‘now’s The Time’: Gen Z And The Church’s Renewal

It used to be popular to wax eloquent about “kids these days” and our devolving society. But that’s no longer the case. More and more Christian leaders are bullish on Gen Z, as our generation shows a rising interest in Christianity and institutional renewal. The kids these days are seeking, and some of us are finding too.

As Gen Z men, we’re grateful for those who came before us and eager to sit at their feet, learning how to carry on the church’s mission in these new days. That’s why we support The Gospel Coalition and attended its biannual conference, TGC25, this past week. Unlike Collin Hansen, who’s attended every TGC conference, we’re part of the nearly 50 percent of attendees that joined for the first time. After embracing an embodied community of evangelicals who exist to renew and unify the church in the ancient gospel, we’ll never want to miss it.

Luke Simon: ‘I Almost Missed It’

The Devil would’ve been pleased if a Gen Z man like me (Luke) had missed TGC25.

Not because skipping a conference is a sin but because I’ve grown up in choppy cultural waters, and I need constant reminders that faithfulness is possible—and that others have walked this road before me.

If I’d missed TGC25, I would’ve missed thousands of voices rising together, praising the Lamb. I would’ve missed the conversations where social masks dropped and grace covered vulnerability. I would’ve missed a glimpse at the beauty of Jesus’ Bride. I would’ve missed God’s clear vision that week—a vision of where history is heading: not toward chaos or despair but toward a wedding feast. Toward the day when every nation, every tongue, every background, every generation will join together in endless praise of the same risen Lord.

The Devil would’ve been pleased if I’d missed seeing men, young and old, living faithfully in an age of faithless masculinity, reminding me that weakness isn’t failure but a doorway to God’s strength. He would’ve been pleased if I’d missed connecting with Gen Z believers, sharing not only life stories and text threads but also the belief that following Jesus is still worth everything.

One day, every nation, every tongue, every background, every generation will join together in endless praise of the same risen Lord.

The Devil would’ve been pleased if I’d missed it all. And by the Thursday before conference week, it seemed I would. But God had other plans.

That afternoon, a pastor at my church texted: A spot had opened up. Would I want to join a group of men traveling to Indianapolis the following Tuesday? Five days later, I was sitting in the Indiana Convention Center, listening to John Piper preach about God’s providential love from Ephesians 1—a love so deep it weaves every closed door, every sudden opening, every twist of the road into a story of praise. It was that same love that led me there.

Throughout the week, I spent time with older men worshiping, attending breakout sessions, confessing sin, and sharing struggles. On our last night, we gathered around a dinner table to reflect on a simple question: “How have you realized, through this conference, that God’s grace is bigger than you imagined?” My friend’s answer resonated with me:

It’s so hard to trust that I don’t have to do anything to earn salvation. I’ll attribute 99 percent to God’s grace, but I always cling to that 1 percent. All my life, I’ve held so tightly to that 1 percent. But the study through Ephesians this week, the worship, the breakouts . . . they’ve really loosened my grip on that 1 percent.

The Devil would’ve been pleased if a Gen Z man like me had missed TGC25—but by the (100 percent) grace of God, I didn’t.

Noah Senthil: ‘Now’s the Time’

Though I (Noah) traveled to TGC25 alone, God provided fellowship I hadn’t anticipated.

On Tuesday, I bumped into an old mentor, which led to a reconciling conversation I’d prayed about for years. Later, I made a 10 p.m. trip to the hotel hot tub, only to find one other person with the same idea: my pastor from college. The next day, I attended breakout sessions with old friends from ministries nationwide and had dinner with an older woman from my church whom I didn’t know was attending.

On the main stage, two highlights stuck out: John Piper’s instant-classic AI rant and Andrew Wilson’s message about maintaining and attaining ecclesial unity. However, my biggest takeaway came from the breakout session moderated by Brett McCracken with Gavin Ortlund, Jared Wilson, and Brad Edwards. They urged us toward the foundations of our faith: Jesus, the gospel, and the church. They also discussed Gen Z’s needs and opportunities. Ortlund repeated, more times than I can count, a rallying cry for my generation: “Now’s the time to be bold. Now’s the time to evangelize. Now’s the time for renewal.”

The Young, Restless, Reformed movement isn’t fading; it’s getting younger. TGC is reaching the next generation, and TGC25 is one of many examples. But it indicates far greater news: The Holy Spirit is at work, Christianity is growing, and the harvest is plentiful.

The Young, Restless, Reformed movement isn’t fading; it’s getting younger.

The most encouraging aspect of TGC25 was the organization’s unwavering loyalty to its most prized possession and the beneficiary of its labor: the local church. The institution is self-consciously parachurch—not a replacement for church but a resource for churches to rally around the gospel and minister in their local contexts. Mark Vroegop made this clear when he emphasized a recommitment to supporting pastors, along with the immensely encouraging news of Coalición‘s rapid growth.

But this emphasis was most evident by the 7,000-plus believers filling up the Indiana Convention Center: Anglicans, Presbyterians, Baptists, and nondenominationals eager to participate in TGC’s unifying mission. In an age of “spiritual but not religious,” TGC is holding the center on the gospel and the church.

Let’s Hold the Center

At least three speakers (but probably more) referenced Don Carson’s infamous anecdote about assuming the gospel: one generation believes the gospel, the next assumes the gospel, and the following generation denies it.

We currently inhabit a strange “gray space”—a twilight hour caught between cultural breakdown and spiritual renewal, but hints of revival are in the wind. At TGC’s 20-year mark, there’s no telling what the next two decades will bring. But we need to hear this: The temptation to drift is real. Social and political issues have their place as entailments of Christianity. But we must hold the center. The person and work of Jesus are primary—always.

We hope The Gospel Coalition will continue to be a bastion of Reformed catholicity, centered on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, come what may. If Gen Z is going to participate in renewing the 21st-century church, that’s how we’ll do it.