YouGov - you what? The 'quiet revival' apology explained
en staff
Date posted: 26 Mar 2026
What just happened?
YouGov’s Chief Executive Officer Stephan Shakespeare has personally apologised to the Bible Society after it emerged that the 2024 survey sample on which its report The Quiet Revival was based was, in fact, faulty.
Remind me what this was all about...
The Church Times summarises it succinctly: "When it was published last April, the report suggested that churchgoing among young people, particularly men, in England and Wales was growing, but not in the Church of England (News, 8 April, 2025)."
So, Gavin Calver, how will the EA and a UK Gospel Coalition co-operate?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 16 Mar 2026
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”?
everyday evangelism
Deliver us from statistics...
Gavin Matthews
Date posted: 3 May 2026
“What’s your take on the ‘quiet revival’?” I am asked repeatedly in person and online. The Quiet Revival Report itself has been withdrawn; so are there really more young people becoming Christians and joining churches, and if so in what numbers? What will the revised survey later this year reveal? I am no statistician, so instead of number-crunching, here are my observations of four unhelpful – then four helpful – responses to the debate and the contested data.
1. Over-reliance on statistics. Statistics are very interesting and can be encouraging or discouraging, but our faith is not in them. The gospel isn’t more true if millions believe it, or if we think we are the only one left. Likewise, the gospel of Christ isn’t validated by numbers, but by His resurrection from the dead. Our faith is only ever in Jesus – not in results.
‘A sense of His presence’ - ten questions with James Burnett
en staff
Date posted: 15 May 2026
James Burnett is the Principal and CEO of Belfast School of Theology (BST). Married to Hazel, James is also an amateur sailor, triathlete (see photo) and open-water swimmer.
1. How did you become a Christian?
scattering seeds of hope
Colleges: 'I've never been as encouraged as I am now'
Claire Povey
Date posted: 5 Feb 2026
I have had the tremendous privilege of seeing God at work in colleges and sixth forms up and down the UK for the last 17 years.
The organisation I work for, Festive, supports 16-18 year olds in further education as they seek to live for Jesus and share Him where they study. In all my time with Festive, I have never been as encouraged as I am now.
At a distance: Are we only willing to follow Jesus up to a point?
Wallace Benn
Date posted: 27 Jan 2026
“And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest” (Mark 14v54).
This describes the worst moment in dear Peter’s life, of which he was later so ashamed, and about which he needed the Lord’s forgiveness and reinstatement, which he graciously received (John 21). It was not that Peter had given up following Jesus, it was that at a crucial moment when he was under pressure he denied his master and Lord. Peter wanted to follow Jesus, but he did not at this time want the hassle and danger of doing so – it was all too much for him to cope with. Later Peter thankfully showed that he was more than willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever that led.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones and the paradigm of Acts
Adam Ramsey
Date posted: 30 May 2026
This is the fifth and final article in the series written by Adam Ramsey of Liberti Church, Gold Coast, Australia, exploring what we can learn from Martyn Lloyd-Jones today in relation to the Reformed faith and a Scriptural understanding of spiritual experience.
The essays need to be taken together. They are taken from original, yet-to-be published research undertaken by Ramsey for his Doctor of Philosophy thesis. They also, we hope, represent something of the generous- hearted, thoughtful, Biblical approach that en was founded 40 years ago in 1986 to embody.
Sometimes evangelism begins with roast chicken
Alistair Chalmers
Date posted: 18 Mar 2026
There is a front door in almost every Christian’s life that is far more strategic than we realise.
We pray for revival in our nation. We long for gospel advance in our towns. We want deeper discipleship in our churches. And all the while, God has given many of us a dining table.