A Quick Overview … Keep Reading for the Deep Dive!

• The Claim: The Bible Society’s 2025 Quiet Revival report says monthly church attendance rose from 8% to 12% of adults between 2018–2024, driven mainly by Gen Z. Reported attendance among 18–24s quadrupled (4%→16%), with young men at 21%. Growth was strongest in Catholic and Pentecostal churches, with increased Bible reading and greater ethnic diversity.
• Context: If correct, this would mark a reversal of long decline. The report suggests Gen Z is finding faith for meaning and community, with young churchgoers reporting better wellbeing.
• Challenges: Other datasets (e.g. British Social Attitudes, denominational counts) show decline, not growth. Critics highlight survey flaws (opt-in sample, “priming” questions, over-reporting) and note that nothing else corroborates such dramatic youth-led growth.
• Bottom Line: Encouraging hints exist, but the evidence is weak and inconsistent. At best, it may signal modest growth in small groups, not a broad revival. Future surveys will show whether this is a real shift or a statistical blip.

Introduction

In recent years, headlines have suggested a surprising shift in religious trends: a so-called “Quiet Revival” in church attendance among young adults in England and Wales. This term comes from a 2025 report by the Bible Society titled The Quiet Revival, which claims that decades of church decline have halted and reversed, largely due to renewed interest from Generation Z (roughly ages 18–24). According to the report, young people—especially young men—are flocking back to churches, bringing growth in congregations alongside increased Bible engagement and potential benefits for community and mental health. Such claims have generated excitement in some church circles, but also scepticism from scholars and commentators. This briefing paper examines the evidence behind the Quiet Revival claim, summarises the Bible Society’s report and its key findings, and then explores the challenges and critiques raised about the data and conclusions. Finally, it offers a balanced view on how to interpret these findings, what to treat with caution, and what signs might be genuinely hopeful, along with suggestions for further investigation.

Summary of The Quiet Revival Report

Report Background and Methodology

The Bible Society’s The Quiet Revival report is based on two large-scale surveys conducted by the polling firm YouGov in 2018 and 2024. The first survey in 2018 sampled about 19,100 adults in England and Wales, and the second in late 2024 sampled about 13,146 adults. Both surveys asked respondents about their religious identification and their actualchurch attendance (excluding special occasions like weddings or funerals). By comparing these two points in time, the report assesses changes in churchgoing over a six-year period. The samples were weighted to reflect population demographics, and the Bible Society noted that the large sample sizes give a high level of statistical confidence (though, as we will see, some statisticians dispute this interpretation of survey accuracy). The 2024 survey was conducted online between early November and early December 2024, serving as an update to the 2018 baseline.

Key Findings: Growth in Church Attendance

According to The Quiet Revival report, church attendance in England and Wales rose dramatically between 2018 and 2024. Some of the headline findings include:

• Overall Increase in Attendance: The share of the adult population attending church at least once a month grew from about 8% in 2018 to 12% in 2024. In raw numbers, this would equate to an increase from roughly 3.7 million adult churchgoers to 5.8 million—a surge of about 50–56%. The report claims this marks the end of the long-running decline in church attendance, effectively “busting the myth” of inevitable church decline.
• Gen Z Leading the Resurgence: The most striking growth was among young adults, especially those in Generation Z (approximately ages 18–24). In 2018 only 4% of 18–24 year-olds reported attending church at least monthly; by 2024 this jumped to 16%. In other words, reported regular churchgoing in this age group roughly quadrupled. Young men in particular showed a dramatic rise—from 4% attending monthly in 2018 to 21% in 2024—while young women increased from 3% to 12%. This represents an inversion of historical patterns, with young men now apparently more involved in church than young women. The report notes that 18–24 year-olds have become the “second most likely age group” to attend church regularly, second only to the very elderly in likelihood.
• Shifts in Gender and Diversity: Overall, the survey found men (of all ages) slightly more likely to attend church than women—13% of men vs 10% of women attend monthly—reversing a long-standing gender gap in church involvement. The growing youth attendance also coincides with increased ethnic diversity in churches. In 2024 about 19% of all churchgoers were from minority ethnic backgrounds, but among younger adults (18–54) this was nearly one-third (32%). The report highlights that almost half of young Black adults (18–34) surveyed—around 47%—said they attend church at least monthly, indicating significant engagement in some minority communities.
• Growth in Catholic and Pentecostal Churches: The resurgence appears strongest outside the traditional Church of England. In 2018, Anglican churches (Church of England and Church in Wales) accounted for about 41% of self-identified churchgoers, but this share fell to 34% by 2024. Meanwhile, Roman Catholic affiliation among churchgoers rose from 23% to 31%, and Pentecostal affiliations from 4% to 10%. In raw terms, the Bible Society’s figures imply that Catholic mass attendance could have more than doubled over six years, and Pentecostal participation nearly tripled, even as Anglican attendance grew more slowly. Among young adult churchgoers (ages 18–34), only 20% now identify as Anglican (down from 30% in 2018), whereas 41% identify as Catholic and 18% as Pentecostal. This suggests that much of the new growth is happening in Catholic parishes and black-majority or charismatic Pentecostal churches, rather than in the Church of England. The report points to immigration and demographic change as partial explanations—for example, many recent immigrants from Africa or Latin America bring with them a strong Catholic or Pentecostal faith, contributing to growth in those congregations.
• Increased Bible Engagement: Alongside rising attendance, the Quiet Revival study finds an upswing in personal Bible reading and enthusiasm for Scripture. In 2024, two-thirds (67%) of churchgoing Christians reported reading the Bible at least weekly outside of church services—a notable increase compared to a few years earlier. A significant minority of young adults expressed curiosity about the Bible: nearly one-third of 18–24 year-olds said they were curious to learn more about the Bible. This age group also reported higher rates of prayer and spiritual practices than older generations. For instance, 40% of 18–24 year-olds in the survey said they pray at least monthly, and over half (51%) had engaged in some form of “spiritual practice” in the past six months. The Bible Society interprets this as evidence that Gen Z is relatively “spiritually open”—sometimes dubbed “the spiritual generation”—even if they grew up in a more secular environment.
• Mental Health and Meaning: The report links some of this youth interest to a search for meaning and community amid a backdrop of mental health challenges. It notes that younger adults report higher levels of anxiety and aimlessness and suggests that many are turning to faith as a source of hope, belonging, and purpose. Churchgoing young people were far more likely to agree that their life is meaningful compared to their non-churchgoing peers (in one statistic, 80% of young churchgoers felt their life had meaning, versus about 52% of non-churchgoers). The authors suggest that churches might be providing a sense of community and “healing” for those struggling, as well as satisfying an openness to spirituality among Generation Z. In the words of Bible Society’s Chief Executive, this quiet revival is “low key, but widespread,” potentially “transformational in terms of how Christians think about themselves”.
• Other Notable Points: The study emphasizes that Christianity in the UK may be shifting from a nominal, cultural identity to a smaller but more actively committed core. The decline in people identifying as Christian (as seen in the national census and other surveys) is acknowledged, but the report argues that those who do retain a Christian identity are now more likely to be practicing it actively. It also notes that many non-churchgoing people would consider attending if invited by a friend or family member (around one-third of non-attenders said they might go if personally invited), highlighting the importance of personal relationships and invitation. In fact, over 20% of non-churchgoing young adults (18–34) said they would read the Bible if a trusted friend or family member recommended it to them. Based on the findings, the report’s authors encourage churches to invest in intergenerational friendship, discipleship (especially Bible teaching), and community outreach, to nurture this nascent growth.

Challenges and Critiques of the Findings

Given how counterintuitive these findings are—a religious rebound led by young people in an otherwise secularizing society—it is no surprise that they have been met with scrutiny. Numerous observers, including sociologists of religion and church commentators, have raised questions about whether The Quiet Revival data truly indicate a real-world shift or whether they might be an artifact of survey methodology or statistical flukes. Here we outline the major challenges and critiques, explained in plain English:

1. Contradictions with Other Data Sources

Perhaps the strongest reason for scepticism is that the Bible Society’s results conflict with virtually every other reliable source on religious trends in the UK. For decades, data have shown declining church attendance, and most of those trendlines do not show a sudden reversal in the late 2010s or early 2020s. Key examples:

• British Social Attitudes Survey (BSA): This annual, gold-standard survey (using random sampling) monitors religious affiliation and practice. The BSA data for 2018–2023 show declining church participation, not growth. Specifically, the share of adults in England and Wales identifying as Christian and attending church monthly fell from about 12.2% in 2018 to 9.3% in 2023—nearly a 25% relative drop. This directly contradicts the Bible Society’s claim that 12% of adults were attending by 2024 (up from 8% in 2018). In other words, the best available survey suggests churchgoers became fewer, not more, over that period.
• Churches’ Own Attendance Counts: Major Christian denominations conduct annual headcounts (e.g. the Church of England’s Statistics for Mission returns, and similar counts by Catholic dioceses, Methodists, Baptists, etc.). These recorded attendance figures uniformly show no sign of a boom—in fact, they show continued declines or at best slow recovery from the COVID-19 lockdowns. For example, the Church of England’s average weekly attendance in 2022 was about 20% lower than it was in 2019 (before the pandemic). The number of people regularly worshipping in CofE parishes each month actually fell slightly, from around 1.1 million in 2018–2019 to about 1.0 million by 2022. The Catholic Church likewise saw its Mass attendance drop—in England and Wales, Sunday Mass attendance fell from roughly 702,000 in 2019 to 555,000 in 2023, a decline of 21%. These official figures make it hard to believe the survey’s implication that Catholic churchgoing doubled or that overall church attendance jumped by millions. In fact, one critic noted that over 70% of the growth claimed by the Bible Society comes from just two denominations (Catholic and Pentecostal) which are otherwise reporting shrinkage in their own counts.
• Other Surveys and Polls: The discrepancy isn’t only with BSA and church records. Even other polling by YouGov itself does not replicate such growth. Professor David Voas, a leading sociologist of religion, points out that YouGov maintains a large ongoing panel as part of the British Election Study (BES). That panel was asked identical questions about church attendance in 2015, 2022, and 2024. The BES data (which comes from a more controlled long-term sample) shows the share of adult churchgoers actually declined from 8.0% in 2015 to 6.6% in 2024. Yet, the Bible Society/YouGov surveys found 8% in 2018 rising to 12% in 2024. Such a stark divergence—two results from the same polling company, one showing decline and the other a rise—raises red flags. It strongly suggests that one (or both) sets of surveys are not accurately capturing reality.

In sum, if a true revival of this magnitude were happening, we would expect to see at least some corroborating evidence—fuller churches, higher headcounts, or other surveys picking it up. So far, however, church leaders and statisticians note that on-the-ground indicators (like local church registers or national surveys) do not reflect a millions-strong influx of worshippers. This inconsistency is a primary reason for caution.

2. Survey Methodology and Sampling Concerns

Another area of critique centers on how the data were collected. The Bible Society’s findings rely on online surveys from YouGov’s panel, and experts highlight several methodological issues that could distort the results:

• Non-Random, Self-Selected Sample: Unlike BSA, which randomly selects people to interview (ensuring everyone in the population has a chance to be included), YouGov polls use a volunteer panel. People sign up to take surveys (often for small rewards), and then YouGov draws a quota sample from that pool—meaning they pick respondents to match demographic targets (age, gender, region, etc.). While quotas can make the sample look representative on the surface, it’s not the same as true random sampling. Important but less obvious differences might remain. For instance, those who join an online panel might systematically differ from those who don’t in ways that affect church attendance (they could be more socially isolated, more compliant, or simply more eager to profess certain behaviors). Young adults in particular are a notoriously hard-to-reach group in surveys, and those young people who do respond to online polls may not be typical of their generation. In short, because respondents opt in, the results may be skewed by unknown biases—and thus cannot be assumed to generalize to all young adults in England and Wales. Professor Voas notes that with non-probability samples of this kind, one cannot calculate a true margin of error or confidence interval, despite the Bible Society report’s claim of a 1% margin of error. Presenting precision metrics from a non-random survey is misleading, since statistical theory for margin of error only applies to random samples.
• Question Order and “Priming” Effects: It has emerged that the 2024 survey included additional questions before the key attendance question that were not present in 2018, possibly influencing respondents’ answers. In the 2024 questionnaire, people were first asked a series of questions about meaning, community, and purpose in life (for example, whether they feel their life is meaningful, or if they seek to make a difference in the world). Only after reflecting on these personal values were they asked if they had attended church recently. Psychologists warn that this kind of priming can bias results. By nudging respondents to think about purpose and community, the survey may have inadvertently made church attendance feel more salient or desirable, leading some to recall or report attendance more readily than they otherwise would. The 2018 survey, by contrast, went straight into religious attendance questions without this lead-in. This difference in context could partially explain why the 2024 respondents were more likely to report going to church. Essentially, the two surveys might not have been comparing apples with apples—subtle changes in survey design can yield different outcomes even with identical questions.
• Sample Composition and Weights: The two surveys differed in sample size (around 19k vs 13k respondents) and possibly in their exact composition. YouGov would have applied weighting to ensure each sample matched the population on basic demographics. However, if there were subtle shifts—say, if one sample had relatively more people from areas or social classes with higher churchgoing—that could influence results. Church statistician John Hayward points out that factors like social class or urban/rural mix can significantly affect church attendance, yet these variables are not always fully accounted for in weighting. If the 2024 sample by chance included a few more people inclined toward church (or the 2018 sample a few less), it could create an illusion of change. Normally, large sample sizes help average out such issues, but they do not guarantee full comparability. There are also anomalies in the data which hint at sampling quirks—for example, the share of 18–24 year-olds claiming daily or multiple times per week church attendance jumped inexplicably in 2024 (from essentially 0% in 2018 up to 2% and 7% in 2024). By extrapolation, that would mean almost half a million 18–24 year-olds attending church almost every day—a result most observers find impossible to believe. This raises suspicion that some respondents may have rushed through the survey or provided insincere answers just to earn their incentive, perhaps ticking a high-frequency attendance box without much thought. Such noise could inflate the overall attendance figures.

In summary, while YouGov is a reputable polling firm and the Bible Society’s surveys were professionally conducted, their methodology (opt-in online panels, complex weighting, and subtle survey differences) leaves room for error. The consensus among critical experts is that the data may not be reliable enough to prove a real trend. As a rule, trends that appear in high-quality random surveys and in multiple data sets are more trustworthy than one-off findings from a specific poll with potential design issues.

3. Self-Reporting Biases and Overstatement of Attendance

Another important consideration is the difference between reported behavior and actual behavior. Church attendance is a behavior that surveys have long struggled to measure accurately, because people often over-report how often they go. This is known as social desirability bias—many view churchgoing as a virtuous or expected activity, so when asked, they tend to exaggerate their frequency a bit (often unintentionally). Historically, surveys have found more people claiming to attend church than ever show up in actual church counts, and in the Bible Society’s data this gap between reported and recorded attendance appears to have widened.

For example, in 2018, 8% of adults (about 3.7m people) told pollsters they attended church monthly, whereas under 1 million were actually counted in pews; by 2024, the survey claimed 5.8m attendees (12%), far above the likely real figure (well under 2m). This growing gap suggests many respondents over-claimed their attendance. One factor may be the rise of online services—some people now count watching church online as attendance, which the survey captured but official counts may not. In short, self-reported data should be taken with a grain of salt.

Overall, the Quiet Revival findings may reflect changing attitudes or definitions of churchgoing as much as actual increases in attendance. We should be careful about taking people’s word at face value when it comes to how often they go to church. In fact, prominent commentators note that the Bible Society’s data might be capturing an increase in interest or openness to religion among young people, more than a literal surge in weekly churchgoing. It’s possible to acknowledge that spiritual curiosity has grown without concluding that all those who said “yes” to a survey are now faithfully in the pews every Sunday.

4. Reactions from Experts and Sceptics

The boldness of the Quiet Revival claims has prompted a number of public responses from academics and church analysts. Two notable voices are Professor David Voas and the blogger known as “Church Mouse,” both of whom have openly identified as Quiet Revival sceptics.

• David Voas (UCL): Voas, a leading sociologist of religion, finds the Quiet Revival claims hard to believe. He notes that gold-standard data show churchgoing actually fell from 12.2% to 9.3% of adults between 2018 and 2023, and that the Bible Society’s supposed Catholic “surge” is directly contradicted by the Catholic Church’s own attendance counts (Mass attendance dropped ~21% over that time). Voas argues the opt-in survey method likely introduced bias, and he flags the report’s finding that men are now more likely to attend church than women as especially implausible (given the usual female advantage in religiosity). He cautions that we shouldn’t take these results at face value and calls for relying on rigorous random-sample surveys and better data transparency to verify any trends.
• Church Mouse Blog: The well-known (albeit anonymous or should that be anony-mouse) “Church Mouse” blogger similarly remains unconvinced. After reviewing the underlying data tables (which were released some months after the report’s launch), they pointed out anomalies—for example, a jump in 18–24-year-olds claiming daily church attendance, which would imply an absurdly large number of young daily worshippers. This suggests some respondents overstated or inaccurately recorded their behavior. They also observed that the 2024 survey’s question order could have primed higher responses, and suggested the result could simply be a rogue poll that needs confirmation. Church Mouse commented that if such a poll had shown a massive decline in attendance, churches would likely have dismissed it as an outlier—so they should be equally sceptical of an unexpected increase. His conclusion is that a bit of survey bias (and inaccurate self-reporting) probably explains the “quiet revival” finding, unless and until stronger evidence emerges. While he would welcome a true resurgence, he argues that rigorous scrutiny is needed, and he “clings to some hope that this instinct is wrong” even as the evidence to the contrary is strong.

Meanwhile, some church leaders have cautiously welcomed the Quiet Revival report but acknowledged the need to see those results reflected in their own congregations. Whilst the BBC Radio 4 programme More or Less, which investigates statistical claims, concluded that more data are required—either the 2018 or 2024 survey (or both) could be an outlier, and only future surveys will confirm if there is a lasting change.

Conclusion: Caution, Hope, and Next Steps

So, is there really a “Quiet Revival” going on among young adults in England and Wales? The prudent answer is: it’s too early to tell, and the evidence is mixed. The Bible Society’s report offers a thought-provoking datapoint—it captures a snapshot in which more young people reported going to church than one might have expected. This is certainly intriguing, and it’s something churches will be happy to explore further. However, it’s crucial not to get carried away by one optimistic survey. Here are some balanced takeaways:

• Treat with Caution: These dramatic findings should be viewed sceptically. They conflict with most other evidence, and a single survey with noted flaws is not enough to prove a true reversal of long-term religious decline. Decades of secularization are unlikely to have suddenly reversed course; at the very least, we need confirmation from other reliable sources before believing that the tide has truly turned.
• Signs of Hope: On the other hand, there are some encouraging possibilities. Certain churches (for instance, immigrant-led congregations and youth-focused ministries) are growing, and it’s plausible that while fewer young people identify as religious today, those who do are more actively engaged than past generations were. The Quiet Revival report may have captured a real but modest uptick among a small core of spiritually inclined young adults. Many church leaders anecdotally report that some young people are indeed showing new interest in faith—attending Alpha courses, joining student ministries, or exploring prayer and the Bible. These green shoots are worth nurturing, even if they don’t (yet) represent a mass movement.
• Need More Evidence: To know if a revival is really happening, we need further evidence. Future independent surveys (like BSA or other longitudinal studies) and church attendance statistics in the coming years will be crucial. If the trend is genuine, other data will eventually show it—for example, the next census or the next few years of BSA results might register an uptick in religious practice among young adults. Likewise, churches could track whether their youth attendance is noticeably rising or if membership inquiries from Gen Z are increasing. Until such corroboration occurs, the Bible Society’s report should be seen as an intriguing early signal, but not definitive. In fact, the Bible Society itself has acknowledged that their results might be on the “upper end” of possible estimates. In the spirit of good research, we should encourage more data collection and even hope the Bible Society releases the full dataset for independent analysis, to allow others to verify and probe the findings.
• Interpret Responsibly: The best approach is cautious optimism. Churches should welcome and nurture any increase in youth interest—providing the authentic community, support, and meaning that young people may be seeking—but they should avoid prematurely declaring a sweeping “revival.” Over-hyping unproven results could lead to disappointment or complacency. It’s important to balance hope with realism: continue investing in outreach to younger generations, address their questions and needs (as the report recommends, through discipleship and building genuine relationships), but wait for clearer confirmation before making grand claims. In short, be hopeful but humble. Treat this data as a possible sign that something new may be happening—yet remain grounded until it’s confirmed by the weight of evidence.

In conclusion, the Quiet Revival report has sparked an important conversation. It challenges the narrative of inevitable church decline and invites us to pay attention to how attitudes to faith might be changing among the young. While we should be cautious about the boldest claims, we can still find encouragement in the idea that faith is not dead among Gen Z—some are indeed finding something meaningful in Christianity. The coming years will tell whether this is the start of a lasting trend or a statistical mirage. In the meantime, churches and society should keep an open mind: there may be early signs of religious renewal quietly blooming, even if they’re not yet a full-blown revival.

Whatever it is, the quiet revival isn’t quite revival … at least not yet. But we can be encouraged that something is happening—I’ve been seeing this out on the field ever since the pandemic (e.g. loads more students at mission week events, whilst wherever I speak at churches around the country there are signs of new life) but I think that extrapolating it into talk of “revival” may be slightly overcooking it.