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 .