Only 41% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 35 believe in God with absolute certainty a dramatic fall-off from 65% in 2007. At the same time, a new generation of young Christian social influencers has arisen who seem to connect with the young souls who feel lost spiritually. Their microphone, so to speak, is not a pulpit but an Instagram reel, in which they give their take on their own spirituality, doubts, and messy experiences.
Megan Ashley is 35 years old and records her podcast series entitled “In Totality” from her couch. Her podcast presents what she considers to be ‘Monday through Saturday solutions’ in helping individuals implement in their daily life what they hear on Sundays. Her topics and discussions include parenting, mental health, and what it means to be from Black culture and live according to the Word of God. Her messages are very motivated because she has had an experience of healing from God during her divorce proceedings and bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies.
Co-hosts of the podcast “Girls Gone Bible,” Arielle Reitsma and Angela Halili, inject a different type of passion into their events, part Hollywood real talk and part revival meeting. Their podcast has over a million listeners per month, and their live events have hundreds in attendance. Reitsma and Halili share their experiences of struggling with addiction and heartbreak, exhorting the listeners not to make work or relationships their idols. “Everyone is spiritually hungry, emotionally hungry,” says Halili. “For the first time in the history of the world, people are being introduced to Jesus even on online platforms, and they’re learning, this is the real life.”
Such influencers are part of the larger trend that has emerged within American religion. According to the Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study, the percentage of Christians within the United States has leveled out around 62 percent after a long decline, but younger Americans are significantly less religious than their elders. Such influencers feel they are addressing this void providing relevant, easy-to-consume faith content for those who might never set foot inside a church. They are also pursuing the ethos of digital evangelism, where they are reaching their audiences where they already congregate.
Jackie Hill Perry and her husband, Preston Perry, in their podcast “With the Perrys,” offer theological insights and engagement with popular culture. Jackie, a writer and spoken-word performer pursuing a seminary degree, shares her authentic experiences escaping same-sex relationships and her exposure to poverty and violence in her past. Preston’s streetwear line and spoken-word performances merge well with their podcast content of prayer, obedience, and trusting in God during trials. “God tells us to ruffle feathers at times, to address culture,” says Jackie Perry. The couple’s bold approach in their podcast episodes, covering police brutality, racism, and abortion issues, has met equal appreciation and criticism, considering the divided atmosphere of Christianity on social media platforms.
“We’ve had one-on-one conversations, and we’ve listened calmly to people, and we’ve asked questions out of care for them,” says Bryce, who is only 22 and represents the youngest end of the spectrum. In his videos documenting evangelistic forays into Pride events, Burning Man, and even the Satanic Temple, he is seen to be having calm, individual conversations with people rather than ranting at them. “We’ve had one-on-one conversations, and we’ve listened calmly to people, and we’ve asked questions out of care for them,” Bryce says. His audience appreciates his balanced approach to his faith, derived from his personal experience with “anxiety and bitterness toward God to faith.”
However, the internet mission field is not without dangers. As theologian Rhyne Putman observes, social media can be a force to amplify theological conflicts, “exchang[ing] real dialogue for rhetorical brawling.” Social media personalities may be lifted up to a position of supposed authority based on their fame rather than their teaching quality, and their online platforms might even suppress their messages of faith. Others, such as Hill Perry, have concerns that their exploration of “dramatic and exotic matters” might obscure “the central message of Christianity in love and in the sacrifice of Christ.” However, the potential is huge.
Digital media enables the influencer pastor to go beyond geographical and denominational constraints, ministering to those who feel failed by the institutional church. As the Lausanne Movement’s vision for digital evangelism suggests, integrating online outreach with local discipleship could create lasting pathways to faith.. “For young listeners, these show hosts are not distant personalities, but fellow travelers through the spiritual thick of battle, trustworthy speakers who merge Scripture with real life, who demonstrate that faith is not only genuine but also transformative.”
