Amid recent reports of a “quiet revival” and renewed exploration of Christianity in the UK, the question remains: Why the growing interest? A new report from the Evangelical Alliance has helped reveal the answer.
The Evangelical Alliance’s (EA) “Finding Jesus” research, conducted in 2024 and released this June, found that UK adults are investigating Christianity primarily due to a need for meaning and hope – often prompted by a personal crisis.
Over 280 Christians who had found faith in the last five years answered a 15-minute survey, with 20 going on to participate in further in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that of the three top reasons to begin exploring Christianity, someone’s internal needs were the strongest: 37% of respondents indicated they began searching as they “needed help with life”, 34% because they were “looking for meaning” and 32% after being prompted by a “difficult and painful experience”.
The second biggest reason was having a relationship with Christians: “a Christian spoke to me” was cited by 29% of respondents and “actions of a Christian” by 26%. The report describes how the youngest converts (who were among the most sceptical of Christians initially), were particularly impacted by this – when attending an event, one woman was struck that people had “looked at her rather than their phones!”
“If you are a Christian … we want to affirm that your witness, actions and conversation are really powerful,” said Phil Knox, Evangelism and Missiology Specialist at the EA.
Having a spiritual experience was found to be the third highest reason for exploring Christianity, given by 28% of respondents. At the bottom was a community event hosted by a church, with 8%, and social media, with 4%.
The EA are hopeful that these findings will help churches. Director of the EA Gavin Calver posted on X stating: “We believe this research will equip and encourage the church in its mission to share the good news of Jesus. There are lots of helpful insights and opportunities within it.”
Read the “Finding Jesus”report in full on the EA UK website to discover what and who helped seekers the most along the way to finding faith.
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