Concerned and Called

What 53 Students Told Us About Church

At Gulf Coast Getaway this year, we did something radical: we asked university students what they think

No assumptions. No grumpy Gen-X generational caricatures on our part (except that one I just made about my own Gen-X). No “kids these days” commentary. Just a simple survey, honestly (hopefully!) answered by 53 students who had gathered for a weekend of worship, reflection, and community on the Florida beach. They also had the chance to win an Amazon gift card for filling out the survey, but that’s immaterial.

If you’ve hung out with us in this space, you’re aware of reported trends in American Christianity. You might expect the survey results to confirm the dominant narrative: young people are drifting, deconstructing, and disengaging. But that’s not what we found. What we found was more interesting — and somewhat more hopeful.

Let’s start with the headline:

They Are Concerned — Deeply Concerned

When asked, I am concerned about the future of the church, 79.2% of respondents said yes. Let that sink in. Nearly 4 out of 5 students are worried about where the church is headed. Then, when asked, I am concerned that people my age seem to be leaving the church; that number climbed even higher: 83% said yes.

This is not a theoretical concern. It’s direct observation. Students are watching friends drift off. They’re feeling the quiet (and occasionally noisy) exits. They’re noticing the shrinking youth groups, the empty seats at campus ministries, the slow fade of participation. I heard several mention with longing how Gulf Coast Getaway used to be better attended just a few short years ago.

But here’s what’s crucial to understand (and a bit of good news): concern implies attachment. If they didn’t care, they would have answered No. Or worse, they wouldn’t have bothered responding at all. Instead, the dominant emotion in the (survey) room was not cynicism but concern.

And don’t forget: concern is what you feel about something - or someone - you love.

They Haven’t Lost Faith

We also asked: I believe the Gospel can still make a tangible difference in my community. 98.1% said yes. 52 out of 53 students! Then it gets even more fun, friends. When asked, I wish there was more that I could do to make a difference, 96.2% said yes.

This generation (at least the part at Gulf Coast Getaway 2026) does not lack belief in the power of the Gospel. Nor do they lack desire for meaningful action. In fact, the data suggest the opposite problem: an abundance of belief and desire, paired with uncertainty about how to channel them.

Put more plainly: The issue isn’t belief in Jesus. The issue is belief in the church’s systems.

A Tension Worth Paying Attention To

Stick with me here - the data has more to say.

When asked whether the church is addressing the needs in their community, 66% said yes. That’s a healthy majority. But that also means 34% — one out of three — said no. Similarly, when asked whether the church is too inwardly focused, 58.5% said yes.

While not a landslide by any means, it’s a clear majority.

Taken all together, these responses reveal a tension:

Students overwhelmingly believe in the Gospel’s power (98%), yet a majority also believe the church tends to turn inward (58.5%), and a notable minority question whether it’s effectively addressing real community needs (34%).

Friends, this is a credibility gap between theological conviction and institutional embodiment. They trust the message, but the jury is still out on the method. It’s not rebellion but rather cautious discernment. And the fact that they are discerning requires the rest of us to listen.

They Feel Called — and Ready

If concern were the only data point, we might stop here and wring our collective hands. However, concern isn’t standing alone. When we asked, I sense that God is calling me to do something new, 75.5% said yes. Three out of four students sense some kind of divine nudge toward innovation, initiative, or new expressions of faith!

If we had led with the fact that three-quarters of a given generation felt called toward creative engagement in the church, we wouldn’t call that doom or wonder if the gates of hell really will overcome one day. We would call that potential for a revival. Add to that the 96% we already talked about who wish they could do more to make a difference, and you have a roomful of untapped innovative leadership potential.

These students are not looking for a place to come, sit, and watch Rome burn. They’re looking for a role to play.

Innovation — But Not Isolation

Let’s leave that for a moment and come back to it.

We also asked students to imagine starting an “innovative faith community” (click here) to find out what we mean by that). Would they remain part of their current church, or start something completely new? 69.8% said they would remain part of their current church. Only 30.2% preferred starting something entirely separate.

We think that matters. They are not telling us, Burn it down! They are saying, Let’s build within it.

Then, from among those who would remain connected to their church, 86.5% said they would begin by finding a few people to join them rather than doing something on their own. The data suggests they prefer collaboration to solo heroics. The stereotype of young leaders as independent spiritual freelancers doesn’t hold true here. What we see instead is a preference for shared leadership and communal experimentation within their existing churches. They want to reform from within with others.

Outward Instincts

When asked about their first focus in launching something new, a slight majority (56.2%) prioritized addressing a need within their community (outward) over launching a Bible study or worship service (inward). Then, when a subset was asked to choose where they would focus their efforts today, 100% chose addressing a particular community need. That kind of unanimity is rare in survey research (every parent who’s tried to pick a restaurant all their teens are happy about gets that). Their missional imagination skews outward. They are not primarily thinking about programs; they are thinking about people.

Their long-term imagination responses reinforce this. When asked to imagine what their innovative faith community might look like in five years, 85.7% envisioned a collection of small groups focused on addressing community needs. They are hoping for (and seem willing and ready to work toward) decentralized, relational, grounded-in-the-community expressions of faith.

A Temptation to Misunderstand

You might hear that 83% of university students (granted, in a relatively small sample set of 53) are concerned about peers leaving and assume the worst. You might hear that 58.5% see the church as inwardly focused and feel defensive about the community you’re a part of, maybe even leading. You might also interpret the language of innovation as dissatisfaction.

But we at Mission Alive love data, and the broader dataset won’t let us do that. The same students who are concerned are also:

• 98% confident in the Gospel’s power.

• 96% eager to make a difference.

• 75% sensing God’s call toward something new.

• 70% wanting to remain connected to their current church.

They haven’t stopped believing; they do wonder, though, about alignment. They haven’t walked away, but they are watching - quite closely, it seems.

What Might This All Mean?

1. Listening Must Precede Strategy. If 83% are aware of generational drift, they are already analyzing the church’s trajectory. They don’t need us to tell them there’s a challenge. They see it and feel its consequences in the empty chairs their friends used to drop into.

What they do need is space to articulate what they are noticing — without being immediately corrected, explained to, or explained away. Listening is not a courtesy. It is an absolute necessity (at all times, but especially now).

2. Pathways for Partnership Matter. When 96% wish they could do more, the question becomes: Are we giving them room? Not token leadership, not meaningless committee seats, but real responsibility along with real space (and real funds!) to experiment - all of which requires real trust and real willingness to share and to risk.

They believe they are called (at least 75% say they feel that way); are our structures ready to let them live into that?

3. Innovation and Connection Are Not Opposites. Nearly 70% want to innovate while remaining connected to their church. It means the next generation is not asking for separation but for permission to build something inside our (them included!) existing structures.

Churches that learn to bless and support small, missional experiments within their walls may find themselves energized rather than depleted. And this is one of the kinds of efforts that Mission Alive exists to support — creating space for contextual, community-focused expressions of faith that remain rooted in shared belief.

4. The Flourishing of the Community Matters. These students want to be involved in working with their church outside their church. They seem to have intuited something we believe here at Mission Alive: a church that works toward the flourishing of its community flourishes itself. It’s counterintuitive but true. When churches dare to invest their resources (their people, their money, and their focus) in the community in which they’ve been planted, they (along with their community) experience the return on that Kingdom investment.

A Hopeful Word

Summarizing the entire dataset in three phrases, we’d say: 1) High Concern, 2)High Belief, and 3) High Calling.

That combination is good news. Concern without belief could lead to despair. Belief without concern could lead to a faith James would call dead. Calling without opportunity will lead to frustration. But when all three converge? Now we’re talking potential!

The future of the church might not hinge on convincing young people to care after all. This group at least already does. The question we need to ask ourselves is whether we are ready to trust them — to listen deeply, to release responsibility generously, and to join them in the outward-facing imagination they’ve already envisioned. If we can, we might discover that we already have everything needed to build something new and innovative together.

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Andy Johnson serves as a Church Planting Specialist with Mission Alive. He holds an M.A. in Missions from ACU and has spent his adult life serving in cross-cultural and pastoral ministry. After 13 years in Burkina Faso, West Africa, Andy pastored in Alabama before relocating to Texas to help lead Mission Resource Network’s efforts in caring for global workers. In addition to his work with Mission Alive, he serves as a hospital chaplain and coaches and debriefs leaders through CultureShift Services. Andy lives in Fort Worth with his wife and their three (increasingly grown!) children.