6 lessons you may have missed from the quiet revival

I am a morning person, so I prefer morning church. I attend the 9:30am service at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, partly because the earlier the better, and partly because the 11:30am service is packed.

It’s always packed and everyone knows it, but this Easter Sunday, it was full to overflowing. I went to the 9:30am as usual (which was also busy) but stayed around afterwards to chat to a friend. At 11:28, when the service countdown began, I left the main auditorium. To my surprise, at 11:29, the hosting team were turning people away. Passing people walking briskly along Brompton Road at 11:34, I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that church was full. It was a bittersweet feeling -  disappointment for them but happiness that church was overflowing on Easter Sunday.

You may have experienced something similar in your own church. Over the Easter period in particular, stories abounded of churches at capacity, record numbers of baptisms and people coming to faith. But this is not a phenomenon limited to Easter. The recent Bible Society report, The Quiet Revival concluded that the Church is growing – despite what those outside it may have been led to believe.

Much has already been said about Gen Z and young men returning to church, as well as the benefits of church attendance, including improved mental health, a sense of community, increased hope and greater involvement in social action, so I won’t address these here. Instead, I want to explore the lessons the Church needs to learn beyond the headline findings.

1. God is faithful

My greatest takeaway from the report is that God is faithful. I have been a Christian for 30 years and have attended meetings up and down the country in many different denominations praying for revival. While some might argue that it is too early to draw conclusions, I believe the Lord is answering our prayers.

Time and time again, we have been told that the Western Church is dead. The narrative is that we have played our part in the history of the Church, but now God is moving elsewhere; that our society is unspiritual, secular, proud and closed.

We don’t have to be aggressive or bullish because God is drawing people to his Church. But we shouldn’t be complacent, either

This story has not just been told in the media, but also in the Church. At last year’s Lausanne Congress, I got the distinct feeling that our brothers and sisters in the global Church felt sorry for the state of the UK Church. But my own experience post-Covid has been that God is on the move. The people I encounter are open to understanding why I am a Christian. Not only does this report remind us of God’s faithfulness, it reveals to us that even when we don’t see it, he is working.

2. This isn’t a ‘normal’ revival

I suspect the phrase ‘Quiet Revival’ was chosen because the data doesn’t show what we expect or have traditionally defined as a revival. Revivals are usually tied to a specific location, time, denomination or ministry - but not so with this. The report points to growth over six years, in different denominations, and makes no reference to specific locations. It is not tied to one nationality, background or age group (excluding Gen Z). Whether you are white, black or brown, you are more likely to attend church today than six years ago.

The Holy Spirit is drawing people to himself, irrespective of who or where they are. The Lord is turning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, just as he promised in Ezekiel 11:19-20.

Not only has church attendance increased by 56 per cent, but non-churchgoers are more open to hearing about the gospel. Thirty one percent would attend a church service if they were invited by someone they know and 56 per cent would be happy for a Christian friend to pray for them. Almost one in five would be interested in learning more about the Bible.

This ought to encourage us to speak about what we believe. We’re more likely to be heard not because of anything we have done, but because God is on the move. If we play our part in planting and watering the word, God will bring the increase.

3. We must reach people who identify as Christian but don’t go to church

While this report should be a source of encouragement, there remains work for the Church to do. The positive findings do not apply to non-practising Christians - people who ‘identify’ as Christians but do not have a significant church connection. In fact, if a Christian does not attend church regularly, they have “significantly worse outcomes on life satisfaction and wellbeing compared to not only churchgoers but also to people with no religion.”

There are many reasons why someone who calls themselves a Christian chooses not to attend church, including but not limited to life circumstances, work or caring commitments, church hurt or abuse, disappointment, laziness, financial challenges, mental health challenges, lack of belief, and a lack of belonging. These challenges are not easily overcome, especially by people who have once been connected to a church. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to change hearts and minds. We must continue to remember our brothers and sisters in prayer, therefore.

4. Younger Christians are struggling to understand the Bible. They need discipleship

As has been widely reported, Gen Z are coming to church more than any other age group. Eighty per cent of younger Christians read their Bible at least weekly, far more than older Christians. However, less reported is the difficulty younger Christians face in understanding and interpreting the Bible.

The Quiet Revival research reports that, the more they study and explore the Bible, the more they lose confidence in it. A third said that their confidence in the Bible is more likely to be shaken by culture and the media. And 35 per cent of 18–34 year-old churchgoers said that some parts of the Bible undermine their faith, while 24 per cent have less confidence in the Bible than they used to.

This points to an urgent need for discipleship. If the Church does not want to lose younger Christians, we must disciple them. It is up to those of us who are teachers, pastors, mentors and older Christians to teach the word of God and outline its relevance and importance to our younger brothers and sisters. It is no good sitting on the sidelines and saying: “They have boldness and zeal. We have had our time.”

We cannot exclude ourselves because we don’t know how to use TikTok, Snapchat or Chat GPT. If we do, it will only be a matter of time before the flame of this revival fizzles out instead of spreading like wildfire. There is an urgent need for intentional, intergenerational interaction.

5. Gen X are the missing generation

Much has been said about the good news of the growth driven by Gen Z, but I found the decline in church attendance of Gen X - the only age group whose church attendance today is less than it was in 2018 - most striking. People aged between 45-54 are least likely to attend church across all age groups.

Whether you are white, black or brown, you are more likely to attend church today than six years ago

It may be easy to point to new atheism, wealth, pride or secularism and write this age group off, but if we don’t take the time to understand why people leave the church in their middle age, we may find this trend continues with Millennials (like me) and, further down the line, with Gen Z. And if Gen Z needs discipleship but Gen X continue to leave the Church, who will be left to mentor them?

Separately, we should guard against the idolisation of youth. The world’s focus on youth is predominantly driven by commercialisation. A Gen Zer is worth more because, statistically speaking, they’ll spend more over their lifetime than a Gen Xer. We should be mindful of this when we ignore the plight of other age groups. While it might seem impossible to see a turnaround, we know that with God all things are possible!

6. Now is the time for confidence

Perhaps of most importance to the Church is the report’s finding on the perception of the Bible among non-Christians. While 53 per cent think it is important to know about the Bible because it has shaped our culture, only 39 per cent think it has something meaningful to say about life today and only a quarter think it is relevant to them personally.

As today’s custodians of the Bible, it is our duty to share the deep wisdom contained within its pages whenever and wherever possible. We know that the Bible has answers to issues of poverty, debt, environmental stewardship, relationship challenges, justice and a whole host of other problems. Yet, many of us do not openly use it as a source of wisdom in secular settings or, if we do, we shy away from revealing it as our source. But if the Bible is perceived to be more relevant to the general population, it is more likely to be seen as a source of wisdom to live by. Then, people will be more open to hearing about salvation.

The quiet revival is good news. It confirms that we are living in a different season. We do not need to delicately manoeuvre our way through challenging faith conversations. Instead, we can have confidence that God is at work in the hearts of people across the nation and speak freely and respectfully.

We don’t have to be aggressive or bullish because God is drawing people to his Church. But we shouldn’t be complacent, either. We need to be intentional in praying for non-practising Christians and Gen X, while fostering discipleship opportunities and intergenerational interactions across all age-groups and backgrounds. The Bible needs to be at the forefront of our witness to the world.

It is no longer enough for us to speak about the impact the Bible once had in the history of this nation. Rather, we need to talk about its daily relevance and significance in our own lives in our interactions with our family, friends, colleagues and beyond.