Last year was awash with whispers of the ‘quiet revival’, a term coined in a Bible Society report that found church attendance was on the up, particularly among Gen Z. These reports of increased numbers of young people pulling up a pew for a Sunday service, are mirrored by SPCK Group’s findings that UK Bible sales reached their highest point ever in 2025, doubling since 2019.
As a publishing director at SPCK Group – The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge if you’re asking – it’s exciting to see more young people invested in spending their time in church and in the word of God. It’s natural that, when someone initially connects with the Christian faith, their first port of call at the bookshop will be a Bible. We hope that the same growing community will turn to thought leaders and scholars in the Christian space to help them unpick, understand and live out the word of God.
A part of equipping these church-goers well, is understanding what is driving this desire to connect with God. A wise person recently said to me: “The answer is always Jesus, but what are the questions?” What are the questions that are driving people to explore in church? What are the desires? What are the fears? There are many theories and I’m harbouring a few of my own.
Is this it?
Growing up in the social media age has given Gen Z easy access to so many things that were previously prized and rare. They have the keys to demonstrable popularity in the form of likes and followers – all they need is a little algorithm know-how. They can be better looking than any previous generation – with every make-up tutorial and workout at their fingertips. They have all the convenience, never needing to pick up an encyclopaedia to find answers or even to walk to the chip shop to collect a takeaway. The world sits at the end of their fingertips and yet it’s not enough.
Speaking as someone who (despite not being Gen Z) also has access to all of these things, I can confidently say that getting everything you want only serves to show you that you wanted the wrong things. It’s awful to fight for more followers, or a better body or a higher salary, only to realise that the same insecurities and anxieties plague the slightly more “successful” version of you too.
Perhaps in light of all of this achievement, people are realising that they want to connect with something that isn’t all about themselves. Perhaps they’re seeing that the deeper sense of security and fulfilment that was promised by the world, can actually come from knowing Jesus. Maybe the generation that has everything wants more – more real, more truthful, more consistent, more outward facing, more generous and more peaceful. More God-like.
Forgotten sins of the past
I went to university in 2007. I wonder if this spiritual thirst that was sweeping the nation at that time, if people have gone to church to quench it. I suspect not. In my time people dabbled with Buddhism, generic mysticism or just trained to be yoga instructors.
For me and those I grew up with, church and Christians were synonymous with judgement. We heard the stories of corporal punishment being enacted on our parents’ generation in church or in school. We knew about the far-reaching pain and suffering caused by the systemic child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. There was a man who stood at Oxford Circus all through the 2000s with a megaphone aggressively pointing at passersby to tell them they were sinners. To walk into a church was to invite certain admonition.
The church has changed a huge amount in the last twenty-odd years. This up-and-coming generation don’t carry the same harmful memories or pre-conceived ideas of church. Some of their favourite footballers and musicians openly thank God. Increasingly, the Christians they come across major on demonstrating Jesus’ love, rather than threatening smiting for bad behaviour.
I found a message posted anonymously on X’s confessions account @fesshole that summed it up for me: “Recently started attending church again after 30 years. Forgotten how nice everyone is. Plus all the moralising judgemental preaching has gone. It’s a real oasis in the week.”
They aren’t afraid of discipline
Despite the media constantly lamenting the work-ethic of Gen-Z, I firmly believe that they are not afraid of discipline – but only when it builds towards goals they are passionate about. This is the generation of the 5am club, the protein targets and Steven Bartlett’s The Diary Of A CEO. They know that consistency is more important than intensity and can instantly explain to you the principles behind habit stacking.
This is why the Christian faith works for them. It promises huge rewards – not just heavenly but earthly too – for those who walk with Jesus. I don’t mean in a prosperity gospel way, I mean in the form of spiritual gifts and fruits of the spirit. This peace, gentleness, self-control and others are things many strive for in their own strength but God gives them in abundance. If a young person is passionate about growing closer to God and tastes these fruits, they will also be willing to put in the discipline and consistency required to grow in these things. A daily spiritual routine isn’t a chore, it’s a challenge that they want to embrace.
It's not us
Finally, and maybe controversially – what if none of this has anything to do with our work? Sure, we can look at the social factors, how perceptions of the church have changed and what they offer now, but what if God’s just calling and people are listening? Maybe we’d be seeing the exact same response with totally different social and political factors at play. Maybe God’s just at work.
I’ve heard stories of people dreaming that they need to go to church and showing up the next day, and of people walking past church buildings and coming in to hear the music. That’s not a preacher’s clever phrasing, or even a well-timed carol concert invite. It’s God’s leg work. He’s out there, telling people to come in. Maybe we’ve just got to be ready, arms outstretched, to offer a warm welcome.
Lauren Windle is Publishing Director at SPCK.
