Generation Z and Faith
“Generation Z and faith: A thematic analysis of #AsburyRevival TikTok content” was published in Crtitical Research on Religion in July 2025. Through the lens of the 2023 Christian revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, KY, this study explains how Gen Z TikTok users flocked to faith in times of uncertainty.
Prior to the analyis of TikTok videos, the paper provides background information on Generation Z’s anxiety on social media, TikTok as a social media platform, and the study’s theoretical background, Hogg’s Uncertainty-Identity Theory. This background information explains how a generation marked by the societal uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, political unrest, and climate change find answers through viral Christian trends and events.
Through the analysis of 100 TikTok videos using the hashtag #AsburyRevival between February 10, 2023, and February 21, 2023, three themes were found: (1) Identity shaping through group consensus; (2) bonding through stress, anxiety, and trauma; and (3) extremism as a means for persuasion.
While Gen Z’s attraction to religion in times of uncertainty can be healthy and can provide them with a sense of identity and group belonging, Asbury University’s conservative politics may exclude people of non-white, non-heteronormative backgrounds. Without providing TikTok viewers with the history of the charasmatic Christian movement or with the history of Asbury University, they may be unknowingly seeking answers in a place with a dangerous and exclusionary worldview.
In conclusion, seeking certainty at the 2023 Asbury Revival was helpful for Gen Z TikTok users in that it provided a meaningful sense of community. On the flip side, though, the revival invoked feelings of stress and anxiety for some and subtly promoted the extreme views of some conservative evangelical Christian churches.
To read the full, accepted version of this manuscript, click “Read More” below.