Latest Talking Jesus report now available 

The report by Alpha, the Evangelical Alliance, HOPE Together, Luis Palau Association and Kingsgate Community Church shows the state of faith in the UK, how people come to faith in Jesus and how we, as the church, can talk about Jesus more effectively with our friends and in our community

The Talking Jesus research was first published in 2015 for a group of leaders from across many denominations.

The original partners always intended to track the results to measure the churches’ impact in evangelism. This was planned for 2020 but put on hold due to the pandemic. 

Seven years on, the research puts 'a wealth of insights in the hands of the UK church to empower evangelism and inform strategy,' say the report's authors.

The latest research was carried out by Savanta ComRes, which conducted 10-minute online surveys among  4,000 UK adults. 

Most of the questions asked are identical to those in 2015; several are new or have asked for additional information.

The report is in five parts:

• The state of faith in the UK 
• Those outside the church 
• Conversations about Jesus 
• How people come to faith 
• Next steps 

The findings include: 

45 per cent of the UK population believe in the resurrection

20 per cent of the UK population believe that Jesus is God 

but only 6 per cent of UK adults are practising Christians (a similar percentage to 2015). 42 per cent identified as non-practising Christians; 52 per cent as non-Christians

Growing up in Christian family was the most common route to faith, followed by reading the Bible (24 per cent), and attending a church service (19 per cent)

Non-white ethnic minorities make up 25 per cent of practising Christians

26 per cent of non-Christians would go to Google search as the place to find out about the Christian faith, closely followed by reading the Bible

40 per cent of Christians found the biggest barrier to sharing faith was difficult questions

While many non-Christians perceive the church as hypocritical and narrow-minded, many perceive their Christian friends as caring and friendly

4 per cent of Christians came to faith through seeing Christian content on social media, a higher percentage than in 2015

53 per cent of non-Christians know a Christian, which is down from 68 per cent in 2015

One in three non-Christians, after a conversation with a Christian, want to know more about Jesus Christ – up from one in five in 2015


'We are passionate about this research because we know that facts can change people’s understanding and behaviour,' the report's introduction states. 'This research can bring confidence to the church and to all of us who follow Jesus and who long to see others come to faith.' 

A press release accompanying the launch stated, 'The partners hope this wave of encouragement and challenge will spur the church on to greater confidence and boldness in sharing the gospel.

'All the partner organisations involved are working with the research to shape their strategies over the coming months to empower local churches in effective evangelism.'

In an email to supporters, Evangelical Alliance CEO Gavin Calver wrote, 'I hope this report will challenge, encourage and inspire us all, that the UK as a mission field is ripe for harvest and we all have our part to play.

'I hope you are blessed and encouraged by this ground-breaking research.' 
 

The report can be accessed here: talkingjesus.org/2022-research

The Evangelical Alliance is carrying a six part blog series to explore what the new research means for evangelism today. Access the blogs here. 

A launch event took place for the new research - watch it here, or below

 

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