Finding faith: Younger generations seek God in traditional churches
On Sunday, Orthodox Christians and Roman Catholics will gather in decorated churches to celebrate the risen Christ. For some, the day is doubly meaningful: A handful of faithful throughout the region will celebrate their first Pascha as Orthodox Christians, while 150 individuals within the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg will, many for the first time, receive the blessed sacraments.
鈥淟ent comes out of Christian initiation, you know, them preparing for baptism, and the baptized saying, 鈥榃e need to be doing the same things, refocusing our relationship with God,'鈥� said Vincent Reilly, managing director of faith, family and discipleship for the Greensburg Diocese. 鈥淭his is my third Easter (with the diocese). This is the most people we鈥檝e had joining the church since I鈥檝e been here, and, I鈥檓 pretty sure, with COVID, it鈥檚 probably the most since pre-COVID.鈥�
While those becoming Catholic this Easter Sunday range in age from infants to octogenarians, many are young converts. This is in line with national trends: Harvard University鈥檚 2023 Cooperative Election Study revealed that, between 2022 and 2023, the number of Millennials identifying as Catholic increased from 16 to 20%, while the number of Gen Zers who are Catholic jumped from 15 to 21%.
鈥淎s Bishop (Larry Kulick) will say, there鈥檚 been a tipping point,鈥� said Reilly. 鈥淧eople are looking for more in their life, looking for a relationship with God again.鈥�
For decades, Catholicism has seemed unapproachable. Recently, Reilly said, Catholic dioceses nationally have begun focusing on outreach.
鈥淲e feel that a large component of reaching families, especially young families, is at the times of sacramental preparations. So when they come in to have a baby baptized, or First Communion, we speak kind of individually to them,鈥� said Theresa Mazur, regional director of faith formation. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a huge influx of people attending masses with their families and their children.鈥�
Local priests, said Reilly, have extended personal invitations not only to church, but to a relationship with Christ. That sort of evangelism is happening in the Mon Valley, too, where, on Easter Sunday, 30 individuals will become Catholic within the St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, including two young families. Emily Stefanelli, a single Millennial mother of two, and Eric Bereb, a 33-year-old single father of two, will receive the sacraments alongside their children.
鈥淟ast time I was in a church was when I was baptized,鈥� said Stefanelli, a Millennial mother of two who lives in Monongahela. 鈥淢y hope for them is that it will be natural.鈥�
Stefanelli took her kids, Brinlee, 6, and Bradley, 4, to their first Mass after realizing something in her life was missing.
鈥淚 kept kind of coming up empty, is the way I can best describe it. No matter how good things were going, it seemed like there was always a piece that wasn鈥檛 there,鈥� Stefanelli said.
That first Mass was nerve-wracking.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what to do,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淲e sat in the back and we just tried to follow along. It鈥檚 funny because it鈥檚 like Catholic calisthenics: You鈥檙e up, you鈥檙e down. I had a ton of questions.鈥�
She found the answers through dialogue with friends and other Catholics, and in books, including 鈥淢ere Christianity.鈥�
鈥淚 kind of went back to early Christianity and just followed truth, and this is where it led me,鈥� Stefenelli said.
Now, Stefanelli is all in. Since the family began attending church, she鈥檚 found the supportive community she dreamed of, and has seen a change in her children-Brinlees has developed a stronger moral compass, Stefanelli said, and Bradley is more focused-and in her own life.
鈥淚t鈥檚 made parenting almost easier,鈥� Stefanelli smiled. 鈥淓verything is brighter. I look at everything around me, I look at my kids, and I appreciate every little thing about them, even when they鈥檙e driving me insane.鈥�
Stefanelli will receive the sacraments for the first time alongside her children this Easter morning. Beres is looking forward to his official initiation into the faith, and his daughters鈥� first sacraments. Along with the peace that comes with knowing Christ, Beres said, he also has an appreciation for the Church鈥檚 approach to family.
鈥淐hurch allows kids to be kids. They just come as you are. That is very beautiful,鈥� he said.
The inclusiveness, he thinks, is leading to a Catholic revival.
鈥淚 think the younger MIllennials are more drifting towards it,鈥� said Beres. 鈥淣o more of this chaos and antique, old movement. I also think they鈥檙e going to bring an opener message to the church.鈥�
Sam Kiger, 16, is incredibly open about his faith. The Gen Zer, who grew up Methodist, was inspired to look into Catholicism after attending a retreat hosted by his school, Greensburg Central Catholic.
鈥淭he first time I鈥檝e ever truly felt God鈥檚 love was at a Catholic event,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, when I started thinking about it, I can鈥檛 stop talking about it. You don鈥檛 want to be the kid that never goes, 鈥楬e鈥檚 too much into God.鈥� It doesn鈥檛 matter. God is more important than everything. The second you truly come to him and try to even just give your life to him, he鈥檒l take it and you鈥檒l be more confident. You鈥檒l grow in it. It鈥檚 one of my favorite things to talk about.鈥�
That sort of enthusiasm-by most converts, and many parishioners-is why Fr. Levi Hartle says his St. Andrew the Apostle parish is 鈥渙n fire.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting to be in the church at this time,鈥� said Hartle, a Millennial. 鈥淲e are definitely seeing young families coming back to church. People that hadn鈥檛 come to church in years are starting to come back to church. I just feel like the holy spirit is just doing amazing things, and we鈥檙e just watching.鈥�
The holy spirit is working in the Orthodox faith, as well. Along with a rise in the number of Catholic converts, Orthodox Christianity is also experiencing a resurgence nationally and locally: In July 2024, Saint Constantine College鈥檚 Orthodox Studies Institute reported 78% increase in converts in 2022, compared to pre-pandemic numbers published in 2019.
Orthodoxy is lesser known in America, and the outreach isn鈥檛 as evangelical as protestant or current Catholic practices (usually, people discover the faith at a parish event, like annual food festivals or sales). James Good, 30, is eager to celebrate his first Pascha (Orthodox Easter) as an Orthodox Christian, after attending his first Divine Liturgy in 2022.
鈥淲hen I was growing up, I didn鈥檛 know anybody who was Orthodox. I didn鈥檛 even know Orthodox was a faith until I was older. I thought it was Protestants and Catholics,鈥� Good laughed.
Good grew up Presbyterian but fell away from church when his parents stopped going.
鈥淢y parents weren鈥檛 anti-religion, they had just kind of fallen away like a lot of people in Western Christianity,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n my 20s, I started to get more interested in theology and spirituality. That was really my foot in the door: I had an interest in Orthodoxy through my interest in just the beautiful nature of Greco-Roman, specifically Byzantine, history.鈥�
About three years ago, Archbishop Nicholas (Wytish) invited Good to a Sunday service at Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Cathedral in Edenborn and, lured by the culture, Good accepted the invitation.
鈥淚 was obviously taken aback by just the beauty of the Orthodox liturgy, the icons. The wholeness of the faith just felt good, just felt natural,鈥� he said.
Good began driving nearly two hours round-trip every Sunday from his home in Greensburg to Fayette County to attend Sunday Divine Liturgy.
鈥淚t felt very personal,鈥� Good said. 鈥淚 feel like that church in particular, and Orthodoxy, just feels very family.鈥�
Archbishop Nicholas began holding Orthodox services in about 2008, but it wasn鈥檛 until June of 2020 that Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church was officially founded.
鈥淚 had been celebrating services in my home prior to that,鈥� said the archbishop.
Thanks to his dog, the late Dave, and a very generous parishioner, Holy Transfiguration was able to move from the archbishop鈥檚 home into a church.
鈥淲e went from zero people,鈥� Archbishop Nicholas laughed, 鈥渢o, we technically have probably about 15 parishioners.鈥�
Those who find the faith-through, in Fayette County, Orthodox church food festivals like Holy Transfiguratiion鈥檚 annual pierogi sale-are, the archbishop said, drawn to the aesthetics, like the iconography and candles and incense, but stay for the worship.
鈥淓astern churches are really focused on the heavenly realm,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of people are looking for something different, something not so earthly. Of course, our churches are elaborate, because they鈥檙e supposed to represent Heaven. A lot of people are attracted to that. It鈥檚 just a different type of worship that allows people to really feel connected to the divine.鈥�
Good is one of less than a dozen regulars who attends weekly services and breaks the fast with other parishioners at Holy Transfiguration. He said despite the ethnic ties (most churches are affiliated with Eastern countries, like Greece or Russia, and there are several Orthodox jurisdictions), the Orthodox community is very welcoming, tolerant, and nurturing. Becoming Orthodox, Good said, has given his life meaning and structure.
鈥淭radition is wisdom passed on over time. Tradition is not just obligatory rules just to have rules. That is the view of younger western people: Tradition and rules is only for controlling you. I think that is the prevailing, anti-Christian view,鈥� Good said. 鈥淏ut you have these traditions, you have these boundaries in your life, so that you can actually be liberated from your lesser impulses, jealousy and greed. You have tradition and faith鈥o allow you to explore the fullness of life.鈥�