The Quiet Revival
Greta and I recently travelled to the United Kingdom. Many were buzzing about what they are calling the Quiet Revival taking place. Recent surveys have shown the following:
Increased Church Attendance. Over the past six years, church attendance has risen by 50%, reaching 12% of the population. This is mainly happening in Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Catholic churches.
Young Adults Lead the Way. The most significant growth is among young adults (18-24), with attendance rising from 4% to 16% of that age group in the nation.
Young Men Showing Strong Growth. Young men are particularly noticeable, with attendance increasing from 4% to 21%.
Increased Bible sales. There has been an 87% jump in sales between 2019 and 2024. This surge is largely attributed to increased interest from Generation Z (those born between 1997 – 2013).
One member of an evangelism team shared how he and some friends went to Trafalgar Square in London and began to hand out free Bibles. They had a queue of people waiting to receive one! One Bible ended up on a bus, and was picked up by a young woman, who started to read it. She ended up at the team’s church and gave her life to Christ.
An all-night prayer meeting in London attracted over two thousand young people who fervently prayed and worshipped the Lord for many hours.
Many street preachers report that they are no longer being heckled but are being asked questions about Christianity and spiritual matters, especially from young people.
And it is not only the UK. Mass baptisms are becoming more frequent in the USA, as well as moves of God on college campuses. In Iran it is estimated that around 2000 people come to Christ every day, due to the disillusionment many Iranians are feeling. One 92-year old Iranian woman rides buses and asks the passenger next to her to read a page of a pocket New Testament, claiming the print is too small for her to read. This leads to conversations about Christ and most often the passenger takes the Bible with them!
What has caused this new openness to the gospel? Simply put, the great shaking taking place in the UK and other nations is causing people to ask, ‘What is happening to the world?’ The Covid pandemic shook many, and then wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, social upheavals caused by mass illegal immigration, mismanagement of the economy by governments and so on have added to the pressure.
At the national New Zealand and Beyond conference in March this year, guest speaker Pete Grieg, founder of the 24/7 prayer room movement said, ‘In history, there’s never been a spiritual awakening before a great shaking in the world. Shaking alone doesn’t lead to revival. Shaking is to drive us to prayer.’
And a new fervour for prayer is indeed being released in many churches both in the UK, New Zealand, and other nations. These encouraging early signs of spiritual awakening are no doubt due to this global shaking and rising global prayer. However, we cannot be content with a so-called ‘quiet revival’. We need to keep praying for it to become louder!