The street preachers continued to preach on the streets of the Midlands to only a trickle of interest. Little seemed to have changed on the surface.
However, in April 2025 the Bible Society published a set of figures which basically showed that much of Generation Z really was interested in faith issues and that there had been an increase in church attendance, especially among young people. The narrative of decline, or the ebb of the sea of faith, had been so long-running that a lot of people were surprised and the study itself (questioning over 13000 people) was fairly robust and compared with a similar study done in 2018. The Bible Society called it a ‘quiet revival’ in the UK (although it seemed also to be happening in other countries in Europe). The study found that the Church of England continued to decline but that Catholics and Pentecostals were increasing in number. They stated that nominal Christians (as shown by the census) were decreasing but that the new believers were relatively active in their faith. And that the new believers, though largely young, were from all ethnic minorities. Similarly, there were reports of an increase in the sales of Bibles.
I was unsure of what to make of it. I wanted to believe it was true but there was a lot of criticism from both inside and outside of the Church. Some called on the Bible Society to retract their whole study.
Meanwhile I was having my own problems, having to increasingly care for my mum who had Parkinsons and dementia (and other personal problems including health and the loss of my dad in 2025). All the time still grieving for my brother. This became all-consuming and I was in little position to investigate further. However, I did attend a meeting in which I questioned Justin Brierley concerning his announcement of a revival.
“Hi Justin.
Historically, any past revival has always been accompanied by a seemingly
atmospheric outpouring of God’s Spirit. If there is the start of a revival or
rebirth now in the UK (which I hope there is) - where is that supernatural
change in the atmosphere?”
Justin
Brierley:
“All
great revivals have evidently had a move of God, a supernatural move of God. I’ve
hesitated to use the R word ‘revival’ for it because I think revivals are a
very specific thing, often things you can only see in hindsight anyway. Where
there was a supernatural dimension to what was happening and you see real fruit
from it. I think the word I have heard for what’s happening at the moment is a ‘quiet
revival’, there are stirrings if you like. I think it is being accompanied in a
certain respect by a spiritual outpouring, especially in the younger Gen Z
circles. I would say that the Asbury awakening of 2023 was an interesting example
of that happening where the spiritual thirst and hunger is bubbling up and
pouring out, manifesting in these young people getting on their knees before
God. And I’ve seen other instances of that happening. I think there is also a
move towards the supernatural that I’m encountering among a lot of people after
a long period of rationally and skepticism, I think people are open to that
again. I still am not using the word ‘revival’ about what we’re seeing now. It
could become that, who knows, but as you say it has to become something a bit
different and something that will be noticeably a move of people repenting and
getting right with God.
We’re
inevitably comparing our time to very different times, the Welsh revival,
various revivals which have happened both here and over time. They’ve all been
very contextual and I don’t know exactly what a revival would look like right
now in the technological age we’re living in, but I do sense that the
conditions are right for people to return to God now, they’re desperate enough,
I think they’ve been so let down in our culture by the false promises of
secular modernity that I think it’s bubbling up in this spiritual hunger. I
don’t know exactly how that will be disseminated. Where I am seeing it happen
is that it’s trickling down from these online influencers, those seem to be the
people who are the trend-setters now and so those are some of the people I’ve
been focusing on in my book (The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God).
They
are changing the atmosphere about the acceptability of talking about God and
religion and Christianity. So, I think it is starting in that place and being
met by this spiritual hunger bubbling up from the ground as well.”
Brierley, a well-known podcaster, broadcaster and writer in Christian circles
in the UK went on to continue to speak about the events which were happening.
