The data we see from the multitude of surveys and reports released in the past couple of years about the global Church paint a mixed picture. Many share overall downward trends of declining church attendance, while also showing positive signs of different groups choosing to engage with faith. After some survey sample issues, Bible Society’s 2024 report The Quiet Revival has since been updated with a ‘year on’ review to highlight the trends that still seem to hold true. While less people are identifying as having a religion, those that do consider themselves Christians are shown to be more involved in church life than before: ‘Among younger Christians, there is an intensification of religious identity. If you are selecting this label, you are far more likely to be committed to practising the Christian faith and open to engaging with the Bible.’

The 2023 New Zealand Census reported that 51.6 percent of New Zealanders self-identify as having no religion, up from 41.9 percent a decade earlier in 2013. For those who identify as Christian (either generally
or as part of a specific denomination or belief), there has been a decline of about 260,000 people across that decade.

Within our own numbers, The Salvation Army has also seen patterns of decline. In the past five years, according to the Aotearoa New Zealand data in Salvation Army annual reports, the number of regular attendees has decreased from 7780 to 6937 (although this most recent report did see an increase in attendees from previous years). Similarly, the recorded number of new Christian believers at Salvation Army corps (churches) has also declined. These numbers are difficult to quantify, as they are self-recorded by corps and may be interpreted differently depending on who is gathering the data—for example, how regular is a regular attendee? But even taken with a grain of salt, The Salvation Army seems to be following the trends that other churches are seeing when it comes to who we are connecting with.

The numbers also seem to suggest that churches are struggling to appeal to younger participants.
The 2023 Church Life Survey New Zealand revealed that only nine percent of church attendees sit in the 15–29 age group, while the average age of church attendees is rising: denominations like the Anglicans, Methodists and Presbyterians have an average age of 70, while The Salvation Army is a bit more youthful with an average age of 62.

So why are we seeing this downward shift in engagement with the Christian faith, and particularly for young people? There have been numerous theories floated around why this might be the case: disillusionment because of church scandals; disconnect from what’s happening in their day-to-day lives; a sense of judgement or shame that they felt in their church experience. A 2025 McCrindle Research report, An Undercurrent of Faith, which explores Australian data around Christianity, comments that ‘Many young people leave their faith not because there is a compelling reason to leave, but because there is no compelling reason to stay.’

The data from An Undercurrent of Faith shows that while there are concerns around accountability and hypocrisy that have led young people to leave the Church, 49 percent of Gen Z surveyed said that they left because ‘religion was no longer relevant or meaningful to my life’. At the same time, the 2023 Church Life Survey noted a large satisfaction gap for youth when it comes to what is offered to them at church. Children’s ministry was determined to be successful, but across denominations youth (12–18) offerings, and to a lesser extent young adult (19–25) offerings were a significant gap for those surveyed. This suggests that while churches are putting a lot of attention into their children’s ministry, as the kids grow into teenagers and young adults, they are struggling to receive support and have spaces to participate in church life. If young people aren’t having opportunities in church to develop their faith after Sunday school, it isn’t surprising to see survey results suggesting that Gen Z aren’t finding Christianity relevant.

At the same time, when we speak to leaders within churches across our territory, there are so many exciting and surprising stories of young people participating in church for the first time. Sometimes this comes from being invited to church by friends or coming along to a church-held event. At other times, there seems to be no connection, and people have just shown up by themselves.

More recently as well, there is an interesting trend of creative digital methods having an impact on young people. YouTube, TikTok, Christian celebrities and contemporary pop music with Christian themes have all become means of sharing the gospel with a younger, online audience. An Undercurrent of Faith reports that between 2016 and 2021, around 85,000 young people (15–24-year-olds) moved towards Christianity from initially indicating no religion. Of this number, one in six, or 15 percent, came from families where neither parent was a Christian, also suggesting more external influence on these young people’s engagement with the Christian faith.

Two stories from Ethan Miller, national youth catalyst for Baptist Youth Ministries, about what he’s seen lately in this space:

‘I know a 23-year-old who came from a non-Christian background. He describes his journey as being “kinda weird”. He came across a YouTube video about evil and started asking big questions about faith. He started reading the Torah, then the Quran and eventually the Bible. When he read the Bible, he realised “how good and peaceful it was”. Soon after he walked into his local church on a Sunday morning and has been following Christ since.

‘There’s also a 19-year-old who started going to church after something he watched on YouTube. After four months he asked the pastor when he was supposed to get baptised. The pastor said, “When you are ready to surrender your life to Jesus and you know what that means”. He responded, “I’ve read the New Testament, and I think I understand”. He got baptised, started youth leading and has been following Jesus ever since.’

Church leaders are also seeing stories of young people turning up without any external influence or encouragement, in ways that can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit. At Suva Central Corps, Corps Officer Major Arone Cheer has many encouraging examples of how young people are engaging with faith.

‘A young man who recently turned 18 decided to surrender his will to God for the first time in a public setting before his peers. This occurred at the Next Gen Easter Youth Combine service held at Suva Central in July. Praise the Lord! To this day he testifies of how God orchestrated his coming to The Salvation Army and more importantly how the Holy Spirit prompted him to decide to go forward when the appeal was given. He remembers responding to the invitation but cannot explain how he ended up at the altar in front of the church. He comes from an unchurched family. He is first generation Army, attending youth group and Sunday meetings regularly. He is passionate about dancing for the Lord and supporting the local mission of the corps. Through his connections at Suva Central, his mother and younger siblings have also come along to special events held at the corps.’

Leaders in the Wellington Anglican Diocese are also paying attention to God’s work in their neighbourhoods: ‘Recently, a 15-year-old girl started coming to our church with her mum. Her mum wasn’t interested in faith herself but came to support her daughter. As we got to know them, we discovered the girl hadn’t been invited by anyone and had never been to church before. She simply felt a growing conviction that she needed to find God. It was a beautiful reminder that God is still at work, drawing people to himself long before we meet them.’

So, what is it about Jesus and the Christian faith that is still drawing in young people, especially when they haven’t grown up going to church? For some, it may be having something to believe in when the world around them feels painful and confusing. Major Jeannine Serevi, corps officer at Hutt City Corps, has observed that a lot more young people are willing to have conversations about faith than before. ‘When times are tough, people are searching for answers. More people, especially young people, seem to be willing to give God a go, and willing to be prayed for even.’

It is worth noting that much of the recent data points to younger church attendees having higher levels of commitment to faith rhythms when they do participate, like praying weekly and attending church at least once a month. It suggests then, that when young people are choosing to engage with the Christian faith, they are choosing to commit more fully to the rhythms of faith as well, in ways that
make changes to their daily life.

We also see that when a church is intentional about being a welcoming and warm presence to the community, that makes space for people to hear about and know Jesus. This often has flow-on effects to the wider community, as the research shows that new Christians are the most likely to invite friends and family to church. At Hutt City Corps, Jeannine has had the opportunity to see that in action:

‘A 15-year-old showed up to our corps after attending our kids club pre-Covid-19. It was closed for a while,
so we didn’t see her, and then one day she just showed up at a Sunday service. She had been having a hard time and wondered, “where was the last place I felt safe?” And that brought her to our corps. She joined in with our youth programme and then asked to bring a friend along to Easter Camp 2025. Both she and her friend had an amazing encounter with the Holy Spirit at camp, and since then both girls have been regulars at our corps. Not only that, but for six weeks in a row, her friend invited a different family member to church—her mum, dad, siblings and grandmother—and now eight members of that family have chosen to follow Jesus.’

We can look at the data presented to us and conclude that for a number of reasons, Christianity and the Church isn’t as popular as it has been in past decades. As church communities, this can be a good opportunity to consider and prayerfully discern what we can be doing to change these numbers. How did
Jesus lead us to faith, and how can we make room for the same to happen to others? But along with that, we also have to be heartened and encouraged by the mystery of the Holy Spirit, who always has spoken and still is speaking to people in a ‘gentle whisper’, in ways that we cannot measure or explain.