What is the Bible Society and what is your role there?
Bible Society is a 200-year-old charity which exists to make the Bible accessible to everyone. For much of our history we worked on translating the Bible into different languages and making it available around the world. Today much of our work focuses on Bible engagement: helping Christians grow in confidence to read, explore, speak about and apply the Bible throughout their lives. As director of research and impact, my job is to lead a team that undertakes research to understand what people around the world think about the Bible so we can be as effective as possible in our mission.
"As director of research and impact, my job is to lead a team that undertakes research to understand what people around the world think about the Bible so we can be as effective as possible in our mission."
Director of research, Bible Society
Director of research, Bible Society
Tell us what inspired the Bible Society to carry out The Quiet Revival research
The data presented in The Quiet Revival is part of a wider piece of work which began in 2017 and was designed to map how adults in England and Wales relate to the Bible, including their attitudes, behaviours, touch points, openness and barriers. We also asked questions about religious identity, religious behaviours (including church attendance) and attitudes to the church. From this we identified key ‘Bible personas’ or types in the population that became key audiences for us. (You can read about these on our lumino.bible website.) Since then, we’ve polled either the full survey or parts of it regularly to see how the landscape is changing.
What were some of the key findings?
An increase in the number of adults in England and Wales who go to church at least once a month. In 2018 this was 9%, now it’s 12%. Also in 2018 just 4% of 18 – 34-year-olds said they went to church; in 2024 this had increased to 14%, with the effect particularly notable among young men (although it is also present in young women, just to a lesser extent). Really encouraging!
Can you outline the methodology? Is it robust?
The surveys are conducted by YouGov, one of Britain’s leading polling agencies used by academics, policymakers, and business to understand what Britain thinks. YouGov’s method of panel management and surveying is robust and produces models which are frequently well matched to other types of sampling and real-world outcomes, like election results. Both our surveys used very large samples (larger than is typically used) which increases the reliability, as well as weighting to ensure a representative sample. Additionally, we aimed to keep the questionnaire as similar as possible each year, and surveyed at the same time of year to keep conditions as similar as possible. There are multiple indications the sample is good, including coherence in how they answer the questions, and a profile of religious identity that is in line with the census.
While no piece of research is flawless and all surveys carry a margin of error, we are confident our results indicate a big picture change in the place of Christianity and spirituality in England and Wales today.
What most surprised you about the findings and why?
When we commissioned the survey, I was hoping we would see spiritual openness remain at previous levels, and maybe that it would look higher among Gen Z, as had been indicated by previous research, so I was surprised to see the dramatic increase in reported church attendance among young adults. We’d also seen the change in the cultural atmosphere to Christianity, well documented by Christian writers, so as we thought about it, while the scale the survey reports seemed surprising, the trend perhaps wasn’t, and we released the report in the hope of contributing to the conversation.
The Quiet Revival report is very encouraging in places for the church, but it has not been without criticism. What do you say to those who say the research is ‘incomplete’?
All research has its limitations, and a survey is only ever a moment in time. As we say in the report, it will take years to determine whether this moment is a blip in a longer process of secularisation, or whether it marks a deeper, more long-lived change. I would say those who are only focused on The Quiet Revival are at risk of missing the bigger picture, and I don’t believe it would have caught the public imagination, both within the church and beyond, had it not resonated with personal experience. There is a growing mountain of anecdotes that supports what we observe, as well other surveys, and denominational data from both the UK and the wider Western Europe that all points in the same direction of growth and renewal.
(We have provided a deeper dive ‘frequently asked questions’ for those who wish to explore these kinds of questions further The Quiet Revival FAQs.)
The findings state that there is a greater openness from young people in engaging with ‘spiritual practice and warmth towards spirituality and the church’, and some critics have interpreted ‘spirituality’ to not be limited to the Christian faith and its practices. Can you clarify?
It’s certainly fair to argue that ‘spirituality’ does not necessarily mean the Christian faith and its practices. We note this in the report and it’s crucial that as a church, we understand that when we use a term not everyone uses it in the same way. Our survey, like a number of other data sources, points to spiritual curiosity and openness among young adults. This shouldn’t be dismissed as it represents a quite significant change to previous generations, and provides a potentially interesting meeting place for discussion, where the issues are not the apologetics discussions of the New Atheists, but how Christianity can deeply speak to what they’re searching for. Crucially, this spiritual openness should not be interpreted as Christian-exclusive, as we might have seen in previous generations. Instead, even non-churchgoing young adults in the survey show considerable warmth to Christianity: they are the age group most likely to agree it’s a positive thing for Christians to talk about their faith with non-Christians, that they are interested in learning more about the Bible, and that they would go to church if invited. In short, they seem open to Christianity, even if they are also open to other things as well.
The key thing for the church is to be aware of the other spiritual practices they are likely to be exploring, and that if they come to church their exploration of Christianity will be shaped by this context and experience. While we need more research, for some it may be a while before they would see Christianity as something to practice exclusively, while others may need space to work through what they’ve previously tried.
It is important to note, however, that the young churchgoers we also report on in the survey show every indication of being active Christians: they attend church regularly, read the Bible regularly, have high Bible confidence and a desire to know it more, so I think there are multiple changes going on in the spiritual landscape of Britain.
"There is a growing mountain of anecdotes that supports what we observe, as well other surveys, and denominational data from both the UK and the wider Western Europe that all points in the same direction of growth and renewal."
With regards to churchgoing and wellbeing, the report states that, “churchgoers are more likely than non-churchgoers to report higher life satisfaction and a greater feeling of connection to their community than non-churchgoers”, but some could make the argument that those who are struggling with their mental health are less likely to attend church (hence non-churchgoers), as opposed to church being the catalyst for good mental health. What is your response?
Measuring wellbeing is hugely complex and it’s important to say that research like this only shows relationships in data – correlation is not causation and there will be many interlocking factors affecting these kinds of results, including ability to attend church (whether physically or online). Nonetheless, there is much evidence in wider literature that feeling connected to a community, including religious communities, can support mental health.
This should not be interpreted as saying that the church doesn’t need to take mental health seriously. If more non-churchgoers are struggling with mental health and that is a barrier to attending, then we need to find ways to make church accessible. We also need to look at the statistics reported in our survey. While churchgoers may report relatively lower incidences of mental health in absolute terms it is still high: 31% agree that they “frequently feel anxious or depressed”, rising to 44% of 18 – 34-year-olds. It’s clear mental health needs to be high on the agenda for churches, and we need to keep discussing how we can deepen in understanding, becoming truly supportive communities.
You reported that young Christians find the Bible more challenging than older Christians. Why is that? And do the Bible Society have any plans to explore this within your resources?
The young Christians in our survey in general show confidence to handle the Bible, from answering questions from non-Christians to applying the Bible to life, but they are also the age group most like to say that their faith in the Bible is “often shaken by the media and British culture” and that their faith is “undermined when they read/think about some parts of the Bible”. I think this is driven by a couple of things. Firstly, they are the age group most likely to say they find it challenging to find appropriate resources and secondly, that they find it challenging to find people to learn from. So I think we see two needs – resources that really speak to the questions young adults have about the Bible, and Bible mentors who can journey the Bible with young people.
Bible Society is absolutely committed to helping all Christians engage with the Bible more deeply, and we’ve got many resources to help, from dyslexia-friendly scripture editions to our Rooted podcast. One resource we’d like churches to consider for all ages is our updated The Bible Course, designed to help Christians understand the big story of the Bible. The course has been updated with new features and videos. It’s a fantastic place to begin, whether you’re new to faith or a Christian of many years.
This is a timely piece of work and echoes some of what we have seen in our own 2025 Changing Church survey and Finding Jesus: Pathways to Faith in Adulthood research. What are the key takeaways you want people to take from The Quiet Revival research?
I hope that those who read the report are encouraged, either by the reported growth in churchgoing or the openness we see to the Bible and Christianity in the wider population, and that they explore the many other reports and stories that together paint a compelling picture of this missional moment. However, it does require us to act, and to learn quickly, sharing with others what does and doesn’t work. So I would like the church to take two things away from The Quiet Revival: prepare to respond to spiritual openness and make space for Bible discipleship. There is tremendous hunger for the Bible in the church, but also some very real challenges, with a significant minority of Christians finding the Bible hard to engage with. Your own Finding Jesus points to the significance of the Bible, with 47% of participants saying it was important in their faith journey, and we know from our work that family and friends are important to people considering exploring the Bible or church. If the church as a whole can grow in confidence to read, discuss, and share the Bible, the impact could be far beyond what we imagine.
To read The Quiet Revival report in full visit: biblesociety.org.uk/research/quietrevival
