(OSV News) ─ They were the first generation to have technology at their fingertips from birth ─ "digital natives" who grew up with the Internet, iPhones, iPads, and computers. They're Generation Z, better known as "Gen Z" ─ born between 1997-2012 ─ and they're estimated to be nearly a quarter of the world's population.
In the U.S., Gen Z is part of an under-30 demographic known to have 97% smartphone ownership, where six in 10 say they use the internet "almost constantly," according to Pew.
But for all their virtual connectivity, a perhaps startling fact has emerged: Gen Z craves in-person religious worship experiences.
New data from the Barna Group -- a leading marketing research firm focused on the intersection between faith and culture -- indicate Gen Z now leads a surge in church attendance across Christian churches, outpacing older generations in regular weekend worship.
Gen Z attends church, on average, about 1.9 times per month or close to 23 services per year.
Millennials (born 1981-1996) are right behind them, attending on average close to 22 services annually (1.8 times per month).
Barna noted that these younger generations "have moved from an average of just over one weekend per month in 2020 to nearly two in 2025." In part, this is due to the fact that Gen Z, as children, would have mirrored their own adult parents religious activities, but now they are adults making their own decisions to attend church.
Gen X (born 1965-1980) is slightly less active, attending church 1.6 times per month, averaging 19 church services a year ─ effectively the same position they were in 2000. But Boomers (1946-1964) and even older adults were attending church "well below the frequency of attendance they practiced in the past". Barna found both these groups attended church 1.4 times per month. That is just under 17 church services out of 52 Sundays in a year.
As Barna noted however, attendance alone doesn't ensure discipleship; additionally, the overall decline in American Christian identification has continued. The Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Study for 2023-2024 found just 45% of adults under 30 identify as Christian ─ 14% of whom are Catholic ─ while 44% identify as religiously unaffiliated.
Still, this movement of Gen Z toward church attendance is being welcomed as a positive sign.
"I always had a feeling and a hope that something like this would happen with my generation. But I was definitely surprised that it happened so soon, and that we were able to see proof so soon," John Donahue, founder and content creator at Truth Charting, a Catholic media ministry focused on reaching Gen Z, told OSV News.
"I think one of the headlines was, 'Faith is a hit among Gen Z, and the Catholic Church may have influencers to thank.' That headline ─ the first time I read it ─ frankly," he shared, "I had kind of a moment of silence, and I got a little bit emotional."
Donahue said he has seen a remarkable rise in Gen Z's online activity ─ something he attributes to the influence of recently canonized digital influencer St. Carlo Acutis. St. Carlo (1991-2006) was known for his dedication to the Eucharist, and his pioneering use of digital media to promote devotion to it.
"About three years ago when I started Truth Charting, I don't remember a whole lot of movement like there is today on social media, and particularly just among young people in general," recalled Donahue. "I think that there were always young people who were uniquely devoted to the faith, but this uprising -- honestly, I do think Carlo Acutis, and his beatification and canonization, had a really big role to play in it."
In many ways, Donahue feels it's kind of a digital Catholic Renaissance.
"We're seeing a period of flourishing online -- just in the past three years, I know that I've seen a huge difference in the amount of Catholic content on social media," he shared. "Now there's an entire genre of Catholic content on social media, depending on where you're looking, where there's hundreds of creators. It's its own niche -- and that is really, really amazing and beautiful to see."
And just what accounts for such enthusiasm among these new digital missionaries?
"Within the Gen Z community, there's a massive value placed on the concept of authenticity. Gen Z is the generation that kind of hates corporate talk. They prefer to say it like it is; they don't want any PR spin," explained Donahue.
"I think one of the reasons why Catholicism stands out to young people now is because our teachings are well thought out and expertly presented ─ presented with charity, but they do say it like it is; there's no room for fakeness. And I think," he concluded, "that's a thing that makes Catholicism stand out -- that there's really an emphasis on authenticity."
Monét Souza, founder of A Message of Hope, a ministry encouraging high school and college young adults to live out their Catholic faith, agreed.
"There's so much of, 'Whatever truth you want can be your truth' -- it's all this relativism," she observed. "Relativism has really just taken its fruits into our society, our schools, our culture, a lot of our spaces; especially social media. And I think people are just getting fed up with that."
At 28, Souza ─ a voiceover actor, producer and Catholic speaker ─ says she can relate.
"I've seen this firsthand, being a part of starting up young adult groups or just being asked to be on leadership teams, especially post-college," Souza told OSV News. "There's a lot of, 'I need accountability. I need accountability to not get lost in this way of thinking once again. I need accountability to make sure I am getting to church.'"
"This age group, the 18- and 28-year-olds, are just really getting fed up with this lack of truth," she added. "So I think people are finding rest, and answers. Finally, they can just take a breath and be like, 'Hey, this is a place I can come and receive a truth that I'm not receiving anywhere else.'"
"I think the bigger question at hand," Souza said, "is, 'Whoa, is this something the Holy Spirit has done -- really just invigorated people's hearts to start going, to frequent the sacraments more -- or is it something that the church is doing, to really just draw back this age group?' When I saw the numbers, I was like, 'OK, thank God there's something good happening in the universal church here.'"
Amie Duke, a 27-year-old social media manager at Ascension Press, home to Father Mike Schmitz's wildly popular "Bible In a Year" podcast, said she thinks the narrative around Gen Z may be changing.
"For years, I think we've heard the story that young people are leaving the faith, which is still true," Duke told OSV News. "But maybe the story now is that we're looking for something real. We're looking for the truth. We're looking for truth, and purpose, and community -- and finding that in the church."
The "big questions" about the faith, she said, are now also different.
"Father Mike interacts with Gen Z all the time. And he says, 'The question before was like: Is God real? Does he exist?' That's what it was 20, 30 years ago," Duke noted. "But now the question is, it's not 'Does he exist?' The question is, 'Is he good? And does he care for me? Does he love me?'"
A seemingly unceasing barrage of negative headlines, Duke suggested, might also account for increased seeking activity.
"I think that hunger is getting so real, especially with events in the past couple of years -- disasters, and destruction, and sadness, and depression. In those things, I think young people are recognizing that the church has answers to that," she said.
That said, a critical element of keeping Gen Z coming to church is content creation.
"The piece here is, how do we reach these young people outside of just church on Sunday? If they're going -- which, praise God, they are -- then how do you translate that into the rest of the week for them?" asked Duke. "So it's not just one day of the week where I'm feeling good, and I'm putting in the effort to go, and try to hear something, and maybe learn something about the truth of God -- but then I go back to my day-to-day life."
Ascension's digital outreach efforts are over a decade old, and Duke shared how they are trying to bring the light of the Gospel into people's social media doomscrolling.
"We want something to pop up on their feed that shifts their perspective -- whether it's a homily from Father Mike, or even just a simple reminder that God loves them," Duke said. "Offering those faith formation opportunities outside the Sunday Mass is vital."
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Kimberley Heatherington is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Virginia.
