There's a distinct lack of knowledge about the finer points of Easter.

An unscientific Waikato Times survey of 50 people this week found many lacked basic general knowledge, with young people particularly in the dark.

The 10-question survey, which asked basic questions about Christ's death and resurrection, returned a mean test score of 5 out of 10.

For respondents under 20, the greatest source of religious knowledge would appear to be figures in popular culture.

One 15-year-old did not know the name of Christ's betrayer - until they were given the answer.

"Oh, yeah, Lady Gaga sings about that."

A 16-year-old believed Christ was referred to as "King of the World", and was crucified wearing a "halo made of bunnies".

Another teen thought chocolate was made on Good Friday, and that mutton cloth was placed on Christ's head at the crucifixion.

Others believed Christ lived "in the Stone Age" and was an engraver by trade, while another also struggled to name his betrayer until prompted by the Lady Gaga reference.

The question as to whom betrayed Christ confused a number of others, with one young respondent believing it was his dog who was disloyal. Another was hazy about the entire concept of Easter.

"Is that something about God or something?" he asked.

The results come as no surprise to Waikato University religious studies programme convener Marg Coldham-Fussell, who blames young people's lack of religious knowledge on the lack of formal religious instruction in the state school system.

That means the job of teaching the young their religious history falls to other secular entities.

"What they do get is largely from the media, and they'll know that 'Muslim women wear burkhas'," she says.

"In the secular schools religion is shied away from, and people don't get sent to 'Sunday School' like they used to."

A minister's daughter whose parents taught bible study, Ms Coldham-Fussell sums up: "I think it illustrates a declining interest in institutional religion as a whole; a lot of people see it as not that relevant to modern life."

And the relevance of Easter could be further diluted this year, as Easter Monday falls on the same day as Anzac Day.

A Colmar Brunton poll this week found honouring our servicemen is more personally significant than Easter for 51 per cent of us, compared to 11 per cent for whom Easter is the more significant of the two.

The same survey found that for many of us Easter is more an opportunity for family time than an event of religious significance.

Hamilton Pentecostal Christian Church leader, senior pastor Sheridyn Rodgers, says lack of education is a strong factor which stemmed from a generation earlier and a decline in religious teaching at home by parents.

He says not all churches have realised they need to do things differently to stay relevant for young people.

"That could be seen as a negative statement but I think one of the strengths of Christianity is the different flavours, although the message is the same. We work hard at being relevant, relevance is the starting point and if we're not living in today's world it's pretty hard to attract young people to the church," Mr Rodgers said.

"Fundamentally, I think young people are missing out, it's quite tragic the message of Easter isn't there."

Statistics New Zealand's most recent census - this year's was cancelled due to the Canterbury earthquake - confirms Kiwis are increasingly secular, with those claiming 'no religion' up 26.2 per cent from 2001-2006.

Broken down, that means 1.3 million adults don't associate themselves with a religion. The census allows up to four religious affiliations to be stated, with most main religions showing significant decline in that period.

While the number of secular non-religious soared, those identifying with a specific faith crept up 1.8 per cent - despite respondents potentially being counted up to four times among the 2.2 million claiming a religion.

More recently, Waikato churches are reporting growing numbers attending services in the last two years.