For decades, the story around church life in the UK has often been one of decline. But new statistics suggest something remarkable: the tide may be turning. Recent census data shows a noticeable rise in young adults om gen Z engaging with faith. In fact, half as many people in their 20s now identify as atheist compared to their parents’ generation, and more and more are showing up in churches across the country. The mainstream media has taken note too – even Emily Maitlis has covered the phenomenon in a recent episode of The News Agents podcast.
This week, a group from Godalming Minster joined hundreds of church leaders and workers at the Guildford Diocese Church Growth Conference at Welcome Church, Woking. The day was a chance to be inspired and challenged as we considered how local churches can respond to what the Bible Society is calling The Quiet Revival. With around 500–600 people in a purpose-built church in the round, state of the art AV, a gifted young band leading the worship and Pete Greig and Rachel Jordan-Wolfe speaking, you would be hard pressed not to feel ignited! The sessions (which will be made available on YouTube) were filled with encouragement, challenge, and fresh vision for the church. Thank you everyone who was involved in hosting the event.
One of the most striking insights came from Pete Greig, who compared the moment to surfing: if this “quiet revival” is a wave, then local churches need enough speed, pointing in the right direction to catch it. Rachel shared practical ideas on how this can be done without endless new strategies or teams — often it’s about small, faithful actions that help us be ready when people turn up searching for Jesus. But one thing came across quite clearly: we do all need to be more willing and able to talk about Jesus, in a way that probably feels a bit unnatural in Surrey. But if ever there was a time to try giving away bibles on the High Street, or putting out the banners proclaiming “Jesus loves you” (as much as we promote the myriad of activities we love) it seems to be now!
The question that we left with was what can we do at Godalming Minster to catch the wave? Please get in touch if you would like to join us in prayer and working this out over the coming weeks.
