Generations X, Y & Z want to be more involved at church

When asked in the 2016 NCLS 'are you as involved in this church as you would like to be?', around a quarter to a third of Generations X, Y and Z said they would like to be more involved at their church.

This represents substantial untapped potential for local churches. Many young people are waiting for the chance to contribute at church.

In the 2016 NCLS, Australian churchgoers were asked whether they were as involved as they would like to be at their local church.

The majority of each age group was happy with their current level of involvement (Builders 80%; Boomers 69%; Gen X 60%; Gen Y and Z 56%). Around 10% of each generation were unsure and 2% wanted to be less involved.

However, some 31% of Generation Z (youth/ young adults), 32% of Generation Y (young adults) and 27% of Generation X (mid life adults) said they would like to be more involved at their local church.

This is far greater than the percentage of older age groups who expressed a desire to be more involved (just 17% of Boomers and 9% of Builders).

If three in ten young adult churchgoers are willing and eager to contribute to church life, church leaders may be wise to capture this dynamic energy and enable younger attenders to contribute their gifts and skills at church.  

Authors:
Kathy Jacka, Miriam Pepper, Ruth Powell, Sam Sterland
Data Sources:

Powell, R., Pepper, M., Hancock, N. and Sterland, S. (2017) 2016 NCLS Attender Survey [Data file]. Sydney: NCLS Research. 

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