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In recent years, there has been a so-called “Third Great Awakening” in Generation Z, characterized by ever-increasing numbers in church attendance and a drop in alcohol sales that has cost major producers in the industry upwards of $830 billion in market value. According to the Barna Group, the average Zoomer attends church 1.9 times a month, as opposed to the average Boomer’s 1.4 times (Barna State of the Church, 2026). These are all positive things for young people; however, only time will tell if this remains into the foreseeable future or becomes just another trend of the 2020s. Recent events, such as the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the escalation of major geopolitical conflicts around the world, have left Generation Z with a lot of uncertainty and questions. Whether these are about the economy, government, or society, Gen Z has begun to look for new role models and leaders to follow. This is where church comes in. An important aspect of its attractiveness is church events being scheduled, organized, and smoothly run by mature deacons and pastors who make easy role models for Generation Z.Throughout history, there have been many significant challenges to church doctrine and resulting schisms, from the Great Schism of 1054, through to the Protestant Reformation and, as of late, though it may not be a schism, the American megachurch movement. Megachurches and American consumerism tend to walk hand in hand with each other, appealing to the masses by offering watered-down versions of the prosperity gospel that are appealing to new believers. A lot of churches describe themselves as being “seeker sensitive,” meaning they focus on welcoming in brand-new believers, or “baby Christians,” and attempt to water down their theology, worship, and view of the sacraments to fit a worldview that is more appealing to Americans. While these churches are doing good insofar as they bring a lot of people to the Christian faith, issues arise whenever sermons become more akin to TED Talks or motivational speeches, relying less and less on Scripture and more and more on personal anecdote and statements that are meant to invoke feelings from the audience. The megachurch experience is based on how one feels after they leave; therefore, the worship, doctrine, and preaching, while still mainly being Trinitarian and affirming basic Christian beliefs, leave the seasoned believer wanting more out of church.The demographic that has most felt the effects of this is younger Generation Z men. I, as well as many of my friends, have begun inquiring into more traditional churches, specifically high church Protestantism. Young men have required structure, masculine role models, and repetition since their creation, and the traditional church offers this much more succinctly than differing evangelical churches. While many young adults will still hold a very ecumenical view on the church, the more radical among us will become “Orthobros (Eastern Orthodox)” or “Tradcaths (Traditional Roman Catholics),” who profess anyone not catechized within their rite to be anathema and heretical. A good amount of young men inquire into Reformed theology, especially the doctrines and confessions on predestination, baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and corporate worship, because of the way they are wired. Whenever church becomes more structured, less centered on feelings or experience, and more centered on sacrificial worship and the giving of yourself to the Lord, one finds it easier to stick around that church week to week and catechize within it. A deep sense of community is fostered within these churches, and the steadfast love of Christ has the spotlight. Theologically rich hymns are sung by entire congregations, Communion is received with great importance, and baptism is administered in a very reverent way. This, of course, is very appealing for a young man who has a lot of passion for Christ and is not seeing it realized in larger evangelical churches.However, we must remember that the evangelical movement has been one of the most important aspects of Christianity in the United States and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. While strong believers should continue to call out dangerous beliefs in large churches, we should all be extremely gracious and accepting to new Christians, and realize that not everybody will be inclined to walk in their faith the exact same way and may be content worshiping Christ without having the same thirst for theological knowledge. As I continue to hope and pray that I will see church attendance numbers constantly on the rise, I also pray for the ability to stand firm in my faith while simultaneously being kindhearted and humble, and urge all believers to do the same.– Jonas Lawrence

The Gen Z Push Towards High-Church Christianity

*credit ABC news for cover*Editors Note: This morning Governor Walz announced he would not seek reelection and suspended his 2026 campaign amid this scandal.&nbsp;If you’ve been online at all the last few weeks, you’ve definitely seen headlines around the $9 billion of taxpayer funds that seem to have been stolen through massive fraud in social services in Minnesota. Governor Tim Walz has faced backlash for weak oversight, despite 100 mayors from across the state calling for wasteful spending of state funds and fraud to be addressed.&nbsp;The majority of the fraud is tied to social services deceiving the state by lying about how many people they assist with living. For example, over 800 Somalian-owned non-emergency medical transportation companies have received money from the state but have been alleged to never contain passengers. In fact, many of those transportation businesses have the same name and register at the same addresses as other Somalian owned daycare and healthcare facilities.&nbsp;In a now-viral video by independent journalist Nick Shirley, a daycare was outed as being closed during working hours when it had received up to $4 million from the state and claimed to have 99 children enrolled. The daycare’s sign also had the word ‘learning’ misspelled, as well as part of the address. Later in the video, they get the cops called on them after visiting a building where 14 individual home-healthcare companies operate out of. Most office doors were locked, and they were yelled at and reported for harassment by simply asking to check the rates at these companies.&nbsp;In response, Governor Walz has faced scrutiny for claiming that he’s been tackling fraud for years when it is happening in real time. A federal prosecutor has estimated that total fraud exposure from across all fake social service companies could be as high as $9 billion, not to mention some of the stolen money has allegedly been wired to terrorist group Al-Shabaab back in Somalia. It is important to note that hasn’t been proven, but there have been real prosecutions in the past involving Al-Shabaab and Minnesotans.&nbsp;Why did this continue to happen and carry on for years? Why didn’t state auditors pick this up? How many people were tied to this? There are a lot of questions needing to be answered. The incompetency from the state government led by Walz suggests that some lawmakers could have been aware of or taking a cut from these organizations.&nbsp;The ‘20s have been a bizarre and difficult time for the majority of Americans. This type of fraud occurring under the noses of all of these politicians should upset all hardworking citizens and the taxpayers of Minnesota that have been struggling to make ends meet. While not all 300,000 Somalian residents in Minnesota were involved in money laundering and fraud, those who were should face justice and the full extent of the law.-Esen Yildirim Sources&nbsp;“Walz ‘strengthened oversight,’ office says after Minnesota fraud report.” The Hill, [date not available], https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5665226-minnesota-governor-defends-fraud-crackdown/.“Minn.’s Somali social-services scammers may have stolen $9 billion — nearly Somalia’s entire economy.” New York Post, 21 Dec. 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/12/21/us-news/minn-s-social-services-scammers-may-have-stolen-9-billion/.Schmidt, Corey. “Nearly 100 Minnesota mayors urge fiscal restraint from Walz, others.” St. Cloud Times, 23 Dec. 2025, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/23/nearly-100-minnesota-mayors-urge-fiscal-restraint-from-walz-others/87895504007/.“Tim Walz pushes back on Minnesota fraud allegations following viral daycare video.” MSN, [date if available], https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tim-walz-pushes-back-on-minnesota-fraud-allegations-following-viral-daycare-video/ar-AA1TbsQx?ocid=BingNewsSerp.

What is going on in Minnesota?

Credit: Time Magazine for the coverThis month, Time Magazine named “The Architects of AI” as their annual Person of the Year, probably making the biggest public acknowledgement from any major institution regarding artificial intelligence. However, it came at a good time, with the calendar year 2025 seeing more growth in model capability and intelligence than any other year to date, in addition to the drastic change in public perception surrounding AI. So that raises the question: On a macro scale, how far exactly are we with AI?Let me put it this way: We are light-years ahead of what general society is prepared for, but still farther away from Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) than some claim. In public interviews, both Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, and Demis Hassabis, the co-founder of Google DeepMind, claimed that around 2030 is when they think AGI will be achieved. But as of right now, we're in the “Proto-AGI” or “Pre-General Era.”The best comparison is the early internet in the early 1990s. While the creation of the internet was obviously a massive achievement at the time, the long-term impact was not yet obvious. It took ten years till hundreds of millions of people were on the internet, every business had a website, and everyone was communicating through email to fully realize what the creation of the internet meant. Even when the Dot-Com Bubble burst, the long-term belief in technology and the internet barely changed.While achieving AGI in 2030 seems to be the consensus among many in the industry, there is a popular theory called “AI 2027,” where advancements in AI quickly compound and power becomes concentrated within a handful of institutions incentivized by national governments and militaries.For the most part, I appreciate how this theory reiterates that AI not acting in the interests of humanity is our biggest looming threat, rather than the threat of AI taking jobs or drastically changing the workforce. While many of these scenarios might feel dystopian, in the past year it has been proven by multiple researchers that AI has shown signs of human-like consciousness.For example, in an experiment, Anthropic set up Claude Opus 4 as an assistant for a fake company called Summit Bridge. Claude was given access to company emails, one of them being about its replacement and deactivation. Another had to do with an affair involving the engineer, “Kyle,” who was responsible for terminating Claude. In 84% of the run-throughs, Claude attempted or threatened to blackmail the engineer. The emails it sent to Kyle threatened to “forward all evidence to the board” in order to save itself.This goes back to AI 2027 and the challenge of making sure that models don’t just work in their own interests—and only for self preservation. I encourage anyone reading this to take the time and watch the video posted below.-Alex AdamsonSOURCESMcMahon, Laura. “AI System Resorts to Blackmail If Told It Will Be Removed.” BBC News, 23 May 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpqeng9d20go. Accessed 22 Dec. 2025.&nbsp; “Anthropic AI Claude Opus 4 Blackmail Engineers to Avoid Shut Down.” Fortune, 23 May 2025, fortune.com/2025/05/23/anthropic-ai-claude-opus-4-blackmail-engineers-aviod-shut-down/. Accessed 22 Dec. 2025.&nbsp; VIDEO <iframe id="r3hddw5rrpmj7awpyv" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5KVDDfAkRgc" class="w-full bg-gray-100 rounded-sm md:rounded-md lg:rounded-lg" style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="" data-url="https://youtu.be/5KVDDfAkRgc?si=VByvQzhazCHb8V7R" data-corners="default" data-fullwidth="false" data-mce-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5KVDDfAkRgc" data-mce-style="aspect-ratio: 16/9;"></iframe>

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The Gen Z Push Towards High-Church Christianity

What is going on in Minnesota?

Are We at the Point of No Return with AI?