The Grim Picture of the Past

For the last 10–20 years, we have read statistic after statistic of increasing numbers of students graduating from church as they graduate high school. When I was a youth pastor, I would gather every year with new 6th-grade students and parents as they were transitioning into the youth ministry. Based on the statistics, I would tell those parents that if we were to meet again in ten years, there would be a high chance that only 30% to 40% of their students would still be engaged at the church. The statistics painted a grim picture of church involvement among Gen Z and Millennials, and for many years, we witnessed these sobering statistics unfold in the real lives of students.

The Unexpected Return in the Present

Often, it was assumed that there would be a time when each generation would eventually return to church. Students would eventually settle down after college, get married, have children, and return. However, over the last several decades, the return had not occurred as predicted. 

Gen Z and Millennials were also not getting married and having kids as early as previous generations. These shifting cultural adult norms seemed to indicate that these generations would not be drawn back into the church under the same motivations that had previously recaptured them.

Although Gen Z and Millennials are not settling into these transitions that frequently marked “adulthood” as quickly as their parents, Barna research is pointing to a resurgence of church attendance among these generations that many people had written off as being gone forever.

The Search for Truth

In his classic spiritual autobiography, The Confessions, Augustine wrote of his own journey to find faith. He spent his life searching for places, both personally and intellectually, where he could find hope and fulfillment. Augustine’s journey led him down roads of exploring different religions and worldviews, as well as pursuing whatever pleasures he desired. 

Throughout this journey, Augustine kept running into dead ends. The religions and worldviews, though interesting on the surface, ultimately failed to satisfy his intellectual and spiritual longings. His pursuits of pleasure, though fun in the moment, were also not places for long-term satisfaction. After experiencing dead end after dead end, Augustine came to realize that he was created for a relationship with God and that his heart was “restless until he found rest” in God.

Gen Z and Millennials have been on a similar path to Augustine. They grew up in a world where, due to the internet, every idea, philosophy, or worldview was at their fingertips. They could watch people debate beliefs on social media and learn about different religions without their parents’ or pastors’ knowledge. 

As Gen Z and Millennials aged into high school and college, the world of experimentation and pleasure also began to open to them. Whether that was pornography on their phones, drinking and partying with the fraternity or sorority, or sports betting on their favorite player or team, they had access to it all. 

But just like Augustine, many in Gen Z and Millennials have seen the emptiness of those things and have been left with restlessness and longing that can only be filled by a revelation of and an encounter with Jesus. 

The Spiritual Motivation

If previous generations returned to church based on a desire for religious nostalgia and experiences for their growing families, Gen Z and Millennials are returning with a longing for an encounter with Jesus and a faith that is real. From the Quiet Revival in the United Kingdom to the Asbury Revival to the latest Barna research on increased church attendance, we are seeing generations of young adults longing for more.

As the church, are we ready to engage with Gen Z and Millennials who are knocking on our doors and attending our services? In part two of this two-part series, we will explore “Five Ways to Minister to a Spiritually Hungry Generation.”