Half of British Christian teenagers only read the Bible once a month

Premier Youthwork Magazine has published a new research how teenagers see and experience faith, youth groups and church. 293 young people were surveyed. 

According to the survey, fifty per cent of young people who identify as Christians do not read their Bible more than once a month, and just one in three read it a couple of times a week or more.

The research also revealed that teenagers pray far more regularly than they read the Bible.

THE CHURCH, A PLACE TO EXPERIENCE GOD

Youthwork asked teenagers about other topics like church attendance, youth groups, marriage, sex, or what defines a good church, among others, with the following results:

• Young people attend church more frequently than Youth group.
• They see Youth group as a fun place, while the church is a place to experience God. GOD.
• Their father´s church attendance affects them more than their mother´s.
•  For them, evangelism is the least important element to define a church.
•  83% of Christian young people think sex in only for marriage. Only 36% of them think homosexuality is a sin.
• They ranked “being nice to people”, as more important than “telling your friends about Jesus”. 

The British publication talked with youth worker Mark Walley, who suggested youth workers need to rethink how they're encouraging their young people to read the Bible.

"Because the thing is, there is a link between the discipline of Bible reading and the experience of God. One of the main day to day ways you experience God is through reading the Bible”, he argued.

He also warned: “one thing to avoid is the sense of guilt. It's so easy to lay on young people: 'Why aren't you reading your Bible? You should do it more often. It's like brushing your teeth you should do it if you like it or not'.”

Instead of focusing on the guilt, encouragement is the key: "That's not the Christian message. The Christian message is that every day and every time we need to, we can pick up our Bible and hear God speaking to us."