By Nia Williams
Los Angeles local Malikka McDuffie, 34, was in high school when she began to question organized religion.
Growing up in a religious, Panamanian household, McDuffie was raised in the Episcopal Church and attended Catholic school.
One day, she recounts, her father decided that he was Jewish.
Suddenly her family was not celebrating Christmas and they could not eat certain foods. She stopped taking religion seriously, growing to believe people only followed what was popular or what their parents believed.
“I think that started my first battle with my faith and just religion as a whole, because how can somebody just say no to Jesus,” McDuffie said. “How do you just move away from that?”
After taking a religious course, McDuffie considered Buddhism. She felt like her father’s switch-up gave her a pass to do the same.
Now an adult, McDuffie classifies herself as a spiritual person and began using crystals, affirmations and psychic readings but denies any religious affiliation.
McDuffie represents a growing trend, where Generation Z and millennial women are leaving organized religion while Gen Z and millennial men are clinging to it, leading to a new religion gender gap.
As of last year, 39% of Gen Z women identified as religiously unaffiliated compared to 34% of men according to the Survey Center of American Life.
Another survey from the Public Religion Research Institute found that 39% of Gen Z women identify as religiously unaffiliated as opposed to 31% of Gen Z men.
Members of the church Empowered Faith LA pray during Sunday Service on April 6. A Christian church community, Empowered Faith LA seeks to change “the faith of a generation” through their service and program called Next Gen ministry. Photo credit: Rachael Cross
Sophia Pandya, the chair of Long Beach State’s Department of Religious Studies, said recent events are affecting Gen Z churchgoing.
She described the “Rise of the Nones” phenomenon, where young groups of people report themselves as spiritual, non-religious or atheist.
“You’ve got women leaving their houses of worship for obvious reasons, right?”, Pandya said. “Why stay, if you’re a second-class citizen in your church, temple, mosque, et cetera. Why stay if you’re facing patriarchy, if you’re facing lack of opportunities and leadership within those structures?”
Currently, Black women are facing challenges as they seek leadership roles in Black churches.
Martha Simmons, founder of the Women of Color in Ministry, told the Associated Press that she “estimates that less than one in 10 Black Protestant congregations are led by a woman, even as more Black women are attending seminary.”
One reason for the exodus that Pandya touches on, is that churches— especially conservative ones— do not prioritize women when it comes to leadership roles or political stances on bodily rights, she said.
The rise of the #MeToo movement, which aimed to hold sexual assaulters accountable, also contributed to the gender gap.
A survey from the Pew Research Center shows that 69% of U.S. Catholics thinks sexual abuse from the Catholic clergy is an ongoing issue. The church has a recorded history of sexual assault scandals.
The #MeToo movement also criticized traditional notions, like toxic masculinity, that negatively affect women. However, some saw the critiques as a rebuke of traditional manhood— a view Pandya says is a reason why Gen Z men are now clinging to church and religion.
“These religious institutions are offering them purpose and meaning, and offering them a way to see their own masculinity as something positive in a world in which masculinity— in the post #MeToo era— masculinity was seen as something, you know, negative,” Pandya said.
Traditional religion glorifies masculinity, Pandya said, giving men a safe space.
Elie Thomas, 27, is a leader of praise and worship at Empowered Faith LA.
“I’ve experienced so many things. I’ve seen other people come out here and lose themselves,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen so many corrupt things go on. I think that was my reason for going back to church.”
Elie Thomas plays piano on stage at Empowered Faith LA on Nov. 20, 2024. After questioning his Seventh Day Adventist background, Thomas said he moved to Los Angeles and deepened his relationship with God. Photo credit: Joon Lee
Thomas credits being a leader in a faith-based community as helping him mature and giving him a safe place from the struggles he experiences as a Black man.
“Black men go through so much. The only place that I can find solace, the only place I can find a haven, is when I’m speaking to the Lord,” Thomas said.
Despite the gendered split rift, Pandya said that organized religion will not go away, but rather, it will evolve.
“You’ve got lots of women and men involved in new interpretations that… go against the grain of what’s considered traditional,” Pandya said. “[But] some people really want to go back to something that they feel is deeply traditional, because it makes them feel somehow maybe more authentic.”
This sense of tradition relates to McDuffie’s story, who, after moving to Los Angeles, said she missed and craved the guidance that going to church gave her.
“With tension comes new creative forms. I think we’re going to see new creative forms emerge, because people are going to continue to be religious,” Pandya said.
