Gen Z male church attendance is on the rise. Here’s why it’s happening in Athens:
Derick Wright, right, and Luke Styles, who are both in Gen Z, have a Bible study at the MLC in Athens, Georgia on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Gen Z males have been increasingly attending church nationally and in Athens. (Photo/Evan Frilingos)
By Evan Frilingos, Jack Eubanks and Emily Laycock
Gen Z male church attendance has been increasing nationwide in recent years, and for many who have joined churches in Athens, it’s due to mental health needs, a desire for community and a polarizing social climate.
“I'm plugged into an awesome community and I'm not depressed anymore,” said Harris Greenbaum, 24, who started going to Prince Avenue Baptist Church last year. “The anxiety’s decreased incredibly, and when I am anxious I know that I can turn to the Lord who knows what I'm going through.”
15% of Gen Z men attended church in 2019, which rose to 46% nationally by 2025, according to data by Barna Group. The study also showed that the increase played a significant role in seeing men attend church regularly more than women, which has historically been the opposite.
Athens churches have also witnessed this trend. The University of Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministries chapter’s male attendance has risen 45.8% since 2022, said Tyler Reinhardt, BCM campus missionary. Male leaders have gone from one-third to half of all BCM leaders in the same time period. The Wesley Foundation has seen male student participation in discipleship programs increase by 10% in the last few years, said Bob Beckwith, Wesley director.
The reason behind the increase in national Gen Z male church attendance hasn’t been attributed to a single factor, but a collection of them. Gen Z men have also been shown to have worse mental health than other groups, and some have been left searching for a place that encourages their masculinity. Many Gen Z males in Athens said their reason for joining church involved: Mental health difficulties, a need to find community and a desire to make sense of social polarization.
Mental health
65% of Gen Z self-reported mental health issues, according to a multi-year study by Oliver Wyman and The News Movement. Barna found in 2024 that anxiety and uncertainty were higher in Gen Z than any other generation. Men committed 80% of suicides in the United States in 2022, according to the Illinois Department of Health, and almost one-third of Gen Z men suffered from any mental illness in 2024, according to Statista.
“My mental health was always bad because, um, I got diagnosed with severe depression, PTSD and schizophrenia for the longest time, and I used to not even want to read my Bible,” said Joshua Parris, 22, who returned to Cornerstone Church Athens in 2022. “I struggle with it a lot, and I still do … But I will say, over the years, things have gotten better. I actually smile a lot more.”
“Jesus says, like, come all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” said Lucas Tatum, a senior at the University of Georgia who recently started attending Wesley. “I think that’s really brought people back to the church because at the end of the day, it’s like, when we come to the end of ourselves, we need something bigger to look towards.”
Community
Gen Z males have shown a need to find community, which could be attributed to the loneliness that the generation, especially men, are experiencing. They are finding community at churches in Athens.
“As a ‘Gen Zer’, it takes a step of faith to go into a new community because it often is that people are lonely,” said Alex Waller, a UGA junior who started attending Prince in college. “However, I think there is so much more growth and feeling heard, feeling acknowledged, not feeling anonymous, because the people in the church are inspired by something different,” Waller said.
“I would just say I had a burning passion inside me to really find a community with people that I connected with and not worldly things or things that I was associated with that didn’t align with my true purpose,” said Jason Thisdale, a UGA senior who started going to Wesley his sophomore year.
Social polarization
Gen Z is growing up in a time of increasing social polarization, marked by the rise of social media, continued social unrest, and a hyperpartisan political sphere.
Gen Z males in particular have had to grapple with these truths while also navigating a modern society that is redefining gender roles.
A recent survey by King’s College London conducted across 30 countries, including the United States, found that 57% of Gen Z males agreed with the statement that ‘We have gone so far in promoting women's equality that we are discriminating against men.’
Joey VanHorn, a 17-year-old high school student and attendee at Cornerstone Church Athens, said he prefers and finds comfort in the more traditional values found at church.
“The church kind of, I think, developed a more nuanced and accurate biblical view of masculinity,” Reinhardt said. “And I think a lot of men recognized that and saw that they could themselves find purpose in that definition of masculinity, and we're drawn to it because they saw it as okay, this is something different from what I'm hearing in the broader culture, and it's actually desirable because it gives me dignity and purpose.”
Jason Thisdale, a UGA senior who started going to church his sophomore year, receives prayer at Wesley Chapel in Athens, Georgia on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Thisdale was surrounded by people in support of him after he went to the front to profess his faith in Christ. (Photo/Evan Frilingos)
Bob Beckwith, Wesley director, prays for two students at Wesley Chapel in Athens, Georgia on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Wesley has seen an increase in male discipleship students in recent years, Beckwith said. (Photo/Evan Frilingos)
Carson Candela, right, a Wesley leader, worships with other students at Wesley Chapel in Athens, Georgia on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. Gen Z males have been increasingly attending church nationally and in Athens. (Photo/Evan Frilingos)
Budget Line
Local enterprise story about how Gen Z males are increasingly attending church nationally and in Athens, with the UGA Baptist Collegiate Ministries chapter seeing an increase of 45.8% in male attendance since 2022. Gen Z men have found community, mental health help and refuge from social division in local Athens churches. It’s important now because of Charlie Kirk’s death, the Knechtles’ campus visit, and it coincides with an increasingly anxious and lonely generation growing up in a polarized American social and political climate that has seen a resurgence in Christian values.
Why I wrote this story
The religion beat members and I wrote this story when we found out the Gen Z male churhc attendance spike nationwide was taking place in Athens. We learned how to work on a reporting team and use visuals to help tell the story with emotion, proximity, impact and conflict as newsworthy factors.