How are U.S. Christians currently thinking about “making disciples of all nations?”

Much of international missions work adapted or was even put on hold last year due to the pandemic. Yet, even well before then, the overall perception of how to practice missions and global evangelism has been shifting, especially among younger generations. There are plenty of reasons for leaders to be curious about how Christians’ thoughts on the topic of missions are evolving.

Barna has partnered with Mission India to explore ideas about effective and sustainable global missions, beginning with Barna’s Activating Missions CoLab. As a starting point, here’s what Barna’s previous studies have revealed about the U.S. Church’s relationship to sharing faith, locally and globally.

Half of Churchgoers Do Not Know the Great Commission Data from Barna’s Translating the Great Commission report, created in partnership with Seed Company, show that, as of 2018, only 17 percent of churchgoers had heard of “the Great Commission” and knew what the term meant. The remainder of churchgoers largely had never heard of it (51%), with a quarter (25%) saying that they had heard of it but couldn’t recall the exact meaning.

2018 research also shows that age makes a significant difference in whether churchgoers recognize the Great Commission. More than one-quarter of Elders (29%) and Boomers (26%) said they knew the term, compared to 17 percent of Gen X and one in 10 Millennials (10%). Although not even half of any age group knew the Great Commission well, the youngest adult generation was least likely to recognize it.