Gen Z Turns to God: Young Adults Twice as Likely to Thank the Almighty, Survey Reveals
Young British adults aged 18 to 34 are twice as likely to express gratitude to God compared to older generations, according to a new study commissioned by the Policy Institute of King's College London.
The survey, conducted by Opinium in October 2025, interviewed 2,050 British adults and found that 42 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 reported feeling thankful to God, compared to lower percentages among older age groups.
The research revealed that 27 percent of all respondents reported feeling "profound awe or wonder at the universe or nature" at least once a week. However, this number jumped to 36 percent among those aged 18 to 34 and 38 percent among those who profess a religious faith.
When asked who or what they felt thankful for, 34 percent cited nature, 31 percent mentioned other people, 31 percent referenced their own inner selves, and 28 percent expressed gratitude to God.
Just over half of all respondents, 54 percent, reported experiencing at least once the feeling of being "personally guided or watched over by something or someone." Nearly one in four people, 22 percent, said they felt "connected to all people or living things" on a weekly basis, while 24 percent said they never experienced such feelings.
The findings align with other recent data suggesting a spiritual shift among young people. A YouGov tracker showed the proportion of 18 to 24 year olds who believe in God nearly doubled from 19 percent in 2022 to 37 percent in 2025.
However, the study's authors exercised caution about claims of a "quiet revival" in British Christianity, noting that a 2024 British Social Attitudes survey found 60 percent of 18 to 34 year olds still have no religious affiliation, more than any other age group.
The researchers acknowledged the complexity of measuring religious belief, noting that different survey methodologies produce varying results. Studies using random probability methods rather than opt in panels sometimes yield different conclusions about religious trends. Still, they conceded that shifts may indeed be happening among young people that warrant continued observation.
A Bible Society spokesman welcomed the findings, stating it "seems vanishingly improbable that a rise in religious practice and belief in God could be accounted for simply by religious young people being more likely to join survey panels since 2022." The study was released alongside a lecture by Dr. King Ho Leung, Lecturer in Theology, Philosophy and the Arts at King's College London, titled "Re thinking the Purpose of Thinking," which explores the relationship between thinking and thanking.
THE CRUSADER'S OPINION
Young people, drowning in the spiritual wasteland their parents created, are reaching for transcendence because Instagram therapy and self help podcasts have left them emptier than ever. This isn't a "quiet revival." This is a generation starving for meaning in a culture that offered them nothing but consumerism and moral relativism.
The fact that 42 percent of young Brits thank God while secularists insist religion is dying reveals the bankruptcy of post Christian intellectualism. These young adults weren't raised in church. They were raised on screens, fed a diet of progressive ideology and therapeutic deism. Yet here they are, twice as likely as their elders to acknowledge divine providence. Why? Because when society removes God, it doesn't create enlightened atheists. It creates desperate souls searching for what was stolen from them.
The researchers' caution about this trend is telling. They can't accept that their secular project failed. They need more studies, more data, more time to prove this is just noise. But the Church doesn't need more data. We need bold evangelism. These young people are knocking. Will we open the door, or will we keep debating survey methodologies while a generation seeks God and finds only church committees discussing relevance strategies? The harvest is ready. The workers are few. And the skeptics are still taking notes.
TAKE ACTION
Engage Young Adults in Your Church: Create space for Gen Z and Millennials to lead worship, teach, and serve. They're not the future of the Church, they're the Church right now.
Support Youth Ministry Organizations: Youth for Christ UK Website: https://www.yfc.co.uk Email: info@yfc.co.uk Donate to ministries actively reaching spiritually hungry young people
Share Faith Content Online: Young people are searching for God on social media. Post authentic Christian content, testimonies, and biblical teaching where they're already looking.
Bible Society: Website: https://www.biblesociety.org.uk Support efforts to make Scripture accessible to young seekers
Host Alpha Courses for Young Adults: Alpha International Website: https://alpha.org Email: info@alpha.org Run courses designed for spiritual seekers with questions about faith
Pray for Spiritual Awakening: Commit to daily prayer for young people in your community to encounter Christ. This trend isn't accidental, it's the Holy Spirit moving. Partner with God's work through intercession.
