A new series produced by a partnership between various Seventh-day Adventist organizations across Europe seeks to bring the message found in the Bible book of Revelation to a younger generation. Revelation for Gen Z was presented by David Hierzer, who coordinated the initiative during the 2025 Global Adventist Internet Network (GAiN) Europe convention in Pravets, Bulgaria, November 15.
A Stark Reality
The Revelation Gen Z project is a joint initiative by several church regions, organizations, and even private investors, explained Hierzer, who has worked for 11 years in the corporate world in branding, communication, and organizational strategy for the space industry in Germany. “This is all about young people,” he said, explaining that the project is geared specifically toward people from their teenage years to their mid-30s.
Young people are in an ocean of content, Hierzer reminded convention attendees. “The question we ask ourselves is ‘Where is our space in this ocean of content?’ ”
Hierzer showed some of the latest statistics that reveal that young people spend seven hours and 40 minutes per day on their phones. “It’s a record because no generation has ever spent so much time like that,” he reminded Adventist communicators.
Connecting With Gen Zers
Against that background, “Where do we fit in this?” Hierzer asked rhetorically. “How do we manage to be part of the content and fit in that time they spend on their devices?” He added, “Perhaps the question is not so much whether we fit in this, but how does our [Adventist] message, the one we grew up with, fit in this world?”
Other denominations have achieved quite a success in this area, including Christian influencers with millions of followers, Hierzer reported. “So if we want to reach the heart of young people in a way that is very natural to them, what could a Seventh-day Adventist project look like?” It was the driving question behind the Revelation for Gen Z project, Hierzer acknowledged, explaining that the goal was to come with “something that brings the Bible to life.”
The Series
Hierzer showed the trailer of one of the episodes of the Revelation for Gen Z project. Episodes are just five to seven minutes long, he shared. “We want to inject new life into these stories with visuals that touch young people.”
He explained that it is a hybrid production, which combines original drawings with AI animation. The effort has enlisted an international team of artists, developers, podcasters, and a support team across borders, he said.
As a complement to the episodes, the team behind the project is launching podcast rooms in at least three different locations. Viewers can follow up on a particular episode through the screen podcasts, Hierzer revealed. “Those podcasts include discussions that deepen the topics showcased in the episodes. Developers are also planning a series of testimonies, with young people sharing about their experiences in life, also connecting them to the stories,” he reported. “They also offer a behind-the-scenes feature so those interested can watch how illustrators envisioned biblical icons.”
The Ultimate Goal
Hierzer reminded his audience that according to official statistics, about 60 percent of young people watch anime-style productions. “Imagine if this medium could be something that does not pull you away from Jesus but can actually bring you closer to Him,” he suggested.
In that sense Hierzer explained that the Revelation for Gen Z initiative will follow what he called a “funnel” system. The first step involves getting endorsements, showing behind-the-scenes content, and uploading episode content to TikTok and Instagram. Then comes motivating young people to watch the short episodes and helping them to get excited about their content.
As a third step Hierzer mentioned the in-depth discussions through podcasts, and the first interactions with viewers through livestreaming, their comments, and question-and-answer sessions. Finally, the goal is getting young people to choose to follow Bible studies with their favorite podcaster.
“We don’t want to do only entertainment; we are not here to entertain,” Hierzer added. “For us, this is something that starts with good content that young people really like and ends in the moment when they say, ‘OK, you got me excited about a biblical story. Now I trust you to preach to me in front of the camera [through any of your podcasts], and then I can contact you directly to study the Bible.’ That’s the ultimate goal: to study the Bible with them to get connected,” he shared.
Valuable Feedback
Hierzer explained that everything they have done has been in connection with hundreds of Gen Zers who have provided the much-needed feedback. Sometimes the feedback is extremely positive. “We are happy that it was convincing.” Sometimes the feedback is not so positive, which is nevertheless an opportunity for learning what actually works, he shared.
Recently the team behind the initiative has been testing the content with Adventist Gen Zers, on one side, and with other people who do not believe in God or the Bible. The results are understandably very different, Hierzer acknowledged.
A recent comment from a convinced atheist who watched an episode convinced the team that they are on the right track. The young woman wrote about an episode with a protagonist called Amy. “The part where Amy longs for a perfect, unbroken world brought tears to my eyes; I became really emotional. Even though I personally can’t believe in heaven or any of that, I realized how deeply I still carry that longing inside me. And when I read what the angel said about heaven, I just cried and thought: It would be so wonderful if something like that really existed.”
“This person still doesn’t believe in God, and the Bible has no credibility for her,” Hierzer acknowledged. “But there was a story that touched her and made her discover a feeling inside her that [prompts her to find out] more than what she believes in.”
A Call to Try and Innovate
Finally, Hierzer called Adventist communicators developing products to imitate the mentality of the space industry in which he works, where developers are not afraid to try and “fail fast,” only to try again and find out what works. “If a space company has a trial-and-error mentality—test something, fail, fail fast, rethink, and reengineer—how much more can we do? So we have also made this experience out of failure, reengineering something new,” he said.
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