Is Gen Z in Revival or Retreat? What the Church Needs to Know

Gen Z is navigating a complex relationship with spirituality, often feeling disconnected from traditional church structures while still actively seeking authentic faith experiences. Lifeway research reveals that despite the challenges, there is a significant hunger among this generation for genuine community and deep conversations about faith.

• The skepticism towards organized religion among Gen Z 
• Desire for authenticity and real relationships in faith 
• Factors leading youth to disengage from church 
• Importance of understanding and reaching Gen Z effectively 
• Optimism about Gen Z's search for spiritual truth

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Is Gen Z on the verge of revival or are they slipping away from the church entirely? Depending on who you ask, you might get a wildly different answer, but Lifeway Research recently published a study that gives us real data on what's really happening with Gen Z's faith, and we're going to talk about it right here today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks for joining me. My name is Todd Rhodes, I'm your host today on the podcast and we're talking about Gen Z. Now, first of all, there are so many different generations. It seems like every year they add another generation. How does that work? I don't even know. But what is Gen Z? All right, I'm looking at my research here. Gen Z, also known as digital natives, they grew up with the internet and smartphones and social media. Unlike millennials, who witnessed that whole rise. Right, gen Z normally are people this is the definition born roughly between 1997, or, as I like to call it, what I've heard it called, the late 1900s. Oh, my goodness, roughly between 1997 and 2012. So, if my math is right I hope it is that would make them about anywhere between 13 and 28. Okay, so I have a couple of kids that are technically Gen Zers, and let's talk about where they are with faith, at least what some of the LifeWay research found.

Speaker 1: 1:40

Okay, first thing I would say is, if you've been paying attention, you probably heard and I alluded to this in my introduction for this video. You've probably heard different narratives about Gen Z. One group will say they're the most unchurched generation in history and they're drifting further and further away from Christianity. And then there's other people that are saying, oh no, there's a great revival happening, asbury and different places that we've seen some real movements of God, with young people even more passionate about faith than ever before. Both of those can't be true, right? Which is it? Lifeways research kind of paints a nuanced picture, though, on one hand, gen Z is less likely to be a part of the church than previous generations. That's true.

Speaker 1: 2:26

Okay, many have no religious background at all, but here's the surprising part those that do engage in faith are doing so with deep conviction. So maybe that's where we get a little bit of both sides of the spectrum, both sides of the story. For those that dig deep, there's a real hunger for authenticity. We just talked about this yesterday. Go back and listen to yesterday's episode, where we talked about to the TikTok, the 2025 trends. We talked about the real hunger for authenticity and real community and purpose and how quickly that is increasing. So let's talk a little, let's dive into a little bit about what's driving this kind of spiritual interest with Gen Zers.

Speaker 1: 3:10

Okay, and here's what LifeWay found. They found that many Gen Zers are skeptical of organized religion okay, but they're not rejecting spirituality altogether. Again, you've got both sides of that right. In fact, many are asking really deep questions about life and faith and purpose. They're just not looking for shallow answers. Gen Z values honest conversations. They don't want to hear cliches, they don't want to wrestle or they don't want to hear the cliches. They really want to dig deep and dive deep to tackle those tough questions. They really crave community and belonging, but they often find it outside of traditional church structures okay. So your small group ministry may have to change for Gen Zers. They may not want to connect inside of your structure small group structure Okay and they want to see faith making a tangible difference in the world, not just being talked about on Sundays. So what does that mean for churches? Real relationships and deep biblical truth and active mission work are probably going to resonate far more with Gen Z than churches that rely solely on traditional methods that we have for the past couple of generations.

Speaker 1: 4:32

Okay, all right. So we talked about the part of Gen Zers that are digging deep. What about those that are leaving the church? Why are some leaving the church? And here's what the research is telling us, the biggest reasons. It goes back to the same thing A lack of meaningful relationships. Okay, perceived hypocrisy in the church, guilty, yeah, and doubts about faith that were never addressed. That's a little bit of an indictment on previous generations of how Gen Zers were brought up inside the church. So if we want to reach Gen Z, we really need to do. We got to crack this code on discipleship, we have to crack the code on transparency and we have to crack the code on engagement and a little secret here. This isn't even in my notes.

Speaker 1: 5:29

I'm just going to go off on a little bit of a tangent here. The people that are going to reach Gen Zers and really understand Gen Zers are not going to be people that are my age or even a little younger than me. They're going to be people that totally zone in and know what it's going to be Gen Zers that are going to be best to reach Gen Zers. So, as you're looking for staff, as you're looking for volunteers, don't thumb your nose at youth and inexperience, because youth and inexperience, that's exactly what this generation is looking for. They're looking for that transparency and they're looking for somebody that can help them wrestle through, not preach at them. They're not looking for a perfect church, but they do want one that's honest and welcome and truly committed to living out the gospel.

Speaker 1: 6:21

Okay, so we've heard some good news, some bad news, all right, but here's I want to end with a little bit more good news. Gen Z is not lost. They're searching and if we can figure out as a church, as your local church, if you can figure out where they are and how to meet them with real conversations and legitimate, interested community and a faith that not only impacts them but something that they can dive into and help change the world, man, many of them, they're open to Jesus and LifeWay's research confirms that when Gen Zers encounter real faith in action, many lean in, not out. My generation we had a lot of. I remember the old DeGarmo and Key song I don't want to be, I don't want to be a casual Christian. That's all I'm going to sing today. We had a lot of casual Christians, gen Zers man, if they lean in, and that's incredible. So the question isn't is Gen Z lost? The real question is are we ready to reach them? So here's the challenge for you, wherever you are, whatever age you are, whatever role you have in the church. Okay, here's the challenge. Don't assume that Gen Z isn't interested in faith, because a lot of them are, but you need to show an interest in them because their faith is worth being interested in.

Speaker 1: 7:53

If you want to read the full study from LifeWay, I'll try to remember to drop a link in the description here as well. And if this video was helpful, I'll try to remember to drop a link in the description here as well. And if this video was helpful, I'd love to hear your comments. You can always email me at podcast at chemistry staffing dot com. I hope this was helpful. I always like digging into kind of current trends and what we're seeing and some of the research that's being done out there. Lifeway's doing some great research these days. I will see you again right here tomorrow on the Helvick Church Staff Podcast. Thanks so much for listening.