Dr. Ryan Denison
For the vast majority of modern history, women have outnumbered men when it comes to who shows up most often at church. In fact, many scholars have come to see it as something of a universal truth. However, the latest research for Gen Z men and women shows that pattern has started to change.
As Ruth Graham describes, “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.” And this trend appears to be unique to Gen Z, since men are more likely than women to be religiously unaffiliated in every other generation. Now the question experts are asking is, “Why?”
Part of the explanation is that women are simply leaving the church faster than men. A poll from earlier this year found that Gen Z men are only 11 percent less likely to be religiously affiliated than those in the Baby Boomer generation. However, the gap between women in those generations is nearly two-and-a-half times as large. Consequently, it appears that the issue has at least as much to do with more women leaving the church as it does with more men deciding to stay.
At the same time, Gen Z’s religious affiliation still represents a shift in the right direction from the millennials above them, who are the least religiously affiliated generation alive today.
So what has caused this shift and, more importantly, what can it teach us about sharing the gospel with both men and women in those younger generations? More Here