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Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear

WHY Is Gen Z Returning to the Church?

Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear

J.D. Greear

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.8 • 630 Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Pastor J.D.  concludes our mini-series about his latest book, Everyday Revolutionary, by asking the question: “WHY Is Gen Z Returning to the Church?”

This conversation features Wes Smith, College Pastor at The Summit Church. Much has been said about how Gen Z is returning to the church… but why is that happening? We explore the reasons behind this trend, including a dissatisfaction with secular ideologies and a desire for community and fulfillment.

Key Takeaways:

    • Gen Z shows a significant curiosity about Jesus and the Bible.
    • Many Gen Z individuals feel a void in their lives that they seek to fill.
    • The church can provide a sense of community that Gen Z lacks online.
    • Spiritual openness on college campuses is at an all-time high.
    • Clarity on cultural issues is essential for engaging with Gen Z.
    • The church should focus on gospel priority over political alignment.
    • Many young people are coming to faith through authentic community.
    • The rise in baptisms indicates a genuine spiritual revival among youth.
    • Church leaders should emphasize identity in Christ to resonate with Gen Z.
    • Engaging in conversations about controversial topics can lead to deeper understanding.

Dive more into this conversation with Pastor J.D.’s new book, Everyday Revolutionary, which explores how ordinary believers can live out the gospel in ways that transform their communities.

Episode Links:

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey everybody, welcome to Ask the Pastor.

0:09.0

My name is Matt Love.

0:10.5

I am here with J.D. Greer.

0:12.0

I'm also here with a bonus pastor today, Wes Smith.

0:15.0

Ask the Pastors.

0:16.0

Ask the Pastors.

0:17.0

Yes.

0:18.0

Let's go.

0:19.0

And we're back with, this is kind of our third of a three-part, a little mini-series,

0:23.1

focused on Pastor J.D.

0:24.7

Just released a brand new book, Everyday Revolutionary, released October 7th.

0:29.0

And we're just unpacking a couple of ideas from the book.

0:31.5

But today, actually, we're unpacking an idea that maybe is connected to the book,

0:36.0

but almost a conversation that feels like it's maybe

0:37.7

started happening after the book was written and released. We are seeing, it seems, the beginning

0:44.2

of maybe a little bit of like a rise in spiritual interest, even a return to Christianity

0:49.0

among Gen Z in particular. A couple of things that I saw that were really interesting. One is

0:53.7

college-age Gen Z right now, 56% report. in particular. A couple of things I saw that were really interesting. One is college age,

0:55.5

Gen Z right now, 56% report a curiosity about Jesus and the Bible, which is about 20%

1:02.4

points higher than the next kind of age group up. And we're even just seeing more specifically

1:08.6

Gen Z men return to church, which is really interesting.

1:11.6

And anyway, as that's happening, there's kind of this growing narrative that fighting the culture war and maybe even more aggressive political rhetoric from pastors is part of the reason that that return is happening.

...

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