In 2020 Man in the Mirror launched a new division of our ministry called "Mirror Labs." It exists to address the unique cultural challenges facing young men today.
Things have seemingly changed quite rapidly in the years since Covid. When we launched Spiritual Fathers, much of our research was focused on Millennials - men who are roughly 30-45 years old. We talked about the rise of the nones - people who don't affiliate with any religious identity. We reported on the "great de-churching" - for the first time in eight decades of Gallup research, more people were NOT attending church than those who were.
Those realities still matter, especially for Millennials, but something is happening now with GenZ - men who are 15-30 years old. There has seemingly been much ado about Gen Z returning to faith, with suggestions that a revival is happening. I've observed some of this personally, and there are genuinely encouraging signs.
Still, we want to take an honest look at what's happening so we can align ourselves with what God is doing in this generation of men.
From the 2026 State of Young Men report, what it seems to suggest is that there is a "stabilization" when it comes to spirituality in young men. Decline has slowed, and the posture is shifting. It might not be to the point of Revival, but it certainly creates leverage if we meet these men in the right ways.
When it comes to faith and spirituality, young men are:
- Less hostile
- More curious
- Searching for order
- Open to formation
There are 5 core signals that we see:
- Disaffiliation has plateaued in our recent data
- The gender gap in church attendance is narrowing
- Many young men are expressing a desire for marriage and legacy
- Religious men are reporting a higher sense of flourishing
- Women are disaffiliating faster than men in some cohorts
Stabilization changes our strategy.
We are not operating in "decline only" territory anymore, but we are operating in an environment marked by:
- Fragile openness
- Institutional distrust
- Identity instability
- Hunger for formation
For churches, we believe there needs to be a core shift. The "old question" that most churches have asked is "How do we get men to show up?" The "new question" we should consider is: "What path of formation do men walk here?"
This communicates something young men are desperate to hear: "We want to help shape you into the man God is calling you to be."
Some practical moves that we can make as churches include:
- Creating structured brotherhood
- Elevating fatherhood discipleship
- Replacing event-driven men's ministry with vision-driven formational pathways
- Speaking directly to the male identity - especially in areas like AI, work, and purpose. Silence on these issues will sound like we don't care.
When it comes to AI, this is not just an economic or environmental consideration. For young men, it's existential. Men are subconsciously asking "If my intelligence is replaceable, what makes me valuable?" The Church must answer the problem of identity, not just morality.
There is a Father leverage point here as well. The data shows that Spiritual Fathers multiply generational impact. If you want next-gen disciples, you have to start with dad.
When early signs of a spiritual shift in GenZ started circulating, I observed a troubling reaction among some older Christian men - the very men we've been working hard to equip.
Every young person we talked to said they would like to have an older man walk alongside them in life.
Every older man that we talked to saw the problems that younger men were facing and agreed that they needed help.
But when it came time for those older men to step up and step into the lives of these younger men, only a handful had the courage to do so. I want to celebrate those men!
Other men, however, disqualified themselves, made excuses, or withdrew out of fear. I don't say that to disparage them, but it is the reality.
So, the problem I saw when initial inklings of GenZ returning to church came out was almost a sigh of relief from many of these older men. As if to say "Oh good, now we don't have to do anything."
But that is the wrong attitude and mindset. Even if there is full-on revival with young men, they still need to be discipled. They still need older men to show them the way, walk with them, and care about them.
So let's be clear about this current data and what we mean by "stabilization." It's not revival, it's not momentum, it's not guaranteed growth.
IF churches will respond with clarity, then we can leverage the current moment into something real.
But if we do not, we believe that drift will resume.
There is an opportunity before us. The answer to every problem remains the same - we must disciple our way out. We have an opportunity here to form men into who God wants them to be.
