This multi-year campaign included visiting innovative practitioners who were having success engaging youth and young adults, implementing national surveys for faith leaders as well as young people, and creating new frameworks for how to help Gen Z thrive in spiritual and religious spaces.
There’s more to the story of Gen Z and religion.
Our data showed that the popular narrative about Gen Z dismissing religion didn’t add up. Thanks to a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., we set out to discover the spaces across religious and spiritual traditions where youth and young adults were flourishing and flocking. Through on-site visits, national surveys, and careful listening, we created and shared new blueprints to help you care for young people better.
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Is Gen Z rejecting religion? Flourishing in their beliefs? Or something in between?
Hover on the tiles below to reveal if the statement is myth or truth:
Click on the tiles below to reveal if the statement is myth or truth:
Three-stage Process
Our blueprint for success
Stage 1
Met with experts.
Learn, listen, and visit.
Springtide gathered expert practitioners from communities representing an array of spiritual identities to share their wisdom. A nationwide survey for leaders from a variety of faith backgrounds and spiritual traditions was launched to discover more.
Stage 2
Engaged with young people.
Research, analyze, and interview.
In a nationally representative survey, 5,000 young people shared what worked to engage them and where they found flourishing. From these conversations, we conducted additional on-site research visits.
Stage 3
Put research into action.
Publish, report, and share.
We generated new core frameworks for flourishing that truly engaged youth and young adults. Imagine the possibilities: young people being engaged through well-researched modes of connection across all faith traditions and spiritual leanings.
About Lilly Endowment: Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and sons J.K. Jr. and Eli through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.