IS GEN Z TRULY EXPERIENCING A RELIGIOUS REVIVAL?

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This post is based on an article by Kevin Brown, the 18th President of Asbury University, in Christian Post on 23/03/2025.

Christianity’s long-documented decline has levelled off. I’ve seen this first-hand with the young adults at Asbury University, where I serve as president. In February 2023, a routine chapel service on the campus led to a 16-day, nonstop worship gathering that brought over 50,000 people to the two-stoplight town of Wilmore, Kentucky. Everything I witnessed during that time ran counter to the prevailing scripts of modern life.

The space was peaceful, unified, apolitical, radically humble, hopeful, and age/class/ethnically diverse. It was nameless and faceless. “No celebrities but Jesus,” we said. I have never seen such deep and penetrating spiritual hunger in my life — a demonstrative ache for a right relationship with God and others. Importantly, though, I saw the “loosened chains” of a younger generation unevenly burdened by the pathologies of modern life (isolationism, digitization, social discord, mental health challenges, and waning institutions). Students from nearly 300 colleges and universities made the trip to Asbury for a transformative spiritual encounter. Their testimonies were raw; unedited.  They embraced strangers like family. They occupied the altar, sometimes for hours. They led, fearlessly. They prayed, zealously. Describing Gen Z, a friend remarked, “They are ready to follow the Jesus whose following is changing the world.”

My Christian higher education colleagues and I are witnessing a trend reversal emerging among Gen Z teens and young adults. In the last few years, we have seen unplanned, over 50,000 college students sing Agnus Dei a Capella at the 2024 Passion Gathering. We have seen a host of revival movements among young adults in 2024, including campuses “pregnant for revival.” Campus ministries are experiencing a spike in spiritual interest.

I (Ron Edwards) have recently written two posts on revival on university campuses: GOD AT WORK ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES on 02/03/2025 and 8000 STUDENTS SEEK JESUS IN HUGE KENTUCKY AWAKENING on 04/03/2025, so this article by Kevin Brown was further confirmation that God is doing something new and exciting.

There is encouraging data on Gen Z teens navigating “Digital Babylon,” and younger generations are showing renewed interest in Jesus. Student baptisms — led by students. An international focus on Gen Z and their promise for future ministry. A greater likelihood of church attendance among Gen Z compared to the Boomer generation throughout pockets of Europe, and in the United Kingdom, Gen Z teens are now the least likely generation to call themselves atheists. Describing some of the radical expressions of faith witnessed in our own community by younger generations, my wife made the provocative comment: “Perhaps Gen Z is willing to die because they are already dead.”

Culture is deadening. The scripts handed to younger generations are deadening. The nihilism and malaise of a world optimized around dopamine surges — a “dopamine nation,” as psychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Anna Lembke puts it — has left Gen Z teens and young adults disoriented and unsettled, no longer “at ease in Zion.” Consistent with data from the Pew’s Religious Landscape Study released in February, younger generations demonstrate religiously oriented sensibilities that attract them to the Christian faith and challenge the status quo.  Christianity’s long-documented decline has levelled off, and we are seeing a resurgence of spiritual commitment among forthcoming generations. 

BIBLE SALES ARE SKYROCKETING: WHY?

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God’s truth is reaching new eyes, with Bibles reportedly flying off shelves. In fact, Bible sales were up 22% for the year through to the end of last October when compared to the previous year’s sales, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). And here’s why this figure matters. U.S. book sales were up less than 1% during that same period, meaning the Bible’s growth in sales far outpaced what was happening more generally in the print literary space. The WSJ crunched the numbers and found Bible sales increased from 9.7 million in 2019 to 14.2 million in 2023. In the first 10 months of 2024, 13.7 million copies were sold, with still two months left to count. So, why the increase? It seems that chaos and uncertainty in the world, among other factors, could be turning people back to the Lord. “People are experiencing anxiety, and they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, told the WSJ. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, wars and rumours of wars, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”

One bookstore manager told the outlet she’s seeing many first-time buyers come in looking for the Scriptures — people she said are on a quest for “hope.” Young people, in particular, could be looking for answers to some of life’s tough questions, especially as cultural confusion grows. And with new editions and versions of the Bible hitting the market, there are more options than ever for these individuals to engage in Scripture. Some of the other potential reasons for the increase mentioned by the WSJ are celebrities speaking out about faith and influencers on YouTube, TikTok, and other platforms sharing their beliefs with new audiences. As reported in 2023, research backs the idea young people have a growing curiosity about faith. The “State of the Bible 2023” report released at the time did reveal that 44% of Gen Z adults between the ages of 18-26 were either very or extremely curious about Jesus and/or the Bible.

And nearly half of Gen Z said the Bible has transformed their lives. Among older Gen Z adults aged 18-21, 49% reported this transformation, with 52% of those aged 22-26 stating the same. Months later, Dr. John Plake, chief program officer at the American Bible Society, said 21% of Gen Z adults claimed in his organization’s 2024 “State of the Bible” survey — the wave that followed the 2023 data — that “they’ve actually increased their use of the Bible within the last year.” “They’re leaning into the Bible,” Plake said. “They’re really trying to engage in their faith, and they are kind of a bright hope for us as a young generation of American adults.” This fits with my recent posts reporting revivals on university campuses.

GOD IS AT WORK ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES IN THE USA

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This report on an amazing revival at Ohio State University is just one of a number of reports on God at work in American universities that I have posted in February. The first was on 15/02/2025, American Teenagers Open to Jesus and the second on 18/02/2025, Is America on the Brink of Another Jesus Revolution

The organizers said nearly 2,000 Ohio State University students made decisions to commit to following Jesus Christ during a massive campus revival event this week . The event, held at The Schott sports arena, drew a crowd of over 6,500 students.

At Ohio State, the attendees participated despite the chilling temperatures, which dipped into the teens. In an extraordinary display of commitment, students were baptized in the backs of U-Haul trucks parked at the site, CBN News reported. 

On social media, Unite US founder Tonya Prewett expressed awe at the spiritual movement unfolding on college campuses.

“We’ve been in awe of how God has already been moving on this campus over the past year, and He met us here again tonight,” she posted on Instagram. “Over 6,500 students gathered in The Schott to lift the name of Jesus, and almost 2,000 responded to the altar call — experiencing the freedom only He can bring.”

Prewett added, “God is moving in this generation, and we know that He’s just getting started!”

Pastor Matt Brown wrote on X, “At many of these campus events, spontaneous baptisms have broken out from those who’ve responded to the gospel. Last night the temps were cold but that didn’t stop students from getting baptized in the back of U-Haul trucks!”

The Unite US movement’s outreach efforts began in September 2023. Since then, more than 70,000 students across various campuses have participated in the ministry’s events, experiencing the transformative power of the Gospel, according to the ministry.

The revival was the second large-scale event organized by the Unite US movement this year, following a similar gathering last week at the University of Kentucky.

In August 2024, a revival at Ohio State was notably attended by members of the university’s football team. The event saw about 60 attendees baptized, with testimonies from notable players like receiver Emeka Egbuka, running back TreVeyon Henderson, defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau and former wide receiver Kamryn Babb.

The OSU student newspaper, The Lantern, noted that about 800 to 1,000 individuals attended, though some estimates suggest the number might have been as high as 2,000.

“It started spontaneous baptisms, and the football guys were the ones baptizing them,” recounted a faculty member to The Christian Post at the time. “Person after person came. You could just see the Spirit moving in people. It was different, nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

The upcoming schedule for Unite US includes an outreach event at Purdue University in Indiana, set for March 5, where we expect to see more evidence of God moving amongst the young.