Are younger Canadian Christians becoming more “evangelical”?
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For years there has been an assumption that younger people tend to be more “liberal,” meaning they are more “socially progressive” on a variety of modern issues.
A decade ago, I remember someone telling me, “You’re never as liberal as you are when you are in college.” That sentiment seemed to be widespread. I have heard it said, therefore, that the church needs to “get with the times” in order to appeal to the younger generation.
However, there is some new research which challenges some of those assumptions. A recent article in The Times by James Marriott was titled: “Full-fat faith: the young Christian converts filling our churches.” Is that true? If so, why?
Before I present the research, let me share a few personal observations.
First, no matter what we are told by various studies, the church should never shift its stance on important biblical beliefs or practices just because it’s the popular thing to do. As I wrote in a recent devotional [https://theupdevo.com/2026/07/06/dont-drink-the-kool-aid/], our job is to faithfully follow Jesus, not thoughtlessly follow the crowd.
Second, I too have noticed something happening. Many of my colleagues have noticed it too. Younger Christians are appearing in evangelical churches—not in waves, but here and there, consistently.
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Third, for years there has been commentary on how “conservative” churches grow and how “liberal” churches shrink. Those labels aren’t very helpful, especially in Canada where those words immediately make us think about political parties. Further, people disagree about what makes a healthy church. A church with five hundred people is not necessarily healthier than a church with fifty if it has the wrong priorities. As we know, there are many churches which are numerically “small,” but which are still doing good work for the kingdom.
Having said that, based on my on own reading and observations, healthy churches in North America—no matter their size—tend to have some things in common. At the top of the list is an alignment with historic Christian beliefs like what we find in the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed. Related to this is a serious commitment to teaching from the Bible across the ministry of the church (i.e. not just Sunday mornings). David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons confirm this in their own research: “immersion in Scripture is a driver of church growth and spiritual vitality.”[i]
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Are there other important factors that need to be present? Absolutely. But if orthodox beliefs are missing, a healthy vibrant church is not possible, even if it has open doors and a full list of activities. If the Triune God isn’t honoured, and if the Holy Spirit isn’t working, nothing else matters.
With all of these observations in mind—and perhaps a few observations of your own—is it possible that this new research can shed further light about what is going on?
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THE STATE OF THEOLOGY SURVEY
The State of Theology is a nationwide survey conducted by Lifeway and Ligonier Ministries revealing how people today view key doctrines of the Christian faith. It is focused on Canadian evangelicals.[ii] Although Canadian evangelicals are not the only group who would identify themselves as Christians, I am unaware of other studies this year on a similar topic in other subsets of the Christian community. Our focus, therefore, is on this specific group.
CHURCH ATTENDANCE AND BELIEFS
First, the report highlights trends in church attendance based on generation. Boomers are people who were born between 1946 and 1964. Gen X refers to people born between 1965 and 1980. Millennials are people born between 1981 and 1996. Gen Z refers to people who were born between 1997 and 2012.
The research found that Boomers (and also elders born before 1946) went to church, on average, 1.4 times a month. Gen X went 1.6 times. Millennials went 1.8 times. And Gen Z went 1.9 times. In other words, younger Christians went to church more frequently than older Christians.
As is often noted, church attendance isn’t always the best indicator of one’s actual faith. So fortunately, the research looked into a variety of belief statements as well.
The research found that younger Christians actually held to more “traditional” views in greater numbers than their elders. Keep in mind those four age categories that I previously mentioned. The youngest is 18-34. The second youngest is 35-49. The second oldest is 50-64. And the oldest is 65 and above. When asked about a variety of beliefs, the youngest two categories were more historically evangelical than the older two.
You may want to read that last sentence again.
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The Lifeway-Ligonier report said: “There has been recent commentary on a possible renewed interest in Christianity among younger Canadians. The findings of the first State of Theology Canada survey do indicate a more widespread acceptance of biblical teaching by younger respondents, especially on those topics where historic Christian theology is more obviously in conflict with secular attitudes.”[iii]
In other words, on issues like marriage and gender, younger evangelical Christians are pushing back against trends in the wider culture to change or influence attitudes in these areas.
Recently, Alex Hibbs wrote an article in The Washington Post called “The Reconquest of Mainline Protestantism.” As a part of that, he highlighted “Operation Reconquista,” a group of Gen Z Christians trying to steer mainline Protestant denominations back to historic Christianity from within.
What do I mean by “historic Christianity”? This is the true Christian faith, rooted in the Bible and in the historic creeds and confessions of the church. Many (not all) “mainline” Protestant denominations like the Uniteds, Anglicans, Presbyterians and Baptists, have been wrestling with theological “drift.” In some key ways, they have lost their tethering and have shifted their focus to more “progressive” social issues. It’s possible to attend services in some of these churches and never hear the gospel.
Let me be clear. Working for social change is good. We want to share the love of Christ. But what has happened is that some of these denominations or associations have adopted the secular viewpoint on a variety of issues (or, at least, a position which is theologically compromised), and have then made their stance on these issues their central identity. This distorts the biblical teachings and sidelines Christ. If our thinking becomes skewed about who Jesus is and what he teaches, then the love or compassion we provide will be misguided and misleading.
“Progressive Christianity [i.e. liberal Christianity] can’t keep people in the pews,” Hibbs writes. “A Christianity that abandons belief in the divinity of Jesus, man’s need for salvation and biblical sexual morals, only to conform to the latest cultural trend has nothing to offer people concerned for their souls.”
Recently, I attended the national general meeting of The Presbyterian Church in Canada. I met with a group of Christians who are a part of a similar renewal movement. Oh, and they were among the youngest people in attendance. Afterward in a blog post, they made this statement: “We… hope that The Presbyterian Church in Canada will soon return to its Reformed confessional roots, repenting of its past sins of straying from God’s Word and refusing to clearly acknowledge Christ before others. We pray that the Church will fully embrace Scripture as divinely inspired words of God, infallible and authoritative over the lives of all Christians.”[iv]
OTHER VIEWS
In saying all of this, I don’t mean to suggest that all young Christians have a more evangelical outlook. They don’t. Further, I know of a few “liberal” churches who are doing better than you might expect. There are many well-meaning people in these churches—again, I know some of them—who are working hard and who have sincere convictions. I think they’re misguided, but they are hard-working and sincere nevertheless.
The point I’m trying to make is that a tide is turning. And that tide includes living water that appeals to a new generation hungry for the grace and truth of a Jesus who is more than just a mouthpiece or mascot for the flavour of the day.
REASONS
But why is all of this happening? The Lifeway-Ligonier report was cautious on this point. But as a pastor of eighteen years, dad-of-teenagers, and close cultural observer, let me take a few minutes on some informed speculation.
1. THE REAL JESUS
The real Jesus is more appealing and powerful than substitutes or contortions. Young people are not naïve. When they hear from their parents or grandparents about a version of Jesus who sounds very much like a pushover who never stops smiling, and then start to read their Bibles for themselves, they soon discover that they haven’t been told the whole story.
In saying this, let me be clear that there are “conservative” churches who also misrepresent Jesus. Based on some of the things I hear, it can seem as if Jesus is a Pharisee who is always making everyone feel bad about their inadequacy, or that he would carry around a gun protecting his land if only they had shotguns in Nazareth. That too is a misrepresentation.
To a generation of people who are already suspicious not only of compromise in general, but of churches who want to blend in with a society in freefall, the real Jesus of the Gospels is more compelling than distorted portrayals on either end of the theological spectrum.
The true Jesus is more than just a moral teacher who came to an untimely death on a cross. Scholar Luke Timothy Johnson says the most important question a Christian needs to ask him- or herself is whether or not Jesus is still alive. The answer to that question changes everything.
“Christ is risen” is not just something you say on Easter morning. He is alive and reigning at his Father’s right hand—today, right now. He opens his arms in forgiveness (Mark 2:5), but also preaches repentance (Luke 13:3). He warns against throwing a stone at a sinner, but then tells that same sinner to go and clean up her life (John 8:7). He casts out actual demons (Mark 1:34), heals the sick (Mark 5:29), turns water into wine (John 2:7), and preaches fervently about a kingdom that will turn the world upside down (Mark 1:15).
In the words of English pastor Charles Simeon: “The truth is not in the middle and not in one extreme, but in both extremes.”[v] That’s a great description of Jesus. Radical love and radical truth—not to the exclusion of one another, but at the same time.
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2. THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES
Do you remember that old story about the emperor’s new clothes? Two swindlers convinced the emperor’s servants, and then the emperor himself, that his new clothes were marvellous, even though no one could see them. Since no one wanted to look dumb, and since no one wanted to upset the emperor who himself had come to believe in these marvelous-but-invisible clothes, everyone went along with the insanity.
Do you remember what happened? The first person to say anything against the crowd was a child. “But he hasn’t got anything on!”
We are living through a time of radical societal change—and a lot of that change is not good. Perhaps the high-ranking representatives of officialdom have started to believe their own press releases. “Everything is marvellous!” And, just like in the emperor’s new clothes, perhaps it is the young people who are prepared to call them on it. Turns out that Jesus is in fact a greater King.
If you’ve been told your whole life that “it’s all relative,” and that we’re just descended from monkeys, and that when your heart stops you simply vanish into nothingness, how would you feel? Exactly.
Add into the mix the non-stop digital assault on our brains, and the perpetual threat of cancel-culture if you just so happen to offend the wrong people, and you start to hear a collective groan that sounds something like this: “There’s got to be more than this. Isn’t there someone who cares for us, who will tell us the truth, and who can speak to the eternal questions in my soul?”
Well, of course, there is. His name is Jesus, and everyone has a meaningful place in his glorious and everlasting kingdom, including those who don’t have gray hair yet.
3. SHIFTING SAND
Speaking of our world, it is not a stable place. There are wars and rumours of wars. There is a new controversy every six months. The time span between those controversies is probably going to get shorter. People seem to yell a lot. Politics and pandemics and social media platforms have not helped. If someone were to announce tomorrow that there is a new global disease spreading rapidly, or that it is now a human right to identify as a rabbit, or that World War Three has begun, would you be surprised? I wouldn’t.
With this in mind, the historic faith—and churches rooted in that historic faith—are fairly stable places. There is something eternal and deeply-rooted about Christians gathering on Sunday (as they have done for millennia) to read from the Bible, recite ancient creeds, pray for one another, sing with one voice, help people who are hurting, share light, and stand under a single solitary emblem—the cross.
Is the church perfect? Of course not.
Are there things that sometimes need to change? Yes.
Can we get arrogant or apathetic? Yes.
Has the church made mistakes? You bet.
But the church of Christ—rooted in her historic past—is bigger than any government, nation, cultural controversy, or stain. Under the Lord Jesus, she is bigger than any of us could ever have dreamed. And she’ll still be standing long after all of us have had our funerals.
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Maybe that’s actually appealing to all generations, including those who have been lied to or misled about who and what matters most.
Barry Corey is the president of Biola University. In an interview, he said that Christians should have “soft edges and firm centres.”[vi] I think that’s helpful. “Soft edges” is a reference to loving and compassionate hearts as we interact with others. “Firm centres” is a reference to resolute beliefs which are securely tethered to our eternal God. Sounds like a wonderful, biblical recipe for a hurting, spinning world.
In closing, yes, something is happening. Not for everyone, but for some. The story is still unfolding. But it seems to be good. Let’s keep our eyes fixed on the real Jesus for the glory of God.
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[i] David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons, Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks Your Irrelevant and Extreme (Grand Rapids: BakerBooks, 2016), 244.
[ii] Here is how Lifeway Research defines “evangelical”: people who strongly agree with the following four statements: The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe. It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin. Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Saviour receive God’s free gift of eternal salvation.
[iii] The State of Theology research can be accessed by clicking here [https://thestateoftheology.com/ca?mkt_tok=MTg5LUpMQS0yMTYAAAGicWxVpUPyscbtcReO0q58bFlRGox4-aI9gmM7pwSsloIicwBxf-LbvM6JxycL40w-hHGzNCCVRs36vlbpdPKRgP0qDTkR6pt9XjiKo18X9tZtElE].
[iv] “A Reflection on The Presbyterian Church in Canada’s 2026 General Assembly (151st). A summation of individual reflections by PCC Renewal Council Members.” Posted on the PCC Renewal substack, June 30, 2026 here [https://pccrenewal.substack.com/p/a-reflection-on-the-presbyterian?subscribe_prompt=free].
[v] Quoted in: Trevin Wax, The Multi-Directional Leader: Responding Wisely to Challenges from Every Side (The Gospel Coalition, 2021), 30.
[vi] As quoted in: Kinnaman & Lyons, Good Faith, 232.
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