Since the 1990s, younger generations are less religious than their older counterparts, with less church attendance and respondents saying that their faith is less important in their lives, according to Pew Research. But recent headlines have proclaimed a “Gen Z Religious Revival,” citing growth in church attendance with national surveys as proof.
However the data could misrepresent what is actually happening. According to the British Broadcasting Channel, one of the surveys, conducted by YouGov, which has been repeatedly cited as proof of a rise in religious beliefs in younger people, was done via an opt-in format. This means respondents chose to respond and were given money for doing so. This type of sampling is regarded as inferior and less accurate to a more scientific random selection.
According to Gallup, adults aged 18-29 who say that religion is “very important” in their lives dropped from 47% in 2001-2005, to 33% in 2021-2025. 40% of adults aged 18-29 in 2025 reported that they never go to church and 21% say that they seldom do.
And yet there are still reports of religiosity increasing among younger people.
Trinity Vernonpye, a senior and president of Holy Trinity club at Lane, describes herself as non-denominational and said, “In this last year or last, actually, three years, I’ve been in Lane Tech especially, but especially this year, it’s been a [new] height and increase in people who reignite in their faith and just having more desire to meet God, understand who he is, and just grow a true relationship with him and just want to better themselves overall.”
This trend was also recognized by junior Ainslie Rooney, who identifies as Catholic, saying, “When I came to Lane I wasn’t expecting so many people to be like, religious or Christian because there has been a lot of religious hate in politics [referring to the increasing role of religion in political debates], so I just was surprised by how many people I met.”
But Sean Kroviak said he hasn’t seen many people wanting to be more involved in religion. “I only have one case of someone actually becoming religious and that is my cousin, but that was a while ago,” Kroviak said. “And that’s literally it.”
It seems that though nationwide religiosity among younger people is declining or staying at lower levels, select communities may be seeing young people increasing attendance or becoming closer to their church community.
Social or religious trends are very hard to pinpoint and are likely the cause of a variety of possible causes.
“Current times are pretty depressing,” Kvoriak said. “There’s a very high Gen Z rate of depression nowadays. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some people turn to religion. But, I would not be surprised at all if this was constructed.”
According to Gallup polls, in 2025, about 1 in 5 teens reported feelings of depression.
This desire for a community is a possible reason some religious communities are seeing higher attendance.
Referencing the bible, Vernonpye said this about community: “And I think in Galatians, [ it’s explained that there is] the need for a church because it has that community and it’s meant to just overall help us build each other out.”
Rooney said that her church isn’t connected to other parts of her life, like school, friends or politics. “It’s a place I can go and not have to worry about that.”
But there can be some tensions in those communities, as political debates and religion have become increasingly intertwined. Both Rooney and Vernonpye expressed a dislike for people using religion to justify political actions that they disagree with.
Vernonpye said that there are people in power who are not acting in accordance with the bible, but identify as Christian. “Those are the people that say, ‘Oh God, you’re going to hell if you do this, or that,’ … and that causes a harsh, negative connotation to go along with God’s name,” Vernonpye said.
Rooney shared a similar sentiment saying that some people will cherry pick parts of the Bible and ignore the overall teachings. “But Jesus said to love thy neighbor y’know, so it really p****s me off when they use that to excuse hating other people. They are not my faith, they are not Catholic, they are not Christian, we don’t claim them,” Rooney said.
Religiosity is a complex thing to track, but while a revival for Gen Z is not supported by data, many young people have a more complex relationship with their faith than a simple resurgence.
“If you feel like you’re the only one, you feel isolated,” Vernonpye said, “and that’s what I made the club [Holy Trinity], so that they know that they’re not alone … it can feel like it’s just you and God against the world. And honestly, most of the time it is, because the world just means anything that is not of him, which is anxiety, depression, stress. And high school is filled with a lot of those different things … And because of that, when you find people who are actually in that same situation, it feels like it’s us against the world. Now it’s no longer you against the world”
