A report of the EAUK analyses what prompted those with no Christian background at all to search for God, what helped them along the way and what’s happened since.
Photo via [link]EAUK[/link].
Last year, the UK Evangelical Alliance (EAUK) launched a report called Finding Jesus, whichs aimed to “understand what was going on in the stories we were hearing of adults in the UK finding Jesus”.
Now, they have released five supporting reports that “dig deeper into the stories behind the numbers. Together with the main report, they provide a fuller picture of how people across the nation are finding faith in Jesus”.
“These five supplemental reports are a great tool for church and ministry leaders to better understand those coming to faith in their church and provide insight into how they can be discipled more effectively”, says project lead, Rachael Heffer.
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One of the reports focuses on “the faith journeys of those with no Christian background at all — no Christian family members, church attendance, Sunday school, or Christian friends”.
This group made up a fifth of all the participants in the main survey. Around a third of them were from ethnic minority backgrounds, and eight had become Christians from other religions.
According to the report, “the age of those with no Christian background was striking”, with very few aged over 55.
A little over a third (32%) of them were aged 35-44, followed by 25-34 (25%); 45-54 (20%); 18-24 (12%) and 55-74 (6%).
The young age of the respondents “has the advantage of no preconceptions or negative experiences on their part, but also illustrates that we should make no assumptions that they know anything at all about Jesus and the gospel”, states the report.
Furtheremore, “given their age, the initial impetus to explore Christian faith bears similar patterns to other younger groups”
When aked what prompted their interest in Jesus, the three most significant reponses were “I was looking for meaning” (36%), “I needed help with life” (34%) and “a spiritual experience” (29%).
The report also analyses the challenges and the help that those surveyed found on their walk to Christianity.
“In describing their faith journey, they were often more positive than other groups”, points out the EAUK. “Hopeful” (51%), “comforting” (47%) and “life-giving” (47%) were the most selected answers.
Regarding the challenges they faced, the top issue was “understanding the Bible”, followed by “believing it was possible for them to be forgiven” (45%) and “personal struggles (40%).
Meanwhile, the things that helped them more as they explored faith were “similar to the overall sample”: answered prayer (31%), attending church (31%), reading the Bible and spiritual experience (both 20%).
Moreover, “in terms of who had helped them most in their faith journey, those with no Christian background largely gave the same three types of people as everyone else”.
People from church, either in a small group (32%) or as an individual (32%) were the most common reponses, with “close friends” (24%) as the third option.
The survey then delves into what finally prompted the participants with no Christian background to “make the decision to follow Jesus”.
The reponses included “an experience of God” (49%), “a course I was doing” (31%), an answered prayer (27%) and “reading the Bible” (25%).
“It is easy to underestimate how anxious young people, young adults and young parents feel when they consider the future for themselves and their children. The comfort of being known by a loving, sovereign God should not be underestimated”, underlines the report.
The study concludes with another analysis of the challenges and support experienced by respondents, this time as they took their first steps as Christians.
The biggest challenge for them was “the negative responses from non-Christians” (31%). That is why “it is absolutely vital that we support those whose family and friends are now viewing them with suspicion or even hostility, and help people understand how Jesus addressed that”.
Other responses were “making sense of the Bible” (29%), “learning to pray” (27%) and “changing aspects of my lifestyle” (24%).
Moreover, reading the Bible was the most helpful thing for these participants, both alone and also with others (31%), followe by “praying alone” and “experiences of God” (both 24%), and “worship” (22%).
You can see the full report here.
The other four supplemental reports about the faith jouneys of 18 — 24- year olds; those over 65; people on lower income; and a comparison of the responses of male and female participants.
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