When Reading Declines, Discipleship Suffers

The results of the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress report card were sobering. This is an assessment performed every two years on a representative sample of U.S. students.

Students’ reading levels have decreased significantly compared to the last two assessment years. The 2024 Reading Assessment revealed that 33 percent of eighth graders and 40 percent of fourth graders aren’t reading at the basic level.

The study’s governing board said, “A third of 8th graders likely could not identify basic literary elements in a text such as the order of events, character traits, and main idea.” This means one-third of the students in our churches may struggle with reading, including the Bible.

While this may seem shocking, I don’t think it’s a surprise. In 2024, Rose Horowitch observed that college students at elite universities struggle to read books. “It’s not that they don’t want to do the reading,” she wrote. “It’s that they don’t know how.” That will affect how well members of our churches can read and comprehend their Bibles.

Literacy Issues Are Biblical Literacy Issues

The Bible is the authoritative and inspired Word of God. It’s also a literary work with characters, a metanarrative, and different literary genres. As Kristie Anyabwile observes, “We read the Bible as an inspired literary work from the mouth of God . . . for the purpose of transforming hearts by unfolding God’s great story of redemption.” We want people in our churches to read the Bible so God’s Word can transform their lives.

Though having churches get involved in teaching reading may seem like a new challenge, closing literacy gaps has been a consistent part of the Protestant tradition.

During the Industrial Revolution, Christians like Robert Raikes and Hannah More recognized the need to teach young people in their communities to read. They implemented classes that provided “basic and religious education on Sundays.” That idea evolved into what we call Sunday school.

One study shows that in early 20th-century Ireland, it was Protestant values and doctrine that motivated Christians to promote literacy in their communities. Wherever Protestant missionaries went, they made literacy a high priority so they could teach people to read the Bible.

Wherever Protestant missionaries went, they made literacy a high priority so they could teach people to read the Bible.

That’s why Christians should be interested in national reading scores. We can surmise from these scores that many young believers in our midst may be struggling to follow the flow of Scripture or interpret the text’s main idea. That struggle can hamper their spiritual growth in the present and future. Therefore, helping our youngest members learn to read well may be essential for their spiritual formation.

Reading Aloud Can Improve Literacy

One way we can equip these young readers and improve literacy in our churches and homes is by reading books aloud. Research shows that being read to can improve children’s comprehension and strengthen fluency.

The link between reading comprehension and listening comprehension is important. Literacy researchers have found that children’s listening comprehension can limit how well they can understand what they read. This is why reading aloud remains such a powerful tool for helping kids learn to love reading. The goal isn’t to have a Sunday-school classroom crowded with kids who are early readers but to help the young people in our churches become confident and comfortable reading the Bible on their own.

As media consumption continues to shift toward short-form video, challenges to reading comprehension will likely grow. Even as more video adaptations of Scripture are being created, the Bible will always be primarily a document meant to be listened to or read. We can’t afford to allow the decline in literacy to restrict our children’s ability to enjoy reading Scripture.

Where to Start

The simplest way for many churches to help children is by reading more Bible stories and longer Scripture passages in class. Instead of relying on video-based curricula or programs that use minimal Scripture, congregations can choose material that requires the teachers and students to read substantial passages aloud to the class. Using missionary biographies or edifying children’s literature to occupy children in the nursery or children’s church can also help when the sermon or studies run long .

The simplest way for many churches to help children is by reading more Bible stories and longer Scripture passages in class.

But a few hours of reading at church every week can only go so far. Most of the work of discipleship should occur in the home; that includes helping kids grow in their reading and listening comprehension. Parents should prioritize reading to their own children, especially from the Bible. Churches can serve their members by maintaining a library or a church bookshelf where people can get resources from picture books to chapter books. In recent years, Christian publishers have published many quality picture books and other children’s literature.

Of course, many classic children’s books like Charlotte’s Web or The Wind in the Willows can be fun for the whole family. Sarah Mackenzie’s popular website Read-Aloud Revival is teeming with helpful resources. Books like Stories Woven in Silver and The Redeemed Reader can equip parents to choose better books for the whole family.

Technology isn’t a substitute for parents reading with their children, but audiobooks can expose children to richer vocabulary, more complex sentences, and stories they might not yet be able to read independently. They can also help parents who struggle to read fluently improve their reading alongside the kids.

Every church wants its children to know God’s Word. One of the simplest ways to serve that goal is to help them become joyful, capable readers. Helping them master reading may be one of the church’s most enduring ministries.