Current, important story for you

I think you might call this, in literary terms, for Christian believers in the UK... a black spot. The point at which things are at their worst.

To elaborate - what has happened is that the Bible Society who basically said that Christianity in the UK is increasing (after decades of it not doing so), have suddenly said that their report on the revival is flawed. They, under pressure, have retracted it. There was an error, according to YouGov, which they used to gather results. The 2024 YouGov survey (very strangely only affecting the Bible Society’s commission) was, seemingly, marred by human error and technical glitches.

The Bible Society said: “The error means that we can't rely on the YouGov data, but the amount of corroborating evidence that's emerged during the last year means that we're still confident that there is a Quiet Revival going on, with more young people open to faith, a greater warmth towards Christianity, and churches across England and Wales reporting their own experience of growth.”

Now, against all current convention. I actually carry both sides of the story. So, let’s look at the other side on this…

Humanists UK said: “This underlines that the real story of the past decade, and of the 21st century as a whole, has been the growth of the non-religious. The non-religious now make up a majority in the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, rather than grapple with what that would mean for the future of policy-making, we saw that the Quiet Revival report had much the opposite effect, with at least one council making long-term planning decisions premised on the predicted explosive growth of religion among young people. This shows how important it is to have accurate data about demographics to inform national policy.”

The damage is great indeed, after a council made long-term planning decisions based on a supposed big rise in believers. How can we believers live with ourselves after all this destruction?

Seriously though, it’s important - is there a revival in the UK or not? Goodness knows the far-right are also trying to hijack it. The truth matters. It’s important. Just because something is disturbing doesn’t make it true. Why is the truth always seemingly the most disturbing thing? I’m not here to disturb you, just because I can. I refuse to do it. We need healing. The country needs healing. You and I need healing. How are we to heal in the middle of wars and plagues and all of the awful things that are going on? And in the middle of this, we are attacking each other - taking it all out on each other. Who is to blame? Is it me and those like me? Is it the Bible Society? Is it YouGov? God even?... Or something sinister?

This is alternative news. Things are bad. If I have misled you, I am very sorry. Really, I’m not too proud to apologise to you, like ‘Piggy Nicholas’ with the conch shell in Lord of the Flies. My late brother used to call me ‘piglet’. It was sweet. But there really is a beast. There is an enemy and we (believers) are not the enemy. I, my friends and family are not, at least. And neither, by the way, are you.

Either there is a Christian revival going on or there is not. The truth matters.  

Have you ever done YouGov? I have. I did it for a couple of years and it took that long to earn the £50 reward for countless surveys and a lot of personal data given away. You don’t get to choose which surveys you get. So, I question the official explanation. Either way, the Bible Society has had to retract its report, simply because if they hadn’t done so, I guess YouTube would have.

So, the Bible Society has retracted the report, all but apologised for the misleading information, and now I have to consider whether I will unpublish my book ‘Christian Revival, UK’, which relies partly on this information. Premier, the main UK Christian media outlet now ‘regrets’ carrying reports about the Quiet Revival. The editor is telling us all not to even mention the words ‘Quiet Revival’ again. Humanists UK are, they say ‘vindicated’. They say there is no Christian revival and (by the way)… no God (obs). But in reality, there is, at least, a loving God.

I don’t want to support anything misleading. My whole raison d'etre and modus operandi is to stop misleading things from happening. The pen is mightier than the sword, yes? I care about the truth. Here is a link to the Bible Society FAQs of what is going on here. I’m not going to complicate this - there is either a Christian Revival happening here in the West or there is not. It’s kind of important. It’s not just the UK. I would like to know the truth.

What should I do? Should I also unpublish my book because the Bible Society has retracted its report? Please let me know.

In the meantime, look after yourself.

 

 

Book Available From Today

The book from this blog Christian Revival, UK has been launched today and is available from Amazon and elsewhere. I’ve kept the price as low as I can.

It’s a work of spiritual reportage exploring whether a genuine Christian awakening is emerging in modern Britain. The book examines many perspectives: believers and sceptics, economists, politicians and even artificial intelligence. It asks what ‘revival’ means in a fractured, digital world and how faith interacts with politics, culture and the human condition.

I’ve approached the subject as a journalist - curious, balanced and open to doubt. My hope is that it will engage readers who wouldn’t normally pick up a book about faith, but still sense that something deep is stirring beneath the noise. Available from Amazon here, or search for ‘Christian Revival UK Nick White’.

Wrapping Up - An Outsider's Perspective

 

Well, let’s be honest, throughout this story there has been quite a lot of my own personal opinion and perspective, more than in a usual story. This, as I say is because I am the one writing it and I cannot easily avoid my biases and worldview.

There was one thing more that I thought was important to say. There was an irony in all this. After this finishes, I will, depending on what happens, continue to write on this subject.

But as I say, there has been an irony. The Waterboys (in their song, The Whole of the Moon sang ‘I spoke about wings, you just flew.’ The irony is the writers’ curse (or blessing, depending on what is being written about). Spending more time observing something than experiencing it. Like the academic book I read on all the philosophical perspectives about the meaning of life, which never arrived at a satisfactory conclusion (Although if you were to liken revival to a river and Heaven to the sea, then maybe we only find out what anything is like if we ever get into the water?).

This is, as I say, an alternative news source. I hope it has been helpful in some way.

And there we have it. I have written, researched and worked hard on this whole story for such a long time, only to have to admit that I have not experienced as much of this revival as you might imagine. At the time of writing, I’ve heard a lot about it and I do believe it is happening. But just as an outsider in Galilee might have heard about Jesus and the reports of his miracles, and even decided to follow him, I’ve been an outsider even to this.

 

The truth of the matter is that God is the source of all love. I can write about that until the sheep come home, but writing about it and living it are not the same. So, I will leave it to your critical thinking to decide about the integrity or otherwise and spiritual state of the writer of this story. As I say, ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom’ and that includes the remaining freedoms of thought and expression.

This material has been written over a period of over 20 years. It’s the most important story I will ever write. Though readers have been disappointingly few, thank you for reading all this and indulging me.

 

I need to thank so many people because this has not been a one man show. My wife (for giving me time, space and love to write all this), my family and friends, who encourage me so often. My readers, that’s you. Thank you. My contacts and all the people I interviewed. And finally, of course, Jesus, Heaven and the angels. Thank you.

Now, after all is said and done, you probably still have some questions. One of them which springs to mind is… This is all very lovely, and likely good news for a nation, but you spoke of miracles, signs and wonders accompanying revivals. So where are they?

 

All I can say, knowing that genuine miracles are rarer than they should be, is that you and I have to keep our eyes peeled for them. According to the Bible, Jesus said, ‘What I say to you, I say to everyone. Watch.’

Seems to be a word from God for everyone on earth.

 

So, there it is. A story which took a long time to research, write and condense into this for you to read. It probably deserves to get into the Guinness Book of World Records or something, but I bet it won’t. There is a lot of material which I haven’t included here, but I wanted to make this as accessible as possible to whoever reads it. I wanted the story to be free to anyone with a phone or computer. I’m a fool but you probably wouldn’t be reading this if I had sold out quite yet.

I may, (or may not) get my reward in Heaven for all this.

Or maybe answered prayer on earth? Or maybe a small white pebble from God with my new name written on it, known only to me?

Preferably not the word, ‘Arse’…

 

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

 

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Views

 

Over the years covered I spoke with many others and so the following are a selection of responses, largely from believers, before any talk of quiet revivals in the UK.

Susan

“There is no sign of a revival in my home town. There are about 26,000 people in my town, and of that, only a few hundred at the most will attend the dozen religious organisations (including JW’s and Mormons) … if there was a revival, I’d expect to see long queues of people outside every church every Sunday, waiting to get in, and a tremendous desire to hear the gospel. But it isn’t happening. It happens more in the poorer countries of the world, like in Africa. I think that the problem is that our society is far too materialistic and the pace of life is so fast that people are just too busy trying to manage their lives. One such person is me!”

 

Ellie

“I do think that there will be a revival in Britain. There are no signs of revival in my church yet but the pastor has had a word of prophesy about revival in our little church and I am inclined to have faith and believe the word which was given. We need a Christian revival in this country for the good of the country itself. Christians need to pray in order for a big revival to hit this country in a big way. Hurry up Jesus.”

 

Martine

“Revival is like a firework that flares up into the sky and when it comes down lights up/starts a fire in the surrounding places.”

 

Sally

“Revival comes from the inside, so get it yourself!”

 

Justine

“I’m in two minds about it - I don’t know... I think it may well be happening at the moment. What exactly would the present-day revival be like?”

 

Gemma

“Revival cannot happen without repentance. Only if our leaders and believers in the UK are ready to retrace their steps back to God and lead the nation to repent, will God in mercy hear us from above and revive us. The church fail in their duties; believers are all over the place but we are to influence lives in our nation and community. SAD. Someone like Ezra and Samuel should stand for Christ and lead our nation, community and church to repent, then revival is sure.”

 

Richard

“My own feeling as an amateur enthusiast for Church history is that revivals come and go. God sends revival as a wakeup call. The Church wakes up and gets her priorities right. Then revival stops. God’s call is then for Christians to continue in the power of the Holy Spirit in a deep relationship with Christ nurtured by regular disciplined times of prayer and reading of God’s word - what a previous generation would call a ‘quiet time’ - and in involvement in society where we happen to live and work.”

 

Martin

“I believe in revival but I believe it happens when born again Christians begin to walk in their inheritance and bring the kingdom into their environment. We have the same Spirit within us that raised Jesus from the dead and we should be manifesting our God given nature. Wow, if we all did that there would be revival. Revival is our responsibility. God has already poured out his Spirit! We need to stop looking to the latest ‘super-saint’ to encourage us, as wonderful as they can be in their faith and exploits in God, we all have been given the same Holy Spirit! All of us can be agents of revival if we walk in the Spirit… I believe revival is our responsibility. What haven’t we got that we need to bring revival? God has poured out his Spirit on us. It’s the manifestation of what we already have, our faith in his grace. It’s Romans 12:1 and 2 being transformed by the renewing of our minds by the word of God through the Holy Spirit. We have the God given authority and power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit - if we are not seeing it, it’s not God who is not doing it… he’s already done it!”

 

Gavin

“I agree that we can’t look to some super-saint to do the work for us, for it’s a work that only God can do, but revival is not our responsibility as God is the only one that has the power to bring it to happen. But indeed, only when we walk in the Spirit can we be agents of it and plead for God to send his Spirit in revival power.”

 

Pam

“This doesn’t necessarily have to be down to one person. Thousands of people have come to faith in Jesus through the Alpha Course. We are running one just now and it is such a privilege to be part of what God is doing in people’s lives. It is growing and growing around the world and I believe it is because God is given the glory for it. Nicky Gumbel doesn’t say ‘Oh how clever and successful I am. Just look at the Alpha course now and how it has grown!’ Jesus is given the glory. The Holy Spirit is given freedom to move and it is quite clearly God ordained.

We do need to get on our knees and repent and pray to God and then there is much more likely to be a revival. If we all sit back and wait for another Billy Graham then no, it won’t happen. God doesn’t work the same way all the time and he doesn’t fit into our neat little boxes.

If God sees many people throughout the UK genuinely repenting and praying for him to move then it is down to him to show up and move mightily - which he has proven time and again he will do. The Holy Spirit needs to be recognised and welcomed or we have no chance!”

 

Phil

“In a country where tens of thousands of babies are killed every year there is very little evidence of the majority here being Christian.”

 

Peter

“Yes, the country is sick. It does need healing. A Christian revival is the only answer. The sickness is causing brokenness. Brokenness is the symptom; sickness is the disease. There is so much dis-ease about.

Families are broken because of the selfishness of parents demanding their own way and leaving children rudderless. Of course, so many parents are also rudderless that they have no guidance to give their offspring. So, many thousands of children gang together for identity and acceptance.

People are empty so they seek to fill the emptiness with anything and everything other than the answer, which is Jesus. Business is self-seeking by very definition so people are no longer ‘people’, they are ‘human resources’. So much easier to use and abuse when you are not a person, but a resource.
Greed has crippled the world economy. Politics is everywhere corrupt.
Religion is vacuous. The world is gripped by the cult of celebrity.
Yes, the nation and the world are very sick. Apart from Jesus, this sickness is terminal. Humanity does not have the capacity to heal itself. It won't even admit the sickness.

The UK has 41,000 teenage pregnancies a year. the highest in Europe. Binge drinking is at epidemic proportions, so that street pastors try and help ‘out of it’ people get home safely, giving out flip flops to hundreds every night so they can walk without falling.
‘Don't get caught,’ seems to be the morality of the day, along with, ‘Don't come back pregnant/stoned,’ as well as ‘Anything goes as long as I am having fun.’

These are symptoms of the sickness.
The sickness is the emptiness of not knowing Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
The symptoms are the failed attempts to fill the gap which only he can. The human heart has an enormous capacity for love. God is love. Nothing and no one can replace him.

Come Lord Jesus.”

 

Lisa

“We have had revivals before.
‘Renewal’ was the buzz word in the 1990s, I was caught up in that.

The country is not broken. There are problems, of course, there always are, but it is good here. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I have heard this country being criticised by its inhabitants for all of my sixty years.”

 

Carl

“You'd think with all the many claimed revivals in the past, it'd stick.

I heard this all the time growing up - revival this, revival that. Never could deliver.

No better than the politicians, I say - except the revivalists have a better stick to beat you with - if it doesn't happen, it's because you just didn't BELIEVE enough...”

A Child's Perspective

 

Children have historically been included in past revivals and their voices are needed. What is happening is also to do with them. But they need safeguarding and protecting from so many things. Especially due to the horrific scandal caused by a vile few.

One old-time preacher described young people as ‘kindling’ which helps set fire to ‘old logs.’ If I were still a child, I think that might put me off the whole thing. As we see in the following accounts, history records the role of young people in the revivals which have occurred over the centuries, especially in terms of their freedom of expression.

Along with all the children and young people who play heroic roles in the Bible (such as Joshua, David, Josiah and Jeremiah as a boy), Jesus himself said:

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

It was reported that in 2025 at Spring Harvest, an annual Christian gathering in the UK, more than 630 children and teens began or reaffirmed their relationship with God. The young people lingered in late-night worship, singing the name “Jesus” as they went to bed.

On 15th August 2025 GB News reported in an article titled ‘Britain's incredible Christian revival: Why young people are returning to church in their droves and putting faith in Christ.’ It is little ironic that GB News, as a right-wing mainstream news outlet actually interviewed children about this when so many other media outlets didn’t. It’s a challenge to mainstream media. The truth is that we tend to speak to everyone but the children about stories that concern them, not only because it is harder to interview them (parents or teachers must be asked first), but because society in general still largely believes that children are better seen and not listened to.

So, these were the voices of some children on the topic,

Naomi, 13, who describes herself as a Christian with a strong faith, “Problems in the world are becoming greater, people are looking for somewhere to turn with their problems."

Hannah, 16, who grew up in an Evangelical Free Church family and decided to be a Christian aged 12, told GB News: "I think social media has had a big impact on the youth getting involved in Christianity… I do think there are going to be more Christians in the future as the religion is quickly growing."

Her thoughts reminded me of what Salik had said at the start of the story over 20 years ago about.

“It (Islam) is the fastest growing religion in the world. Is there a revival in my faith? Possibly.”

As a perceptive child might say… maybe Christianity is not the only thing reviving in the UK.