The truth about the quiet revival – with grounds for optimism
From Holy Smoke by The Spectator
April 3, 2026 · 26 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the concept of a 'quiet revival' in Christianity among young people, examining both the credibility of recent studies and anecdotal evidence.
The past year has seen a deluge of reports and investigations about young people finding faith and flocking back to Christianity – including here on Holy Smoke . All roads lead back to a Bible Society study which claimed that – backed up by polling from YouGov – a ‘quiet revival’ was underway. Yet, one year on, YouGov has pulled the survey due to data errors and the Bible Society was forced to apologise. While the credibility of the survey is undermined, this doesn’t necessarily chime with anecdotal evidence from some quarters. So what is the truth behind the ‘quiet revival’? Justin Brierley, broadcaster and founder of Think Faith , joins Damian Thompson to provide his more optimistic assessment: that while the story might not be what it seemed, that doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. Could the decline in religious adherence seen over the past few decades be slowing? And what would his advice be to struggling parish churches, and to the new Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally? Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator…
People in this episode
Host: Damian Thompson
Guest: Justin Brierley
Topics covered
- quiet revival
- Christianity
- faith
- religious adherence
- youth
- church
- optimism
Keywords
- quiet revival
- Christianity
- youth faith
- Bible Society
- YouGov
- religious adherence
- optimism
- parish churches
- Archbishop of Canterbury
Sponsors
Spectator
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bible Society, YouGov, Think Faith
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