Meet Gen Z’s Proselytizing Presbyterian Reformer

(RNS) — The image of the televangelist, often remembered as a man in a pastel suit preaching about God through a television screen, has become a relic of the past. Fewer people watch broadcast television than ever before. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an audience for religious programming.

If you type “Christianity” into YouTube’s search engine, hundreds of thousands of results appear in seconds. Among them, and not too far from the top, is a video titled “All Christian denominations explained in 12 minutes.” The explainer, posted by a user called “Redeemed Zoomer,” features colorful moving text, hand-drawn figures, clip art, compelling photos and clear audio. It has been viewed 10 million times.

Richard Ackerman is the 21-year-old behind the channel, which has 436,000 subscribers. He is on a mission to convert his generation and advocate for conservative reforms within Protestantism, which he believes has become too liberal.

“Leftists have been very intentional in hijacking the most culturally important churches in every Western nation and replacing them with their own ideology,” Ackerman wrote for the conservative evangelical journal “American Reformer.” “The only hope for American culture in the foreseeable future is if these extremely culturally significant churches see a true spiritual revival, and return to the gospel.”

Unlike the thunderous televangelists of the 1980s, Ackerman is a bookish Christian convert from a humble suburb of New York City. His family is of Jewish heritage, and he grew up unaffiliated with religion, but after traveling to the Midwest to attend a Christian music camp in middle school, he decided to convert.

“I saw that these traditional Christians welcomed me more than anyone back home in New York ever had,” Ackerman said. “It gave me this beautiful image of Christianity that I’ve never seen before.”

Ackerman returned to New York and became a Presbyterian at 14 years old, joining the Presbyterian Church (USA).Prior to his conversion, Ackerman said he was an angry and depressed teenager who struggled to connect with others. He said his faith was transformative for his mental health and social life.

“For the first time ever, I was able to empathize with other people and I actually cared about them like I didn’t before,” Ackerman said. He tried enthusiastically to share the gospel with his peers, but “it didn’t work at all,” he said.

So, he turned to social media.

He first started making videos of himself gaming with sermons playing in the background, but they didn’t get many views. It took three YouTube channels and one Instagram account before the Redeemed Zoomer maintained viral popularity in 2022, first on Instagram, for his short educational videos breaking down basic Christian theology. One of his most popular videos explains the duality of Jesus as both God and man using a Venn diagram.

Some of his most recent videos on YouTube include “Can You Lose Salvation?” and “Why Modern Protestantism SUCKS.” Other videos aim to help young men cope with loneliness and finding meaning in their lives. Ackerman also provides maps, viewed by millions, of “good churches.”

Ackerman defines a “good” church as one that affirms the Nicene Creed, which is the defining statement of belief for mainstream Christianity, and one that teaches marriage is only between a man and a woman and that there are only two genders.