Esmé Partridge shares the stories of young Christian converts from new report with the Church of England. 27/07/2026

To grow up in the world today – to grow up online – is to experience culture as a dizzying kaleidoscope of images and ideologies. The beliefs and values held by young people are rarely ones they have inherited, but rather chosen from the vast array of options in a postmodern, digital age: wellness culture, alternative spirituality, “manifestation”, self–optimisation, therapy TikTok, financial gurus, the manosphere.

Yet a curious feature of this strange new world is that it can also throw up ancient ideas and timeless truths in places where they are least expected. In a climate where anything goes, beliefs previously thought outdated or irrelevant may find new expressions and new legitimacy. Even Christianity may become a viable option once again, even if it is only one of many possibilities for spiritual exploration. In this sense the digital world may be seen as the culmination of what sociologist Zygmunt Bauman called ‘liquid modernity’, in which all socially dominant narratives – including secularism itself – have melted away.

This was the experience of many of the young adults Theos interviewed for its new report on young adult journeys to church, who have found faith in what might seem like unlikely and surprising circumstances. The report, published last week by the Church of England, brings together the stories of thirty 18–30 year olds who have found a spiritual home in Anglicanism. Most of these journeys were long and winding. They did not come about because the Church of England was the default option or something they were familiar with from their upbringing.  Instead, having grown up in mostly secular or other religious families, they came through their own personal explorations, most beginning online and out of the postmodern supernova of belief. Sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly, they became open to the idea of Christianity – often having previously held very different views.

Some of these young people had previously been militant atheists, describing having a “teenage atheist phase” before later coming to faith. Farid*, a medical student in his early twenties from a Muslim family, developed strong opinions against religion having spent his early teens on the Reddit forum R/atheism and watching YouTube videos from the likes of Richard Dawkins and Alex O’Connor. “These guys hard launched my atheism in my teens”, he explained. Other men had said they had been enticed by right–wing manosphere influencers and the ideas of self–improvement they promoted. One 18 year old described how he got into bodybuilding, believing that “if you just get muscly, you’ll be happy”.

Others, particularly among the women interviewed, said they had previously dabbled in alternative spirituality. Many commented on the popularity of astrology and manifestation on social media, especially during the Covid pandemic. Abby*, a 24 year old nurse from the East Midlands, described how through encountering New Age spirituality and tarot cards on Instagram, she put her trust in “the universe” rather than God because “that was just what was accessible to me at that time”. She explained that her generation were drawn to these spiritualities because they were searching for some meaning or guiding purpose in life, making them open to just about anything. Among Gen–Z, one 19 year old convert said, “there’s just a longing for truth”.

There were others who pursued this longing for truth in religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. Whilst at university, Dom*, a 24 year old from Surrey, stayed up all night listening to talks by the Eastern religious philosopher Alan Watts. Others had been interested in Islam, which another young man said “opened up my mind to what God was as an idea” years before he considered Christianity.

It was sometimes through these other ideas that people, accidentally or otherwise, eventually found Christianity. Marina*, a 25 year old who works in a nursery, had followed alternative spirituality. But one day, a spiritual influencer she had been following on Instagram posted a Christian testimony out of the blue. Seeing her renounce her previous occult beliefs, Marina said, “sparked my curiosity but also scared me…I just never really considered that they were opposing [spiritual] forces”. This revelation led Marina to buy a Bible. In reading it she found deep solace and felt called to explore further, eventually deciding to attend a church near her.

There were others who stumbled across Christian content randomly – or perhaps providentially. Becky*, a young mum from the South West who grew up with an atheist mother and satanist sister, described how one day her phone “started showing me loads of TikToks and Facebook posts, all to do with Christianity”. She thought “OK, I’ll watch a few.” But realising that she “found so much peace and joy” in watching the videos, she kept clicking, “end[ing] up down this rabbit hole of sermons and speeches”. In retrospect, Becky says, this content suddenly appearing on her feed can only be explained by providence; what she described as “the Holy Spirit moving through the algorithm”.

Similar stories included Jake*, a 22 year old aspiring entrepreneur, who only became curious about faith after watching livestreamers on the gaming platform Twitch who mentioned being Christian. For Carmen*, a gap year student in the Midlands, it was seeing an artist she followed on Instagram post paintings inspired by Bible stories that inspired her to go deeper into Christianity, turning what had initially been a purely intellectual curiosity into a personal one.

The result for many people was a period of deep exploration that went beyond short–form online content and into longer podcasts, articles and books. These young people, whether or not they had been to university, were remarkably autodidactic. They spent hours watching theological YouTube channels like “Pints with Aquinas”, studying contemporary theologians like David Bentley Hart, and even reading Christian novelists like Dostoyevsky. These explorations carried them a long way on their spiritual journey, with many seriously considering becoming Christian at this stage.

However, strikingly, these explorations alone did not tend to convert them. Despite first discovering faith in a highly postmodern, virtual way, the deeper spiritual shifts that people described almost always occurred through a personal relationship or real–life encounter. For example, Owen*, a 28 year old from Yorkshire, had been researching the religious beliefs of J.R.R. Tolkien, being a lifelong fan of The Hobbit (with a Lord of the Rings sleeve tattoo to prove it). But it was only after passing his local parish priest in the street one day and getting to know him that he seriously thought about becoming a Christian himself. He described spending hours talking to the vicar, who offered personal guidance and answered his many questions. It was through this relationship that Owen’s curiosity grew into church attendance and, eventually, baptism.

Similarly, Jamilah*, a postgraduate medical student, had also been thinking about Christianity independently, but only made the decision to go to church after forming a close relationship with a pastoral support officer at her university. From housemates and partners to teachers and childminders, almost every story involved some individual who played a decisive role in the journey to church, providing a living example of faith, hope and joy.  

Others were transformed by emotional and spiritual encounters they had upon entering a church for the first time. For Dylan*, a recent English graduate, it was stepping into a medieval parish church and seeing rainbow light beaming through the stained glass windows that first awakened his sense of the numinous. “I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen”, he said. “I didn’t quite know what to do with the feeling…so I kept going back to that church”. At his first service there, he went up to the altar and described feeling an “overwhelming love” while receiving a blessing. He now goes to that church every Sunday, sings in the choir, and was recently baptised there.

Another student who came to church through her university’s Christian Union described going along to a service for the first time and being suddenly and unexpectedly moved by its “atmosphere of safety, people being so vulnerable…but so joyful…it was just an environment that I had never experienced before.” For her and others, it was these real–life spiritual encounters – of kindness, goodness, beauty and truth – that brought them into the Church.

What might these findings tell us about young adult journeys to faith today, in the Church of England and beyond? It is certainly true that the channels through which people discover Christianity in a digital age are novel and unpredictable. And yet, what is striking about these stories is that what really moved people – what turned them to Christ – were real relationships, real places, and real experiences. It was encountering the beauty of a sacred space; receiving a warm welcome from a congregation; spending hours talking with clergy and being able to ask them questions. The spark of curiosity may come from somewhere new, but the factors that sustain faith are unchanging – they are rooted, relational and timeless.

*All names were changed for the purposes of this research.

You can read The Church of England report ‘Understanding young adult journeys to faith’ here.

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