Gen Z is going to church in KC
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New national polling shows an uptick in religious fervor among young men, even as more churches across the country are shutting their doors.
The big picture: 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.
- An estimated 4,000 Protestant churches closed in the U.S. in 2024, outpacing the 3,800 that opened, according to Lifeway Research.
Driving the news: A Gallup poll found 42% of young men between 18 to 29 now say religion is "very important" in their lives, up from 28% just a few years ago.
- Young women in the same age group have held steady at about 30%.
- Religious attendance among young men has climbed to about 40% or more each month, its highest level in over a decade.
Zoom in: At Our Lady of Good Counsel in Westport, about 50% of the adult parishioners are between ages 18 and 30, operations director Joe Ibarra tells Axios.
- The parish has roughly 1,000 members, and about a third of its adult parishioners are converts or returning Catholics.
What they're saying: "We are very young," Ibarra says. "In a couple of years, the number of young adults will eclipse the number of older adults."
- "For people interested in becoming Catholic, it skews male," Ibarra adds. "In a world that's very fast-changing, they're looking for something stable. It's always a pendulum thing. Things swing back and forth."
State of play: Recent studies have spotlighted an increase in church attendance among young men, especially in Catholic and conservative evangelical congregations.
- Stories from The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have pointed to packed pews, viral conversions and "TheoBro" culture as signs of a possible revival.
- Some pastors report increased interest from Gen Z men, often tied to searches for community, structure or values.
Reality check: An Axios review of other recent surveys showed slight increases in reported church attendance among Gen Z men but little to suggest they're driving a "revival" like the Third Great Awakening of the early 1900s.
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.