As the Evangelical Alliance (EA) marks 180 years since it was established, en journalist Lydia Houghton interviews its CEO, Gavin Calver, about the "quiet revival", The Gospel Coalition UK, and his hopes for the future of the EA.
LH: I’m glad we’re chatting today, because I saw an article yesterday and I thought, “I’ll ask Gavin what he thinks about this…” Lots of us have seen articles about the “quiet revival” or the “quiet awakening,” and the one I saw last night was written with a lot of scepticism; so I just wanted to ask you, are you sceptical, or are you embracing the reports we’re hearing? Do you have any particular thoughts on the “quiet revival”?
Gavin: I'm certainly not sceptical. I think if you're sceptical about the [Bible Society’s] Quiet Revival report, then just don't believe any statistics you ever hear anywhere – because the rigour given to it, who did it, the integrity of the research – it might say what people aren't seeing themselves, but if you don't believe that, what will you believe, in one sense?
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