I teach full-time at a Christian university in the Southeast. I speak frequently at other schools, as well as events geared toward collegians and other young adults. My wife and I serve in the college ministry in our local church. I’m the father of four children, three of whom are between the ages of 14 and 18. In other words, I spend a lot of time around Generation Z, and I think I know their generation fairly well.
Around the time the COVID-19 pandemic was ending, my colleagues and I started noticing a spiritual hunger among young people. While many churches were struggling to return to their pre-pandemic levels of attendance, youth groups and college ministries seemed to be growing. There appeared to be an uptick in the number of teenagers and twentysomethings who were eager to participate in mission trips or who were wrestling with a call to the ministry. Many campus ministries were thriving. Stories of campus revivals were common, most notably the Asbury Revival in the spring of 2023.
Such stories were common, but anecdotal. Not anymore. Recently, the Barna Group released a new study as part of their ongoing State of the Church initiative with Gloo, a faith-based technology company. The headline is encouraging: “Young Adults Lead a Resurgence in Church Attendance.” According to the data, while U.S. church attendance remains flat overall, Christians who are part of Generation Z and younger millennials are attending church more frequently than before. Young believers are also attending church much more often than Christians in older generations.
This news has already provoked considerable conversation among Christian news outlets and online opinion sites, nearly all of which is understandably positive. While some raise concerns about the declining church attendance among Generation X and Baby Boomers, Christian journalists and opinion columnists are rightly heartened at the growing interest that the younger generations have in the faith. Secular outlets haven’t said much about the Barna study, though in recent months several have reported on the surge of younger men in particular who are attending theologically conservative evangelical churches.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at World Magazine )