One of the big news stories of 2025 was the “Quiet Revival” report from the Bible Society. Some critics of the report had reservations about the title and the contents.
On the title, some people felt it was premature to talk of revival, even of the quiet variety. Revival is indeed a high bar to reach. This is something I was reminded of when reading Jonathan Edwards’ book Thoughts on Revival.Edwards’ account of the 18th century awakening in New England is breathtaking. One common feature with the “Quiet Revival” stats is the movement of God among young people. This is often a feature of a genuine work of God in history.
Perhaps the response to the report was overly optimistic? Maybe a “wait and see” approach to the findings might have been better? However, to be fair, the report did appear to confirm other surveys and anecdotal evidence from a wide range of churches.
Others had some reservations about the findings themselves, questioning the statistics and the methodology of collecting them. Now the YouGov methodology has been found wanting and the report has been pulled by the Bible Society.
I think that the honest and rapid response of the Bible Society to the changing understanding of how the survey was conducted is commendable. Clearly, they were acting in good faith and had not intentionally misled the public. In their apology the Bible Society describe their intentions:
“To better understand this changing landscape, we are committed to a broad programme of research exploring attitudes towards the Bible and faith using a range of methodologies. We also plan to run the YouGov survey again this year, nearly two years on from the original survey, having ensured the appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure reliable results.
We don’t know what the findings from this body of research will reveal, but we remain committed to rigorously reporting the state of spirituality in England and Wales today.”
I look forward to reading the revised report that will be conducted under stricter criteria.
What are the lessons for preachers?
First, when using data, statistics or stories in our preaching it is vital that we are rigorous in checking our sources. Even conservative evangelicals can be drawn in by dodgy data, fake news and urban myths. This is particulary the case in an internet age. When I was a pastor in Lowestoft, the most easterly town in the UK, I used to joke about how long it could take for new ideas and trends to reach us. By the time they got to us they had already been evaluated, critiqued, and in some cases debunked.
Now everything is out there. Preachers need to exercise discermment about what they accept and pass on. We need to “Test all things!”
Secondly, we need to ponder the apologetic usefulness of information about cultural turns toward Christianity in our society. The gospel is not validated by statistics or by famous people identifying as Christians or cultural Christians. There is one statistic that matters: “One man has been raised from the dead, demonstrating that he is the Son of God, our saviour!”
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash