Mission to 16-30 year olds in the UK is seen by church leaders as absolutely essential yet critically under-resourced.

Research carried out by Innovista and the UK Evangelical Alliance revealed that:

· 96% of church leaders think that increasing the number of 16-30 year olds in their churches is either 'more important' or 'as important' as other top priorities.

· Yet, despite its importance, only 11% of church leaders feel ‘well-resourced’ to do this in terms of people, training and tools.

In deprived urban areas, this contrast is even more striking:

· 41% of church leaders in deprived urban areas view reaching 16-30 year olds as ‘more important’ than other issues (compared to a national average of 25%).

· However, 56% of these church leaders feel ‘under-resourced’ to reach them (compared to a national average of 45%).

Innovista is currently in conversation with church leaders to determine how to respond to these findings.

‘16-30 year olds represent one of the greatest mission challenges of our day. The rapid-rate life change that accompanies these years creates openness as young people figure out what they will give their lives to. Offering this generation credible opportunities to follow Jesus is a 'must do'.’ (Jason Lane, Innovista's Executive Director)

‘This missing generation in the local church is a key area for evangelicals to address, not simply because we are worried that some of our churches will die out, but because we need to take seriously the last words of Jesus calling us to pass on this precious deposit of the gospel to every generation.’ (Krish Kandiah, Evangelical Alliance’s Churches in Mission Executive Director)