Gen Z Goes to Church

A decade ago, we were talking about the “rise of the nones.” No, not the nuns, God bless them, but the nones — those without any religious affiliation. The ranks of the unaffiliated were especially strong among younger adults.

Was all this due to the fact that more of them were going to college? Maybe; higher ed does tilt less religious, overall. Or was it just more socially acceptable by then to admit that you’re not religious? For sure. Gone are the days when a politician can’t win unless they’re a member of a church. Was it that more young adults were delaying marriage? Would they come back to church once they started their own households? Maybe – single adults have typically been underrepresented in churches.

On and on the conversation went. By early 2024, it was reported that 28% of Americans did not affiliate with any religion (up from 16% in 2007). This February, Axios reported that fewer than half of 18- to 29-year olds identify as Christian (45%), and nearly the same portion have no religious affiliation (44%).”

The Decline Has Leveled Off – and Maybe Reversed

But under the hood, something else is happening. For one, the decline seems to have leveled off. Sure, 63% is less than 78%, but that’s a multi-year plateau at the bottom, and even a recent uptick. It’s as if the bleeding has stopped.

But what about this trend among young adults, in what they call “Gen Z”? That was the age group least likely to attend church in 2012.

That’s where things get interesting.

Church Attendance Is Booming Among Young Adults

The UK-based parachurch organization The Bible Society recently published a study called The Quiet Revival. It highlights a resurgence of Christianity in the UK. It reads: “The Church is in a period of rapid growth, driven by young adults and in particular young men.” Regular church attendance among 18- to 24-year-olds has quadrupled from 4% to 16%. Among young men, it’s a more than fivefold growth, from 4% to 21%.

Is something similar happening on our side of the Pond? Maybe. I’ve not read of a four- or fivefold church attendance jump, but there is evidence that the bleeding has stopped. According to data from the Pew Research Center, Americans born in the 1970s are 63% Christian, those born in the 1980s are 53% Christian, and those born in the 1990s, are 46% Christian. That’s a 7- to10% drop every 10 years. But the decline seems to have stopped: Americans born in the 2000s are also 46% Christian.

Ryan Burge is a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University. He’s been tracking data on religion in America for years. He put it this way: “Gen Z is not that much less religious than their parents, and that’s a big deal.”

More Guys than Gals

But are we seeing it more among men, like the Bible Society’s report found in the UK? Because 21% church attendance for young adult men but only 16% for young adults in general–that’s actually a big difference. Not to get all nerdy on you, but 5% is almost a third of 16%.

And historically, it’s weird. For generations, men have been less religious than women. The old joke is that church attendance is higher on Mother’s Day (Dad gets dragged along) but lower on Father’s Day (Dad takes the family to the ballgame, the beach, or the mountains). But it’s a stereotype based on a sad reality. It’s a trend that has prompted Christian publishers to put out books like Why Men Hate Going to Church (a phenomenally successful release). It was a driving force behind the Promise Keepers movement of the 1990s, which sought to connect masculinity with commitment to faith, church, and family.

And yet, this past September, The New York Times published a story titled, “In a First Among Christians, Young Men Are More Religious Than Young Women.” Within Gen Z, almost 40% of women now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. That’s a lot. But among men, it’s only 34%. Among every other age grouping (that is, older adults), men were more likely to be religiously unaffiliated. So, what we’re seeing is something new. If it sticks, the Christian gender gap will flip.

What’s Going On?

Some speculate that it’s a Jordan Peterson effect, or a function of other online male influencers popularizing religion and traditional morality among men. Maybe it’s a backlash against “woke culture,” which tends to view men with suspicion, casting them as oppressors. Or maybe a rightward “vibe shift” in political discourse has also made religion more fashionable.

When it comes to church involvement, consider the fact that it’s more liberal churches and denominations that have historically tilted female, in attendance if not also in leadership. And yet these more liberal churches have experienced greater decline over the last decade than conservative congregations. Could this be contributing to young women becoming less religious than young men?

To be sure, there are interrelated factors. Young men and women increasingly inhabit different vocational worlds with different interests and priorities. For example, young women are more college-educated than men, a trend that has only increased since COVID, as four-year college enrollment has dropped while male-oriented trade school rosters have surged. In major cities like New York and Washington, DC, where “white collar” work is the norm, women earn more than men.

Younger women are also less traditional in their family expectations and more progressive in their politics than men. For example, by a 12% margin, young women without kids are less likely to aspire to parenthood than their male counterparts. The political gap is far wider: In the run-up to the 2024 election, young men in swing states favored Donald Trump by 13 points whereas young women favored Kamala Harris by 38 points – an unprecedented 51% gap. How will these men and women ever marry one another and have families? It’s probably going to be a challenge.

While the trend is new and there’s reason to be encouraged–the drop in Christian affiliation has paused — it’s probably too early to say if it will stick. It’s certainly a trend to watch. And it is a good reminder that when we see new young adults in our churches on Sunday mornings, we should go out of our way to welcome them.

Alex Chediak (Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley) is a professor and the author of Thriving at College (Tyndale House, 2011), a roadmap for how students can best navigate the challenges of their college years. His latest book is Beating the College Debt Trap. Learn more about him at www.alexchediak.com or follow him on Twitter (@chediak

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