TALKING JESUS

The ‘Talking Jesus’ report, originally published in 2015, has been updated in 2022. The report, which is the result of the partnership between Alpha, the Evangelical Alliance, HOPE Together, the Luis Palau Association and Kingsgate Community Church, reveals the state of faith in the UK, showing how people come to faith in Jesus and how Christians can talk about Jesus more effectively with their friends.

The updated research was carried out by the market research company Savanta ComRes by means of a ten-minute online survey among 4,000 UK adults. The fieldwork mainly took place between 28 January and 13 February 2022, with some supplementary fieldwork taking place between 28 March and 5 April 2022.

Highlights of the findings include:

  • 6% of UK adults are practising Christians, while 42% identify as non-practising Christians and 52% as non-Christians.
  • 20% of the UK population believe that Jesus is God; 45% believe in the resurrection; 54% believe that Jesus was a real, historical person.
  • 26% of non-Christians think that the church is hypocritical and 26% narrow-minded; on the other hand, 22% consider it friendly and 20% caring.
  • Non-white, ethnic-minority people make up 25% of practising Christians.

In relation to coming to faith in Jesus:

  • 26% of non-Christians would make a Google search in order to find out more about the Christian faith, closely followed by reading the Bible (24%).
  • Growing up in Christian family was the most common route to faith (34%), followed by reading the Bible (24%), and attending a church service (19%).
  • 53% of non-Christians know a Christian (down from 68% in the 2015 research).
  • 33% of non-Christians, having had a conversation with a Christian (and choosing to remain a non-Christian), are open to talking more about Jesus.

Download the ‘Talking Jesus’ report free-of-charge HERE. Watch the ‘Talking Jesus’ report launch event via THIS LINK. Access material relating to the 2015 ‘Talking Jesus’ report HERE. Read the blog series exploring what the updated ‘Talking Jesus’ research means for evangelism today via THIS LINK.