Reaching Gen Z for Christ w/ Kimberly Nollan

Uncover the secrets to managing stress and nurturing faith with Kimberly Nollan from Young Life, as we explore the universal challenges faced by Gen Z and how spiritual practices are helping them thrive.

Young Life's Relate Project is shining a light on the unique stressors across generations and cultures, with prayer becoming a cornerstone for young people navigating today's complex world. This insightful conversation promises to enhance your understanding of the vital links between faith, belonging, and personal growth.

Creating meaningful connections with Gen Z might seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. We share practical tips on bridging the generational gap, highlighting the importance of curiosity and genuine participation in activities that resonate with young people.

Kimberly offers invaluable advice on how to engage with empathy and authenticity, ensuring that communication with adolescents fosters understanding and mutual respect. Learn how these strategies can transform your interactions and support Gen Z's empathetic outlook.

Links Mentioned:
Website: younglife.org
Go-To Bible: The Message
Journaling Supplies: Journal
App/Website: Lectio 365

Use code POD2025Q1-Q2 to get 3 months free when you download and register for the Glorify app!

If you are a Christian woman seeking to know God deeper, study Scriptures, pray with and for others, strengthen your faith, and support other in doing the same, this is the place for you! 

Chapters

• 0:04 Stress Management and Faith for Gen Z
• 15:40 Connecting With and Understanding Gen Z
• 27:15 Sharing Faith With Gen Z
• 36:59 The Impact of Young Life

Transcript

Ellen Krause: 0:04

At the Coffee and Bible Time podcast, o ur goal is to help you delight in God's Word and thrive in Christian living. Each week we talk to subject matter experts who broaden your biblical understanding, encourage you in hard times, and provide life-building tips to enhance your Christian walk. We are so glad you have joined us. Welcome back to the Coffee and Bible Time podcast. This is Ellen, your host.

Ellen Krause: 0:34

We live in a time where young people are constantly under pressure. The stress that they face, whether it's from school relationships or expectations of modern life, they can just feel overwhelming for them and it feels like that they're facing it alone. But what if faith could be a real source of strength? Joining me in this episode is Kimberly Nollan, director of Research and Evaluation at Young Life, and together we will dive into the research from Young Life's Relate Project to show how faith and prayer can help teens manage stress. It's about more than just surviving tough moments. It's about thriving through connection. By inviting young people into authentic relationships and showing up for them, we create a support system that helps them navigate life's challenges and that makes a huge difference in young lives.

Ellen Krause: 1:46

Kimberly Nollan, Ph. D. has held positions applying research and evaluation techniques, continuous improvement practices, strategic planning and monitoring and collaborating across teams and different organizations. She began her career focusing on preparing adolescents in out-of-home care settings to live on their own, leading a team to develop a free online assessment Casey Life Skills and Resources. She now serves as the Director of Research and Evaluation at Young Life. She manages real-time measurement of global and programmatic inputs and outcomes. Most recently, she has been leading the evaluation portion of the Relay Project. Please welcome Kimberly.

Kimberly Nollan: 2:26

Thanks so much, Ellen. I'm happy to be here.

Ellen Krause: 2:36

Well, Kimberly, I'm so thrilled that you're joining us today. I love this topic and just what the Young Life organization is doing to help our youth. Why don't you start out? Because there might be people listening to this who don't even know what Young Life is. So why don't you tell us about Young Life and the Relate Project?

Kimberly Nollan: 2:51

Sure thanks. So Young Life is a global organization and we have ministry going on in over 100 countries worldwide and our mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and to help them grow in their faith, and part of that is we want to make sure that we are understanding adolescent culture and understanding the values and relationships that are important to Gen Z and upcoming Gen Alpha, and to that end, we undertook the Relate Project. Specifically, we were looking at all of Gen Z in the United States, united Kingdom, india, four countries in Eastern Africa and Mexico and asked them about their relationships with themselves and with other people and with God, other people and with God and we also ask them what's important to them, what are they worried about, what kinds of things do they do to cope with stress? And I really wanted to understand where Gen Z is at and what is important to them.

Ellen Krause: 3:59

Well, I just love the relational way that Young Life achieves its goal of making kids feel known and I know for me. I wanted to just do a double check to make sure I got it right. But Gen Z is ages 12 to 27, correct Based on the year that we're in right now.

Kimberly Nollan: 4:21

Yes, I would say maybe 13 or 14 to 27. So it kind of depends on who you talk to, but yes, roughly, gen Alpha starts somewhere around 2010. So they're like at the beginning of middle school and Gen Z is finishing up middle school and is already in the workforce.

Ellen Krause: 4:43

Excellent, okay, so that kind of helps us put in perspective who we're talking about here. The study mentions that faith is a big factor in mitigating stress and that prayer can be used as a coping strategy. Tell us more about what the data showed related to this about what the data showed related to this Right.

Kimberly Nollan: 5:09

So we did ask all of the participants about their current stress levels, and stress levels were fairly high. About 40% in the United States of Gen Z said they experience a lot or a whole lot of stress in their lives on a daily basis. And while stress is not necessarily a bad thing, because we all have it in our lives, right when we're learning something new or we're encountering something new or we're in a situation where we're unsure of how to act or be, those are all things that are stressful, and so we wanted to know how are they coping with stress, Because we're not going to eliminate stress from our lives, and the number one way was listening to music, which I think is a pretty proactive way to connect with something that's helping you get in touch with your feelings and can be meaningful to you. But also on the list was prayer, and we found that as Gen Z grew older, prayer became even more important.

Kimberly Nollan: 6:09

And when I think about the relationship between stress and faith, I think about in the Relate Project, when we looked at all of those questions around relationships with themselves, around belonging, about who do I think I am, what's my identity, what is my agency? Do I feel like I can make a difference? Questions about flourishing we use Harvard's flourishing scale and then questions about faith. Some interesting relationships came up and you're probably thinking what I'm about to share is like that's very intuitive and we kind of all know that, especially if we're parents. But it reinforced to me the importance of the relationship between faith and then constructs that we're calling belonging being able to be who you are in, with your family, with your friends, close relationships, having people you can really talk about, things that matter and that you can count on and that you know who care about you. Having an identity, feeling worthy of being loved, knowing that you're worthy of being loved. And agency being able to make a difference in the world. And when I think about all those things, when those things increase, our faith increases. And likewise, when our faith grows, those other aspects relationships, belonging, identity, agency also grow.

Kimberly Nollan: 7:35

And when you start breaking it down a little bit, you think about I loved in your bio that you want to be able to help your family and your community experience the love of Jesus and be the hands and feet of Jesus to them, and I really think that's the heart of Gen Z that they're so concerned about their community, their neighbors and loving them well, and I think about they want to belong, they want to create spaces for other people to be fully themselves.

Kimberly Nollan: 8:10

They want to be able to express that tangibly in acts of service and helping their neighbor. And I think about how faith one of our core tenets is that God loves us unconditionally. There's nothing that we have done to deserve love. It's just there. It's we. He made us in his image and he offers that love to us. And I think that message really gives an identity to someone that helps them cope with stress in positive ways, to someone that helps them cope with stress in positive ways. And so those are a few of the things that we're noticing about Gen Z in relationship to faith and stress.

Ellen Krause: 8:53

It's so fascinating. You know, as I was reading through the study, one thing related to this that I thought was so interesting as a parent, now, my kids I have actually well, I guess I have two at the very end of Gen Z age and one older than that.

Ellen Krause: 9:13

But I was encouraged to know that when they get in those ages sometimes you think, oh, they don't care about us parents. Can you speak to that a little bit, Because I loved when I saw your chart that shows that the mother is such a valued confidant. Tell us a little bit about that.

Kimberly Nollan: 9:37

Well, yeah, I have to admit, when that came out in the research, I was like I feel pretty good about myself right now as a mom. So we did, we asked all of the survey respondents like, do you have people that you can talk to about things that really matter? And then, after they responded, we said, well, who are those people? And we gave them the chance to select from a variety, and what we noticed is that moms were chosen most often by every age group. So we looked at our information by, like, middle school, 13 to 15 year olds, high school, 16 to 18 year olds, and then 19 to 24 year olds, and they all the through line was mom was an important person to them, like two-thirds of the people, which is pretty high. And we also found that dads and siblings about half of the respondents said that those are the people that they talk to and over time, dads became a little bit less of the person that they turned to and siblings became more important, and then spouses or romantic entries grew in importance as Gen Z age as well. But, yeah, I loved that also that moms, that parents, are important and I think you know, between those ages of 16 to 18, we noticed that there were dips in the responses of the way the 16 to 18-year-olds rated themselves. They were feeling more anxious, more stressed. They felt like they didn't have as much of a sense of belonging, they weren't as sure that they are worthy of being loved.

Kimberly Nollan: 11:19

And so you can see, that's such a big time of transition where you're gaining responsibility, you're gaining freedom, you're gaining independence. You're still living at home, but you're also really starting to think about the future. And what are you going to be doing? Are you going to be entering the world of work? Are you going to be going to higher education? How are you going to pay for higher education, all of those things. And so oftentimes those 16 to 18 year olds can kind of give us the message of like hey, you're too much in my business, I got this, and they kind of pull away, whereas what we're seeing is that relationships are still so important to them and it's so important for us who have those relationships with 16 to 18 year olds to stay close and to stay present in their lives and to be available to show up, and we're noticing that that's a really important piece of the wellbeing of adolescents.

Ellen Krause: 12:19

Absolutely. I think of just a lot of times, like, if you're maybe talking to kids of that age I'm thinking of my own kids and sometimes you think, oh, they didn't hear a word. I said you know what? No, they did and they are listening, even though they might be looking a little grouchy about it. But I've had multiple situations later where they came back and said you know what, mom, I'm really glad you told me x, y, z. So it's like you know. I think that just because of how they express themselves, sometimes we think that what we have to say might not be important, but they are listening and hearing might not be important, but they are listening and hearing Right.

Kimberly Nollan: 13:10

You're building a foundation for continued relationship and, as we can see, those 19 to 24 year olds come back with different thoughts, with different questions, with wanting to connect in new ways, as more adult to adult. And by staying close in those early years, you're creating that foundation that, hey, we're going to be in each other's lives for the long haul. I'm one of your people that you can count on and I love you very much.

Ellen Krause: 13:43

I love that. Well, the invite us to your dinner table theme in the report was all about authenticity, extending invitation and showing up for kids in our lives. Tell us more about this theme and what the findings were.

Kimberly Nollan: 13:59

Yeah, that was a really interesting one. In addition to doing the surveys with the 7,000 Gen Zers, we also held 14 focus groups in each of the countries that we had collected the survey information, and the respondents were volunteers and Gen Z-aged Young Life staff and basically we kind of wanted to unpack some of the findings and we asked them about like, what do you think older generations think of yours? And it was pretty consistent, regardless of the country, that they would say things like we feel judged. We think older generations think we're not responsible, they think that we're lazy, and so a lot of negative things. And then we would ask them well, what would you want older generations to know about you? And they would say things like we're responsible, we are interested in having a relationship with older generations. I think that there is this misperception of that, the judgment that they were feeling. They were wondering if older generations thought that younger generations wanted to be in relationship, and so this theme kept bubbling up and the respondents, without being prompted, would say hey, just invite us over to dinner, we just want to get to know you as people, as humans, human to human. We're curious about you. We wish you would be curious about us Not to feel like you have to invite us to dinner and give us advice.

Kimberly Nollan: 15:40

They really wanted for older generations to ask them questions about themselves. We talked about stress earlier on. I mean, everybody has stressors in their lives. That could be a conversation starter. What are you thinking about these days? Or we know that music is one of the ways that people cope with stress. What are you listening to these days? What's on your playlist? Just those kinds of conversations and as you start asking questions, to follow it up by saying tell me more about that or help me understand how you came to believe that, or go on what else, continuing to show that curiosity.

Kimberly Nollan: 16:20

And I think sometimes older people and older generations they're like I'm not as tech savvy as someone who is younger and I feel uncomfortable about that. Or I'm not sure what the latest you know catchphrases are or slang that's being used and I feel kind of awkward about it. And the younger generations in the focus groups were like just own it, it's okay. We don't expect you to be a Gen Z-er, we expect you to be you and if you don't know something, ask. It's okay with us.

Kimberly Nollan: 16:51

We don't want that. We just want genuine connection with people. We want to do life with you, and not you telling us what to do and not us doing it on our own. We want to be in life, be in community with you, and I just walked away from those focus groups so inspired and just so thankful that we have this whole generation of young people who is so concerned about relationship. They describe themselves. We asked them an open question of how would you describe yourself? And the majority of people said I'm kind or I'm good, I'm caring, I'm a friend, I mean, those things are so beautiful and I just. It makes me want to get to know Gen Z better.

Ellen Krause: 19:59

Yeah, what would you say to the mom who says like, oh, but my son just likes to be in his room talking to his friends. He feels maybe there's a little bit of a disconnect there. How would you encourage them, because I'm sure they still want to be seen and heard. It's just. How do you go about that?

Kimberly Nollan: 20:17

Yeah, part of it is pushing past our own discomfort with the one syllable answers right to our questions. Fine, good, no, some guy. You know those kinds of questions and kind of being like, hey, this isn't about me feeling like I have to be the best friend, but thinking about how do I show up. And you know, sometimes it is uncomfortable, especially during those ages of 16 to 19, when there is that pulling back and you know you have to be a lot more creative about how do you show up for your kid and make sure that they know that you're still on their side, that you still care about them.

Kimberly Nollan: 20:59

And you know, I think I think that having, when you ask those questions and then have those follow-up things, sometimes it takes a few rounds to get to like what's at the heart of the matter of asking what else? Go on, tell me more about that. It usually takes like three rounds of those kinds of questions for the real things of life to come out. And so I guess my encouragement would be don't give up, even when it feels uncomfortable, but to continue to be curious and to show that you honestly are interested in who your child is as a person. And sometimes that's hard because maybe we have a different agenda for them, like, hey, we want you to get certain grades in school, or we want you to be involved in these activities, or we're moving towards college and what do you need to do to get there, as opposed to seeing your child as a person that is worthwhile getting to know?

Ellen Krause: 22:08

Right, right, you know, something that comes to my mind is so my son is 28. And I found that he likes to play disc golf. And he actually, for Christmas, got each of us like this little starter disc golf set. Now, granted, I'm terrible, but I've gone with him now on several occasions and he opens ups. I can't believe how much he talks to me when we're doing something and he's talking and he's sharing so much, so maybe kind of getting them in their own element and trying to share.

Kimberly Nollan: 22:52

I think that's such a great idea. Yeah, I love that. That is just so brilliant. And so you're entering his world and what's important to him and you're just being there and I just think that's so beautiful. I was going to mention that. I noticed that sometimes, when we're doing things together, like hiking or playing a game, conversation is a little bit more comfortable, less forced.

Ellen Krause: 23:19

Yes, absolutely. And you know what I wanted to mention too for our listeners in this study. I think what is so cool about it is that you actually give people advice and tips, and in this section, on the dinner part, I just want to read to our audience, like what you have a conversation starter in here and so if you're just kind of wondering, oh boy, what am I even going to talk about here, but I love it says what do you want to be known as Is a great question. To ask kids to learn more about them, what's important to them and how they perceive themselves, especially in a group setting. Demonstrate curiosity and asking further questions like what is something you do that would make someone think you are blank, or are there times when it's hard to be blank? You can also invite kids to celebrate peers' qualities by naming what stands out about them, and so I just I love that throughout this like you're really taking that next step. You have the research. Okay, now how can I go home and use it?

Kimberly Nollan: 24:36

Yeah.

Ellen Krause: 24:36

Thanks.

Kimberly Nollan: 24:38

I appreciate that. Um, we we are. We do want to equip, you know, our staff and our volunteers and parents, um, anyone who cares about Gen Z. We want them to feel equipped to enter into relationship with them and I appreciate you calling that out.

Ellen Krause: 24:58

Let's talk a little bit about how adolescents today are empathetic. How do you think this impacts our world and culture?

Kimberly Nollan: 25:15

That's a great question, I would say. One of the things that we asked them about is we asked them what they were concerned about for their communities, and they would name things like mental health, hunger, homelessness, a whole bunch of things that have to do with the well-being of their neighbor. And then we also asked them do you feel like you can make a difference? And 40% of the Gen Zers said I absolutely can make a difference. And then another 40% were like yeah, I think I can make a difference. So that 80% of Gen Z wants to make a difference and thinks that they can is so beautiful to me. And we even asked them like have you ever been involved with a cause that has to do with social justice or anything like that? And 40% said yes.

Kimberly Nollan: 26:06

So that's, I mean, they're not only just saying it, they're putting actions to their words. And I think that we are seeing it like in our communities. Like, if you start looking around, like I know, like in our area and I know in other parts of the country, there's little groups of people that form mutual aid groups where they just have a common desire to help in a specific way and maybe it's like eight to 10 people, maybe 20. And they all kind of get together and find each other and carry it out, whether it's like running after school art programs or taking care of unhoused people. Taking care of unhoused people all kinds of beautiful ways that I think it is helping us be the hands and feet of Jesus, like you've mentioned, in tangible ways, and I think that that is just such a beautiful thing about Gen Z.

Ellen Krause: 27:16

Hmm, when you brought up this topic, what came to my mind again is my son. But I say this because it brought out something in him that I didn't really recognize was there. But as part of high school they had to do community service hours and we had gone to a homeless shelter where we did the meals and served the meals. And we got home and he's like mom, I think I'd like to do that again. So it just it touched my heart because it wasn't something he had to do it, you know as a requirement, but what made my heart so happy was that something he had to do it, you know as a requirement, but what made my heart so happy was that he really wanted to. Yeah, so yeah, they can see, just like I know for myself, when we volunteer or do things to help others, it's so rewarding. It's you're helping them, you're helping yourself right as much as you're helping them, because it's such a joy.

Kimberly Nollan: 28:13

It's true, it's really true.

Ellen Krause: 28:17

Well, as we start to wrap things up here, I'd like to focus on sharing the gospel with adolescents today. What would you say are some key things that adults should consider in their approach to that?

Kimberly Nollan: 28:35

I kind of going back to what you talked about early on in our conversation about the importance of relationship, and I think that building relationship with young people is probably the most powerful way to be able to share the message of Jesus Christ.

Kimberly Nollan: 29:06

I think that a lot of times we into building a relationship about being curious, showing up as your authentic self, asking questions, letting go of our preconceived notions or judgments and just honestly trying to build those relationships.

Kimberly Nollan: 29:26

And then also, I think, serving together, giving our young people a chance to express their agency, but doing it together. I think that sometimes older generations think I have to arrange the service activity and then invite the Gen Z person in it with me. But what if a different approach would be to discuss with the person that you're in relationship with how do we want to make a difference together and to decide that and I think through those experiences just like you playing the disc golf with your son having those shared experiences gives an opportunity to talk about who the person of Jesus Christ is and the difference that Jesus makes in our own lives. I think it just kind of sets a different environment for us to be able to share authentically from our own lives, but we've earned the right to be heard as well, because we've been building that relationship and we care about the person that we're talking with.

Ellen Krause: 30:31

Yeah, absolutely.

Kimberly Nollan: 30:54

Building that relationship, the trust, the respect, all of those things, I think, will make them just want to take what you have to say to heart, probably a little bit more than if you were just kind of throwing it at them cold. Yeah, and I think what we're noticing at Young Life around Gen Z is that they are less interested in our words and more interested in our actions, and so I think a lot of times we think I have to have the right words, but I think what Gen Z is watching us is what are your actions? And if your actions don't align with your words, it doesn't matter what the words are.

Ellen Krause: 31:23

Right, oh, so true, so true. Well, can you let our listeners know about how they can get more information about Young Life and specifically this research?

Kimberly Nollan: 31:40

Yes, you can have your listeners. Find us at relate R-E-L-A-T-E dot younglifeorg. And the whole report is free for anyone to download and, like you said, we tried to make it real readable and with some practical applications of the research and there's links there where you can access our Young Life website. Like, if you want to know is Young Life present in your neighborhood, you can easily find out from the website. There's additional tools that you can use and that are all available for free, and we would be happy to connect people. We've had people email us and say, hey, I want to have Young Life in my area, and so we've been able to connect them to local staff people and we would be delighted if you all reached out.

Ellen Krause: 32:33

Well, Kim, thank you so much, you know, before we go, I just wanted to see if maybe you could share an example from your own life of how you've been able to take what you've learned in this research and apply it.

Kimberly Nollan: 32:53

You know, I have three Gen Z aged kids as well and I think I'm trying to listen harder, I'm trying to ask a lot more questions and say a lot fewer opinions, and I want to make sure that I'm one of those people who shows up for my kids and builds relationship and understands what they think and why they think it and be involved in the things that are important to them as well. So, personally, that's how I'm applying it in my life and trying to welcome in their friends into our lives as well.

Ellen Krause: 33:31

That's so awesome. Well, all of you listening have that opportunity to do that as well, and we will make sure that we put that link in our show notes Before we go, Kim, I have to ask you some of our favorite Bible study tool questions. What Bible is your go-to Bible and which translation is it?

Kimberly Nollan: 33:51

That's a great question. I travel a lot with my job and also I like traveling for fun, and so the Bible app on my phone is my favorite go-to Bible because I try to pack really light. But the translations I enjoy. I try to listen to different translations because I feel like it helps me to concentrate more on what the words are. You know, sometimes if you listen or read in the same translation over and over, it becomes like oh yeah, I know that. And so the three that I go between the most are the New Revised Standard Version, the Message and the First Nations Bible, and it just helps me to think differently and to kind of engage a little bit more.

Ellen Krause: 34:37

Awesome, okay, do you have any favorite journaling supplies or anything that you like to use to enhance your Bible study experience?

Kimberly Nollan: 34:48

I'm pretty simple and I have received some very lovely journals over the years from friends and usually I'm drawn to the ones that have bright or colorful covers or have nature or flowers or things like that trees depicted and I enjoy using those and I have noticed that the pen that I'm using is probably more important than the journal. I want something that feels good in my hand and writes really smooth, and those make it a much more fun experience for me. Do you have a favorite pen? A favorite pen? I don't think I do have a favorite pen. I just kind of know what I don't like.

Ellen Krause: 35:36

Oh, okay. There are so many now.

Kimberly Nollan: 35:39

There's so many, there's so many.

Ellen Krause: 35:42

Yeah, all right. Lastly, I know you said the YouVersion app is the one that you love. Do you have any other websites or apps that you like to use for Bible study tools?

Kimberly Nollan: 35:56

Yeah, I love the practice of Lectio Divina or Lectio Divina, and there's a great website, I guess maybe it's a podcast or there's an app, Lectio 365, that kind of just guides you through it and it's a beautiful way to start and end your day. And then Pray as you Go is also a really great way to kind of get into the word and kind of imagine yourself in it and to think about it. They have great questions that they ask, and then Young Life also has one that they call Words and Ways, and it's usually just a short scripture and then they kind of unpack it of what does it mean and then ask some questions and it's a really fun one to listen to. And all of them are short, like 10 minutes, so you can literally listen to it as you're walking around or driving or whatever, but it's a great way to keep the word in your mind.

Ellen Krause: 36:54

Those are some really cool suggestions. Okay, we will make sure we put links to those in our show notes. Kim, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all of these insights from the Relate projects. It's just been such a meaningful conversation and I truly hope that the work that you're doing there continues to impact the lives of young people.

Kimberly Nollan: 37:20

Thank you so much for having me, Ellen. It was really fun to talk with you today.

Ellen Krause: 37:26

All right, you're welcome and for our listeners, I just want to encourage you to learn more about Young Life and its mission, of what they do by visiting their website. We will have that link in the show notes as well. Well, thank you so much. We love you all. We appreciate you listening. We would be honored if you would recommend our podcast to a friend, and we hope you have a blessed day.