’ Responses

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Why did it go viral?

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Video

If you’ve been on TikTok recently, you may have seen several viral videos from the “testing your church” series. This series of videos is a social experiment by TikToker Nikalie Monroe, who calls churches around the US to see if they’ll provide formula for her fictional baby. The results of the test have sparked a lot of discourse online, including responses from the churches Monroe called. Curious to learn what this TikTok series is all about and why it’s so popular? We’ve compiled everything you need to know in the article below, including insights from trend expert Shayan Faraz!

Woman Calling Churches on TikTok Explained

According to trend expert Shayan Faraz, the “testing your church” series on TikTok is a social experiment by Nikalie Monroe, who calls churches and other institutions in the US to see if they’ll give her formula for her (fictional) baby. Monroe hopes her videos inspire churches to better serve their community.

Section 1 of 5:

Why is a woman calling churches and posting the videos on TikTok?

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It’s an experiment by Nikalie Monroe to see if churches will help a hungry baby. According to Faraz, “Nikalie Monroe has gone viral for her social experiment on TikTok where she calls Christian churches and role plays as a mother urgently in need of baby formula for her child. The purpose of this trend is to see how churches react with offering aid, and test how charitable they are.”^{[1]
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Shayan Faraz
Trend Expert

Expert Interview} Monroe’s video series is extremely popular, with each video getting hundreds of thousands to millions of views.
- In each video, Monroe records herself calling a new church while posing as a mother of a 2-month-old who’s run out of formula. She asks if the church can donate formula and sees if the church is willing to help, or if they decline to assist her.^{[2]
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- Regardless of the church’s acceptance or refusal to help her, Monroe then informs them that she’s conducting a social experiment to see if they’d help her, and clarifies that she doesn’t actually have a baby.
- What’s Monroe’s hope with the experiment? In a TikTok video, Monroe shares that she hopes her videos inspire positive change in churches and other religious institutions. Her videos aren’t meant to be a source of negativity or judgment, but rather for these institutions to be more compassionate and helpful, and do better in helping their communities. She wants her videos to bring everyone together, regardless of religious affiliation, and cultivate more kindness, empathy, and forgiveness.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Shayan Faraz (also known online as Chum) is a trend expert based in Ann Arbor, Michigan who examines cultural trends. He has over 35,000 followers and over 7 million likes on his TikTok page @chummertok.

Section 2 of 5:

What are the results of the “testing your church” series?

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So far, 9 churches have provided help, and 33 have declined to help. Faraz says, “Monroe has conducted this experiment across dozens of churches, receiving mixed responses. Some churches responded by offering help, some redirected to food pantries or crisis centers, and others rejected aid altogether.”^{[3]
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Shayan Faraz
Trend Expert

Expert Interview} As of November 8, 2025, Monroe has called 42 churches and other religious institutions, and 9 have been willing to help her, while 33 have either been unable to help or refused to help.
- Why are so many of the churches not able to help? Monroe has received several different answers, including that the church doesn’t have formula on hand, they don’t have the means to give her formula, or they’d only help if she were a member of the church. Some suggest that she apply for resources like SNAP and WIC, but do not provide her with direct help in receiving formula.^{[4]
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- Which churches and religious institutions have said yes? Several Catholic churches, several Black churches, a mosque, a Buddhist temple, and a pregnancy care center have offered Monroe direct help.

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How have the churches responded to the “testing your church” series?

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Some churches have responded positively, while others have reacted negatively. Of the churches that said they were unable to help Monroe, several have made social media posts to apologize and promise to do better, like the Abundant Church in El Paso, TX, as shared in this video from @therealfitfamelpaso. Other churches have reacted less favorably. Some of the churches have shared posts and videos of sermons denouncing Monroe’s experiment as a scam and likening it to an evil act, such as this video from @cait_apologist from the Christian Center in Baton Rouge, LA.
- Faraz says, “One video worth noting is when Monroe called the Islamic Center of Charlotte, breaking away from her regular church calls. The Islamic Center immediately responded with help, asking for more details so they could serve Monroe with her needs. The video received local news coverage on Queen City News, 6.6M+ views on TikTok, and over 100 positive Google reviews–all stemming from the engagement and discussion in Monroe's TikTok comment section. This is also Monroe's second biggest video on her page.”^{[5]
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- Monroe herself posted a TikTok about the responses the churches have made. She focuses on the positives and shares that she’s happy that many of the churches have taken accountability and made a commitment to fix their mistakes and move forward, and is glad that many churches are taking this as an opportunity to step up.

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How are viewers reacting to the “testing your church” series?

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Many viewers have been inspired to donate to the churches. The churches and other religious institutions that offered to help Monroe have received a lot of positive support online. Several of the institutions have received money from viewers, as well as glowing reviews. Monroe even made a follow-up video with a pastor at one of the churches, who shared that the church received “substantial” donations that they will use to help the community.^{[6]
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- Commenters on Monroe’s videos share that they’ve donated to food assistance programs in their community, as well as their local churches and other religious institutions.
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Some viewers have left negative reviews of the churches that didn’t help Monroe. While many viewers have been understandably disappointed with many of the churches’ responses to Monroe, some people have taken to leaving 1-star reviews of the churches on Google. Monroe has since made a video asking her viewers not to do this, and instead to focus on the positives of the experiment and work on making changes in their own communities.
- Again, Monroe’s message isn’t one of division, but of unity. While many of the churches and religious institutions didn’t respond how she wished they would, she’s hopeful that her series will inspire them, as well as other institutions across the country, to be more helpful.

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Why did the “testing your church” series go so viral?

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It reveals how churches and other institutions really serve their community. Faraz explains, “Monroe's series is the perfect storm for social media virality because of its format and the broader narratives behind churches and social experiments. The series directly holds churches accountable (especially famous or well-known institutions) in a way that shows the public how they actually operate. Helping a mother and her baby in need is an emotional story that resonates with viewers from any background, and raises the stakes for what the church's response will be. The social experiment format also encourages users to comment on the interaction Monroe has with the church over the phone, leading to increased engagement.”^{[7]
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- Additionally, Monroe’s experiment inspires people, regardless of their religious affiliation, to ask how they help others and how they can better serve their community. For instance, many commenters on Monroe’s videos have shared how they’ve donated to their local food pantry or church.
- The videos have also sparked lots of discussion online about how churches use their money and how they can be more helpful.
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It highlights the struggles people are really dealing with. Food insecurity has been top of mind for a lot of people in the United States, especially with the funding instability of government programs like SNAP, which provide food assistance to low-income households. Many people are living the reality that Monroe highlights in her videos, which reveals what resources they actually have access to and who is actually willing to help them out in their time of need.^{[8]
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- While the results of Monroe’s experiment have been sobering, in her videos, she explains that she wants people to see the positive side of things and inspire change. She encourages people to leave suggestions on how to fix this issue so people who are facing food insecurity get the help they need.