This excerpt of Shaila Visser’s comment is re-posted by permission from The Regent Vine on the Regent College site.
Go here for full article, which includes sections on:
- A spiritually open generation
- Faith is bold – but formation is shallow
- Parents still matter most
- The digital formation of the soul
- Mental health and the need for hope
In every generation, God gives the Church a fresh opportunity to live and tell the good news in ways that make sense to emerging hearts and minds. I believe we are standing at an incredible moment of curiosity and openness.
Generation Alpha, born between 2010 and 2024, are the youngest cohort now shaping our families, schools and churches. Many are still preteens, but their world is already radically different from the one most of us grew up in.
They are the first generation to be fully born into a digital world – where the internet isn’t a place you go but the air you breathe.
Until recently, much of our conversation about youth and faith focused on Gen Z. But a new national study conducted by OneHope International released in partnership with Alpha Canada, titled Gen Alpha in Canada, gives us the first clear portrait of Canadian preteens ages 11 to 13.
It reveals both striking vulnerabilities and extraordinary openness – an invitation to the Church to pay attention, to love well and to walk faithfully alongside them. . . .
The opportunity before us
The most hopeful insight in this study might be this: Gen Alpha’s openness is real, but it will not last forever. They are eager to explore meaning and faith right now, before teenage cynicism sets in.
If we wait until they are 16, it might be too late. The window for shaping spiritual curiosity into discipleship is open now – between ages 10 and 13 – through parents, churches, schools and caring mentors who model faith in everyday life.
I believe the Canadian Church has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine how we share the good news of Jesus with youth who are growing up digital and deeply curious. The future of faith in Canada will depend not on how flashy our programs are but on whether we show up in relationships of trust.
As the study concludes: “Caring adults must respond with empathy, presence and meaningful relationships.” That is discipleship in plain language.
A call to the church
For Regent readers – pastors, theologians, parents and lay leaders – this data offers both a challenge and a gift. It reminds us that theology and research must once again talk to each other. We have an opportunity to understand how young people are formed, in addition to what they believe.
If the Church wants to reach the rising generation, we will need to recover the incarnational imagination of Christ himself, entering their world, speaking their language and embodying the good news in friendship and everyday faithfulness.
This work is already happening through so many churches. Across Canada, thousands of churches and individuals are joining Made For This, a national prayer movement inviting believers to pray by name for every high school in the country.
It’s a simple but profound act, interceding for students, teachers and the presence of Jesus in their schools. Prayer, after all, is where evangelism begins.
Pick one school close to your home and close to your heart at https://wearemadeforthis.com.
At the same time, young leaders are sharing their faith through the brand new Alpha Youth Series – an interactive, conversation-based exploration of life, faith, and meaning designed by and for this generation.
Each week, young Canadians are gathering in classrooms, youth rooms and living rooms to ask real questions about God, and to encounter Jesus in community.
These are glimpses of what it looks like when the Church takes seriously the spiritual curiosity of this generation, when we create spaces for honest dialogue, authentic friendship and the power of the Holy Spirit to move.
Generation Alpha is not waiting for us to have perfect strategies. They are waiting to be seen, known and invited into a story big enough for their questions. The good news is: we already have that story.
“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
Shaila Visser
May we take him at his word. And may the Church in Canada rise to meet this remarkable generation with courage, wisdom and hope!
For more on the Generation Alpha Report, visit https://alphacanada.org/gen-alpha/.