A Guide for Shepherding Gen Z
It is increasingly evident that young men are becoming far more conservative (or right wing) in the United States. Look at Donald Trump’s resounding victory with this demographic, winning men under thirty by sixteen points in the 2024 election. This trend is a global phenomenon and hardly fringe. Le Monde and the Financial Times recently reported on it. To the surprise of mainstream media but hardly anyone else, this same demographic is becoming increasingly interested in Christianity and faith, outnumbering their female peers in the pews.
Despite these trends, Protestant churches–ministry strategies and pathologies– are currently unprepared to shepherd these men, that is the future and eager assurance of their longevity. After decades of witnessing a broadly feminine church culture that necessarily leans left, many pastors are left scratching their heads at how to deal with the new influx of men seeking masculine traditional Christianity. As a young man, I want to help pastors and other readers understand how we got to this cultural moment, what young men are seeking in the church, and where we go from here.
How we got here
To understand how the current cultural moment came to be, one must step into the shoes of the average Gen Z man and briefly understand the conditions of their upbringing. Gen Z grew into a world shaped by the postwar consensus, one entirely formed by its domination and unquestioning acceptance–the first generation to truly experience this. The main lesson taught to every young man in the early 21st century was to be nice to everyone around him. Racism, bigotry, and prejudice of any kind were a thing of the past. Gen Z men were told that men and women of all races, sexes, and sexual preferences had equal opportunity, equal say, and equal status in society.
As we got older, guidance counselors in high school would tell us that we needed to get into a good college and get a four-year degree to be successful. Many of these young men got into sports, participated in clubs, and took advanced placement classes to get college credits while they were still in high school. They were told this was the road to success and that anyone could walk this path and not only acquire a comfortable life but real achievement and social status too.
Then reality hit. Many of these young men began to realize that, contrary to catechetical dogma, most colleges placed greater emphasis on sex and race then on objective achievement. Despite having impressive resumes and grades, many of these men watched as their first and second-choice schools summarily rejected them. In the event they were accepted, the path they thought would lead to success and knowledge instead yielded nothing of substance and value.
The men who did get into a college – often their second, third, or fourth choice – then experienced a world that hated them. If you were a straight white male who grew up in a Christian household you were considered the epitome of all that is evil in the world. By virtue of your skin and sex, you were blamed relentlessly for every terrible thing that has ever happened in history. You were called a colonizer. You were labeled a racist and a misogynist–inherently, irreparably, by default. Everything bad is because of you.
On top of these experiences in college, young American men found life after college to be perhaps more difficult. Young men are more willing to get married and more likely to want children than young women, an historically odd occurrence that, needless to say, presents challenges to family formation. It is harder to buy a house today than it was for our parents and grandparents due to debt and housing cost. Wages have not sufficiently reacted to inflation. A comparison of purchasing power between 30 years ago and the present is depressing. Almost one-fifth of workers in America are foreign-born, making it harder for American men to find a job to pay for their debts, expenses, and housing. And so on. Then there’s technology, representing, for many, the sole source of relief and escape, but also information unfiltered by predominate pieties. In Gen Z’s world, information and repose, quelling boredom, is worth the cost of isolation. What real, robust communities and social life are on offer anyway? Everything–promises, careers, relationships–turned out to be a sham; everything is filtered, nothing genuine, nothing rooted and true, nothing masculine.
These things created the conditions that led to the developments we see today. A resentment for the modern world and its hatred of masculinity have forced a push to the right for many young men as they get, to use an old adage, mugged by reality. Some of these young men may have been interested in Trump–out of curiosity really– when he first ran in 2016, during their early high school years. Others were forced into the camp by four years of attempted indoctrination in college, or by confrontation with ever watchful H.R. departments in their first job, if they were lucky enough to get a job. Regardless of when they boarded, they are all now on the train.
Many of these men are confused and angry about the modern world. They are met with competing voices telling them what it means to be a man. Many are interested in Christ, but see modern Christianity as weak, effeminate, and ineffective–a mirror image of what they seek to escape. These men seek a faith that emphasizes courage, responsibility, and sacrifice—qualities modeled by Christ’s leadership and the boldness of the apostles and heroes of the faith. They are drawn to teachings that highlight biblical manhood, such as Paul’s call to “act like men” (1 Corinthians 16:13) or Joshua’s and David’s valor as a warrior and worshiper. This does not mean rejecting compassion or humility but balancing them with strength and conviction, as seen in historical figures like the Puritans, who combined deep piety with rugged resolve. They are an ideal mission field for serious Christians, but they are often ignored by mainstream evangelicals. They need guidance and grounding in a community that does not disparage them for their views and their resentments, that does not inordinately suppress inherently masculine qualities or the elements of the faith that employ the same but rather hones their passions to a greater purpose.
There is an opportunity here for older Christian men to mentor and shepherd the next generation. There are four things that the Church needs to provide these young men to build up this next generation: heritage, tradition, community, and mentorship.
Heritage and Tradition
The West is going through an identity crisis. We are taught to hate our fathers and the traditions that have been passed down through generations. Great men are treated with contempt, resentment, and skepticism. We have been severed from our heritage, but young men, forcibly atomized, are interested in reconnecting with and learning from the past both culturally and religiously.
Protestant pastors need to show young men that their churches are grounded in history, ecclesiastically and culturally. One reason Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox apologists are successful is because they are able to present Protestantism as unmoored and ahistorical with little to no Protestant refutation.
The Protestant tradition is one of heritage, foundation, and robust theology. Protestants today descend from heroes like John Calvin, Martin Luther, Cotton Mather, and Charles Spurgeon. Protestants respect and learn from Christians from other theological traditions, like Augustine, Aquinas, and Chesterton. The recent emergence of nondenominational churches should not be seen as the future of Protestantism, but rather as a temporary divergence. Pastors need to be grounded in tradition, bold in doctrine, and show young men that the church, the Protestant church, is grounded in a firm foundation not born yesterday. This distinguishes the church from the fleeting, plastic world of Gen Z. It offers them something they long for but can find nowhere else.
Likewise, pastors and Christian mentors should be grounded in the culture and heritage of the nation and the region in which they live, passing this down to the young men who come to them for guidance. America has a rich history, full of tradition and great men who led their communities. We need to reject the modern tendency to see our ancestors as evil oppressors to be erased and celebrate those who paved the road to the places we are today.
Our Founding Fathers were heroes. Our great leaders were heroes. Our explorers were heroes. Our military generals were heroes. None of these men were perfect, but neither are we today. We need to honor their legacy and continue to build upon the foundation they laid. Gen Z needs the tangible, historic inspiration that arises from the very source that has been used to shame and disaffect them. This is truly countercultural. If the church wants to distinguish itself from the spirit of the age, it should invest here. Gen Z men want something to be proud of, to attach themselves to that wasn’t born yesterday and that lasts longer than an Instagram reel.
Community and Masculine Mentorship
Generation Z is one of the loneliest generations in history. Despite the growth of online interaction and networking, more young men feel isolated, lacking friends and mentors they can turn to. Many young men are longing for guidance and instruction but do not know where to turn. There has never been a greater opportunity for church elders to step up and take in young men to shepherd.
Part of the problem we face arises from the loss of male spaces where multiple generations of men organically gather in fellowship and comradery. Where men once had social clubs, church groups, and gyms, egalitarian modernity has erased many of these spaces. The same goes for male-only primary schools, colleges (like the Citadel), and extracurricular groups like the Boy Scots.
Building and maintaining spaces where men can gather is a first and necessary step to shepherding young men. They need heroes, examples, as we’ve said, but they also need fraternity. The single greatest act of resistance to egalitarian modernity might very well be real, physical male spaces, especially multigenerational spaces.
Pastors can offer spaces in the church by having regular meetings where men of all ages discuss history, scripture, and pray. A mentorship program could pair young men with older congregants for regular one-on-one meetings focused on spiritual growth and practical skills, such as financial stewardship or leadership. Sermon series on figures like Joshua or Nehemiah, who exemplified faith and action, could also resonate with young men seeking purpose. Other male congregants – whether they be deacons, elders, or laymen – can help model these values and lifestyles, giving concrete examples that a classically masculine lifestyle is possible. They can also offer correction when needed, helping these young men learn from their mentors’ mistakes.
Conclusion
The challenges facing Gen Z men – disillusionment, isolation, and a hunger for meaning – present the church with a mission field. By reconnecting these men with their Christian and cultural heritage, grounding them in biblical tradition, fostering authentic communities, and offering masculine mentorship, churches can guide them toward a faith that is bold, purposeful, and Christ-centered. Building up the next generation requires understanding of their context, of the environment and conditioning they flee, and, yes, tolerance for some wild and unfiltered–to boomers, foreign–beliefs or opinions formed in said environment and acquired by necessity from less than mainstream sources. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. What Zoomers need is not chastisement that mirrors the world, but direction, community, and mentorship. It is countercultural and they hunger for it. The question is whether American Protestant churches are willing to labor. How will they welcome the prodigal son?
Image Credit: Unsplash.
