Is Gen Z experiencing revival? 2 new surveys offer surprising evidence 

Christian leaders who believe revival is taking root among Gen Z have fresh support from two major sets of data showing that young adults’ spiritual beliefs and practices rival those of the general population – and surpass those of older members of Gen Z.

New data from the Pew Research Center and the American Bible Society’s State of the Bible survey appear to reinforce anecdotal evidence from college campuses, where thousands of students regularly pack arenas for nights of worship through the Unite US movement. A decade ago, large-scale campus worship gatherings like these were virtually nonexistent.

“Is there a religious reversal among America’s youngest adults?” sociologist Brad Wilcox asked this week on X while citing Pew.

Pew data found that 41 percent of adults ages 18 to 22 attend religious services at least monthly, compared with 33 percent of all U.S. adults and 27 percent of those ages 23 to 26. The youngest adults’ attendance rate exceeds that of every older age group except Americans 77 and older.

Chip Rotolo, a senior researcher on Pew’s religion and public life team, told Religion News Service that the church attendance rate among young adults is “pretty remarkably high.”

The gap between the two youngest groups extends beyond church attendance.

Among adults ages 18 to 22, 34 percent pray daily, 36 percent consider religion very important and 59 percent identify with a religion – all higher than the figures for their older Gen Z counterparts. Among adults ages 23 to 26, those figures fall to 26 percent, 27 percent and 50 percent, respectively – the lowest levels of any age group on all three measures.

Pew cautioned that the findings may not establish a religious resurgence, but added that “all the preceding birth cohorts have been fairly stable over the last six years” – meaning that if the youngest adults remain similarly stable in their beliefs and practices, their higher levels of religious engagement could persist as they age.

Carroll Doherty, former director of political research at Pew Research Center, wrote on X that the findings were potentially significant.

“This is big,” he wrote, adding that it “lends credence to anecdotal reports of some churches seeing influxes of young adults.”

The American Bible Society’s latest State of the Bible findings offer further support for those who see signs of revival among college-age adults.

Among adults ages 18 to 21, 67 percent believe in God, nearly matching the national figure of 68 percent and exceeding the 49 percent among those in Gen Z ages 22 to 29. Belief in heaven and angels follows the same pattern: Both stand at 62 percent among the youngest adults, compared with 44 percent and 47 percent, respectively, among older Gen Z adults.

(Image credit: Unite US)