What does “evangelical” mean to young evangelicals?
Evangelicals have long commanded attention in American politics, but less is known about teen and young adult evangelicals. What does “evangelical” mean to young people, ages 13–25, who identify as such? Our research on Gen Z and Gen Alpha reveals just how complex young people’s feelings are about evangelical identities. As one of the 76 young people we interviewed in-depth shared:
I think in the last 10 years, ‘evangelical’ has really been paralleled to more conservative Republican views . . . So, I am conflicted to say that I am an evangelical Christian just based on more of the modern definition.
In our 2024 study of young people and civic engagement, 21% of the 6,669 survey respondents identify as evangelical—about the same percentage of self-identified evangelicals among adults in the US. Of those young people who say they are evangelical, 76% report being evangelical in “some ways,” and 24% say they are evangelical in “everyway.”
Measuring the theological, social, and political dimensions of evangelicalism
In order to understand the different ways young people identify as evangelical, we designed a set of questions to capture three dimensions of evangelicalism: theological, social, and political. We then asked this set of follow-up questions to young people who said they were evangelical in “some” or “every” way—a subsample of 1,369 young people.
We find that young evangelicals identify with the theological dimension of evangelicalism more frequently than the social or political dimensions. For example, nearly half of young evangelicals (48%) report having “made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ,” and 39% say they believe that “Christianity is the one, true faith leading to eternal life.”
Smaller shares of young people identify with the social and political dimensions of evangelicalism. One-third of young evangelicals (33%) say their family is evangelical, and 23% say they are members of an evangelical church. Under a quarter of young evangelicals (23%) say their political views are shaped by the Bible. Just 10% of young evangelicals say they tend to support evangelical political leaders.
How does political ideology relate to evangelical identity?
Of the 1,369 evangelical young people we surveyed, 1,120 shared their political ideology with Springtide. Forty-three percent identify as politically conservative, 31% as liberal, and 26% as moderate.
While young evangelicals most frequently identify with the theological dimensions of evangelicalism over the social or political dimensions, the extent to which young evangelicals identify with one dimension of evangelicalism over another varies by political ideology. For example, 86% of politically conservative evangelicals identify with the theological dimension of evangelicalism, compared to 71% of liberal evangelical respondents.
Melanie, 20, who self-identifies as conservative, explains:
Being an evangelical Christian just means the fact that I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to save me from my sins. And because of that, I can go to heaven—because of his grace.
Differences across political ideologies also surface when it comes to the social dimension of evangelicalism—that is, being a member of an evangelical church or having an evangelical family. Over half (54%) of liberal evangelical young people report being evangelical in this way, while 41% of moderate evangelicals and 42% of conservative evangelicals say the same.
I would say I’m a little bit [evangelical]. I go to a local community church weekly. It’s very relational for me. I have a community who’s encouraging, who challenges me, who loves me.
Finally, while evangelical young people who identify as politically evangelical were the smallest group, half of young conservative evangelicals select at least one of the political dimensions of evangelicalism. This is 15 percentage points more than moderate evangelicals (35%) and 21 percentage points more than liberal evangelicals (29%).
I believe that the truth originates from God, what is true and what is good and what is desirable is going to be what’s from God. So, if there’s a political decision, I’m going to side with truth that originates from scripture and whatever is closest to that.
The future of evangelical identity
These findings highlight the complexity of evangelical identity among younger generations. The data show that young evangelicals are more united by their theological commitments—nearly half affirm a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and belief in Christianity as the only path to eternal life—than they are by the social and political political dimensions of evangelical identity. Young liberal evangelicals lean into community and relational aspects of their identity, while young conservative evangelicals are more likely to name ways their religious beliefs shape their political beliefs. These findings challenge existing perceptions of evangelicals as driven exclusively by political motives and raise questions about how Gen Z and Gen Alpha evangelicals might instead value engaging with faith, community, and public life in the years to come.
Note: See survey responses in the topline survey results and review methodology here.
