Research highlights millennials' cry
New Evangelical Alliance research released on millennials and faith highlights concerns about a lack of mentoring - the same concerns which led to the formation of the Esther Collective, a Girls’ Brigade Ministries initiative for 18-30s women
‘Building Tomorrow’s Church Today: The views and experiences of young adults in the UK church’ is a new piece of research on active churchgoers aged 18-37 released by the Evangelical Alliance’s One People Commission.
It provides a number of insights into this generation - that they are generous and philanthropic (47 per cent give away at least one tenth of their income), but also that many of them lack a mentor (30 per cent don’t have a Christian mentor or group of friends they’re honest and accountable to about their life and faith); and few read the Bible daily (25 per cent compared to 63 per cent that pray daily).
It also highlights that, despite 77 per cent of millennials having shared their faith in the last month, 60 per cent feel nervous and awkward when taking the opportunity to share, and 27 per cent feel their church doesn’t really help them in their personal evangelism.
Less than half of young adults surveyed (49 per cent) feel their church is helping them a lot to live out their faith in everyday life.
A number of these key issues are being addressed by the Esther Collective, which was birthed as a result of Girls’ Brigade Ministries looking at some of the concerns and experiences of millennials inside and outside the church.
Taking place over nine months and incorporating gathering together, online and offline teaching and equipping, mentoring, and Bible-reading, The Esther Collective provides a mentoring, relational network for 18-30s women.
The Esther Collective also has a particular focus on equipping women as leaders, which is another area highlighted by the Evangelical Alliance research. Just 43 per cent of women (compared to 51 per cent of men) say that their church helps them a lot to develop leadership skills and experience, and 20 per cent of women said their church did ‘not really’ help them in this area, compared to 18 per cent of men.
Its project leader is Charlotte Hendy. She said, ‘This research gives us reason to celebrate - millennials are present and active within our churches!
'And yet this research also reveals a cry from our generation - a cry that church isn’t helping equip us to practically live out and share our faith.'
She added, 'We believe that The Esther Collective can go some way to address these issues.
'By exploring the themes of identity, purpose, living missionally and connecting with God, members of The Esther Collective unpack what it means to live and lead for Jesus today.
'We’ve been encouraged and excited to see what God has done through The Esther Collective so far and what He will continue to do.’
Baptist Times, 03/11/2015