Changing the mission for young people

Youth for Christ has released the results of Z-A: Growing Spirituality, its third research project into young people (today’s 11–18s) in the UK’s openness to faith and perceptions of the church. It’s the latest report we’ve seen recently that points to a more positive outlook, following the likes of the Bible Society’s Quiet Revival.

Obviously, we cannot get too excited, the positive data around young people who say they are a Christian (35%) and who say they go to church regularly (8%) is yet to be reflected in the data that churches report, but that does not mean there are no signs of hope.

Some notable findings from Z-A: Growing Spirituality include:

48% of the young people asked said they believe in God, only 28% said they did not 

96% are open to the idea of a spiritual experience, and 19% say they have had one

In 2016, 56% of young people asked if they would be interested in finding out more about God said ‘no’. That number has dropped to 26% in 2025

So, what can we take from this?

First of all, it shows that the way we think about mission to young people needs to change. There has been an assumption in the past of a need to persuade young people of the existence of God – we now need to understand that young people are coming to us already on a journey of faith and belief.

Secondly, we can be bolder in our invitation. Young people want to know more about God, so create opportunities for them to do that. Don’t feel obliged to just create fun and games.

Finally, don’t fall back into wanting to win young people with clever arguments. Z-A: Growing Spirituality shows an incredible openness to spiritual experiences. So, we need to embrace the weird and invite young people to encounter a living God and trust him to meet them.

You can read the report for yourself on the Youth for Christ website.

Graphics: Youth for Christ