Thoughts on The Quiet Revival

Here at Church Army, we’re really excited about The Quiet Revival, a fantastic piece of research done by the Bible Society which highlights what’s going on in local churches across the nation.  

The Church is growing.  

And quite quickly too. 4% of the population have become regular church goers in the last 6 years, with most of that growth among 18–24-year-olds*.  

I think it’s worth letting that sink in, because when I started working for the church in 2009, it felt like the writing was on the wall. We were the last generation that would believe; Anglican churches would all be gone by 2050; the future was secular.  

There will be lots of people that will want to find fault with these findings, or who want to point out how this isn’t actually that significant.  

There will be many people who may want to criticise these findings or point out how this isn’t actually that significant.  

But we are excited about it and here are some reasons why: – 

1. It’s grassroots growth, with people becoming part of local churches and finding a way to express their deep longing for spirituality. This is a part of our human identity which has been ignored for too long, and which has robbed us of part of the richness of life.  
2. It’s not nominal growth. Churchgoing Christians want to have a holistic approach to discipleship. It’s not all about learning facts but about learning a different way to be human.  
3. Its effect is broader than on the individual, with people serving neighbours and neighbourhoods, making the world around them better.  
4. It confirms what we’ve been hearing for a while. There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence that something is stirring around the church at the moment, but now we’ve got some data to back up that sense.  
5. There are opportunities for faith sharing all around us. So many of the people around us are open to ideas of faith, to exploring what being a part of church might mean. This is the stuff Church Army exists to support. 

Over the next few weeks we’ll share more about why we think this is great, and how we can support you if faith sharing is something you want to explore.  

But for now, this is good news.