While the numbers of Australians who list themselves as Christians continues to decline, there’s been a surprising jump in young Gen Z-ers who have turned to traditional religion over recent years, according to one pastor.

That’s exactly the cohort that new Orange Presbyterian “Youth Pastor” Nelson Kim is trying to reach.

From a Christian Korean background, he is part of an increasingly multicultural cohort who are seeking to introduce an aeons-old faith to a very modern audience.

“I was actually born and raised in Sydney, both my parents are Christian, and my grandfather is a retired Presbyterian elder,” Nelson revealed.

“Which isn’t that unusual, it’s one of the biggest Christian faiths in Korea, my grandfather was a Korean War veteran and came here in 1973,” he added.

He said that his personal experience is that, while more people may now nominate themselves as agnostic or atheist in surveys, traditional faiths like Presbyterianism, seem to be making a comeback.

“I know the census says that more people aren’t religious, but it doesn’t feel that way. I think what may be happening is that ‘nominal Christianity’ is declining, while the number of ‘active Christians’ is on the increase,” Nelson suggested.

With many Presbyterian parishes helping form the Uniting Church — along with Methodist and Congregational religions — five decades ago, it was readily predicted that this remnant non-conformist faith would wither, a fate that it has so far eluded.

“About one-third of our churches went Uniting, and the question at the time was, ‘will it survive?’

“But we are growing, we are seeing young people searching for something and coming to us for some of the answers,” Nelson said.

Despite a society full of distractions, noise, and 24-hour online stimulation in devices ranging from iPhones to tablets to smart watches, he says that his job is still pretty straightforward.

“I don’t think it’s hard at all, I think social media provides a common ground for us all to connect; and our message is still that; God has shown the world; there’s very positive things that social media can do to reach people,” Nelson said.

“This transfer of information is not so great that people can’t be reached, we do have people who walk into church because of social media.”

A large part of his role, he explained, is not just outreach, but is in keeping those who are currently attending involved with the faith.

“The ‘Inreach’ is taking care of those who are already engaged, the youth who already show-up; that is, it’s about doing the ‘warmer’ stuff, rather than trying to reach outsiders, the ‘colder' stuff.

“People are naturally attuned to the church, that’s something we do, that’s the reason they come because, in the end, social media is just a slice of the world, not all of it,” he believes.

Having his first taste of country life after replacing his predecessor Lachlan Armitage two months’ ago, under Reverend Angus Gibb, his remit as youth group leader covers not just teenagers at St James in Matthews Avenue, but the kids as well.

“We have the ‘JPY’ youth group for about 40 Year Six to Year 12 youth each Friday night, but I’m also a pastoral assistant.

“This means, as well as being the children and youth pastor, I also take Sunday School each week.”

He is also a candidate as a minister for the Presbyterian Church of Australia, while raising twin boys and a newborn with his wife, Chaey, but says it’s all for the good.

“I think the message has always been the same, that there is hope for the future,” Nelson said.

“Every generation have their burdens and struggles, but God has a plan for his peoples,” he concluded.