Guest Blog: The Bible Society's Research at Satellites

There have been a lot of conversations, podcasts, and articles around The Quiet Revival ––a movement highlighting renewed interest in the Bible among young adults. But this research only tells part of the story and crucially, can only tell us about adults. As a champion for under-18s at Bible Society, I wanted to dig deeper. Armed with questions (and plenty of sweets!) we used our exhibition stand at Satellites to listen and learn directly from young people.

What did we do? We had tactile as well as digital questions with young people overwhelmingly engaging with the tactile versus the digital (once again, great learning). The most engagement came from voting on questions using sweet wrappers (eat the sweet and use the wrapper to place your vote). We asked different questions each day with many young people returning to answer the next day’s questions.

So, what did we learn? Despite being a ‘connected generation’, young people overwhelmingly preferred engaging with the Bible in print. This challenges assumptions and highlights the enduring value of physical Scripture. They would like to be able to share the Bible more at school and several said that they felt more confident to do so after attending Satellites. They are reading their Bible weekly/monthly, but their desire to do so more often increased after the time they spent at Satellites. When they go to church, they enjoy prayer and worship more than the teaching or community. When asked what they feel most confident doing: inviting a friend to church; sharing the Bible with a friend; or praying for a friend, prayer came out on top. Many said they’d be more likely to pray for a friend than invite them to church because it was something they could do on their own and in their own time. They didn’t necessarily tell the friend they had prayed for them.

What are young people talking about? When young people talk to their friends about the Bible, we were curious to know what they discuss and their free-text responses were topics from ‘everything’ to controversial and moral issues. Death, heaven and hell, sin; beliefs on sexuality; forgiveness and Jesus were all included. These topics were also included when asked what their friends ask them about their faith or the Bible. We also asked them to rank topics in terms of how important they are to talk about with friends. These topics included events in the news; school/college work; family; stress/worries; things that make you happy; music; and future plans. Things that make them happy came first followed by faith, family, and stress/worries. These responses only amplify the need for us as leaders to be confident in the Bible, so we can have these conversations with young people. Faith is part of their conversation with their friends and within that are difficult topics like forgiveness and death.

One of the main positives from this research was that events like Satellites make a difference to young people engaging with the Bible and wanting to share the Bible with others. Young people are keen to share the Bible with their friends but may struggle with confidence on how to do so. Resources like Six Beats One Story Youth Resource and The Bible Course can equip them on their journey.

This research also shows that we need to find a way to open conversation in the church around the big questions that young people have and provide safe spaces to do so. This reflects findings in The Quiet Revival research, where we highlighted that when people lack the confidence to speak about the Bible, it diminishes opportunities for positive Bible encounters thus it remains irrelevant to our daily lives. This isn’t just a job for Bible Society or youth workers – it’s about the future of the Church. If we want to be a Church for tomorrow, we need to disciple young people in the Bible today. Let’s create spaces where big questions are welcomed, confidence is nurtured, and the Bible becomes central to everyday life.