Conversations with Gen Z

Over the past month, I’ve spent many hours in conversation with prospective candidates for the PreachFor America Fellowship. These interviews have been among the most meaningful parts of my work this season. They have been thoughtful, honest, hopeful, and—perhaps most surprisingly—deeply encouraging.

The young adults I am meeting represent Generation Z. They grew up in a world shaped by smartphones, constant connectivity, and instant access to information. They are often described as anxious, distracted, or disillusioned. But what I have encountered is something far richer and far more hopeful. Again and again, I have met young women and men with a genuine heart for God, a desire to serve the common good through great leadership, and a longing for lives of purpose that extend beyond personal success or self-expression.

God is clearly at work in their lives. And they want to offer their lives back to God in service with an impact that extends beyond their lifetime.

As these conversations unfolded, three consistent themes emerged—threads woven through nearly every interview. Together, they reveal not only the longings and expectations of Gen Z, but also why the mission of the PreachFor Foundation matters so deeply in this moment.

First: Community.

These young adults have grown up hyper-connected and yet profoundly alone. They have unlimited access to information, content, and virtual networks—but very little access to the kind of embodied, rooted community that forms a life over time. What they are seeking now is something the internet cannot give them.

They want to belong to a people.

Again and again, candidates spoke of their desire for a community with shape and substance—a life with boundaries, rhythms, and shared practices. They long for a place where their days have a “circumference,” where they are known and can make a difference, where their identity is formed not in isolation but in relationship.

Many spoke of a deep ache for their lives to be knit together with others: older and younger, mentors and peers, saints at different stages of the journey. This is precisely what the Church, at its best, promises to offer—a community of belonging, a shared life oriented toward God, and a people who learn how to love one another faithfully over time.

Second: Mentoring.

Nearly every candidate expressed strong excitement about the mentoring dimension of the PreachFor America Fellowship. They are eager to learn—not abstractly, but relationally. They want to watch, listen, ask questions, and be guided by people who have lived the life they are discerning.

They want to be seen.

This generation is not resistant to authority; they are resistant to impersonal systems. What they crave is personal investment—someone who knows their name, recognizes their gifts, and is willing to walk alongside them with wisdom and care. They long for mentors who can help them name their calling, refine their instincts, and steward their talents well.

What is especially striking is their openness to multiple forms of mentoring. They are excited about pastoral mentors who can guide their spiritual formation, and they are equally eager to learn from lay leaders within congregations—people whose lives bear the quiet authority of faithfulness over time. As emerging leaders for the Church, they want formation, not just information. Training, not just opportunity. Relationship, not just placement.

Third: Security.

These young adults are coming of age in a time marked by economic uncertainty and vocational ambiguity. Many have watched older siblings and peers struggle to find stable footing. They carry real anxiety about finances, housing, and the future of work.

In this context, the structure of the PreachFor America Fellowship offers something profoundly humane: a two-year horizon of stability. Candidates speak with visible relief about knowing they can pay their bills, knowing where they will live and serve, knowing what the next season of life will hold.

This is not about comfort or complacency. It is about providing enough security for discernment to be possible. It is about giving young leaders a protected space in which they can listen, learn, and grow—free from the constant pressure of survival. In that space, courage can take root. Calling can be clarified. Faith can deepen.

Community. Mentoring. Security.

These three longings are not abstract ideals; they are concrete needs shaping a generation. And they are precisely where PreachFor is investing its energy, resources, and hope. We are not simply funding programs—we are investing in people with exceptional leadership capacity. We are helping to form leaders whose lives will serve churches, communities, and the common good for decades to come.

Our prayer is that this investment will ripple outward—into congregations, neighborhoods, and generations not yet born. What I have seen this month gives me deep confidence that God is already at work. And it is a joy to join in that work together.

With deep gratitude,

Trygve