Gen Z lost touch with faith communities during pandemic but kept the faith

Springtide Research reports on their survey of 2500 young people, aged 13-25 ("Generation Z"), regarding their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the loss of loved ones brought, young people have missed out on many important milestones, traditions, and connections to community. While half of Generation Z respondents believed that their faith communities responded well to the pandemic overall, a dramatically smaller number of them seemed to connect personally with religious institutions or leaders. Notably, only 10% of the respondents reported that a clergy member or religious leader had reached out to them during the pandemic (compared to 26% who noted that a teacher or professor had done so). Further, only 14% of respondents indicated that their faith community was a source of support when they were overwhelmed.