Documentary detailing Gen Z revival premieres at Kennedy Center

WASHINGTON — Several people involved with a new documentary about the revival among Generation Z told The Christian Post why they believe the unique challenges young people are facing have left them especially open to the Gospel.

“The Revival Generation,” which was produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)’s Abigail Robertson, premiered last Wednesday at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts amid the Trump administration’s push to promote more faith-friendly content at the prestigious venue.

Detailing some of the large revivals on college campuses in recent years, the film portrays thousands of Gen Z students filling stadiums as they pursue healing and faith through Christ, which attendees at the red-carpet premiere said hurting young people are desperately seeking.

‘Toughest time to be a young person’

Those attending the premiere included members of the White House Faith Office and other prominent Christian figures, including former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson. He was among the voices who offered insight in the film about the spiritual searching among Gen Z or “Zoomers,” who were born roughly between 1997 and 2012 and suffer from unprecedented depression, identity issues and mental illness.

Tim Robertson, son of the late CBN founder and evangelist Pat Robertson, told CP he believes many young people have come to reject the bitter fruit and spiritual failure of the prevailing secular worldview they inherited.

“Young people are looking at some of the values they’ve been given from a very permissive generation that’s older, and they want to find some stability in their lives,” he said. “And obviously Christianity gives them that stability, and it gives them a rock and an anchor.”

“I think a lot of the ideology of the Left is being exposed as being empty, and they want something that’s real, and that’s what they’re finding in Jesus,” he added.

Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, said “there’s no question” Gen Z faces unique problems, some of which he framed as the fallout of generational political failure.

As they face financial headwinds amid staggering inflation and runaway government spending, Reed said much of Gen Z feels shut out from the milestones that lead to material success, though he noted such might be leading many of them to think more spiritually.

“I think this is the toughest time to be a young person entering the workforce, seeking to buy your first home and begin your career, since the stagflation of the 1970s,” he said. “And there’s an enormous amount of cultural pressure, too. So I think there’s a reason why they’re turning to God.”

‘They’ve tasted the darkness’

Much of the documentary centers on Tonya Prewett, a mother who founded the UniteUS movement. Her own daughter’s struggles with addiction and suicidal ideation led her to establish the nonprofit that organizes prayer and worship gatherings among college students.

As recounted in the film, she was involved with the revival at Auburn University in September 2023, when thousands gathered in the school’s auditorium for worship, and hundreds were baptized impromptu in an on-campus pond, despite the freezing weather.

Similar student-led revivals took place that year at colleges such as Asbury University in Kentucky, Lee University in Tennessee, Samford University in Alabama, as well as Texas A&M University and Baylor University in Texas.

Prewett told CP that she hopes the film will reveal God’s work among young people and encourage viewers to pursue God in their own lives.

“I hope it will ignite something inside of them: number one, to get saved; number two, to know that they have a purpose; and number three, to make a difference where they are,” she said. “That is what this film is all about.”

Prewett said she believes the misery that results from the “comparison, isolation, loneliness and addiction” common among Gen Z is driving many of them to Christ.

“He’s the only hope that’s going to get them through it,” she said.

When asked about the ironic timing of a film about Gen Z’s spiritual battles premiering on the same day a 23-year-old trans-identifying man murdered praying children at a Minneapolis church, Prewett said she believes both good and evil are becoming more pronounced.

“When I had the vision for UniteUs, it’s almost like I felt like God was saying, ‘As hope arises, so will evil,’ and that’s what it feels like,” she said.

Jennie Allen, an author and Bible teacher involved with UniteUS who also features in the film, echoed Prewett and said Gen Z has grown up during a time that has pulled them into a spiritual war that is increasingly unmistakable.

“I think that’s what’s unique about this generation,” she said. “They’ve tasted the darkness in ways that, for other generations, it’s taken more like 40, 50, 60 years to taste that much darkness. And I think they’re just sick of it, and they want a different way. They want hope.”

‘Toughest of tough guys’

Part of the film focused on the spiritual battles particular to young men. A study that was part of Barna’s State of the Church 2025 initiative found that commitment to Jesus has risen sharply among young men, especially.

Conversions jumped 15 percentage points between 2019 and 2025 among Gen Z men, and 19 percentage points among millennial men, according to the study.

Tonya Prewett’s husband, Chad Prewett, who formerly served as the assistant coach of Auburn University’s basketball team, recounted in the film that he was surprised by the tears that fell when he witnessed the revival at the school.

Noting he grew up in a generation of men who “held everything in,” Prewett told CP he believes younger Christian men are realizing the spiritual importance of vulnerability, accountability and obeying James 5:16, which promises healing to those who confess their sins to one another.

“They’re responding to truth, and because of that, they’re letting others know what they’re dealing with,” he said.

“What we’re seeing with this move of God is that they’ve been vulnerable with each other, vulnerable with themselves and Christ, and because of that, they’re moved,” he added. “Their emotions are moved. We’re watching the toughest of tough guys show up and be moved by the power of God.”

‘It feels real’

Producer Abigail Robertson, who is Pat Robertson’s granddaughter, told CP she believes Gen Z is in an unusual historical and spiritual position, having grown up in the wake of Christianity receding as the dominant cultural force in America. She believes their situation potentially enables them to see the Gospel with new eyes.

“For many years in the United States, religion has been a cultural thing,” she said. “Even if you weren’t that religious, you still would just go to church, because that’s what people did.”

“And I think many in this generation were raised in homes where they weren’t just taken to church because that’s what everyone did. In some cases, they really haven’t had a ton of exposure to Christianity and to the Gospel message.”

The unprecedented, technology-driven awareness that has caused some of Gen Z’s problems is also potentially bringing many of them to faith, she said.

“They have been exposed to so much throughout their life, and they’re trying every spiritual trend there is. I think they find the truth, they find the Gospel. They feel the love of Jesus Christ, and that’s what they want. They want more of it. It feels real, it’s authentic.”

“Gen Z is a generation that loves authenticity, and that is why they love the Gospel message,” she added.