Religious resurgence stirs Gen Z

Axios Axios —

Data: Gallup; Chart: Axios Visuals

New polling shows an uptick in religious fervor among young men, even as overall U.S. levels remain near https://www.axios.com/2023/10/06/organized-religion-decline-agnostic-atheist-nonreligious" target="_blank">historic lows.

Why it matters: Gen Z still has the highest share of religiously unaffiliated adults in modern history.

But small hints of a religious rebound have spawned speculation about how that could reshape politics, culture wars and church strategy for years to come.

Driving the news: A https://news.gallup.com/poll/708410/young-men-religious-young-women.aspx" target="_blank">Gallup poll released Thursday found that 42% of young men between the ages of 18-to-29 now say religion is "very important" in their lives.

  • That's up from 28% just a few years ago.
  • The uptick reverses a long-standing gender gap: "One of the truisms in American social science has been there's a gender gap in religion" with women being more religious than men, Frank Newport, an author of the report and a Gallup senior scientist, tells Axios.
  • "When we're seeing the gender gap essentially disappear ... among the young people, that's an interesting finding."

Reality check: An Axios review of other recent https://www.barna.com/research/young-adults-lead-resurgence-in-church-attendance/" target="_blank">surveys showed slight increases in reported church attendance among Gen Z men but little to suggest they're driving a "revival" like the https://www.thearda.com/us-religion/history/timelines/entry/?etype=3&eid=51" target="_blank">Third Great Awakening of the early 1900s or https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/trelww2.htm" target="_blank">post–World War II religious boom.

Context: A wave of recent headlines has spotlighted young men showing up in greater numbers at churches, especially in Catholic and conservative evangelical congregations.

What they're saying: "There are anecdotes, but we just are not finding anything in our data," Melissa Deckman, CEO of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), tells Axios.

  • Deckman said the trend may simply be that Gen Z's decline isn't as steep as millennials', not that religion is rebounding
  • "In certain parishes, there definitely is revival.

    But it's not at a national level.

    There's no hard evidence.

    It just seems anecdotal," https://worldstudies.vcu.edu/directory/chesnut.html" target="_blank">Andrew Chesnut, Virginia Commonwealth University's Catholic studies chair, tells Axios.

  • Chesnut said some of the attention is driven by young men — sometimes tied to conservative or "manosphere" spaces — but not a documented nationwide shift.

By the numbers: About 34% of Gen Z adults are religiously unaffiliated, far higher than older generations, a https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PRRI-Apr-2024-GenZ-Fact-Sheet-Final.pdf?_gl=1%2A1f3aisz%2A_gcl_au%2ANzkxOTA0ODQ4LjE3NzYyMDYyNDU.%2A_ga%2AMTk3MzA2NjQ3LjE3NzYyMDYyNDU.%2A_ga_0B2WQXPZMT%2AczE3NzYyNTk2NTUkbzIkZzAkdDE3NzYyNTk2NjIkajUzJGwwJGgw" target="_blank">2024 PRRI survey found.

  • Just 11% attend religious services weekly, and 38% say they never attend, according to the same survey.
  • Only 17% say religion is the most important thing in their life, the survey then said.

Yes, but: There is something happening: Young men's rising religiosity is real and measurable, even if limited.

  • Religious attendance among young men has climbed to about 40% monthly or more, its highest level in over a decade, while young women have seen only modest gains, the new Gallup poll found.
  • The share saying religion is "very important" (42%) is roughly on par with 2000–2001 highs — not unprecedented, just a rebound, according to a Gallup review of years of data.

Between the lines: Religion may be becoming countercultural for a subset of Gen Z.

  • In a generation defined by declining affiliation, being religious can signal identity and rebellion — particularly among young men.
  • That dynamic can look like a revival up close, even if it doesn't scale nationally.

The bottom line: There's no broad Gen Z religious revival, but there is a targeted, politically tinged uptick among young men that's reshaping the conversation.

  • It could be the beginning of a tectonic shift, though Gen Z church attendance would have to skyrocket even move to defy historic trends.

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