Young adults today are less involved with organized religion than any generation before them. More than one-third of millennials are religiously unaffiliated, and they show little interest in returning to church as they age. 

“Older millennials have not become substantially more likely to participate in small-group religious activities or say they rely on religion for guidance on questions of right and wrong,” Pew Research Center reported in 2015. 

However, that doesn’t mean there’s no place for faith and spirituality in the lives of young adults. Many embrace practices from a variety of traditions, mixing meditation with scripture study or solstice celebrations.

Additionally, millennials and members of Generation Z have helped make secular spaces, like gyms and supper clubs, more sacred, emphasizing social connections and deep conversations. Some young adults have launched programs, such as Nuns and Nones, that aim to close the gap between religious “nones” and people of faith, focusing on shared values and goals.  

This edition of ReligionLink explores the complex and at-times surprising role religion and spirituality play in the lives of members of the millennial and Gen Z generations. It aims to correct some common misperceptions and connect you with experts who can help you tell stories that don’t receive much attention. 

For more information on how the religious landscape is changing, check out previous editions on religious demographics and new forms of worship.

Background reading

• Read “What will it take to keep young people in the church?” from America magazine on Aug. 14, 2019. 
• Read “They tried to start a church without God. For a while, it worked.” from The Atlantic on July 21, 2019. 
• Read “How millennials replaced religion with astrology and crystals” from the Los Angeles Times on July 10, 2019. 
• Listen to “When millennials move in with nuns” from America magazine’s “Jesuitical” podcast on June 28, 2019. 
• Read “How innovative ministries are bringing millennials back to church” from The Christian Post on June 17, 2019. 
• Read “These millennials got new roommates. They’re nuns.” from The New York Times on May 31, 2019. 
• Read “How black millennials are calling for a theological reformation” from Sojourners on May 14, 2019. 
• Read “The creeping liberalism in American Islam” from The New York Times on Feb. 18, 2019. 
• Read “What a ‘spiritual’ beauty subscription box says about religion today” from Vox on Nov. 13, 2018. 
• Read “New research shows Australian teens have complex views on religion and spirituality” from The Conversation on Sept. 17, 2018. 
• Read “CrossFit is my church” from Vox on Sept. 10, 2018.
• Read “Millennials abandon hope for religion but revere human rights” from The Conversation on Feb. 5, 2018. 
• Read “The church of CrossFit” from The Atlantic on June 24, 2017. 
• Read “How can secular organizations connect to institutional religion?” from Faith & Leadership on Jan. 24, 2017.

Related research

• Read “Almost half of practicing Christian millennials say evangelism is wrong” from Barna on Feb. 5, 2019. 
• Read “Young adults keep Christian label, shed many practices” from LifeWay Research on Jan. 31, 2019. 
• Read “Most teenagers drop out of church as young adults” from LifeWay Research on Jan. 15, 2019. 
• Read “Gen Z and morality: What teens believe (so far)” from Barna on Oct. 9, 2018. 
• Read “Young adults around the world are less religious by several measures” from Pew Research Center on June 13, 2018. 
• Read “The evolving spiritual identity of Jewish millennials” from Barna on Oct. 10, 2017.
• Read “How We Gather,” a 2015 report.

U.S. sources

• Stephen Asma

  Stephen Asma is a philosophy professor at Columbia College Chicago. He has written about millennials embracing the “magical thinking” of organized religion while not taking advantage of the social benefits.

• Duane Bidwell

  Duane Bidwell is a professor of practical theology, spiritual care and counseling at Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. He is the author of When One Religion Isn’t Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People.

• Reginald Blount

  Reginald Blount is an assistant professor of formation, youth and culture at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

• Kevin Bolling

  Kevin Bolling is the executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, which helps nonreligious students form clubs and express their secular identities on campuses across the country.

• Jim Burklo

  The Rev. Jim Burklo is associate dean of the Office of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, where he works to get young people involved in religious life.

• Rosemary Card

  Rosemary Card is a millennial member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the author of Model Mormon, a book about her experience as an international model, and runs Q. Noor, a shop that specializes in temple dresses.

• Tim Clydesdale

  Tim Clydesdale is a sociology professor at the College of New Jersey, where he teaches courses on religion and American culture. He is co-author of The Twenty-something Soul: Understanding the Religious and Secular Lives of American Young Adults.

• Mark Dennis

  Mark Dennis is a religion professor at Texas Christian University. He studies Asian religions with an emphasis on Buddhism and teaches a course on millennials and mindfulness.

• Colleen Dulle

  Colleen Dulle is associate editor at America Media. Dulle writes and edits Vatican news and analysis pieces, along with hosting and producing the weekly news podcast “Inside the Vatican.” She creates Vatican explainer videos for America Media’s YouTube channel and contributes to Sacred Heart University’s “Go, Rebuild My House” blog.

• Kathleen Garces-Foley

  Kathleen Garces-Foley is a professor of theology and religious studies at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She is co-author of The Twenty-something Soul: Understanding the Religious and Secular Lives of American Young Adults.

• Katie Gordon

  Katie Gordon is a member of the operational team for Nuns and Nones, an organization that brings together Catholic sisters and young people who don’t claim a religious identity. In the summer of 2019, Gordon lived in a Benedictine monastery in Michigan.

• Alyssa Gorenberg

  Alyssa Gorenberg is a program coordinator for Moishe House Without Walls, an initiative aimed at strengthening Jewish young adults’ community connections. She previously led young adult programming for the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit.

• Shadi Hamid

  Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow with the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings and the author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World. He can speak about Middle East politics and the experience of millennial Muslims in the U.S. and around the world.

• Barbara Hansen

  Sister Barbara Hansen is a Dominican nun in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She serves as a sister collaborator for the Nuns and Nones project, which brings together Catholic sisters and religiously unaffiliated millennials.

• Melanie C. Jones

  The Rev. Melanie C. Jones is a Baptist preacher and instructor of ethics, theology and leadership at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. She also directs the seminary’s Center for Womanist Leadership, building upon her work as co-founder of The Millennial Womanist Project, which empowers young black women of faith. Arrange an interview with her by filling out the contact form on her website.

• Ousmane Kane

  Ousmane Kane is a professor of contemporary Islamic religion and society at Harvard Divinity School. He also serves as a counselor for Muslim students on campus.

• Savannah Kimberlin

  Savannah Kimberlin is a data analyst for Barna Group, which has conducted multiple studies on millennials’ relationship to religion and the future of faith.

• Benjamin Knoll

  Benjamin Knoll is a politics professor at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He partnered with Jana Riess on surveys of millennial members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• Casper ter Kuile

  Casper ter Kuile is a ministry innovation fellow at Harvard Divinity School. He studies innovation within secular and sacred communities and co-authored “How We Gather,” a report on where millennials find belonging. He’s also co-host of the podcast “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.”

• Antwuan Malone

  Antwuan Malone serves as ministry director for Elevate Young Adult Ministry in Collin County, Texas, a program dedicated to helping millennials reconnect with faith communities. Arrange an interview through the contact form on his website.

• Christel J. Manning

  Christel J. Manning is a religious studies professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. She is the author of Losing Our Religion: How Unaffiliated Parents Are Raising Their Children.

• Wendy McCormick

  Wendy McCormick directs the southwest regional office for the Center for Congregations in Evansville, Indiana, and specializes in helping congregations engage young members. She is also an ordained Presbyterian pastor.

• Katie Prejean McGrady

  Katie Prejean McGrady is a Catholic speaker and writer who has traveled across the U.S. and Canada to talk about faith, marriage and the Catholic Church. In 2018, she was sent by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to a gathering of young people at the Vatican ahead of the synod on youth, faith and vocational discernment. Contact her by submitting an interview request on her website.

• Heron Michelle

  Heron Michelle is a witch and priestess who leads a training program on modern witchcraft in Greenville, North Carolina. She has written about the millennial generation’s relationship with witchcraft.

• Roslyn Miller

  Roslyn Miller is co-founder and leader of Reclaimed Church in Orlando, Florida, a faith community affiliated with the Church of Christ that’s focused on getting more young people involved in organized religion.

• Susan Katz Miller

  Susan Katz Miller is an author and journalist who has written widely about multiple religious belonging. Her book, Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family, was published in 2013.

• Chani Nicholas

  Chani Nicholas is a counseling astrologer in Los Angeles. She leads astrology workshops and writes horoscopes for her clients, many of whom are millennials.

• Kaya Oakes

  Kaya Oakes is the author of The Nones Are Alright and Radical Reinvention: An Unlikely Return to the Catholic Church and regularly publishes articles and essays on religion, such as pieces on aging in congregational life. She is also a writing instructor at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Eboo Patel

  Eboo Patel is the founder and president of Interfaith America, a Chicago-based international nonprofit that focuses on encouraging interfaith dialogue. Request an interview through Teri Simon at Interfaith America.

• Kara E. Powell

  Kara E. Powell is executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she also serves as an associate professor of youth and family ministry.

• Teddy Reeves

  Teddy Reeves is a religion specialist at the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture. He is ordained in the Progressive National Baptist Convention and has led panel discussions across the country on black millennials’ religious lives.

• Julian Sambrano

  Julian Sambrano is an intuitive healer and artist in Los Angeles. He runs Mostly Angels LA, a New Age shop offering crystals, sage and readings.

• Olga Marina Segura

  Olga Marina Segura is an associate editor at America magazine, where she writes on race, culture and the Catholic Church. She co-hosts “Jesuitical,” a podcast on issues facing Catholic young adults.

• Kevin Singer

  Kevin Singer is co-director of Neighborly Faith, which aims to bridge divides between young evangelicals and Muslims. He also teaches world religion at two community colleges in Illinois and he has planted two churches with the Southern Baptist Convention.

• Simran Jeet Singh

  Simran Jeet Singh is a Sikh scholar and historian of religion in South Asia. Simran currently serves as Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Religion & Society Program. He writes frequently for various outlets, including TIME, CNN and Religion News Service.

• Will Stanley

  The Rev. Will Stanley is associate rector at All Saints’ Beverly Hills, an Episcopal church in Beverly Hills, California. He has spoken about what it’s like to be a millennial priest.

• Manny Tejeda-Morena

  Manny Tejeda-Morena is editor and publisher of The Wild Hunt, an online news site focused on paganism, the occult and New Age beliefs.

• Ellie Thompson

  Ellie Thompson serves as Reflection Center coordinator for Utah Valley University, overseeing interfaith engagement on campus. She also serves as young adult representative to the board of the Salt Lake Interfaith Roundtable.

• Angie Thurston

  Angie Thurston is a ministry innovation fellow at Harvard Divinity School. She is also co-author of “How We Gather,” a report on how people find community in the modern world.

• Layton E. Williams

  The Rev. Layton E. Williams is a Presbyterian pastor, writer and poet. She is the author of Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us. The Rev. Williams is also a communications specialist for Next Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s effort to update and transform ministry work to better suit the 21st century.

• Almeda M. Wright

  Almeda M. Wright is an assistant professor of religious education at Yale Divinity School. She studies African American religion and adolescent spiritual development, and she is an ordained American Baptist preacher.

• Ramy Youssef

  Ramy Youssef is a Muslim comedian and actor best known for starring in the series “Ramy” about being a Muslim millennial.

International sources

• Sergio DellaPergola

  Sergio DellaPergola is a professor emeritus of Israel-Diaspora relations at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has studied Jewish millennials in the U.S. and Israel.

• Sebastian Duhau

  Sebastian Duhau serves as retreats and programs coordinator for De La Salle District of Australia, a Catholic order that works to help young people in need. In 2018, he was a youth delegate to the Synod of Bishops in Rome, which focused on youth, faith and vocational discernment. 

• Daniel Faas

  Daniel Faas is an associate professor of sociology at Trinity College Dublin. He studies social change and identity formation, with an emphasis on migration, religion and education.

• Shelina Janmohamed

  Shelina Janmohamed is a London-based Muslim author, analyst and brand consultant. She is the author of two books, including Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World. Use the contact form on her website to arrange an interview.

• Vicenc Molina Oliver

  Vicenc Molina Oliver is a professor at the University of Barcelona, where he studies civil rights, ethics and secularism. He has researched the rise of religious “nones” in Spain.

• Andrew Singleton

  Andrew Singleton is a sociologist of religion at Deakin University in Australia. He studies spirituality, New Religious Movements and young people’s relationship with faith.

• Joel Thiessen

  Joel Thiessen is a sociology professor at Ambrose University in Calgary, Canada, and he also directs the school’s Flourishing Congregations Institute. He studies Canadian millennials’ relationship to religion and the rise of religious “nones” across North America.

• Galen Watts

  Galen Watts is a Ph.D. candidate in cultural studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He is studying contemporary spirituality and has focused his research on Canadian millennials.