Navigating Religious Identity and Diversity Among Gen Z in a Post-Pandemic World

The future of the religion lies with young people, whose lives are now riddled with uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this presentation, Dr. Josh Packard will draw from Springtide Research Institute’s annual State of Religion & Young People study to explain the spiritual lives of Gen Z and how we need to re-think everything when it comes to how we engage the most diverse generation in history. Rev. Neil Ellingson will moderate the Q & A period. Dr. Josh Packard is Executive Director of Springtide Research Institute, which maintains the largest dataset on young people and their spirituality in the U.S. Josh has a doctorate in sociology from Vanderbilt and he’s the author of several books including Meaning Making: 8 Values that Drive America’s Newest Generations and Church Refugees: Why People are Done with Church but Not their Faith. Josh is a sought-after speaker and author and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CBS, USA Today, and more. Pastor Neil Ellingson is Associate Chaplain in Campus Ministry at the University of St. Thomas. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Ellingson holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a Master of Divinity degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He founded Root and Branch, a “dinner church” in Chicago, which continues to flourish. Sponsored and organized by the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies in collaboration with the Department of Theology, Campus Ministry, Student Diversity & Inclusion Services, and the Office of Human Resources at the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota, USA) with generous support from the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota