A group of Christian evangelicals has said that the future of the church is under great threat unless biblical illiteracy among young people is urgently addressed.

|TOP|The Rt Rev Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone, warns that, “Young people, both inside and outside the church, are substantially ignorant about the Christian story and the main framework of Christian beliefs”.

Although young people may have well rehearsed arguments outlining Christian responses to social and ethical issues, far fewer appear to have a solid understanding of who Jesus was and why He died, the issue of sin or why the Bible should be trusted.

To address this issue, the Evangelical Alliance has launched ‘essential’, a project designed to engage young people with biblical truth.

Youth leaders have recognised that although plenty of material exists for young people on sex, drugs and other lifestyle issues, there is a paucity of resources addressing basic Christian theology.

Phil Green, Project Director for the essential project, said; “Today’s young people will become the church leaders of tomorrow, but how effective will they be? To ensure the future of the church is built on strong foundations it is essential that these young people have a firm grasp on biblical truth.

|AD|“When we spoke to young people, they told us they wanted answers to difficult questions; Does it matter what religion I follow? What happens when we die? Does sin matter? What does the Bible say about the Jewish nation? Predestination? How will the world end?”

Green continued, “Our vision is to see young people engaging with biblical truth, we want young people to know what Christians believe and why they believe it – so they remain strong in the faith and can defend it to other people. We want to help them apply the unchanging truth of the Bible to the constantly changing world they live in. We want young people to know what Jesus taught and that these teachings are still relevant in today’s society; as it’s been said, ‘before you can live Christianity, you need to know Christianity’.”

At its centre the essential project uses a website to recommend good quality resources and provides responses to many of the questions young people frequently ask.

Bishop Cray comments, “I am delighted to commend ‘essential’ as a highly significant new contribution to youth ministry. Essential, with its focus on young people’s actual questions, is a vital additional resource as we face this challenge.”

The essential project is spearheaded by the Evangelical Alliance, working alongside Capital Youthworks, CPAS, CWR, Damaris Trust, GroundLevel, Ignite, Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, Scripture Union, Wesley Owen and Youth for Christ. Future developments being discussed also include a DVD series, a residential conference, new resources and an online training academy for youth leaders.

More information on the new initiative can be found at www.essential-truth.org