NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The bells at the Cathedral of the Incarnation ring out as they always have. But inside, something new is happening.

Alongside the echoes of the organ, there are new voices and new faces filling the pews.

“We have an incredible influx of young people approaching us, interested in the Catholic faith and even coming into the Catholic Church,” Father John Hammond, pastor at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, said.

It’s a trend stretching far beyond Tennessee. Nationally, some dioceses are reporting double-digit increases in conversions, with new members rising as much as 70% in a single year. Hammond said Middle Tennessee is no different.

“Those numbers have risen steadily over the years, but in the past couple of years, they’ve risen dramatically… almost doubled,” he said.

Maybe it started with the pandemic, when people were alone with their thoughts. Or maybe it’s today’s world, which feels divided, expensive and sometimes heavy. Whatever the reason, young parishioners said the choice is simple: they’re searching for something that lasts, and for many, that journey begins the moment they open church doors.

Natalie, who attends Mass with her fiancé, Seamus Moran, said Sunday services feel different than when she was younger.

“Majority of people here are way younger — mid-to-late twenties, early thirties, starting families, newlyweds, all of that,” she said.

For her and Moran, who will marry this fall, the church is now a constant in their week. “We worked with Deacon Thales to do the preparation course,” Moran said.

Research suggests this isn’t just anecdotal. One study shows members of Gen Z, particularly men, are more likely to attend weekly religious services than Millennials or even some Gen Xers.

Father Bruce Morrill, a Jesuit priest and professor of divinity at Vanderbilt University, said the reasons go deeper.

“It’s hit the wall for these young people," he said. "The economics, the social, mass murders — there was one yet again yesterday slaughtering children in church. That stuff altogether is having an accumulative effect that I think is different than a once-off event."

Morrill added that many are searching for something grounded.

“The increased participation in young people, especially young men, in the Roman Catholic church tracks with the desire for community, for tradition," he said. "They find the world they grew up in quite ephemeral… like being online, everything just vanishes instantly. They’re drawn to something tactile and steeped in history.”

And it’s not just Catholics. At the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, leaders are noticing more young people attending synagogue.

“Especially since the rise in antisemitism and October 7th, our Jewish community programming has seen a lot more non-Jews joining. That could be people wanting to stand in solidarity with the community and/or people that are converting,” Emma Canter said.

A generation sometimes labeled “disconnected” is finding its way back to sanctuaries that have stood for centuries.

“They’re looking for something holistic that nothing on a phone can provide,” Morrill said.

More young faces not chasing the quick or the fleeting, but choosing to sit in silence, to pray, and to be part of something that feels permanent in a world that so often doesn’t.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/young-people-are-returning-to-faith-filling-nashvilles-pews/