The Vibe Shift

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April, a former corporate professional turned professor at Houston Christian University, joined Edward’s week-long seminar on Gen Z at the 2025 Oxford Theology Summer School. 

In this conversation, she reflects on what she is seeing among her students: a generation often cautious of organised religion, yet deeply engaged in a search for meaning, truth, and community. Drawing on both her own vocational journey and her classroom experience, April explores the resonance of the Lost-and-Found Narrative, the importance of peer-driven and relational learning, and the emergence of unexpected moments of collective spiritual engagement. She offers a grounded perspective on how this generation is navigating faith and seeking authentic spaces—including faith-based universities—to explore belief.

The Vibe Shift Podcast is part of The Gen Z Role Models Project, a study exploring how young people today make sense of religion, spirituality, and role models in a digital age. The new King’s Study is now open—anyone aged 18–28, from any background and location, can take part. And it’s easy to get started: https://bit.ly/GenZ2026

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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Michelle, a business professor whose research focuses on calling, purpose, and human flourishing, joined Edward’s week-long seminar on Gen Z at the 2025 Oxford Theology Summer School. In this conversation, she reflects on what the experience revealed to her about Gen Z’s hunger for meaning, the importance of authentic community, and the surprising places young people now turn when seeking order and purpose. Drawing on both her teaching and the seminar discussions, Michelle offers an honest look at the challenges today’s students face—and what educators and faith communities might need to reimagine in response.

The Vibe Shift Podcast is part of The Gen Z Role Models Project, a study exploring how young people today make sense of religion, spirituality, and role models in a digital age. The new King’s Study is now open—anyone aged 18–28, from any background and location, can take part. And it’s easy to get started: https://bit.ly/GenZ2026

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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Kasun Fernando, a young Roman Catholic deacon from Sri Lanka, joined Edward's week-long seminar on Gen Z at the 2025 Oxford Theology Summer School. In this conversation, Kasun reflects on what the experience taught him about listening, and how the five themes—or narrative-types—of The Gen Z Role Models Project has helped him better understand his generation.

The Vibe Shift Podcast is part of The Gen Z Role Models Project, a study exploring how young people today make sense of religion, spirituality, and role models in a digital age. The new King’s Study is now open—anyone aged 18–28, from any background and location, can take part. And it's easy to get started: https://bit.ly/GenZ2026

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

Send us Fan Mail

Phoebe, the Young Adult Mission Enabler for the Diocese of Durham, found faith at the age of 18. A Gen Z Christian herself, she now helps churches listen more deeply to a generation rediscovering spirituality. In this conversation, she reflects on why some young adults experience faith as a direct encounter with God—the “Simple Faith Narrative”—and how that insight shapes her ministry. We also discuss online spirituality, safety and honesty in faith spaces, and the Church of England’s efforts to bring young adults into leadership and decision-making.

This Vibe Shift is part of The Gen Z Role Models Project, a study exploring how young people today make sense of religion, spirituality, and role models in a digital age. Following a successful Oxford Pilot, the new King’s Study is up and running—anyone aged 18–28, from any background and location, can take part: https://bit.ly/GenZ2026

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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James, a London-based student, grew up in a religious home but now calls himself “pro-faith" but not practising. In this conversation, he reflects on why some Gen Zers turn away from organised religion and move toward self-help, how social media shapes shared anxiety and belonging, and why curiosity—and conversation—might be the best kind of therapy.

This episode is part of The Gen Z Role Models Project, a study exploring how young people today make sense of religion, spirituality, and role models in a digital age. Following a successful Oxford Pilot, the new King’s Study is up and running—anyone aged 18–28, from any background and location, can take part: https://bit.ly/GenZ2026

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Edward sits down with Claire, Communications Officer at the University of Oxford, to talk about her role as collaborator on the Gen Z Role Models Project.

They discuss the rewards of doing collaborative research and explore the lessons that Claire is taking forward. They also discuss Gen Z religion in light of what Edward and Claire learnt at the European Academy of Religion in Vienna.

They talk about:

• The aspirations and tensions involved in participatory research
• The joys of researching alongside one's day job
• The unglamorous realities of doing research in higher education
• The diversity of Gen Z approaches to religion, specifically in Indonesia

Join us for this special, behind-the-scenes conversation about the power of teamwork and the excitement of doing participatory research in the humanities.

***

Erica Larson (2023), Ethics of Belonging, University of Hawaii Press.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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In this episode of The Vibe Shift, Edward talks with Noah, a theology graduate and study participant who reflects on the power of asking big questions—and finding simple but profound answers.

Noah shares how reading the medieval theologian, Saint Thomas Aquinas, transformed his understanding of religion, why our study's Simple Faith Narrative resonated with him, and how teaching with stories helps students navigate their own life journeys. From thirteenth-century questions to contemporary answers, we explore vital topics in religion and role modelling—for a generation that yearns for connection.

We talk about:

• Why Aquinas still captures the religious imagination
• How distance and closeness shape role-modelling relationships
• How virtues can be taught using stories
• Why a “simple faith” doesn’t mean a simplistic faith

Listen now for a thoughtful conversation about theology, mentoring, and life's exciting quest for meaning.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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In this episode of The Vibe Shift, we sit down with Mollie, a undergraduate student in the UK, to reflect on what it means to be young, questioning, and spiritually curious in today’s world.

Mollie shares how she encountered our Gen Z Role Models study, why she connected with the Self-help Narrative, and what it’s like to be a co-researcher exploring faith in partnership with academics. From TikTok religion to participatory methods, this episode gives a vivid portrait of how one Gen Zer approaches belief, belonging, and the ethics of asking questions.

We talk about:

• Why Gen Z values humility in religious role models
• What it's like to talk openly about faith with peers
• How participatory research builds confidence and community
• Why richer stories—not surveys—are the future of ethical research

Listen now and hear how one student’s journey from “uncomfortable indecision” to empowered co-researcher captures the spirit of a generation.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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In this final episode of The Vibe Shift mini-series, Edward brings the essay to a close—an essay that shaped the theoretical foundation of the Gen Z Role Models Project. Building on narrative theology, moral philosophy, and the method of reflexive thematic analysis, the episode explores how exemplarist narratives appear across religious and cultural traditions.

Drawing on thinkers like Linda Zagzebski and Alasdair MacIntyre, Edward reflects on why moral meaning unfolds in story—and how admired figures help shape how we understand truth, the cosmos, and our place within it. The episode also offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the research team identified five narrative types from the data, and how participants themselves helped refine those categories in a unique participatory phase of analysis.

This episode explores:

• What makes a narrative "exemplarist" across religious traditions
• How narrative and admiration shape moral understanding
• The limitations of top-down interpretation in qualitative research
• How Gen Z participants co-analysed and reshaped the study’s findings

If you're interested in how theology, moral theory, and participatory research can work together to illuminate Gen Z storytelling, this episode is a go-to resource.

This is The Vibe Shift. And the conversation keeps unfolding.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.

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In this episode of The Vibe Shift, Edward continues reading from the foundational essay that shaped the theoretical framework of the Gen Z Role Models Project. Written early in the analysis phase, the essay brings theological reflection into dialogue with qualitative research methods—especially story completion and reflexive thematic analysis.

This episode explores the theological claim that humans are not just storytellers but also story-hearers—created in the image of a God who reveals himself through story. Drawing on Christian theology and the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, Edward reflects on what it means to be a “sub-creator” and introduces the idea of “sub-exemplars”—those who, in narrative form, stand in for or reflect the example of Christ.

This episode explores:

• Why humans tell and receive stories as part of being made in God's image
• Christ as the exemplar not just of morality, but of creation itself
• How Gen Z stories reveal narrative patterns of struggle and redemptive hope

If you’re curious about how theology, narrative, and research design come together in our project, this episode opens up the heart of our interpretive approach.

This is The Vibe Shift. And the conversation keeps unfolding.

Visit us at oxfordexemplars.org.

Music: 'Find Yours Dreams' by Art Flower. CC0 1.0 Universal License. 

Copyright: The Vibe Shift, 2025.