What happened to the Quiet Revival?

After data from last year’s landmark report emerged as unreliable, Ivan Radford asks where we go from here.

Last year, there was a stirring of optimism following the Bible Society’s report The Quiet Revival. Using data from YouGov, it claimed that church attendance is on the up, particularly among younger generations, as attitudes towards Christianity in Britain become more open and curious.

Recently, though, it emerged that YouGov’s research was flawed. The Bible Society said that, over a 15-month period, it ‘repeatedly sought and received assurances from YouGov, regarding both the robustness of the methodology and the reliability of the report’s conclusions’. Now, the Bible Society has formally said it ‘can no longer be regarded as a reliable source of information about the spiritual landscape in Britain’.

For some, this has been discouraging. For others, it’s vindicated their doubts about the original report. But most of all, it’s a reminder – to be listening attentively.

In July 2025, we reflected on the Quiet Revival in Salvationist and concluded that God was doing something. But we emphasised the ‘quiet’ part: that we shouldn’t focus on the idea of a revival, because that would then become the focus instead of whatever God was doing.

A year on, that’s still the case. Because God is still doing something. Isaiah 43:19 says: ‘See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?’ That verse is forever true, because God is always doing a new thing. Can you imagine if God never did anything new and just … stopped? If God wasn’t always on the move, drawing people closer and revealing more of himself through the Holy Spirit, none of us would know him at all. Faith, after all, isn’t something people just inherit, but something each person and generation discovers – and keeps rediscovering – for themselves in their own relationships with God.

Regardless of what human data says, it shouldn’t take our focus away from God. We’re reminded in 2 Corinthians 4:5: ‘What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.’ When we get too caught up in ourselves and what we’re doing, we open up the risk of shame, doubt, envy and distraction – we might wonder why growth hasn’t been evident in our congregation or whether the growth we are seeing matches other growth elsewhere.

Accurate data is key to help measure our effectiveness and how we best use our resources, but our starting point should be God and who he is calling us to be, individually and collectively – his essence in us is the metric that matters most of all. Faithfulness to him, building authentic relationships with God and with each other, is the only thing that will produce fruit – not just in terms of people coming through our front doors, but also people not walking out the back door.

For the past year, even with its unreliable data, the Quiet Revival has been a conversation-starter in all kinds of contexts. The media has talked about Christianity with new intrigue. Christians – famous and non-famous alike – have had opportunities to witness they otherwise might not have. Be encouraged that God has been in and used all those moments! And, if the result of the past 12 months has been you talking about your faith a little more loudly, why should that change? Our God is still the same life-changing God. In an age of noise and misinformation, the world is still in need of the true hope, peace, love and joy only God can bring.

The Bible Society emphasises that Bible sales are still up and that there are lots of anecdotal reports of people being more curious and open to faith. The best thing we can all do is to be open and curious too – to be present, alert and listening, providing space for growth where the soil is right, quiet or otherwise.

Reflect and respond

• Definitions of ‘revival’ include ‘reawakening of religious fervour’, ‘something becoming popular, active or important again’ and ‘improvement in condition or strength’. Pray for all three in your relationship with God, your community and the world.
• Be open and curious. Why has God placed you and the Army where you are?
• Where is God moving in your community? How can you join him? How can you build authentic relationships and find and share Jesus within those?