How can the Church reach and retain 18-30s?

In 2017, the Church of England asked Church Army’s Research Unit to find out about successful, unsuccessful, and unproven mission with young adults (aged 18 to 30) which has taken place within the Church of England, other denominations, or through para-church groups.

In researching this topic, we completed 12 case studies of different approaches to mission and evangelism with non-churched young adults.

Summary Video

The 12 Case Studies

The 12 case studies can be accessed below (or from the menu bar on the right), along with a report on the main findings. These highlight the importance of three key principles in mission with young adults:

1. Spaces to belong – The need to create spaces where young adults can belong and feel part of a community before they believe  
2. Spaces for exploring faith together – The need to be deliberate about creating further spaces for sharing and exploring faith together
3. “Not as difficult as you think” – As our twelfth case study (Things that were tried and died) demonstrates, mission with young adults is not easy. But a key theme that emerged from many of the churches we visited was: reaching and engaging with 18-30-year-olds may not be as difficult as you think.