Preaching to people will put them off God, Church warns members

THE Church of England is to signal to members that speaking openly about their faith could do more harm than good when it comes to spreading Christianity.

Stark research findings being presented to members of the Church’s ruling General Synod suggest that practising Christians who talk to friends and colleagues about their beliefs are three times as likely to put them off God as to attract them.

The study, which was commissioned by the Church and a coalition of other Christian groups, also found that four in 10 British adults did not think that Jesus was a “real person who actually lived”. Twenty-two per cent stated that Jesus was a “mythical or fictional character”.

A third of those surveyed said they were not aware of anyone they knew being a practising Christian.

The Bishop of Bristol, the Rt Rev Michael Hill, admitted the findings had been “greeted with disbelief ” but warned members of the Synod not to dismiss them.

The Church’s most senior lay official, William Fittall, the Synod’s secretary general, added that some forms of outreach by Christians hoping to win new converts should be recognised as “counterproductive”. The findings were sent out to almost 470 members of the Synod, which next meets in London next month.

The study, called “Talking Jesus”, was commissioned by the Church of England, the Evangelical Alliance and “Hope”, an umbrella body which brings local churches together in different areas, in an attempt to arrest the decline in attendances.

Non-believers were asked if a prac- tising Christian had ever spoken to them about their faith. Of those who said yes, only 19 per cent said it made them want to know more, compared with 59 per cent who said the opposite. Although 23 per cent said it made them feel “more positive towards Jesus Christ”, 30 per cent said it left them feeling more negative.

Mr Fittall said: “It is important to find out what people actually think so that you don’t just preach to the choir.”