Motieven van jonge bekeerlingen in orthodoxe kerken in Nederland

Samenvatting

In recent years, there appears to have been a cautious increase in the number of young converts (Generation Z) to Christianity in several Western countries. Relatively little is known about the motivations of these young converts. In public media, their conversion is often associated with a broader trend of increasing conservatism among young people, and the COVID-19 pandemic is sometimes identified as a period during which many young individuals began searching more actively for meaning and purpose. This article represents an initial step towards investigating these motivations. It is based on semi-structured interviews with eight young converts to Orthodox Christian communities in the Netherlands. The findings of this exploratory study underline the general trend towards conservatism, the crucial role of the internet, and the significance of biographical crises in conversions. These findings may serve as a foundation for future, larger-scale research.