New Evangelical Alliance study uncovers the importance of spiritual experiences and the Bible in new believers’ journeys to faith

The Evangelical Alliance releases their latest report, Finding Jesus: Identifying Pathways to Faith in Adulthood. The report collated the stories of almost 300 new adult Christians and highlights some key findings around how people are coming to faith and common trends that are emerging amongst adults who have become Christians in the last five years across the UK.

Key findings:

1. God is at work: drawing people of all ages, backgrounds and stories to Himself. ‘An experience of God’ is cited more than any other factor in finally prompting people to decide to follow Jesus.
2. The Bible is very important in people coming to faith and then growing in faith. Though they often have challenges and questions, seekers are amazed by the truth, beauty, and wisdom they discover when reading the Bible. 47% of new believers said that reading the Bible was significant for them as they explored the Christian faith.
3. The welcome, kindness, friendship and patience of church communities and individual Christians play a huge part in people’s journeys to faith. People from church, other than the leader (35%) and close friends (33%), are helping people most.

About the report

Much has been written about the decline of the church in the West. However, over the last few years, a different story has started to bubble up amongst non-believers in surprising and unlikely places. From celebrities and students to those in prison and on the margins of society, many people are discovering and choosing to follow Jesus.

This research was commissioned to try to understand what was going on in the stories we were hearing of adults in the UK finding Jesus; Who were they? What prompted them to search? what was their journey to Christian faith like? What helped them along the way? What’s happened since?

The aim was to understand what was causing people to buck the cultural trend and to help the UK church in its mission to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ. This report is a summary of those findings. We have found them fascinating, encouraging, and inspiring and we are confident that you will too.

Phil Knox, co-lead of the research, said: “This Finding Jesus research was commissioned by the Evangelical Alliance to better understand how adults are becoming Christians in the UK, who they are, what prompted them to search and insights into their journey to Christian faith and more.”

Rachael Heffer, also leading on the Finding Jesus project, said: “These are exciting times for the UK church. We are witnessing lives being turned around and the church growing as a direct result of people being more open to the Christian faith, asking big questions, reading the Bible, and seeing God transform their lives. The challenge for the church is how to welcome and nurture the many people coming through our doors!” The survey consisted of 280 adults over the age of 18, who lived in the UK and had come to faith in Jesus as adults in the past five years. They were recruited through Evangelical Alliance networks and social media and completed the digital survey between July and September 2024.