During our Sunday gatherings, if you ever find yourself looking around you may have noticed that there is not a lot of Gen Z at Bay Area. There are Millenials, Gen X and Boomers throughout our Sunday crowd but only a handful of Gen Z. Although this sounds like a problem, that might not be the case. For those born from 1997 to 2012, cultural Christianity is statistically lower than our previous generations. Cultural Christianity, where church attendance is driven by habit, social pressure, family expectations or even just to have the exterior look of “godliness,” but missing the transformative piece of the gospel, is a very real problem we face today in churches across America. But, Gen Z doesn’t attend church to check off a box. For Gen Z, there’s little social reward for going to church. While they may be fewer in numbers, they are attending for the right reasons.
You may be asking yourself, “who is this kid?” Hi, I’m Kenzie Riniker and I work on the Communications Team here at Bay Area. In my office, my Millennial coworkers have dubbed me as the “resident Gen Z.” Throughout the work week, you’ll catch me forcing my generation's lingo and phrases upon them, and frequently joking about how “old” I am.
As someone born during the year 2000, the thing that led me to placing my faith in Jesus was the amount of noise going on in the world and in my own life. I was desperate for peace in my life and Jesus offered it to me for the simplest price of relationship with Him. It’s been my easiest yes. This is true for many others as well. Gen Z unfortunately inherited a world of unprecedented anxiety, climate crisis, economic uncertainty and what researchers aptly call a "meaning crisis.” We are facing a world of chaos with no direction, where moral rules are cast aside in the name of freedom. AI, social media and the hyper-digital life have left many feeling detached. In a world full of way too much noise, many are asking where is the truth?
(Before I go any further, I do want to throw out a caveat that this isn’t the case for all of Gen Z and this can apply to those outside of this generation as well. I am writing this piece based on current statistics and giving insight based on my experience and those around me.)
Gen Z has been known to say “give it to me straight” and see through the superficiality of religious accessories. It’s no surprise this generation has turned to Christianity. Many news articles have described this as a revival. My understanding of revivals is usually about mass conversion. I personally don’t see this as revival but think of this as more of a reformation.
You may be familiar with the 1517 Protestant Reformation which was led by this guy named Martin Luther in Europe. Martin Luther’s disappointment in the lack of spirituality in the Roman Catholic Church ultimately led him to write the 95 Thesis.
I see similarities in my generation as they re-examine the faith of their parents and grandparents that may have been influenced by the American gospel. They are asking, “What's true? What's actually necessary to follow Jesus? How can I actually transform my life?” Gen Z is reforming their faith!
I like to think of my generation as the “prodigal son” generation, in the way that many of us ran away from institutional religion growing up and are now rediscovering God’s love that was waiting at the door the whole time. We left the churches we grew up in thinking we knew better, and when re-engaged with our faith we realized Jesus was so much more than we experienced. In other words, in our lostness we made assumptions about the Church and who God was based on what we experienced. When we returned we found a God who rejoiced in our return and with a community that welcomed us in. The prodigal son barely stepped foot on his fathers land and the father was immediately there celebrating his return - and this is the heart of the Father that my generation is finding. Gen Z is discovering the character and nature of God. It’s less of “How can I be good?” and more of “Who is God, really? And why does it matter to me?”
There are others here in my generation that feel the same way. It is so important that there’s a space for this generation and others to find community, grow together, and, most importantly, worship the Lord together. Here at Bay Area, in September, we started a quarterly worship night for the 20+30’s Ministry called Crossroads. What do we categorize as the crossroads stage of life? Good question! The ‘Crossroads stage of life’ is the time in life where you may be in the workforce, college, living on your own, living with parents or starting a family. It’s a mixed life-stage that can’t be categorized at a specific age and it currently includes the lower half of the Millennial and upper half of the Gen Z generations. Our vision for this ministry is to prepare and equip those in their 20's and 30's range to take the torch to the next generation. Every generation has this responsibility and I believe this is why we’re reforming our faith. Christianity has taken many forms but Jesus remains the same throughout all of it.
Throughout the midst of an everchanging, unpredictable and unstable world, our desire is to come together in worship of God, putting our worries aside, and remembering that we are part of the unchanging, steadfast, and unshakable Kingdom of God. Over the course of the two gatherings we’ve had, we’ve seen folks excited to be a part of this community! If you find yourself in a similar place, we would love for you to join us! Our next gathering is on January 16, 2026. I hope to see you there!
You may be asking yourself, “who is this kid?” Hi, I’m Kenzie Riniker and I work on the Communications Team here at Bay Area. In my office, my Millennial coworkers have dubbed me as the “resident Gen Z.” Throughout the work week, you’ll catch me forcing my generation's lingo and phrases upon them, and frequently joking about how “old” I am.
As someone born during the year 2000, the thing that led me to placing my faith in Jesus was the amount of noise going on in the world and in my own life. I was desperate for peace in my life and Jesus offered it to me for the simplest price of relationship with Him. It’s been my easiest yes. This is true for many others as well. Gen Z unfortunately inherited a world of unprecedented anxiety, climate crisis, economic uncertainty and what researchers aptly call a "meaning crisis.” We are facing a world of chaos with no direction, where moral rules are cast aside in the name of freedom. AI, social media and the hyper-digital life have left many feeling detached. In a world full of way too much noise, many are asking where is the truth?
(Before I go any further, I do want to throw out a caveat that this isn’t the case for all of Gen Z and this can apply to those outside of this generation as well. I am writing this piece based on current statistics and giving insight based on my experience and those around me.)
Gen Z has been known to say “give it to me straight” and see through the superficiality of religious accessories. It’s no surprise this generation has turned to Christianity. Many news articles have described this as a revival. My understanding of revivals is usually about mass conversion. I personally don’t see this as revival but think of this as more of a reformation.
You may be familiar with the 1517 Protestant Reformation which was led by this guy named Martin Luther in Europe. Martin Luther’s disappointment in the lack of spirituality in the Roman Catholic Church ultimately led him to write the 95 Thesis.
I see similarities in my generation as they re-examine the faith of their parents and grandparents that may have been influenced by the American gospel. They are asking, “What's true? What's actually necessary to follow Jesus? How can I actually transform my life?” Gen Z is reforming their faith!
I like to think of my generation as the “prodigal son” generation, in the way that many of us ran away from institutional religion growing up and are now rediscovering God’s love that was waiting at the door the whole time. We left the churches we grew up in thinking we knew better, and when re-engaged with our faith we realized Jesus was so much more than we experienced. In other words, in our lostness we made assumptions about the Church and who God was based on what we experienced. When we returned we found a God who rejoiced in our return and with a community that welcomed us in. The prodigal son barely stepped foot on his fathers land and the father was immediately there celebrating his return - and this is the heart of the Father that my generation is finding. Gen Z is discovering the character and nature of God. It’s less of “How can I be good?” and more of “Who is God, really? And why does it matter to me?”
There are others here in my generation that feel the same way. It is so important that there’s a space for this generation and others to find community, grow together, and, most importantly, worship the Lord together. Here at Bay Area, in September, we started a quarterly worship night for the 20+30’s Ministry called Crossroads. What do we categorize as the crossroads stage of life? Good question! The ‘Crossroads stage of life’ is the time in life where you may be in the workforce, college, living on your own, living with parents or starting a family. It’s a mixed life-stage that can’t be categorized at a specific age and it currently includes the lower half of the Millennial and upper half of the Gen Z generations. Our vision for this ministry is to prepare and equip those in their 20's and 30's range to take the torch to the next generation. Every generation has this responsibility and I believe this is why we’re reforming our faith. Christianity has taken many forms but Jesus remains the same throughout all of it.
Throughout the midst of an everchanging, unpredictable and unstable world, our desire is to come together in worship of God, putting our worries aside, and remembering that we are part of the unchanging, steadfast, and unshakable Kingdom of God. Over the course of the two gatherings we’ve had, we’ve seen folks excited to be a part of this community! If you find yourself in a similar place, we would love for you to join us! Our next gathering is on January 16, 2026. I hope to see you there!