Scripture Union's new report on ministry with children and young people has a striking headline finding. The adults it surveyed see the Christian faith as far more relevant to the next generation than the church itself. The survey of 697 adults across the UK and the Republic of Ireland gave the faith a relevance score 54 per cent higher than the church's.

So the adults who answered didn't write the faith off. Their doubts were about the church, and the report asks churches to make more room for young people.

What the survey asked

The report is called "Taking the Pulse of Ministry Among Children & Young People." It was written by Dr Sarah Holmes and draws on responses gathered by the Institute for Children, Youth and Mission from May to July 2026. Christian Today reported the findings on 9 October, and Scripture Union offers the full report through its Taking the Pulse page.

Photo: Ben White / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

The people who answered weren't a random slice of the public, and they weren't young people. They were church leaders, children's and youth workers, parents, grandparents, congregation members and chaplains from a range of denominations. In other words, adults close to the work.

On a scale from 0 to 2, they gave the Christian faith an average relevance score of 1.28 for children and young people. The Bible scored 1.13. The church scored just 0.84.

"This is significant because respondents did not reject faith as irrelevant," the report says. "Rather, they distinguished between the continuing relevance of the Christian faith and the perceived relevance of the church as an institution or community."

So the faith holds up. The question is whether church culture does. The report asks churches to consider "whether the church culture, language, structures and patterns of belonging make church feel accessible, meaningful and trustworthy to children and young people."

Jesus first, then belonging

What do young people need most? The respondents' answer was clear. Top of the list was "a relationship with Jesus or a Christian faith foundation." After that came belonging, love and community, trusted adults, and mental health and hope.

The report also has a gentle warning for churches that reach for a programme every time. "Churches tend to instinctively default to programmes, but these findings reveal that relationships and belonging are much greater needs," it says.

It argues that sharing the gospel in ways that meet young people's emotional needs and their search for truth really matters, instead of presenting Christianity "as an abstract belief disconnected from their lived experiences."

When respondents were asked about church priorities for both under-11s and 11 to 18 year olds, the top answer was the same: "leading them to a personal relationship with Jesus." Helping young people find a place to belong and giving them role models of faith also ranked highly.

Friends, parents and phones

Who shapes a young person's faith? Friends and peers come first, according to 31.57 per cent of respondents. Parents and carers came next at 28.01 per cent. Social media was third at 23.3 per cent. The church was named by only 5.57 per cent, and the Bible by 1.94 per cent.

There's a twist in the digital numbers. Even though social media was seen as a big influence, only 1 per cent of respondents picked digital connection as an effective way to reach young people. By contrast, 56 per cent pointed to accessible, regular activities such as clubs and groups, and 38 per cent said meeting young people where they already are, in schools and community settings.

So in these adults' eyes, the screen matters, but being there in person matters more. Scripture Union put it this way. "Digital culture matters, but online mission is marginal."

Questions about truth have grown since the previous survey in 2024. Church leaders and youth workers raised particular concern about subjective ideas of truth, artificial intelligence, social media and fake news.

Families at the centre

Some of the most encouraging numbers in the report are about home. Among parents and carers surveyed, 83 per cent said they try to make conversations about Jesus and faith a normal part of everyday family life. Fifty-seven per cent said they have faith conversations daily, and 29 per cent said weekly.

The gap is with grandparents. Forty-nine per cent of the grandparents surveyed said they get no support from their church in passing on faith.

Support for sharing the faith was strong overall. Some 87 per cent agreed that seeking to evangelise children was appropriate. Respondents stressed that faith-sharing "should be age-appropriate, clear, sensitive, safeguarded and transparent."

The report suggests some Christians hold back not because they lack conviction but because they're unsure how to share their faith well. Twenty-three per cent said careful thought should go into how the gospel is shared with children and young people, and 15 per cent named barriers such as "fear, lack of knowledge or feeling unqualified."

Listening, and letting them lead

One finding will make church leaders think. Most respondents said children and young people had minimal or no involvement in church decisions. Their views are usually gathered through informal chats and feedback, not through structures that let them shape what happens.

"Whilst informal listening is valuable, it is not the same as shared decision-making," the report says. "This raises a deeper question about agency: are children and young people being listened to as participants in church life, or mainly consulted about provision designed for them?"

It says ministry is strongest when young people are "not treated as a separate audience to entertain, but as relationally known, spiritually engaged, and visibly included participants in the wider church and community."

Resources are tight, too. Limited volunteers and time were named as the biggest barriers to outreach, and a shortage of trained workers held back schools ministry. The report suggests outreach could happen more within "existing activities and spaces" that churches already run.

Scripture Union's summary

Scripture Union put its conclusions simply. "Children and young people need to feel that church is a place they belong, have trusted relationships and meaningful participation, not only programmes," it said. "Trusted adults, including parents, carers and grandparents are key in the formation of faith. We need to all work together as a team."

The report is upfront about its limits. It surveyed adults, so it doesn't directly show what children and young people think themselves. Scripture Union plans further research into their own views.

It's a UK and Irish study, but Australian readers in plenty of local parishes will recognise the questions. If you'd like more on how faith is reaching people in new ways, we recently covered YouVersion's anxiety, hope and healing plans and MegaVoice audio Bibles in Nepal.

The heart of the report is hopeful. The adults around young people still see the faith as relevant to them, and they want to share it. The work now is making sure the church feels like home.