Weekly Action - 23 January 2023 - Sharing Faith in the UK
The state of Christian faith in the UK
Towards the end of last year the latest results from the 2021 census were published. This found that 46.2% of the population of England and Wales identified themselves as Christians, a dramatic drop from 59.3% at the last census in 2011. Of course, this includes a large proportion with only a very nominal faith. The World Christian Encyclopedia, one of the most authoritative sources of faith statistics in the world, estimates that only about 1 in 5 of those in the UK who identify as Christians have a living active faith.[1]
As Christians we should be challenged by these statistics. God wants everyone to know the good news that he loves us so much that he came in the person of Jesus to die for us, and that he has forgiven all the things we have done wrong in our lives. He wants every one of us to turn around, repent, come back to him, and have a personal relationship with him.
Yet, at the same time as we are challenged, there is also much cause for hope. The Talking Jesus Report 2022, another major piece of research also published last year, found that non-Christians in the UK feel really positively about the Christian friends and family members they know, and are really open to a conversation about Jesus with them.[2] These and other issues on the state of the Christian faith in the UK are unpacked further this week in Arise’s weekly blog.
Sharing our faith
One of the key areas that a major report from Arise, The Arise Manifesto, looks at in detail is the state of the Christian faith globally, and what the Bible shows us, and history teaches us, works best to introduce people to Jesus (Arise Manifesto, pg 21 – 46). This finds that as Christians we are all called to talk about and share our faith. As Jesus famously commanded us in the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matt 28: 19 – 20). We should do this in loving and gracious ways with our friends, family and neighbours. It also finds that of those non-Christians who come to a church, an incredible 77% of them come because friends or relatives invited them. It is ordinary people like you and me, worshipping in ordinary local churches around the world, sharing our faith powerfully and effectively with our friends and neighbours that will have the greatest impact for the gospel (Arise Manifesto, pg 38 – 41).
Yet so many of us lack confidence, are somewhat embarrassed, and struggle to talk about our faith clearly and boldly with our friends and family. This is why Arise has developed Equipped to Share, a free course of five sessions that can be run in any church. Equipped to Share empowers individual Christians to talk with confidence about their faith in an easy and natural way, releasing us to evangelise in our daily lives.
This week, will you take action as part of Arise’s Equipped to Share campaign, and plan to run the course in your church, to help your friends become much more confident and relaxed in reaching out to their families, neighbours and community to share the good news about Jesus.
Take Action
Practical Action
Talk to the leaders of your church about whether you can run the Equipped to Share course in your church. Download the Equipped to Share course materials. Get in touch with us at info@ariseuk.org if you are going to run the course. We might be able to come and lead the course with you if you would like, or support you in other ways.
Pray
Pray for any of your friends and family who do not yet know Jesus. Pray for opportunities to talk with them about your faith. Pray that they will come to faith. Pray that the Equipped to Share course will be exciting, effective and a real blessing to your church.
Give
Give to your local church, to support its ministry of sharing and growing faith with the people of your community. Consider also giving to other Christians organisations like Alpha, Christianity Explored, or HOPE Together, that are focused on sharing and expanding the Christian faith.
Encourage us and others by letting us know what actions you have taken – message us at info@ariseuk.org, or via Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Find out more
It’s great to take this action as individual Christians, but even better to come together with others to pray, discuss, worship, learn, have fun and take action together. Contact Arise if you are interested in joining or starting a local Arise group in your church or area.
Find out more about the importance of training, equipping and supporting ordinary Christians like you and me to share our faith with confidence as a crucial part of God’s bigger vision for our world in the Arise Manifesto report.
Found this action online, or sent it by a friend? Sign up to receive weekly actions from Arise directly.
[1] Johnson, T. M. & Zurlo, G. A., World Christian Encyclopedia, Third Edition, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020), p. 832
[2] Talking Jesus Report 2022, Alpha, the Evangelical Alliance, HOPE Together, Kingsgate Community Church and the Luis Palau Association, (Apr 2022), https://talkingjesus.org/2022-research/