Christianity is the choice for Gen-Z
Have you heard?
Young adults are coming back to church!
Studies from the UK, USA, and even, Canada are suggesting that religion, Christianity in particular, is “the choice of the ZED Generation!”
Do we believe this? Are we seeing this in our ministry contexts? Prepare to get your sociologist thinking caps on!
It all started, I think, back in the Spring when The Quiet Revival Report was shared by the Bible Society of the United Kingdom. You can download the report here. It noted that many demographics were attending church once a month more in 2024 than 2018 (pre COVID). Good to see Gen X kept on brand by going less.
Then in September, Barna released its data on this. You can read it here.
They called it “a historic reversal!”
For the first time in decades,” says the report, “younger adults—Gen Z and Millennials—are now the most regular churchgoers, outpacing older generations, who once formed the backbone of church attendance.” Now, to be clear, it is a statistical thing - Gen Zed are attending church 1.9 Sundays a month versus only 1.4 for Boomers. This leads to statements like the younger generation is going to church more than the older generation - and, in fact, the older generation is going to church less than they did before.
Now, that is something that I’ve seen first hand and heard about from older Boomers and “Elders” (Silent Generation people). Word among the retirement communities is that if they go to church that they are an anomaly in among their peers. Have you been hearing the same?
Even in France, something is happening - influenced by a Canadian preacher from Quebec!
And then, in early October, (you know the Christian Church has hit the jackpot when it gets a six minute feature on Morning News - and it is GOOD NEWS!) CTV Your Morning shared this spot titled: Why Gen Z is Leading a Religious Resurgence.
It features talking points from Dr. Sarah Wilkins-LaFlamme from the University of Waterloo who is one of our leading Canadian Sociologists of Religious trends and behaviour. Dr. Sarah Han of Tyndale University and Knox College alum also features. I did find it odd when they were first introducing St. Paul’s Bloor Street in Toronto that Nicky Gumbel of Alpha fame appears at the front of the sanctuary (I guess go - Team CofE, but as I continued to watch I noticed that the B-roll didn’t always match the talking points - it is hard when you actually recognize a lot of church sanctuaries. But I digress!)
Watch for yourself - I’m delighted that they actually dug into the Canadian data as we often are dependent upon statistical data from the United States or sometimes the UK.
So, what say you?
Do you think this is true? Are you hearing about it - seeing it in your ministry contexts? Among your family systems?
If it is true, do we, the Church, know how to connect with this generation? What are Gen ZEDs and Millennials looking for from a worshipping community? Even as I write that… are they looking for a “worshipping” community or just community? I wonder, would a Gen ZED walking into one of our congregations this Sunday want to stick around and be willing to come regularly - or at least 1.9 Sundays per month?
Quick Aside: If people of all generations are coming out to worship between 1.4 and 1.9 Sundays per month, maybe we should be reconsidering how many times per month we gather for worship on Sundays! Consider how much time, money, and energy is expended on our week to week practice of Sunday morning worship.
What would it look like if we cut that in half and repurposed those resources to explore and invest in spiritual practices, prayer, and Bible Study at alternative times and using different delivery modalities.
It was interesting that the news piece mentioned that St. Paul’s Bloor Street RE-planted a new church in the closed St. George’s Grange Park to reach this group and they are up to 100 people in worship already. It looks like a hopping place!
This kind of replanting is a common trend among the Anglican Church. Both St. Paul’s Bloor Street and St. George’s Grange Park, if their websites are to be believed, look like they would appeal to a younger generation. If you just take a look at their 35 member staff team (yes, I said 35!) they are in the majority of a younger and diverse demographic.
I also found it interesting that they just left hanging there at the end of the segment. “Oh, and young MEN are leading this resurgence… but actually more young WOMEN are leaving the Church.” I’ll let you draw your own conclusions here.
At Ministry Forum, we are going to be focusing some of our efforts on intentionally connecting with those who minister to the younger - NEXT - generation right now. We’d like to remind them that they are not alone in the ministries where they serve with passion and dedication despite often being marginalized by the institutional church. We also think that they might be able to tell us something about how to connect with the Next Generation whether we have 35 of them in our ministry contexts or just one or two.
We’d love to hear how this lands with you - leave us a comment below!