Young Men Flocking Back to Church in Search of Truth, Says Bestselling Author Jeremiah Johnston
A growing number of young men are returning to church and embracing faith in what some observers are calling a spiritual awakening across America—an encouraging trend that Pastor Jeremiah Johnston says is being fueled by a renewed hunger for truth, purpose, and intellectual engagement.
In an interview on The Todd Starnes Show, Johnston—pastor of apologetics and cultural engagement at Prestonwood Baptist Church and author of the New York Times bestselling book The Jesus Discoveries—said the surge is no coincidence.
“They’re tired of going to places that do not challenge them intellectually,” Johnston said. “And what’s awesome about the church today is… we’re raising the intellectual quotient of young men. We’re challenging them to be limitless in their faith.”
Johnston’s comments come as recent polling underscores a shift among younger Americans—particularly men—toward faith and religious engagement.
According to a Gallup survey cited by outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News, young men are increasingly attending church and reporting that religion plays an important role in their lives—reversing years of decline.
The trend is especially pronounced among Generation Z men, many of whom are searching for structure and meaning in a culture often described as fragmented and uncertain.
Forty percent of men ages 18 to 29 attend religious services monthly or more often — around a seven percentage point increase from 2022-2023, and the highest percentage who have reported doing so since 2012-2013, the Washington Post reported. Gallup surveyed 26,601 American adults on this question from 2024 to 2025, including 1,905 men younger than 30.
As a teenager living outside Houston, Mason Gubser found himself increasingly disillusioned by a life that seemed to revolve around scrolling through his phone.
“All my entertainment is right here in front of me, but there’s no fulfillment from that,” Mr. Gubser said. “I wanted something new and something traditional and something that felt holy.”
He found what he was looking for at the Catholic center on campus at Texas A&M University, where he is a petroleum engineering major. Now 21, Mr. Gubser has been a confirmed Catholic for two years and is engaged to be married. He attends Mass once or twice a week.
“What I was really looking for, and still am, was purpose,” he said. “The church definitely provides that.” – New York Times
Johnston says Christianity uniquely meets that need.
“When you live on mission, for mission, on purpose, for purpose… we’re part of the greatest force for good on planet Earth,” he said.
At the center of Johnston’s message is his new book, The Jesus Discoveries: 10 Historic Finds That Bring Us Face to Face with Jesus, which has climbed the bestseller charts by offering what he describes as compelling historical and archaeological evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ.
“I wrote a book… of everything we can know about Jesus… without even opening the Bible,” Johnston explained. “It turns out we can have 65 facts about the life, the death, the miracles, the burial, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Jesus before we ever crack open the Bible.”
The book was inspired by a deeply personal challenge from his own children.
“My triplets… said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to be able to tell us what we can know about Jesus, but you can’t use the Bible,’” Johnston recalled.
That challenge led him to compile what he calls “overpowering evidence” rooted in archaeology and historical records—evidence he says sets Christianity apart from other religions.
“The great thing about Christianity… is that it’s testable against history,” Johnston said. “I have to appeal to Roman emperors… for the same level of evidence we have for Jesus of Nazareth.”
As young men increasingly return to the pews, Johnston believes the combination of intellectual rigor and spiritual truth is key to sustaining the revival.
“One thing… as a believer, I don’t have to check my brain at the door,” he said.
For many churches across the country, that message appears to be resonating—marking what could be the early stages of a broader cultural shift back toward faith, family, and tradition.
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