A quiet surprise is unfolding in the spiritual landscape of the West. For decades, the path of faith between the ages of 15 and 21 has felt increasingly precarious. Many Christian parents, youth leaders, and mentors watch with a kind of spiritual anxiety as young people move through this season, wondering: will they stay the course?
Recent research from both McCrindle Research in Australia and the Bible Society UK, however, paints a picture that’s more complex — and more hopeful — than we might expect.
For those of us working with Gen Z in ministry, it confirms some deep intuitions — and brings a great deal of encouragement. What’s happening?
Gen Z and Faith in 2025: A Surprising Turn
In the UK, there’s been a striking rise in church engagement among young people, particularly young men.
While just six years ago, 4% of 18–24-year-olds in the UK said they attended church at least monthly, The Quiet Revival [i], a major report the Bible Society UK released this year, finds that number has quadrupled to 16%.
Young women have increased their attendance from 3% to 12%, while young men have increased from 4% to a staggering 21%. This makes them the second most likely age group to attend church regularly in the UK.
Church attendance isn’t the only sign of change found in the report; 37% of 18-24s expressed curiosity to learn more about the Bible, while 40% are praying at least monthly.
Is Christianity on the cusp of a comeback?
Faith in Australia presents a more mixed picture in An Undercurrent of Faith: Exploring Australians’ renewed relationship with Christianity [ii], a new report from McCrindle Research.
“But, here’s the twist… those who remain are more committed than ever”
On the one hand, Gen Z is leaving faith in larger numbers than any previous generation. Between 2016 and 2021, over one in three young Australians aged 15–24 moved from identifying as Christian to “no religion.” But, here’s the twist on the other: those who remain are more committed than ever.
Digging deeper, Gen Z Christians are far more likely than older Christians to attend church regularly.
Around 68% of them go to church at least monthly (online or in-person), compared to just 39% of Gen X and 26% of Baby Boomers. They aren’t just hanging on, they’re pressing in. This suggests a remnant dynamic: fewer in number but stronger in conviction.
Gen Z faith isn’t growing in Australia like in the US or UK, but I suspect similar change may come due to shared global factors.
A Remnant Church in Australia?
Christian author, pastor and cultural commentator, Mark Sayers, writes of a remnant church in his 2019 book, Reappearing Church: The Hope for Renewal in the Rise of Our Post-Christian Culture, as a precursor for renewal within the broader church. Is this what we’re observing?
The McCrindle report shows Australians no longer root their religious identity in their cultural backgrounds but in current beliefs and practices. More succinctly, cultural Christianity may well be dead in Australia.
Nominal faith has been declining, and in its wake, we’re left with a more authentic church community – the remnant. The remnant church doesn’t operate out of obligation; there’s an intentional, costly choice made to follow Jesus and commit to his people in the community.
Why now? What’s caused this turn?
No single explanation accounts for this generational turn, but cultural and social instability contribute most clearly.
While my generation, X, and most of the millennials following busily deconstructed and dismissed the need for faith, economic growth and tech-oriented optimism toward overcoming inequalities and adversaries to human flourishing (un)helpfully masked any loss in meaning and purpose. Growth and prosperity, with relative global peace, concealed any existential crises.
“Gen Z isn’t just deconstructing religion; they’re questioning everything – identity, belonging, common values, and more”
Today’s world, however, features rapid change, anxiety, and institutional distrust. The promises of progress, economic security, technological solutions, and the expanding freedoms they offer are wearing thin. The McCrindle research offers several factors that might explain young Australians’ increasing openness to faith: disillusionment with consumerism, the failure of tech-utopian dreams, and the burnout of their overworked Gen X and Y elders.
These shifts go beyond economics or society — they’re existential. Gen Z isn’t just deconstructing religion; they’re questioning everything – identity, belonging, common values, and more.
This secular world is increasingly looking like the emperor with no clothes, and Gen Z are less enamoured and more willing to criticise it. This creates opportunities for people to clearly see the treasure of the gospel.
The Precious Gospel
Of course, many young people still leave the faith. However, it seems less likely because they think it’s untrue and more likely because it doesn’t seem worth it.
The McCrindle report identifies the top three reasons for Australians now turning to Christianity;
- Feeling a spiritual connection or sense of divine presence
- Finding personal meaning and purpose through Christianity
- Christianity offers answers to questions they can’t find elsewhere
A recent episode of the Rebuilder’s Podcast with Mark Sayers[iii] highlights these and raises the need for churches to be compelling in their response and witness. Compelling while I was growing up looked like an arms race with secular society to entertain, but what compels now is God alone and a genuine articulation of the purpose and meaning that Jesus brings. In a remnant church, as Sayers says, people are there because they want God.
In 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, Paul describes Christ’s people as holding the treasure of Christ, the gospel, in humble jars of clay — ordinary jars so that our extraordinary God may be clearly seen. To represent the treasure of Christ in this way will bring affliction but these are light and momentary troubles compared to the eternal glory coming our way. The remnant church believes and ‘owns’ this.
“Hope, connection, and community are increasingly rare. So when the church offers these things — not in theory, but in the embodied life of its people — young people notice”
This sounds compelling to me. A people who have found the treasure of the gospel and consider it worth everything they are, they have, and they might become, to be with Christ and reveal his love to others.
Hope, connection, and community are increasingly rare. So when the church displays these things — not in theory, but in the embodied life of its people — young people notice. When they see people living like they’ve found the greatest treasure, they begin to wonder if Jesus might be their treasure also.
Discipleship and a Foundation for Life
McCrindle calls the ages of 15-24, the years from high school to adult independence, the ‘decision decade’.
As critical years for faith, this represents one of the primary reasons SMBC established The Bridge program. The Bridge serves 18-21 year olds. It provides a year in community with Christian peers, grounding in the scriptures, exploration and an invitation to ministry alongside God, seeing his purposes unfold across the globe. The Bridge provides a foundational year to set one’s feet firmly on the narrow path, walking confidently in pursuit of Jesus for a lifetime.
The Bible Society report found conflicting narratives from media and cultural influences shake the faith of 35% of 18-34 year old churchgoers, though they show a high desire to learn from the Bible.
Of course, I’m biased as the Director of the Bridge, but it’s not unfounded. We’ve seen young adults graduate with a foundation in the scriptures and confidence in God’s purposes for them in the world. We’ve seen hearts come alive and the spark in the eyes as they discover the beauty of the gospel, the love of God that compels them.
“The Bridge is a foundational year to set one’s feet firmly on the narrow path, walking confidently in pursuit of Jesus for a lifetime”
One of our graduates from the Bridge in recent years shared something I repeat often. Before heading into a deferred degree and career path they said,
“I’m going to spend close to 10 years studying and training for a working career of around 40 years. What’s one year given to learning more about God when I’m a disciple of Jesus’ for a lifetime?”
The decision decade is an urgent one for the church. While the research suggests that this age group is increasingly open to faith in Jesus, wanting to know God and learn from His Word, now is an opportunity to prioritise our efforts in evangelism and discipleship among them.
