Gen Z, Church, & Faithfulness

Ok, just a disclaimer, I could do a whole series on this, but as we know I’m famously bad at series so here we go. Oh, and I don’t speak for all Gen Z, but there are my observations and experiential Zillenial (Gen z & millennial) wisdom.

Yeah, yeah, Gen Z is less likely to participate and be loyal to an organized religion (read: any organization). But, that’s not what’s interesting. What’s fascinating is why.

Church is changing. New churches are popping up that cater to Gen Z (& young millennials etc.) and their unique worship needs. I won’t go into them too much because vast books have been written on that by much more educated people than me.

Really, if you’re a church leader and struggling to understand Gen Z’s relationship to the church, here’s a Zillenial’s perspective.

1. Gen Z has an inherent distrust of organizations (let’s be real, if I would have put “corporations” instead, then no matter the generation, we all would nod in agreement.). So really, Gen Z struggles to see what is marketed as a values-based movement, functioning as a corporational organization. In other words, Gen Z sees a vast disconnect between the church as a Jesus-following movement and a church that makes decisions based on its own financial and PR gain. Now, I’m not here to criticize the organization (I get paid by it, so I mean…) and I do believe in it.  I know there’s a vast history there etc. etc. I’m just explaining what I know. Gen Z does value organizations that value people & that are values based.
2. Gen Z doesn’t view church as something that only happens in a specific building. Church can happen with friends in nature, at someone’s home, in their own apartments, in doing service, etc. Church as a specific liturgy that is repeated each week is a narrow definition that they simply do not share. Speaking of liturgy, Gen Z doesn’t always see any specific sacredness in a specific, set liturgy. Yes, liturgy becomes sacred when we consecrate it, but there’s no specific liturgy more sacred than another.
3. Tithing…. OOOOFF. Didn’t want to even talk about it, but it’s important. Because I work in marketing (church/spirituality/religion) specifically to Gen Z, I’ve learned a lot about why they buy into an organization. Many Gen Z are comfortable with one-off purchases to an organization that they might not agree with, but, in order to become a regular “consumer” to a specific organization, they want to share values. When they feel the organization doesn’t share their values, they don’t feel convicted to continually give. However, when they DO feel a church or organization shares their values, they are much more likely to give sacrificially and regularly. It’s also important to note in this conversation, that much of Gen Z doesn’t view one singular church as the only biblical way to return tithe.  They might give/return tithe to a local Bible worker to supplement their salary. They might send it to a missionary overseas or to a non-profit who is doing incredible work in their community. While traditionally we have held these for offerings, Gen Z often views this as an appropriate and sometimes even more biblical use of tithe than giving to an organization/church with a less than stellar ethical record (and perhaps one they don’t see as having good values/valuing people above profit).

There’s a lot more I could say on this, but our attention spans are only so long. If this helped, let me know and maybe I’ll crank out a part 2. 

-Ur fave Zillenial