Despite a national decline in religious affiliation, Gen Zers and Millennials are experiencing a kind of “awakening”: Young women’s church attendance has risen fourfold, while young men’s attendance has spiked fivefold in under a decade.
The data isn’t the only evidence of a renewed interest in organized religion, particularly Christianity, among younger generations. In an interview with The American Spectator, Pastor Jesse Johnson recounted his church’s experience with an influx of young attendees.
Johnson, who pastors at nondenominational Immanuel Bible Church just outside of Washington, D.C, has witnessed a shift in his church body. “Our congregation has gotten significantly, noticeably younger in the last ten years,” he told the Spectator. “And that’s not because of any demographic outreach or anything.”
Johnson describes his church’s approach to doctrine and worship as “transcendent”; thus, Johnson attributes the small revival to “a desire in all people to connect with a truth that is bigger than them.”
Though this generation is not the first to experience such desires, Johnson surmised that cultural coddling has likely turned young people away from organized religion in the past.
“The Boomer generation always strove for youth. There was this idea that for something to be successful it had to appeal to the youth,” explained Pastor Johnson, “And churches chased that for a while. There was this idea that if churches appealed to youth, they would secure their future.”
Unfortunately for such churches, these tactics seem to have failed. Pandering and catering to the current moment not only “turns off” young people, but Johnson suggests that it fails to satisfy the desire driving them to attend church in the first place.
“When it comes to religion, people don’t want something that is the flavor of the day,” he explained. Religion connects people to an eternal God and a higher truth. Therefore, if places of worship speak to cultural phenomena and nothing else, they sacrifice the integrity of their message and cease to appeal to every man’s desire for truth.
The age-old desire for religion has been normalized in this culturally conservative moment, which encourages young people to follow the spiritual pull.
Evidence of the shift away from stigmatizing religious affiliation is found in the struggles of young church attendees, which come from within the home rather than outside of it.
“Maybe even ten or fifteen years ago, college kids that came to faith were concerned that it would limit their opportunities in the career field,” said Johnson. For example, he vividly remembers 2012, when a Heritage Foundation worker warned Christian college students about entering medical professions for fear of being forced to perform abortions.
“Now, the opposition is less about the workplace,” commented Pastor Johnson, “and more about the family again.”
This phenomenon is a testament to the countercultural conservatism that plays a role in ushering young people into the church.
Johnson posits that “parents who are in their 40s or 50s view Christianity as a political extension… There’s so much political baggage… that when they see their kids becoming Christians, they can’t believe it.”
While organized religion is still declining nationwide, conservative counterculture within younger generations has led to their rising attendance at services.
“It is cool to be uncool,” Johnson laughs.
The risk that accompanies the countercultural slide toward organized religion is that it can dilute or redirect away from true faith, according to Johnson.
“There is a segment of consumer-driven Christianity that chases whatever seems to work at the moment,” says Pastor Johnson, recounting popular Christian movements of the past two decades.
Today’s trend is traditional living.
“The danger is,” posits Johnson, “when people embrace ceremony and liturgy without an understanding of the God who is behind it, religion becomes fickle.”
Future Ramifications of This Small Revival
The resurgence of religion in young people’s lives is largely encouraging. The primary benefit of their increased church attendance is, of course, transformed lives and personal relationships with God. Pastor Johnson said that this is the ultimate reward of good church ministry.
He noted, however, that there are positive cultural ramifications associated with church attendance.
“Downstream, [the return to religion] has a positive effect on work ethic and marriages and parenting and local school districts,” noted Johnson, comparing the process to planting a Redwood tree. “It takes 20 years for some of those changes to be seen.”
Though young churchgoers have the potential to change the culture decades from now, Johnson explains that Christians should not worry about the future of the Church. Young people coming to faith, he argues, is a good thing, regardless of what may happen down the road.
Johnson points to Jesus’ words about the church in Matthew 16:18. “Jesus said he’s going to build his church, and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it,” he commented. Despite ebbs and flows throughout history, Johnson explains that these words “have been true ever since.”
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