By the Boston Flourish NextGen Team

This week, we feature another article introducing one of the key conversations shaping Boston Flourish 2025—the Next Gen focus on faith and formation among young adults. Deconstructing Anxiety: What Faith Means to a Generation Raised on Crisis explores how Boston’s emerging generation is navigating uncertainty, rediscovering faith, and inviting the Church to reimagine discipleship for an anxious age. From the challenge of “generational precarity” to the hope of a quiet revival, the Next Gen Team shares how belief is taking new shape in our city and what it means for the future of the Church.

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Across Boston and beyond, a generation is coming of age in the aftermath of disruption. They’ve watched recessions reshape opportunity, pandemics redefine community, and politics fracture belonging. They’ve inherited a world where the ground seems to shift faster than they can plant their feet.

Sociologists have named them “The Anxious Generation.” This describes young people growing up in an era marked by constant crisis—economic instability, social isolation, digital overload, and cultural upheaval—that has left many feeling uncertain, overwhelmed, and searching for solid ground. Yet in the language of faith, we might also call them the hopeful generation—because even in their fear and anxiety, they are reaching for something real.

They are growing up in what The Boston Flourish NextGen Team is describing as generational precarity— not as catchy, we know. But what we mean is there is a pervasive sense of instability that shapes how young people think about the future: where they’ll live, what they’ll do, and whether they belong. But juxtaposed to this precarity, something powerful is stirring: a revival marked not by noise or spectacle, but by authenticity—a quiet turning of hearts back to God in a search for meaning, belonging, and peace. 

A Generation Formed by Fear, Searching for Faith

According to recent Barna research, church attendance among Gen Z and young adults is actually on the rise—with younger believers now participating more consistently than older generations. Despite widespread narratives of decline, this data reveals a generation not abandoning faith but reimagining it—seeking spaces where authenticity, belonging, and truth can coexist.

Across Boston, we see this reality reflected in real time. Young adults are returning to church communities and faith conversations not out of obligation, but out of hunger—for meaning that speaks to their lived experience and for a faith that holds up under pressure.

Others, like Elise Vernely, see how this instability touches deeper questions of identity and belonging:

These reflections capture the paradox of this moment: fear and faith are shaping each other in real time. The same instability that once pushed young people away from church is now drawing them toward an authentic encounter with God—one not built on performance or certainty, but on presence. Beneath the anxiety, there is a growing hunger for belonging, purpose, and a faith big enough to hold their questions.

Listening to the Voices That Matter

That conviction has driven our journey as the NextGen Team —pastors, mentors, nonprofit leaders, and young adults working together under the umbrella of Boston Flourish 2025. Over the past several months, we’ve been listening closely to those who live and lead in this tension.

Several members of our team—Cady Malkemes, Amaris Hernandez Diaz, Taylor Perry, and Joe Rivers—represent the very generation we’re seeking to serve. Their honesty, questions, and conviction have grounded our work in lived experience rather than distant observation. They remind us that this generation’s story cannot be told about them—it must be told with them.

Alongside them, leaders like Jason Adams and Pastor Reggie Smalls bring years of experience serving students and young adults across Boston. Jason’s work has spanned campus ministry at UMASS Lowell, mentorship at the International Fellowship House in Back Bay, and youth education programs for the Department of Education in East Boston. Reggie’s leadership through the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative continues to equip young people for faith-based civic and community impact. Together, their work reflects the heartbeat of this initiative: forming young adults who are spiritually grounded, socially aware, and ready to lead.

We’ve also solicited insights from current campus ministry leaders across CRU, InterVarsity, and Chi Alpha, who affirm that while this generation’s struggles are real, there is also a growing hunger for belonging, purpose, and truth. Their experiences echo recent findings from Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program, whose research on generational precarity confirms what many of us see firsthand—that young adults are searching for anchors of meaning amid a culture of instability. Representatives from the program will join our Boston Flourish conversation to help shape a faithful response.

In that spirit, Elise Vernely offered a powerful theological reflection on this moment, drawing from 1 Corinthians 12:

“Generational precarity to me means an uncertainty of identity, purpose, and belonging. I thought of the scripture that says, ‘If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?’ There are so many messages about who you should be based on your race, age, or background—and that isn’t helpful. No one is a monolith. 1 Corinthians 12 teaches me that everyone is unique, everyone is needed, everyone is valued, and when we come together, we thrive. That’s the message young people need to hear today.”

She continued,

“I am excited to be part of this year’s NextGen conversation because I see this as an opportunity to really make meaningful change for this generation and those to come. I see this as a divine opportunity to share my talents, gifts, and knowledge in a way that serves our youth and even breaks cycles.”

For Cady Malkemes of Neighborhood Church Dorchester, the heart of this work is deeply missional:

Through these conversations, our team has found that this generation isn’t faithless—it’s faithful differently. They want discipleship that’s lived out loud, not locked in a classroom; mentorship that’s mutual, not one-directional; and faith that’s curious enough to engage the world, not retreat from it.

Our Emerging Response: From Events to Ecosystem

In response, we’re beginning to reimagine what engagement could look like for a generation that learns through story, dialogue, and experience. The NextGen team is exploring a rhythm of quarterly citywide gatherings—spaces designed to bridge college and non-college young adults, spiritual and civic life, and faith with everyday formation.

Rather than relying on traditional programming, we’re envisioning creative discipleship laboratories—think of the energy of a TED Talk, the small group vibe and relational depth of an Alpha Course, and the authenticity of a live podcast conversation. Each gathering would pair short, idea-driven talks with honest dialogue, worship, discussion and community connection. The hope is not just to inform minds but to ignite imagination—giving young adults the language, faith, and community to make sense of their world through the lens of Christ.

Still, we know that lasting transformation happens in ongoing relationships, not in one-time gatherings. That’s why we’re hoping to partner with campus ministries like CRU, InterVarsity, and Chi Alpha, and community-based ministries such as The Boston Project’s Young Adult Ministry (led by leaders like Cady Malkemes). Together, these ministries could offer discipleship pathways and small-group environments where participants continue growing after each gathering—spaces where conversation turns into formation.

If realized, this rhythm could begin to form a citywide ecosystem—a collaborative network that cultivates connection, community, and courage throughout the year. It’s not about hosting more events; it’s about testing ways to build trust and belonging among young adults who are rediscovering faith in an anxious age.

As Rev. Devlin Scott, Managing Director of UniteBoston and convener of the team, shared:

This idea seems to reflect what many across Boston are sensing: that a quiet revival is stirring—not defined by crowds, but by curiosity; not by production, but by participation. It’s faith that speaks the language of this moment while helping a generation rediscover what’s timeless.

Faith Beyond the Fear

The Next Gen team will bring this vision to the Boston Flourish Conference on October 30, joining hundreds of civic, business, and faith leaders to imagine a city where everyone can flourish. Together, we’ll name the problem of generational precarity—and propose a pathway of hope rooted in collaboration, discipleship, and love that casts out fear.

Because if this is indeed the anxious generation, then it is also the one through whom God may be revealing a new kind of faith—honest, embodied, and unafraid to question.

Raised in the shadow of disruption, this generation is teaching the Church something profound: faith isn’t the absence of fear—it’s what we build together in spite of it.

Because maybe the real story of our time isn’t the crisis that shaped a generation—it’s the courage and revival that’s shaping what comes next.