A quiet UK revival? How can we respond?
Rebecca Chapman
Date posted: 9 Apr 2025
As we look forward to Easter, some of us may reflect on how many people attended Christmas services, and be recalling the joy of overflowing churches.
There has been talk of a Christian revival in the UK for at least a year – and speculation about it everywhere from the press to podcasts. But where is the data showing us how the Spirit is moving? Instead, we are often presented with disappointing data from various denominations about decreasing numbers of people attending church.
Will the ‘Quiet Revival’ change our civic life?
Paul Blackham
Date posted: 29 Dec 2025
Jesus said to a government official of His day: “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19v11)
Power does not flow up from below, from the people, but rather, true power flows down from the Divine Empire, from the throne room of heaven. True earthly authority can only be given by King Jesus, not the ballot box nor the barrel of a gun.
Andrew Ollerton: 'Let the Word move in power'
John Woods
Date posted: 6 Oct 2025
Dr Andrew Ollerton is a theologian, pastor, author and presenter who likes to “make complex ideas simple and relevant”. He lives in Wales and regularly speaks at conferences, festivals and churches, and films video content on locations around the world. He recently developed a new edition of The Bible Course with Bible Society. Here, he is interviewed by en reviews editor John Woods.
en: When was the first time that you began to find Christianity compelling?
AO: I was brought up by parents who made it compelling. In my family life, faith was not just a Sunday experience or a creed but was lived out. I credit my parents for that. I did have moments in my teenage and adult years when I had a crisis of faith. When I went to university to study geography I bumped into issues around the reconciling of science and faith which troubled me. What made Christianity compelling at that time included books I read, but also people I met. One professor had a PhD in science and in theology. The fact that he brought those two horizons together and embodied them was compelling.
What is faithful church ministry?
James Burnett
Date posted: 7 Dec 2025
Would you make a good "Traitor"? Have you got the mojo of a chameleon to hoodwink fellow contestants, like the comedian Alan Carr - this year’s winner of BBC’s The Celebrity Traitors?
Game show The Traitors was inspired by the sinking of the Dutch ship Batavia in 1629. When the Batavia sank off Australia, 250 survivors scrambled ashore an island archipelago. Mutinous traitors fought against a small band of faithful soldiers, culminating in a live-or-die boat race towards an oncoming rescue ship. Who would get there first - the "Traitors" or the "Faithful"? A true story!
Sharing Jesus in the barracks and over a brew
SASRA
Date posted: 17 Aug 2025
The UK’s “quiet revival” is a God-given opportunity for Christian evangelism.
For the Soldiers’ and Aviators’ Scripture Readers Association (SASRA), this means sharing the gospel in the military with more troops and their families, in barracks and stations that are inaccessible to churches.
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.
‘Civilizational erasure’ and Evangelicalism’s future
Paul Yeulett
Date posted: 3 Feb 2026
Some of us will remember the old Orange mobile phone advert from the turn of the millennium: “The future’s bright, the future’s Orange.” The future did not, as it turned out, belong to Orange. But can it still be bright?
There is no doubt that Britain, like many of its neighbours, is afflicted by several overlapping crises. Pause for a moment and consider the state of our hospitals, our schools, our prisons, our armed forces, our borders, our economy, our collective mental health, and our social cohesion, and the picture becomes clear enough. And all this before we turn to the present condition of the Church of England. The skies all around us seem to be darkening. Recent remarks from the White House about “civilisational erasure” in Europe prompted the predictable response: what manner of incendiary rhetoric is this? Yet one cannot help wondering whether the proverbial frog in the water is quite as comfortable as it imagines, unaware that the temperature is still rising.
What is an Evangelical?
John Woods
Date posted: 2 Feb 2026
Book Review
As I was reading Good News People the news broke, with a mixed reception, concerning the setting up of the UK version of The Gospel Coalition. This review also appears at the start of en’s 40th anniversary year.
Read review
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.
Bible sales are up & ESV is best-selling
Emily Pollok
Date posted: 24 Jan 2026
Crossway’s ESV was the best-selling translation of the Bible in the UK last year, according to Christian publisher SPCK Group.
And Bible sales are up overall, reaching the highest level recorded, research shows.
Too many of our churches offer no connection to God
Matthew Roberts
Date posted: 30 Dec 2025
In my home town of York in the 1960s, archaeologists discovered a stone pillar. It has originally towered nearly 10 metres vertically, to the roof of what must have been a very imposing building, the headquarters of the Roman city in the 2nd Century AD. Now, a sad shadow of its former glory, it was lying on its side; its stone sections sprawling horizontally through the mud.
We live at a time when, for the first time in decades, perhaps in centuries, people are starting to yearn for something transcendent. The spell of secularism, with its creed that there is nothing higher than us, is for some at least being broken. If there is anything to the “Quiet Revival”, it is because people want to encounter truths, values, and ultimately a God who is higher than us. They want to revert to the vertical.
Armed forces gospel work brings encouragement
SASRA
Date posted: 27 Dec 2025
The organisation that seeks to read the Bible with members of the Armed Forces says its work is growing significantly – and military personnel are coming to faith.
Just two years ago, the Soldiers’ and Aviators’ Scripture Readers Association (SASRA) employed 13 Scripture Readers, all committed to sharing the gospel with the Armed Forces. Today there are 21 of them, serving across the UK and overseas, reaping a harvest in what many are calling a quiet revival – this being within the military.
New report reveals Gen Z's priorities - not just in the West, but worldwide
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 12 Dec 2025
A new report, published today and authored by Peter Dray, reveals that "Generation Z" prizes living better, not just living longer.
Gen Z Insights for Global Student Ministry - published by the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) - examines four "Gen Z" traits across multiple countries: pursuit of wellbeing; digital immersion; cultural awareness; and spiritual openness.
everyday evangelism
‘Tis the season to be… invitational!’
Gavin Matthews
Date posted: 3 Dec 2025
When Paul charged Timothy to preach the word in season and out of season, he wasn’t referring to the calendar or the climate. Rather, that we experience times of openness to the Bible’s message, as well as periods of stubborn resistance. Timothy was to press on, in both “seasons”.
The Christmas “season” annually generates gospel opportunities that we would be foolish to miss though. The church is like a striker facing an open goalmouth, on the six-yard line, with the goalie nowhere in sight! In every church or CU I have ever been part of, in England or Scotland, people from outside the fellowship have accepted invitations to Christmas events, like carol or watchnight services. Christmas does seem to be “in season” – every year.
Is there really a ministry recruitment crisis?
Lydia Houghton
Date posted: 22 Nov 2025
“Ministry recruitment crisis.” How do those words make you feel? Do they fill you with dread? Panic? Are you tempted to let out a sigh as you mutter that you aren’t surprised?
Back in September, Carrie Sandom, of the Proclamation Trust, told us that there is a fall in the number of men and women coming forward for ministry training. What are we to think? en spoke to key players in the evangelical world, including principals and directors of some of the UK's leading seminaries and colleges.
‘The last two years have been the most encouraging... of the past 30 years’
John Woods
Date posted: 13 Nov 2025
en Reviews Editor John Woods speaks to John Stevens about his time thus far serving with the FIEC.
en: You have been serving as National Director of the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (FIEC) for 15 years. What was you first experience of the FIEC?
How do we disciple Gen Z men?
Graeme Shanks
Date posted: 15 Oct 2025
“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.” A friend reminded me recently of this quip often attributed to Winston Churchill. It is, of course, a massive generalisation. However, it is not one without a kernel of truth to it.
A quick glance at the way Britons voted at the 2024 general election would indicate that age was indeed a significant dividing line. It’s a trend that’s presented itself through the generations. To quote another group of influential wordsmiths from my childhood: "it’s like that and that's the way it is." Or is it?
Is the 'quiet revival' getting louder?
Every September, more than two million young people start their university adventure. It’s a season of fresh freedom, big questions, and new identities being shaped.
Spiritual openness is greater than you might think: 30 per cent of students say they’ve never been personally told the story of Jesus, 45 per cent would like to hear it, and 34 per cent say “maybe later." [1]