At the launch of Stewardship's Generosity Report earlier this year, one of our guests was Xenia James, a social media content creator, presenter and historian.
As someone working at the forefront of evangelism and discipleship among young adults, Xenia offered a valuable perspective on what motivates younger Christians to give and what churches can do to encourage a culture of generosity among emerging generations.
Xenia challenged church leaders to rethink some common assumptions about Gen Z and generosity.
Young people are finding faith in new ways
One of Xenia's key observations was that many young adults entering churches today do not come from longstanding Christian backgrounds.
"A lot of these young people have no church background at all," she explained. "A lot of them are either having dreams in the middle of the night and running to the nearest church or maybe at school interacting with other Christians in their youth groups or at universities and sparking those faith conversations that are bringing them into the church."
Xenia believes that his shift has important implications for how churches teach about discipleship, including generosity. Rather than assuming prior knowledge or inherited habits of giving, churches increasingly need to help young believers understand how faith shapes every area of life.
Social media is also playing a significant role in this journey. Xenia argued that platforms such as TikTok are helping young people encounter Christianity through peers who look and sound like them.
"You might ask a young person, 'How did you come to church?' and they might say, 'I found out about it on TikTok.' Many of us might not even know how to use TikTok to engage those young people, but they see other people their age saying, 'I'm going to this church on Sunday, come to church with me.'"
For church leaders, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge. If young adults are already exploring questions of faith online, churches need to be present in those spaces and ready to engage with them.
Generosity is caught as much as taught
While theological teaching remains important, Xenia encouraged churches not to underestimate the spiritual maturity of younger Christians.
"When it comes to conversations on giving and finance, let's not underestimate what young people can handle and let's not underestimate where they are with thinking about how do I apply my faith to all areas of my life. It’s not just Sunday attendance or attendance in my youth group, but how do I live as a Kingdom person in every area of my life, including my finances?"
Yet teaching alone is not enough.
"I also think that generosity is cultural. I don't think it's taught, I think it's caught."
Young adults notice whether generosity is genuinely embedded within a church community. They pay attention to how people serve, invest their time and steward resources. Authentic examples often speak more loudly than formal teaching programmes.
Xenia also highlighted the importance of giving young adults meaningful ownership within church life.
"Are we discipling them? Are we giving them leadership positions? Are we bringing them into the conversation of leading in church? Because I think when young people feel ownership about a space, they're more likely to invest."
Importantly, that investment extends far beyond finances. It includes volunteering, inviting friends, serving in ministry and contributing to the wider mission of the church.
A partnership between generations
Rather than viewing generosity as a challenge unique to younger adults, Xenia called for greater collaboration between generations.
"I think as young people, we're coming into the church and we're really trying to be on fire for our faith, but also we want the mentorship and we want the partnership and we want to be poured into by the next generation in every context, including the area of finance."
Drawing on the picture of the Church found in Acts, she described a vision where younger and older Christians learn from one another and work together to advance God's Kingdom.
"It's not just the younger generation, it's us and the older generation working together to see the Kingdom of heaven established on earth. We need to work more on how we collaborate together as two generations in the church where God wants to bless all of us and he wants to use us to change society."
Access the Generosity Report 2026 - for free
These themes were an important part of the conversation at the Generosity Report launch, as well as conversations around trust and changing giving habits.
To discover the full findings from our research, including detailed data and practical recommendations for church and charity leaders seeking to engage younger givers, download the Generosity Report for free today.
Learn to live more generously
Join thousands receiving insights and reflections that encourage a life of generosity. Sign up to Generous today and receive a free digital copy of Money and the Gospel.
James Bishop
James is our Digital Marketing Manager and works within our Purpose team to connect Christians to the causes they care about and to inspire them to live out the freedom that active generosity offers. He works on website content and email newsletters, advertising on social media and making sure people using search engines can find us. James also contributes to campaigns such as 40acts and the Generosity Report.
Before joining Stewardship in 2025, James worked in marketing departments of all sizes, from a biotech startup to a large civil engineering consultancy and most recently a learning disability charity.
James lives in Surrey and serves in a local church as a director of their non-profit community café and on their AV team. James is reluctantly making a middle-age transition from football to golf and loves making homemade pizza and good coffee.
