(ZENIT News / Rome, 08.25.2026).- For a generation accustomed to moving effortlessly between a phone screen and a face-to-face conversation, the old distinction between “online” and “offline” is becoming increasingly irrelevant. A new study of children and teenagers in the United Kingdom suggests that Christian mission may need to catch up with that reality — not by replacing personal relationships with digital platforms, but by connecting the two.
The report, “Exploring Hybrid Mission among Young People,” published in August 2026 by Scripture Union in partnership with Liverpool Hope University, surveyed 155 young people between the ages of eight and 16. Of them, 100 were regular churchgoers, while 55 did not describe themselves as Christian. The researchers also gathered the views of 120 youth leaders.
The findings challenge an assumption that digital evangelization necessarily competes with traditional pastoral contact. When asked how they would learn more about the Bible, 44 percent chose an exclusively in-person approach, while 45 percent preferred a combination of online and face-to-face engagement. More than 70 percent said they would use both settings when looking for information and gathering facts.
The pattern becomes even clearer when questions turn from information to relationships. Fifty-eight percent said they would ask questions about God in person, while 68 percent preferred to pray in person. Around one-third wanted support face-to-face, but more than half wanted the possibility of receiving support both online and in person.
In other words, the screen appears to be a gateway rather than necessarily a destination.
That distinction matters for Christian communities. A search engine, video or social-media post can provide an initial answer, provoke a question or introduce a young person to an unfamiliar idea. But the research suggests that when questions become personal — particularly questions about God, prayer and faith — many young people still value the presence of another person.
The study also highlights the continuing importance of the family. Parents and relatives remain far more significant sources of inspiration than many of the figures who dominate the digital environment: 80 percent identified family as an influence and 65 percent mentioned friends. Half cited sporting heroes, while 35 percent named teachers and celebrities. Only 5 percent selected youth leaders, scientists or fictional characters.
The results concerning non-practising young people are particularly noteworthy. Almost all knew at least one Christian through school, friendship networks or extended family, and the report found that a believing parent could positively influence a child’s faith. At the same time, these young people generally believed that having a non-believing parent would not determine whether a child became a believer.
That suggests something more subtle than simple parental transmission of religion: young people appear to notice faith primarily through relationships and lived example.
The internet nevertheless has substantial reach. Sixty-three percent said they were influenced by what they encountered online, compared with 21 percent who said they were not and 16 percent who were unsure. Yet their assessment of social-media influencers was surprisingly restrained. On a scale from one to five, half rated the influence of online influencers at just two.
Youth leaders saw the picture differently. Twenty-nine percent gave influencers the highest possible rating of five, 18 percent rated their influence at four and 35 percent at three. A similar gap emerged concerning friends: 20 percent of young people rated their friends’ influence at four, compared with 41 percent of youth leaders.
The discrepancy is revealing. Adults working with young people may sometimes overestimate the importance of prominent online personalities while underestimating the quieter influence of ordinary relationships and the broader digital environment.
Young people themselves also expressed reservations about influencers, often questioning their reliability. Many insisted that they were not personally influenced by such personalities while simultaneously acknowledging that online content could teach them something, inspire them to try something new or challenge their assumptions.
For the Church, that distinction could be crucial. Christian mission in the digital age is not necessarily a competition to produce more influential personalities. It may instead involve creating trustworthy pathways between discovery and encounter: content that raises worthwhile questions, communities capable of answering them, and adults whom young people can approach without feeling judged or manipulated.
This is where the report’s concept of “hybrid mission” becomes more than a technological slogan. The young people surveyed do not appear to divide their lives into separate digital and physical compartments. They move between them naturally. A Christian response that insists on choosing one at the expense of the other risks misunderstanding the environment in which they actually live.
Scripture Union national director Dave Newton argued that children and young people are already living in such a hybrid world and that churches should listen, learn and respond rather than endlessly debate whether digital engagement is necessary.
The deeper lesson, however, may be that technology cannot substitute for human presence. The figures on prayer, questions about God and personal support point in the opposite direction. Digital media can open a door, but many young people still want someone they trust on the other side.
For Christian mission, that is both a challenge and an opportunity: enter the spaces where young people search, without forgetting that faith ultimately asks for more than information. It asks for encounter, trust, witness and a community in which questions about meaning can be taken seriously.
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