More young men in church, but where are the young women?

Across the Western world, something surprising is happening. After decades of decline, church attendance among young men is rising. For the first time in modern history, men under 25 are more likely than women to attend church ^[1]. While this is a cause for celebration, it also raises an important question: Where are the young women?

The answer is not that young women are becoming less spiritual. On the contrary, many are deeply engaged in spiritual pursuits – just not in the ways or places the church has come to expect. Psychologist Sabina Brennan points to evidence that young women are particularly drawn to non-religious forms of spirituality, such as tarot, astrology, or manifesting. These practices are not spiritually neutral, and Scripture is clear that they do not lead to life. Still, if we hope to reach young women with the good news of Jesus, our response cannot begin with condemnation. It must begin with understanding the longings that drive their search.

Why young women are turning toward alternative spiritualities

Belle Tindale in a recent Woman Alive article ^[2] on the rise of witch-themed spirituality reveals several reasons why witchcraft, tarot, astrology and similar practices resonate so strongly with young women today.

1. A longing for empowerment. For many women, the “witch” has become a symbol of female agency – someone who refuses to be silenced, controlled or dismissed. In a world where many young women feel disempowered, this symbolism has emotional force.
   
   Historically, Christianity has had a unique appeal to women. Tom Holland reminds us that “Christianity gave women a dignity that no previous sexual dispensation had offered”. Rebecca McLaughlin puts it beautifully: “No wonder Christianity was so attractive to women. Jesus had changed everything.” Christ offers far richer empowerment; a God who dignifies women, calls them to wisdom, and invites them into His purposes. If the church fails to reflect that clearly, young women may look elsewhere.
   
   
2. A longing for embodied spirituality. Alternative spiritualities are deeply sensory. They involve candles, herbs, cards, moon rituals and symbolic gestures, practices that are physical, tactile, and intuitive. Yet the Bible presents a faith that is no less embodied. God meets His people through water, bread and wine; through touch, posture, fasting and feasting, and song. Christian spirituality is not disembodied, it is profoundly physical and incarnational.
3. A longing for community. Online spaces like “WitchTok” or astrology groups often feel warm, supportive, and non-judgemental. They offer friendship, emotional validation, and shared experience. For many young women, these digital communities provide a deeper sense of belonging than they find elsewhere. The church, however, is meant to be a family. And when our churches feel distant, guarded, or overly formal, we should not be surprised if young women struggle to find a place where they are truly known and loved.
4. A longing for mystery. The modern, secular world often feels flat and many young women sense there must be more to life than what is measurable or easily explained. Alternative spiritualities offer enchantment, symbolism, and a vision of a world alive with meaning. In this, the Bible agrees. Scripture presents a reality saturated with God’s presence, angels and spiritual conflict, prayer and healing, suffering and hope. These longings are not trivial or rebellious; they are profoundly human, and they point toward something true.

What the church has lost: A language of spiritual depth

Dr Krisztina Mair in the Cambridge Papers suggests that rising interest in occult or mystical spirituality is not only cultural, but theological. For decades, many churches have minimised the supernatural; avoiding talk of angels, demons or spiritual warfare, emphasising doctrine over experience, and presenting Christianity as rational, reasonable and orderly.

But in the process, we have often muted the spiritual richness that saturates Scripture. Christianity is a profoundly enchanted faith: God speaks, heals, calls, guides, comforts and transforms. When churches downplay this reality, we leave a vacuum and something else rushes in to fill it. Young women are not rejecting spiritual depth. They are searching for it intensely.

Into this conversation, Dr Krisztina Mair's observation in the Cambridge Papers is crucial: “A retrieval of classical theology may aid us in our contemporary response to spiritual activity: God is the source of all truth and authority.” ^[3]

Christian tradition has always offered a robust framework for discerning spiritual experiences. Far from dismissing the unseen realm, classical theology roots it in God’s sovereignty, wisdom and goodness. Recovering this vision is not a step backward – it is a step toward clarity, confidence and depth.

What actually draws women toward faith?

Research in the recently released Finding Jesus Supplemental Report A comparison of the responses of male and female participants ^[4] shows that although there are many similarities in the way that women and men tend to come to faith, there are some differences in these pathways.

Men often cite:

• attending church in person
• reading the Bible
• the influence of a family member or partner
• conversations with church leaders.

These are structured, clear, information-driven routes into belief.

Women, on the other hand, commonly cite:

• a spiritual experience
• attending a small group
• conversations with a Christian friend
• relational connection and shared reflection.

Women often come to faith through relationship and encounter, through being seen, heard and understood. They respond to spaces where vulnerability is welcome and deep conversation is normal.

This tells us something important: Churches often excel at the pathways that draw men, but pay less attention to the pathways that draw women.

If we want to reach young women, we need to take their spiritual pathways seriously. These are not hard rules, and the gospel is the same for everyone. But they do suggest something important. Churches often invest heavily in public teaching and structured programmes, which are essential. But do we under-invest in the relational spaces where many women encounter Christ?

Four ways the church can reach young women today

Here are four essential shifts the church can make.

1. Recover Christianity’s spiritual imagination. Young women are hungry for mystery and Christianity offers it in abundance. We need to rediscover: worship that expects God’s presence; prayer that invites encounter; sacraments that engage the senses; teaching that honours the unseen world; spiritual disciplines that involve the body. This is not about chasing experience. It is about trusting the living God to keep His promises.
2. Build spaces for real conversation. In the New Testament the gospel spread through households, friendships, and shared life. Churches should treat small groups, mentoring, and intergenerational friendship not as optional extras, but as essential means of discipleship and evangelism. The truth is most often received where people feel known and safe.
   
   So churches must prioritise: small groups; prayer triplets; mentoring; intergenerational friendships; and safe, honest conversations about life and faith. These aren’t “nice extras”. They are the primary evangelistic avenue for young women.
   
   
3. Embrace embodied discipleship. Christian faith is physical because God took on flesh. Retreats, silence, fasting, creative practices, shared rhythms of prayer and rest all have Biblical precedent. They help all believers live out faith with their whole selves, not just their thoughts. And in particular young women don’t just want to think about faith; they want to experience it.
4. Show them the Jesus who dignifies women. Many young women have not rejected Jesus, but distorted versions of Him. We must present the Jesus who: welcomed women as disciples; spoke truth with authority and compassion; confronted sin and offered forgiveness; restored dignity through repentance and grace; and entrusted women with the first witness of His resurrection. This Jesus does not flatter or diminish women. He calls them into life. The Jesus of the Gospels is profoundly good news for women. Our task is to present that Jesus.

A final thought

Young women are spiritually open, curious and searching. Their turn toward witchcraft or alternative spirituality is not a rejection of God, but a longing for spiritual depth, empowerment, beauty, and belonging.

The church can meet these longings, not by compromising its message, but by recovering its own spiritual richness, relational warmth and Christ-centred imagination.

If we listen carefully, love faithfully, and practise the full depth of Christian discipleship, we may find that young women are not far from the kingdom at all. The challenge is not to become something new, but to become more fully what Scripture calls us to be.

1. “With Gen Z, Men Are Now More Religious Than Women”- The New York Times.
2. “Why are women so fascinated by witches?” Belle Tindale, Woman Alive.
3. “Dark spiritual encounters and hidden dangers: The enduring wisdom of classical theology”, Dr Krisztina Mair, Cambridge Papers.
4. Evangelical Alliance.