What helps people in Britain today find faith?

The "Finding Jesus" report from the Evangelical Alliance has landed. They surveyed hundreds of people who have put their faith in Jesus in adulthood.

This was followed by intensive interviews with 20 of them about their experience. Along with a battery of statistics, the report contains stunning insights and is enhanced by heart-warming testimonies. It’s divided into three sections looking at what started people’s spiritual searching, how they were converted, and what the path of discipleship has looked like. It’s free to download!

There isn’t the space to analyse the whole report, so here are seven “hot-takes” which struck me as particularly important.

1. God is working in the UK

He is calling people to Himself. Many people’s path to faith in Christ involved a profound spiritual experience, which the Bible then made sense of. We should be prayerful, watchful and thankful and engage in evangelism, knowing that God Himself is the great evangelist whose mercy is on display all over the country. Narratives of surprising conversions are not confined to the history of revival; the Lord has not changed.

2. Non-practising cultural Christians are finding faith

The largest group of new believers (38%) describe themselves as having been “non-practising cultural Christians” prior to conversion (only 12% had been atheists). We might be debating whether the so-called “Quiet Revival” is much more than a resurgence of cultural Christianity. However, at the very least it means that the best pond for us to fish from is getting very well stocked. Praying for God to genuinely convert those whose interest was initially in cultural Christianity is perhaps the need of the hour!

3. Pre-evangelism is important

Most new Christians’ road to conversion began not with a desire to find out about Jesus, or conviction of sin (which followed); but with a sense of needing help in life, wisdom, guidance, purpose and meaning. We need to make sure that we engage with people’s felt needs, explaining that the hunger they sense is because the idols of our culture cannot satisfy them. These desires point ultimately to Christ.

4. Sunday School and youth work is vital

One intriguing finding was that many new believers had first heard something of the gospel when young; and this seed had born fruit in later life. This was the case even when they had left the church as children or teenagers and described their church experience negatively. Sunday School teachers, your work is precious!

5. The 'basics' are still critical

Reading the Bible, being welcomed in church, and prayer were critical elements in conversion. The basics are still the core, and no matter how creative or innovative our evangelism, or how slick our marketing, we cannot bypass these essentials. (Interestingly, new Christians also said that the Bible and prayer were the most difficult things to handle in their new lives.)

6. Welcome is key

A warm, embracing Christian community in which questions can be asked openly and faced honestly is essential, both for those seeking answers and for new Christians. Apologetics has a role for new Christians, who may have been regenerated by the Spirit – but have many questions and objections which they are still processing. We must make space for this. The report emphasises the significance of conversations and testimonies which take place in relationships amongst friends rather than presentations by professional Christian communicators.

7. Assume low levels of Biblical knowledge

Many new Christians have entered the family of God with very low levels of Biblical knowledge along with assumptions from other worldviews. This is going to be difficult for the church, and will require us to be more deliberate in our discipleship of new Christians, and to be incredibly patient. New Christians are going to enter our churches without even a basic understanding of what the Bible is, or how to handle it. A supportive learning environment in which people don’t feel belittled for their knowledge gaps is very important.

These seven things stood out for me. I’d be interested in what en readers make of this research. www.findingjesus.co.uk