In the United Kingdom, church membership has been declining for years. Whereas about 30% of the population, or 10.6 million people, were members of a church in 1930, that number dropped to 11.2%, or 5.5. million, by 2010. Current trends indicate that less than 8.5% of the UK population will be members of a church by 2025.1
In a country where only 12% of people say they believe in God with absolute certainty,2 the need for a strong Christian witness has never been greater. Through Precept, God is raising up Christian men, women, and their families, as they trust God in everything, to lead others by example into relationship with God. As a Precept partner, you’re a part of their stories.
Studying God’s Word In-Depth Makes a Difference
Charles’s journey of knowing God deeply through His Word began when his wife, Tolu, attended a Precept Upon Precept® weekend Bible study on the Book of Ruth. Excited about all she had learned, Tolu urged her husband to join her in attending the next Bible study weekend to be held a few months later.
“I was a bit skeptical,” Charles remembers. “I just didn’t understand how we were going to spend a good part of 27 hours over a weekend studying the Book of Titus, which is only three short chapters long.” Nonetheless, Charles was intrigued—and he admits, “Not even my wife’s enthusiasm could have prepared me for the experience.”
Along with around 20 other students, Charles and his wife studied the Book of Titus in depth and found themselves amazed at how much there was to be gleaned from such a short book of Scripture. This is the impact Precept has on believers in nearly 190 countries around the world: As believers study the Bible for themselves, but not by themselves, lives are changed.
The Power of Multiplication
Charles shares, “I found myself thinking, ‘If all this is in Titus, imagine just how much more is in the whole Bible!’” By the end of the same month, Charles and Tolu had hosted ten of their close friends at their home for an eye-opening study on Psalm 23. Your support of Precept equips believers not only to study the Bible for themselves but to lead others in doing the same.
In the months that followed, Charles and Tolu began hosting two different weekly Bible studies, one with members of their church and one with their friends. In each study, the couple was encouraged as their fellow believers read and understood God’s Word, discovering truth daily and knowing God more deeply as a result.
For Charles and Tolu, one of the most enriching aspects of studying God’s Word with others was the comfort they found in walking with the body of Christ and searching Scripture together when facing life’s challenges. A few very painful seasons presented this couple and their family with opportunities to put what they learned in God’s Word into practice. Charles says,
Walking by faith is a terrifying prospect, especially when you feel everything is spinning out of control around you. At those times, you need to be certain about what you’re anchoring your hope on. Precept studies are life-changing resources that have given my family and I added confidence to trust God like never before.
As a Precept partner, you’re helping believers like Charles and Tolu, their families, their church families, and their circle of friends engage in relationship with God through His Word. Through the power of multiplication, God’s Word can reach the more than 67 million people living in the UK—and keep going, even to the end of the earth!
Give today and help connect more people across the globe to God’s Word so they can know God deeply and live differently!
- Church Statistics, “Introduction: UK Christianity 2005-2015,” https://faithsurvey.co.uk/download/csintro.pdf. Accessed September 22, 2022.
- Jonathan Evans and Chris Baronavski, “How do European countries differ in religious commitment? Use our interactive map to find out,” December 5, 2018, Pew Research, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/12/05/how-do-european-countries-differ-in-religious-commitment/. Accessed September 22, 2022.
