The Illusion of America's Religious Revival

America's newfound religiosity is mostly absent in places of worship

Today is my 100^th newsletter! As I wrap up work on my book, I’ll continue to share new insights, interviews, and research on America’s gender conflict. I’ll also be embarking on new major projects in 2026, including research on AI, friendship, and romantic relationships. And a healthy dose of analysis and research on religion as well!

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On February 8, 2023, a small Christian college in Wilmore, Kentucky, began chapel services as usual. But unlike previous weeks, this time, when services wrapped, the student worshippers refused to leave. For 16 days, students and community members engaged in uninterrupted worship—singing, praying, reading Scripture, and sharing personal testimonies. The Asbury revival, as it came to be known, drew thousands of worshippers from around the country.

After decades of decline, was it possible that America was experiencing a religious reawakening? The Asbury revival was hardly the only sign. News outlets reported a dramatic rise in religious and spiritual interest. Bible sales across the U.S. jumped 42 percent between 2022 and 2024. App downloads in the category of “Religion and Spirituality” increased by 80 percent and streaming of contemporary Christian music rose 50 percent since 2019. Those are impressive numbers. What’s more, the Pew Research Center––one of the most reputable organizations tracking religious identity and practice––recently showed a distinct leveling-off of Christian identity after years of decline.

More intriguing is that Gen Z appears to be bucking a decades-long generational pattern. Polls on religion have consistently shown that young adults express the weakest religious attachments. But by most measures, Gen Z is not meaningfully or measurably less religious than Millennials. The growing cultural cache of Christianity has a lot to do with the rise in popularity of Christian lifestyle influencers. Christian influencers tout a personalized, do-it-yourself approach to faith. The Economist recently speculated whether platforms such as TikTok were serving as digital pulpits with influencers offering more curated religious experiences. “Gen Z does not want ‘smoke and mirrors’, argues Gabe Poirot, an influencer who claims to have converted some 40,000 people to Christianity. Young people prefer unedited clips to polished productions. Some are leaving church pews, he thinks, to develop a more ‘intimate relationship with Jesus’ online.”

Rising interest in Christian music is another example of how social media is transforming cultural preferences. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Holly Zabka, who runs Sony Music’s Provident Entertainment, suggested that the direct exposure young adults have to Christian music through social media has created growth opportunities. “For the longest time, to discover faith-based music, people had to come through some sort of Christian portal—a Christian bookstore, Christian radio, the church,” Zabka said.

In bypassing traditional gatekeepers, social media allows individuals to access their preferred religious or spiritual experiences without ever stepping into a church or listening to a sermon. Convenience is a large part of the appeal. A recent Pew poll found that the top reason people cited for engaging in online religious activities was simply because it was more convenient.

The Disappearance of Young Women from Church

Ironically, the popularity of Christian influencers online–– many of whom are young women–– has not stopped the exodus of young women from organized religion. Two years ago, I wrote a post, “Young Women Are Leaving Church in Unprecedented Numbers,” documenting the rapid deterioration of religiosity among young women. For as long as polls have been measuring American religiosity, women have demonstrated higher rates of commitment. This religious gender gap vanished with Gen Z.

Two years later, more research provides further corroboration. While secular identity has plateaued among young men, it continues to rise among young women. From 2014 to 2024, young women became far less religious: 43 percent identify as religiously unaffiliated today compared to 33 percent a decade earlier. Young men showed almost no change over the same time period.

It’s not only identity. Young women show a pronounced decline in the importance of religion in their lives. In 2007, 82 percent of young women said religion was somewhat or very important to them personally. That dropped to 57 percent by 2024 (a 25-point decline). Young men have experienced a dramatic decline as well, but not quite as steep.

For those who are insistent that we’re on the cusp of a religious reawakening, the continued deterioration of religiosity among young women is a powerful counterpoint. It’s difficult to see how America can experience a religious revival without the participation of young women. As I have written previously:

The waning religious involvement among young women represents a unique challenge to churches and congregations. Studies show that women tend to contribute much more time and energy to community building and volunteer efforts in places of worship. Without this dedicated source of volunteer labor, many congregations will be unable to serve their membership and their communities. What’s more, research finds that mothers play an instrumental role in passing on religious values and beliefs to their children.

Women have played an outsized and often invisible role in sustaining congregational life. This is especially true of smaller congregations that have fewer paid staff and are subsequently more reliant on volunteer efforts.

More than a decade ago, I worked on some research to better understand the growing disillusionment young millennials had with Christianity. The results revealed a considerable amount of ambivalence. Although most young millennials believed that Christianity espoused good principles and values, they associated it with plenty of negative attributes too. Most young millennials said that “hypocritical,” “judgmental,” and “anti-gay” were accurate descriptions of present-day Christianity. Even most millennial Christians believed that the term “anti-gay” was at least somewhat of a fair description of their faith. The prominent role many Christian denominations took in opposing same-sex marriage, a popular cause among millennials, was a major source of the cultural friction. Surveys even found that nearly one in three millennials who left their faith did so because of the mistreatment of gay and lesbian people.

Culturally, we’re in a very different place just ten years on. Headlines heralding a return of religion to the public square and social media accounts promoting religious and spiritual content are greeted with more interest and affirmation. A Pew study found that, for the first time in more than two decades, a growing share of the public believes that religion is gaining influence in American life. Even more importantly, the public’s evaluation of religion’s role in society has grown more positive. The same study found that a growing number of Americans express a positive opinion about the role of religion in public life—either celebrating its rise or registering dismay about its decline.

I’m not sure whether Gen Z’s renewed religious interest will translate into lasting commitments, but there’s reason to be doubtful. As podcasts and apps become the focal points of Gen Z’s religious interest, attendance rates at in-person services continue to fall. Online displays of religiosity can appear more as an aesthetic accessory or lifestyle brand rather than a guiding set of values or social community. The type of performative religiosity and spirituality found on social media, even if it is personally meaningful, bypasses traditional requirements of religious practice. Religious identities and spiritual practices are easily adopted and just as easily discarded. With young adults mostly disinterested in joining traditional religious organizations and inherently mistrustful of their leadership, it’s possible that even as we see the emergence of invigorated public religiosity online, many of America’s places of worship will continue to decay and disappear.