6 lessons you may have missed from the quiet revival

News of a growing number of young people - and in particular young men - turning back to Christian faith has grabbed the attention of even the secular media in recent months. It’s great news, says Jean Kabasomi. But behind the headlines of this quiet revival, there are lessons the Church needs to learn

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.