What They Want (and What We Need)
Read Time 10 mins and 51 secs
They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves to the instruction of the apostles, and to fellowship, to eating meals together and to prayers.
Acts 2:42 AMP
Surprisingly, Barna, a leading church research group, argued in 2025 that we have seen a historic reversal in church attendance. Gen Z and Millennials, generally defined as those born between 1997-2012 and 1981-1996 (those who are between 45 and 12 years of age as of this writing), are the largest church-going demographics in terms of average monthly attendance (Gen Z at number one and Millennials at number two), outpacing every other older generation. According to Barna, this trend in Gen Z attendance has doubled since 2020. They have also argued that Bible reading among the group has increased, with curiosity about the Bible outpacing conviction about what it says. They may not all believe, but they're hungry. They’re seeking. They’re interested.
Gallup, another research group, has added that young men are leading the charge in this supposed renewed interest in religion, with data from 2024-2025 saying 42% of young men say religion is very important to them. This is new, as women typically poll as more religiously inclined than men do. There seems to be an interesting level of curiosity among some of our younger adults and deeper commitment among others that, as fishers of men, we shouldn't ignore. Fish are hungry, and we have an opportunity to catch them.
Now this may sound like hogwash to you, especially to my female friends who continually ask me to introduce them to some respectable Christian men, because none seem to go to their churches. Odds are that you haven't seen much, if any, evidence in your local church to support these trends. Especially in black churches, according to David Murrow in his book, Why Men Hate Going to Church, we are used to the 70-90% of our congregants being retirement-aged women, not working-aged men. So, I want you to understand what the stats may be saying.
Pew Research disagrees with the idea of a Gen Z revival. It’s not like everyone is coming to church or converting to Christianity. Pew argues that while the decline in Christianity has slowed, it's still declining. So what are these trends picking up on? While everyone isn’t converting, it does seem like there is a renewed sense of hunger, curiosity, and desire among some of our young adults, especially our young men. There are people who are seeking and willing to be discipled. They just need a home.
How do we capitalize on this? How do we put ourselves in a better position to walk alongside those who are looking for support? I want you to recognize that it's not that every church in America is seeing more of Gen Z. Statistics argue that while the majority of churches may still be stagnant, aging, and shrinking, averages are being skewed because of a few of our churches that are overflowing with young adults, baptizing regularly, planting other churches, and expanding services. Some churches are doing very well at catching the curious and commissioning the committed. The question it has me asking is, why can't our churches be those churches? Why can't we be the ones to attract, retrain, and disciple our sons and daughters?
What Are They Looking For?
Now I'm used to being the young pastor in boardrooms where everyone is asking how to reach young adults, but not listening to the young adult they have sitting right in front of them. One of our biggest issues at times is that we forget to ask the people we're trying to reach how we can reach them. We’re called to be fishers of men, but so many of us don't spend enough time learning where the fish we’re fishing like to swim, and what they want to eat.
So I sent out my own survey to young adults from across the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada, asking what they desired more of in church. I asked what keeps them in their current church and what has stopped them from going to other churches. I asked what has turned them off from church, what other churches inspire or intrigue them, and what their ideal church would look like. I asked what they considered to be the most important aspects of a thriving church and what they wished was taught or studied more in church, all so that we as church leaders could help attract, retain, and inspire our often missing demographic.
There were so many great comments and interesting stories, but there are 3 main ideas that jump out. This is what Gen Z, and many of our other missing members, are asking for above all. They wanted commitment to Christ, Community in Christ, and Cultivation in Christ. They wanted a committed, loving, and welcoming community that sought the Word of God for practical answers about life's questions. And I believe that what Gen Z is asking for is really what God wanted us to offer in the first place.
Acts 2:42 says that the early church was continually and faithfully devoted to the practical teaching of Scripture and fellowship with each other. The Bible says that the early church had a continual commitment to the study and application of the Word and building intimate relationships with each other. They devoted themselves and were serious about this. Serious about what? Their call. The practicality and power of the Word and their continued commitment to grow with their community. In a myriad of words and expressions, my Gen Z survey respondents said that they desire a church that is completely committed to Christ and community. They want to join a group that they can see is totally committed to loving God and loving people. They want to gather, grow, and go. They want to commit, cultivate, and connect. They want devotion, discovery, and discipleship.
They want to be a part of a culture of Christ-centered community. If we can find more commitment to this goal as individuals, it'll lead to more serious and missional institutions, and that will help draw more curious seekers. Let's unpack this by first talking about what it means to be committed.
Commitment to Christ
The young adults asked for spirit-filled, excellent, and compelling worship, opportunities for outreach and service, and welcoming environments. They asked for clear structure and organization. Why? Because people are looking to see if you care more about excellence in your job or at your church. Not rigidity or coldness but commitment. They wanted to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They desired churches that seemed to be committed to creatively holding a culture of Christ-centered community and mission. And guess what? Unlike prior generations who would often simply walk to the closest church of their denomination, they argued that distance (and often denomination) didn’t matter. They’d often skip the church that was close by and drive to a church where commitment, community, and Christ were clearly found. They want to see fruit before joining in fellowship.
It seems like the curious and committed are flocking to specific churches instead of just finding any old church. Why? They're looking for a movement, not a meeting. One of the buzzwords for these last few generations has been purpose. They want church to matter. They aren't going to church just because they feel they should. They want to be a part of something real and genuine. Something with purpose and fruit. They want to be a part of something serious, passionate, committed, and clear.
I mean, think about it. Religious inclinations in the nation have been declining. Their parents likely didn't go to church or practice true Christianity. Their friends likely don't. They have no real social push to be a part of a church. If they’re going to go, their time must be worth it. It's going to have to mean something. They don't want to waste their time with people or programs that are simply going through the motions.
The question is, have we been committed, or are young adults looking at us say were chriatian but calling our bluff when they see our homes, marriages, churches, and personal lives? Have our lives revolved around our commission to be and make disciples? We have to truly ask ourselves if we’re so committed to living our lives with the goal of doing all we can to be and make disciples, and if evidence of that is showing up in our lives. I'm not saying you have to be perfect. Don't act as if you have it all together and hide your flaws. On the contrary, young people are looking for what a real, imperfect, yet committed and progressing life looks like. They want authenticity. They want to see if God really does love and work with imperfect but committed people like themselves. They want to see if your life shows proof of this Jesus thing working before they buy in, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, I believe we can show them fruit of a community and calling worth being a part of.
Community in Christ
This commitment doesn’t just show up in how we organize church; it shows up in how we live Monday through Friday. The majority of respondents argued that a sense of community and fellowship was what they saw as most important in a church. This shouldn’t be a shock to us. Especially after COVID, an overwhelming number of young people have spoken up about loneliness and a lack of community. The need for what Christ designed the church to do is being felt more and more.
They want a safe place to ask questions and get it wrong. They want a group of people to reaffirm who they are in Christ and emulate His love. They want to see what marriage, parenting, and professionalism look like and ask real questions. Some of my most cherished moments have been unplanned opportunities where I got to talk to older men about their real experiences with manhood, and they let me in to learn from their trials and triumphs. Young adults want safe and respected places to learn and people to do life with. This is going to push us to ask ourselves how we can be more open. We have to ask how we can better listen more than we speak and be slow to get angry. We have to get better at apologizing, humbling ourselves, and navigating conflict. This is going to push us to grow in our emotional intelligence; that’s actually one of the top topics young adults asked to be taught in church. We need people skills so that we heal more than we hurt. We're already doing it in so many areas, but God is calling us to higher commitment.
After community, they said they want a church that clearly teaches and studies the Word as one of their strongest desires. They want to be taught how the Bible impacts their lives practically. This is important because we will never be able to be committed to the mission of the body or committed to the members of the body without understanding the methods found in the Word of God.
Cultivation in Christ
The next focus we see in the Acts church and what the young adults in my survey said they’re looking for in a church is a dedication to the study and practicality of the Word of God. Many said that they wanted the church to teach emotional intelligence and how to navigate situations and deal with each other. We could talk a lot about that. Others asked for practical things like financial literacy, dating and marriage advice, and how to manage their mental health. They wanted to see for themselves if the Bible really had all the answers to the new lives they’re trying to navigate. They wanted help in seeing how Jesus could practically impact their lives. But by far the thing that most said they wanted was to be taught how to read and study the Bible for themselves.
Pause. Do you hear that? Their top desire is to be taught how to read and interpret the Bible for themselves. This is more profound than many of us recognize. It really seems like young people are asking for something all of us need.
I believe they may have articulated this because Gen Z, maybe more than any other generation, has been bombarded by messages and opinions. Their average screentime in the U.S. is 9 hours per day. They have spent the equivalent of a workday with no weekends in their most formative years, being tossed about by algorithms. You can read The Anxious Generation to understand more of this plight.
They've seen how devices meant to connect and make life easier have, at times, led to more polarization and anxiety than anything else they’ve ever seen. During their most important identity-forming years, they've been thrown about by conflicting ideas on what a man or woman is or isn’t, what is beautiful and what isn’t, what is valued and what isn’t, and who they're called to be. Their first glimpse into politics was one of the most polarizing times in American history. At a time when they should be exploring and expanding, they've seen more wars, school shootings, and 4k videos of police brutality than any human should be able to stomach. They've heard so many conflicting and controversial messages, opinions, threats, curses, and blessings that it's difficult to catch enough space to breathe and think for yourself. They’ve seen teachers become tyrants and realized their parents are often just as lost as everyone else.
They're longing for a place to be still and gain clarity on what they believe and not what another influencer, pastor, parent, or friend told them to believe. They don't just take their parents' or teachers' word for things because they sadly haven't always seen the fruit to make them trust their advice. This may be a slight difference from other generations because of how institutional trust has shifted. For example, according to Pew Research, 77% of Americans trusted the government in 1964, 54% in 2001, and only 17% in 2025. If the first election you voted in was Trump, you wouldn’t trust proclaimed Christians or people in positions of power as easily as past generations did either.
Gen Z doesn’t trust easily. They want to understand for themselves, and won’t commit if they don’t. They crave a safe space and community from which they can take a break from conflict and controversy and find rest. They're desperate to develop their own identity and values and map out the world for themselves without someone else telling them everything they're doing wrong and nothing they're doing right. This is why they're crying out for someone to help them figure out their role in all this. This may be why they're asking for a welcoming, slow-to-speak, and quick-to-listen community where they can slow down enough to catch their breath and figure things out. And this is why there may be an increase in Bible reading and church attendance among these generations.
God is calling you to be a part of a committed, connected, and Christ-centered community. There are hurting and curious people out there who are looking for someone to talk with them. How can you commit to creating Acts 2:42 in your home, school, church, or community?
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