As less than half believe Jesus died, this teens’ survey suggests the church has a real task to both educate and evangelise

Glass half full people have clearly valued some research which the Barna group have conducted of 1000 teens aged 13-17. This recent publication of UK based results follows the worldwide study of 25,000 teens which we considered recently. See here.

Headline stats say:

• One third (34 per cent) of British teens say Jesus offers hope to and cares about people.
• A quarter (24 per cent) of British teens say Jesus is trustworthy and generous (23 per cent).
• Almost half (43 per cent) of all British teens believe Jesus was crucified.
• More than one in three teens in the UK (37 percent) report some level of motivation to learn more about Christian scriptures.
• 54 per cent of British teens are justice oriented; they care deeply about injustice but lack confidence and commitment to act.
• 52 per cent of committed Christian teens believe that Jesus advocated for justice, but are unsure about the church and its leaders’ role in justice.

Reflecting on the results, David Kinnaman, CEO of Barna Group said. “It is encouraging to see they are open to Jesus, show interest in learning more about the Bible, and are motivated toward addressing injustice in the world. But we also noticed challenges, including British teens’ lack of confidence in their ability to make an impact, and their uncertainty about Christian church’s role in addressing injustice. Our goal for this study is to help churches and Christian leaders in the UK engage, disciple, and support this rising generation entering adulthood.”

Phil Simpson, Youth Development Lead, Alpha UK also found good parts when he said, “Teens in the UK seem to have a positive view of who Jesus was - with almost a third believing that he cared for people and carried hope. The challenge for Churches, and those engaging with young people is that these perspectives are mostly past tense. Nearly half of UK teens believe Jesus was a person who was crucified, however there is a significantly small percentage who believe Jesus is active in the world today, and the perception of this for the average UK teen is lower than the global perspectives of teenagers. The church needs to help them begin to see Jesus as someone who is alive, someone who can be encountered and someone who is active in the world in 2023.”