Gen Z men pour into church pews more often than women, flipping the trend on faith: 'What's the Lord doing?'
Gen Z men and women are seeing a divide in both politics and religion, reports say
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The larger-than-usual supply of young men seated in the pews at Grace Church in Waco, Texas, might be a little surprising to some, especially as reports swirl that Gen Z's faith is dwindling, leaving religious leaders to figure out what to do to bring youngsters back into the fold.
A piece recently published in The New York Times offered a glimpse inside the church – a Southern Baptist congregation – where four of the five musicians on stage and the majority of the college students seated in the pews were young men.
The scene depicts an emerging trend, the piece says: "For the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers. They attend services more often and are more likely to identify as religious."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Compare that to the number of young women reportedly leaving in droves.
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Faith is becoming more important to young men than young women, according to survey data. (iStock)
Earlier this year, the Survey Center on American Life reported much of the same. Men had, for ages, been the group considered less religiously affiliated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"A new survey reveals that the pattern has now reversed," a post on the site read.
Though the trend of men leaving religion more often than women was true for older age groups like baby boomers, Gen Z flipped the trend.
"Fifty-four percent of Gen Z adults who left their formative religion are women; 46 percent are men," it read, adding possible explanations like the larger number of feminists and the focus on equality among Zoomers, which could translate into suspicion of more traditional values or settings (such as churches) where they might be touted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Times made a similar case, pointing to the time period in which these women came of age – the #MeToo movement that homed in on sexual abuse and harassment, additionally inspiring people to come forward to raise awareness about church abuse as well.
Pews, statue of St Francis of Assisi and stations of the cross in a Roman Catholic Church. As older men are less likely to be religiously affiliated than women of their respective age groups, younger men are reversing the trend. (iStock, courtesy of user Stephen Barnes)
Thus, the #ChurchToo hashtag was born.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The reversal of Roe v. Wade, and a closer focus on abortion access, were also cited.
Phil Barnes, a pastor at the Hope Church congregation, marveled at the number of young men present, however, wondering what their purpose might be.
"We’ve been talking about it from the beginning," he said in the NYT piece.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What’s the Lord doing? Why is he sending us all of these young men?"
One 28-year-old member of the congregation spoke about how grateful he was to be there as he was baptized.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Times also added that, when Grace Church opened a "small outpost" in a nearby town last year, the majority of young attendees – 12 out of 16 – were men.
But the divide between Gen Z men and Gen Z women doesn't end with faith.
Gen Z men are more likely to consider themselves "conservative" while Gen Z women are more likely to call themselves "liberal."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The same shows up in a New York Times/Siena poll from August, indicating that young male voters across six swing states favored Trump by 13 points while young women favored Harris by 38 points.