Loneliness and Gen. Z

Practical Spirituality series

One thing I learned doing pastoral visitation is how lonely many people are. Too many lose their spouse or friends, or get injured, and become hermits. Eating is a social function, so they don’t eat. Loneliness is especially rampant among Generation Z. Over fifty-three percent report loneliness.

You can have fame, wealth, social media friends and likes, text a hundred texts a day, even have a family, and still be very lonely. Gen. Z is very digitally connected, but would prefer to communicate in person. We can make that happen. A little lonely music: Justin Bieber – Lonely (Official Live Performance). Backstreet Boys – Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely (Official Video).

Loneliness is hard on people’s health and longevity. According to a Forbes article, loneliness can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. And people who experience social isolation have a 32% higher risk of premature death.

“It is not good for the man to be alone, so I will create a companion for him, a perfectly suited partner.” Genesis 2: 18 (The Voice)

Also see Philippians 2:3-4, Proverbs 18, and Hebrews 13:1-25.

Ways to meet or engage people age 18 to 35

Any idea that people in this age group aren’t spiritual and don’t need served by ministry is very uninformed. In this respect, they are like previous generations but feel less need for “religiosity.”

1. Create an informal space in a church, home, or other place where people can just hang out, feel welcome, and be with others on select nights.
2. Have an evening meal for people in a church or restaurant where they can meet each other. Keep in mind that schedules vary and children can be a problem that requires babysitting or oversight with activities. So, from others’ experience, scheduling needs to be very flexible.
3. The Facebook dating site can effectively be used to find friends with this formula: Age ___, straight (or whatever), want to make friends of both men and women.
   Other friendship apps include Bumble For Friends, Friender, Atleto, Yubo, LMK, WINK, Hey! VINA, Plura, Patook, Meetup, and Peanut.
4. Engage a social organizer to get out there to meet people, find public places to make announcements, and get them together in a meeting space.
5. Engage a social media influencer to use various social media groups to locate and invite local people. They like to communicate digitally, so build a network from this where they can get announcements. Advertise. Create a church app.
6. Have events for this age group such as quick dating (get to know others), mixers, special interest groups, etc. The best romances start with friendship and attraction.
7. Understand their needs and serve them with assistance. On https://connexions.life/ I list 27 life skills that would interest many of them, such as anger management, conflict resolution, and finding meaning and purpose. Be endlessly engaging, positive, enthusiastic, and genuine. Churches with more than one program for this age group show their interest and are most successful at engaging them.
8. Make videos and post them on social media. Make them warm and entertaining.
9. Avoid preaching and church doctrine. These are inherently laden with things they find unjust. Talk about genuine spirituality. Most like Jesus and genuine, active faith. Social justice and inclusion are at the top of their list.
10. Engage them in leadership positions or in service. They want this.
11. You can build genuine community by being genuine, letting them lead, helping them explore their interests, being available for life, spiritual, and relationship counseling, and enabling meetings.

Other resources

3 Things Making Gen Z the Loneliest Generation

6 Ways To Engage Gen Z And Millennials On Your Team – Forbes

Strategies to engage Gen Z with your continuing education program. – Crowd Wisdom

5 Ways to Engage Generation Z Volunteers. – Volunteer Hub

5 Ways to Engage Millennials and Gen Z in the Local Church. – ibelieve.com

Understanding What Motivates Gen Z Is Key To Having Them Become More Active Within Our Church Community. – Jesus Love Temple

4 Ways to Attract Gen Z Volunteers to Your Program. – Get Connected by Galaxy Digital

Connecting with Millennials: 5 Best Practices for Churches. – Boxcast

How Can Your Church Attract Millennials [Gen. Z]? Here Are 12 Keys – Reach Right Studios

7 Secrets to Making Friends as an Adult. – Marisa G. Franco, Ph.D., is a psychologist, former professor, and friendship expert. She has been featured in New York Times, Vice, and Chicago Tribune. She is the author of Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends. To learn more about friendship, sign up for her newsletter.

How Adults Can Make and Keep New Friends. Use of Proximity, Similarity, and Repetition. – Ahona Guha, D.Psych.

Conclusion

We can cure loneliness for all ages, but this is especially needed for Generation Z. All we have to do is be informed and try.

Probability Space

What probability spaces can we open in our minds to find ways to defeat loneliness?

Potential Space

If you think creatively and allow your mind to wander and explore loneliness, how can we help others?

________________________

–           Dorian

Our answer is God. God’s answer is us. Together we make the world better.

Restore and recreate. Take time to celebrate life. Sing and dance regularly, even every day.

Bible scripture verses are New American Standard Version (NASB), unless noted.

Author’s books

Appease the Volcano: What does God require from people? The voices of the ancients from many religions echo much of the same things: It starts with law, then mercy and forgiveness, then love.

The Prophetic Pattern: Ancient and Modern Prophecy: How to distinguish the intent of various types of prophecies and oracles, both ancient and modern.

Preparing For the Future Of Work and Education: Analysis of the kinds of jobs that AI and Robotics will displace, and the educational requirements for them. AI will replace or augment thirty percent of jobs. This is an in-depth analysis citing many authoritative sources.