Why Christians struggle to believe positive news about the Church

You may have been given wrong information when it comes to church decline, says Gareth Russell 

Considering it was a positive news story about the Church, the backlash from Christians was surprising.  

Three years ago, we ran a story with the BBC based on a Savanta study that had found young people were more likely than their older peers to pray. 

We run a communications agency, so we understand what is and isn’t newsworthy. Because of the surprising nature of the findings (that were based on a robust, nationally representative sample), we thought it might generate an interesting headline. 

We were not prepared for the backlash which came from Christians who simply did not believe it.