There’s been a bit of noise today around the withdrawal of The Quiet Revival report by the Bible Society. I’ve genuinely appreciated the Bible Society’s transparency and integrity in handling this difficult matter, and I share their disappointment about the recently uncovered YouGov error that led them to make that decision.
But, honestly, this isn’t a moment for panic. Because while a report has been withdrawn, that doesn’t mean the broad direction of its findings was off.
Data Matters - But It Isn’t the Whole Story
Now, let’s be clear: good data matters, and so does the way it’s gathered. How we measure things shapes the conclusions we draw, so when something goes wrong at that level, it’s right to pause and reassess.
But a single dataset – even a widely discussed one like this – has never been the whole story of what’s happening spiritually across the UK. Research is a tool, not a foundation – it helps us see patterns, but it doesn’t create them.
And that’s where lived experience speaks loudly.
Over the past couple of years, as an itinerant minister, I’ve travelled across the country into churches large and small, traditional and contemporary. As a consultant, I’ve sat with leaders and teams across different streams. And yet, across all that diversity, a similar thread keeps emerging: something exciting is stirring.
Especially among younger adults, there’s a renewed willingness to engage with questions of faith – who they are and what their lives are actually for – with a sincerity that feels different to even a decade ago.
In practice, that looks like people picking up a Bible, and others walking into church after years away – or for the first time. I’ve seen baptisms nobody saw coming. And Jesus is turning up in conversation again, between friends and at work, and more often in public than you’d expect.
These aren’t statistics – they’re stories. And they’re happening.
Holding the Tension – And Holding Our Nerve
Of course, we need to hold the tension honestly: not everything is growing, and some denominations are still navigating decline. We don’t need to gloss over that reality to tell a hopeful story.
But neither should we dismiss what is happening simply because The Quiet Revival report has been withdrawn.
One of the dangers in moments like this is the swing from one extreme to the other – from “revival is here” to “nothing’s happening at all”. The truth, as usual, sits somewhere in the middle, yet that middle is far more hopeful than the cynics would have us believe.
In fact, long before The Quiet Revival report existed, many of us were already sensing and seeing a shift. The report didn’t create the stories – it simply gave language to what was already emerging. Yes, we may now need to revisit some data and the conclusions. But the lived reality on the ground hasn’t suddenly evaporated.
So today’s news about the withdrawal of the report isn’t about abandoning the idea that something is stirring – it’s about holding that idea more wisely.
There are other indicators too. Other studies point in the same direction, and so does the steady testimony of local churches across the country.
Keep On Going
So where does that leave us? For me, it’s simple: keep calm and carry on! Because our confidence was never meant to rest on a single report. It rests on something deeper, and it’s expressed through faithful, everyday ministry.
That hasn’t changed. We are still called to serve where we are.
That might mean making room for people to explore faith honestly, or walking patiently with someone who’s still asking questions. It certainly means paying attention to the small signs of life that never make the headlines. And yes – it means trusting that God is at work, even when the data needs rewriting.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from travelling round churches and sitting with leaders across the Church in the UK these last months, it’s this: God’s work is still unfolding, and it’s nowhere near finished!