Why Christianity is booming for Gen Z in the UK

Read time: 5 mins

In brief…

• The News Agents headed to West Sussex to attend a Christian festival to speak to young people who have turned to God.
• Some say they turned to religion when they were feeling depressed or suffering from mental health issues, with others saying they were seeking an alternative to the pressures of social media.
• The rise in religion could result in a rise in traditional conservative values, with a growing number of young men believing society would function better if traditional gender roles were returned.

What’s the story?

Where are you most likely to find Gen Z in 2025 – in the pub or on the pews?

Recent YouGov data shows more 18-24-year-olds in the UK believe in God and identity as religious, increasing from 22% to 45% in the past five years.

Young Christian influencers are also increasingly popular on TikTok and Instagram, helping drive this move towards traditional beliefs and, in some cases, traditional values.

It has also driven interest in events such as the Wildfires Festival, a four day Christian festival that takes place in West Sussex every summer, which attracts thousands of young people to talks, speeches and prayer meetings.

It has been run for the past eight years by pastor Peter Greig who says the event, which he estimates brings together 500 churches from across the UK, is about a desire to "prepare for a spiritual awakening in this country".

“Obviously the historic Christian Gospel provides a lot of answers to the deepest questions, like, what happens when I die, how do I make my marriage work, or how do I deal with some of the feelings of purposelessness that I have in my life,” he tells Emily Maitlis, during July 2025’s Wildfires event.

He describes recent church scandals, such as the cover-up of child sex abuse within the Church of England, as "appalling", and says they make him feel ashamed – but says that shouldn't lead people to ignore the "good" he claims the church has historically done, and continues to do.

Why are young people turning to Christianity in the UK?

Wildfires 2025 was attended by people such as Marcos and Monique, a young couple who found Christianity after a spiritual experience.

Marcos, a former athlete, turned to religion after seeing a vision of Jesus while sitting on his sofa, describing it as a "bright white light" imprinted in his eyes.

He says he felt "lost" after injury ended his sporting ambitions.

“I was at a very low point, searching for things everywhere,” he tells Emily.

Monique says she felt “lost” in her early 20s.

“We've got so much at hand with technology nowadays and we just know about so much. I just started to get curious and thought, what is this really about,” she says.

“This is something my grandparents would have been committed to, my great grandparents would have been committed to.

“I thought there must be something to it, if it's still going 2000 years later.”

Monique says she now parties less, and doesn't feel like she needs to do that to "fill a void".

She adds that since finding religion she will "consistently" pray, read the bible every day, and throughout the day give herself 15 minutes at a time to "spend some time with God" to have what she describes as a conversation.

The people who spoke to to Emily at the event denied turning to religion in place of seeking therapy or counselling for the issues they were experiencing.

Religion in America is often seen as going hand-in-hand with right wing politics – and the views of Wildfires founder Greig lay on the conservative side of the spectrum.

His social, and political, views remain on the conservative side, describing the UK as becoming "increasingly progressive and liberal", and saying he would welcome moderating of abortion laws.

Additionally, his church does not conduct gay marriage, saying he is attempting to balance being a "global and historic" church. The Wildfires festival is, he adds, a "welcoming space for everybody".

"Christians tend to be more conservative socially and have a very high view of human dignity," he says.

Monique says abortion is a "really hard topic" for her, and when it comes to homosexuality, believes Christians have to be "accepting of everyone".

What the experts say

Despite the recorded growth in Gen Z interest in religion and faith, traditional conservative views do remain in the minority – but perhaps becoming more popular in the UK than some might expect.

“If you look at the polling that we did in this amongst Gen Z young men, there is around a fifth to a quarter who say they think it would be better if we went back to traditional gender roles,” he tells Emily, back in The News Agents studio,

“I don't think we can separate this from wider feelings of young men feeling left behind, feeling neglected, and some of them have turned to the so-called manosphere for support.”

To some, Tryll adds, religious or conservative beliefs will be a cover for anti-immigrant and nationalist views – especially as it creeps into British politics.

“They will take it to mean turning the clock back in all sorts of ways,” he says.

“So on social issues, on immigration, on our economic model, they will genuinely return to the past.

“The reason that I don't think it will be successful, or as successful as it may have been in other places, is because we already have such a high degree of diversity.”

And perhaps it’s that diversity in the UK today, and growing number of people who are proudly Muslim, that has led to the growth in young christians polling has shown in recent years.

Luke Tryll says seeing people of other religions openly practice their faith makes them see it's more acceptable for Christians to do the same.

“Five years is too short a time to tell us if it's a fad or a paradigm shift,” says Emily.

“Maybe religion is bridging that gap between adolescence and fully fledged adulthood.

“Maybe it's a response to the growing number of young Muslims here who wear their own faith more comfortably.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.