Is there really a “quiet revival” among young people in the UK? The news broke recently that the Bible Society’s 2025 report The Quiet Revival has turned out to be based on faulty data. The report proclaimed an extraordinary rise in churchgoing and spiritual interest, especially among young people. Its retraction has left some feeling discouraged about what might be happening to young people’s faith and spirituality. But I want to give you three very clear reasons to feel optimistic.
There was a buzz around the Youth for Christ office. The Director for Church Resources popped his head round my door, just letting me know that the Bible Society had asked us to sign a non-disclosure agreement so they could talk to us about something. I nodded, wondering what it might be. A few hours later, he popped back in, visibly excited. “They have just gained the rights to the Good News Bible, and they want to create a youth version and would like our help.” The Bible Society expected to sell around 5,000 copies in total. However, the Youth for Christ team pushed them hard on what this Bible could do. They caught the vision and allowed our creative and design team to get to work. After almost two years, the team produced what is now the GNB Youth Bible. It has now been in print for a few years and the team is working on a refresh. The Bible Society didn’t sell 5,000 copies; they’ve sold 317,000 to date.
The Youth for Christ team might be good, and the Bible Society might have great marketing ability… but people don’t tend to buy Bibles unless they really want them. Bible sales are up across the board, but youth Bible sales are increasing significantly! That has to tell you something.
YouGov recently informed the Bible Society that there were errors in the data they provided for the Quiet Revival research. So should we conclude that there is no growth in faith and spirituality after all?
That would be premature.
There were eight other pieces of research by different bodies around the same time as the Quiet Revival was released. One of those was conducted by DJS on behalf of Youth for Christ. Its release in mid-2025 was telling, particularly when compared to DJS and Youth for Christ’s previous report in 2020. In five years, the number of 11-18-year-olds attending church weekly had risen from 4% to 8%. That was truly remarkable. Belief in God or spirituality had jumped to nearly 70%, and regular prayer had increased by 12%. Young people’s view of the local church was overall positive.
While Youth for Christ’s research didn’t point to a revival as such, it did suggest that active spiritual interest was up. Not necessarily interest in Christianity, but interest in anything spiritual. That, however, is still very positive! There was an openness to talking about God and faith that had been lacking five or ten years ago. So research can attest to the reality that interest in spirituality among young people is definitely trending.
If Bible sales and interest in spirituality are on the rise among young people, there should be anecdotal evidence to support that. Before I stepped down as the National Director of British Youth for Christ, I would speak at churches regularly. I came to notice a common pattern. Perhaps half of the churches I spoke at during the last month I was there had experienced one or more young people turning up out of the blue with no connection to the church. Most often they came on their own. When they were accompanied by a parent, it was usually at the young person's request, not the parent's. Our Youth for Christ centres were also seeing an increase, with stories of young people walking several miles to attend churches they had researched online.
Now that I am leading a church instead of Youth for Christ, I am not able to witness what is happening beyond my congregation. I can only tell you what is happening in my own church. Just last week, two young people came out of the blue. One woke up, asked their mum where the nearest church was, discovered that the service started in 30 minutes, threw their clothes on and made it just in time. At the door, they asked the greeter, “Is it okay if we come in?” What a question! Yes, it’s always okay. On our adult Alpha course, we have roughly 30 people attending, of which 10 are under 25. Something undeniable is happening within our churches.
And yet I can confidently say that revival isn’t happening among young people.
Young people in every community across this nation are bubbling with spiritual interest, yet beyond a handful in each neighbourhood, the majority are staying away from church. They are looking for spirituality and meaning, but they are looking in other places, not just the Christian faith.
This is why I wrote my book Catching the Wave. I want to encourage the church to move out with confidence to young people in our communities, expecting them to respond positively and welcoming them when they do. The harvest is plentiful, but it needs workers! We need people with the understanding and the practical tools to engage young people who may never have come into contact with church before. Unashamedly, I want to encourage you to get a copy and give it to your pastor or youth leaders, equipping them with the encouragement and advice they need in order to see not just a handful but many young people respond.
This is the time!
Neil O’Boyle has spent more than three decades walking alongside young people and church communities in the UK and around the world. His heart is to see the church live out an invitational and missional culture, where both churched and unchurched young people encounter Jesus in everyday life. As National Director of Youth for Christ Britain, Neil has championed evangelism and discipleship that are rooted in Scripture, Spirit-led and shaped by real cultural understanding.
