This week I received a copy of the findings in the post, and when I checked on EAUK’s website I found that everything I’d received – AND MORE – is available online.

And it’s well worth a look!

It’s possible that the similarities between UK and NZ will mean that the research can be reasonably applied to our context without needing to run a similar survey in NZ.

NZ Christian Network is involved with the CRA (Christian Research Association) which runs the CLS (Church Life Survey), so this is a question we will discuss at our next meeting.

In the meantime, here’s a snapshot of what EAUK found:

• 57% of people in England identify as Christians (9% are practising)
• 41% of practising Christians attribute their faith to growing up in a Christian home
• 40% of people do not realise Jesus was a real person who actually lived
• One in four 18 to 34-year-olds thinks Jesus was a mythical or fictional character
• 43% of people believe in the resurrection
• 66% of practising Christians have talked about Jesus to a non-Christian in the past month
• 72% of practising Christians feel comfortable talking to non-Christians about Jesus
• 31% of 18 to 34-year-olds felt more positive about Jesus after such a conversation
• 44% of practising Christians credit their friends for introducing them to Jesus
• 17% of practising Christians said a spiritual experience they could not explain was a key factor in them coming to faith.
• Spiritual, loving and peaceful are the words most commonly used to describe Jesus
• 36% of practising Christians say talking to a Christian about Jesus was important in their coming to faith

We highly recommend you click on this link Talking Jesus research and resources to access all of the resources.