How they return
But Gen Z is also the loneliest generation, according to a Pew survey — and they’re not turning to their local churches to find community.
Americans who are affiliated with a religion are more likely to feel close to others than non-religiously affiliated Americans by a wide margin (73% to 51%), according to a May study from Pew Research.
Mering suggests “the apostolate of friendship, hospitality” for bringing Gen Z women back. Mering co-authored the series “Theology of Home” about how women can live out their vocations at any stage of life through bringing beauty into the home.
“That is one of the main goals of ‘Theology of Home’: To show — not just tell — what a true Christian anthropology of embodiment looks like,” she continued. “The popular imagination is filled with dominant pop culture distortions. Catholics should be pushing back on that by putting out media that reflects our true nature.”
There is one area of society where the Catholic Church is seeing large numbers of conversions: Vibrant, traditional parishes seem to draw in both young men and young women.
Young people on college campuses such as Texas A&M and Hillsdale College are flocking to the Church, as the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, reported in April.
Rebuilding community may also be a key to bringing the least religious generation back to church.
Political scientist and statistician Ryan Burge, co-author of “The Great Dechurching” with Michael Graham and Jim Davis, found in his research that disaffiliated people would go back to church if their friends were there.
“We fielded a series of three surveys to find out why people left and what would get them back in the door,” he told CNA in an email. “Friends scored near the top of the list for every type of dechurched group… Theological reasons often scored very low.”
The apostolate of friendship and hospitality may not only be a compassionate response to the loneliness crisis but might also bring people closer to religion.
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“We might not be able to get our friends to church, but we can get them to our kitchen table for coffee or dinner,” Mering noted.
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