A pointy rise in Bible sales and reports of growing spiritual curiosity amongst young adults within the UK has prompted calls for church leaders to be able to respond.
Missiologist and executive director of Hope Together, Rachel Jordan-Wolf, said the Church within the UK is facing a “pivotal moment” amid reports of accelerating numbers of younger people actively looking for out Scripture – often with little prior connection to church.
Her comments follow reports that Bible sales surged by 134% in 2025, reaching £6.3 million within the UK, in accordance with industry figures widely reported earlier this yr.
Ms Jordan-Wolf says the trend challenges long-held assumptions about inevitable decline.
“For years, we have now lived under a narrative of decline, and now we have now to readjust our pondering and practice to live on this latest, hopeful world of growth,” she said.
Her assessment is echoed by the creator of the recent Belief in Britain report by Christopher Gasson that has also fuelled discussion about changing religious attitudes. The poll of 10,000 people, conducted by OnePoll, found a noticeable rise in belief in God and spiritual openness amongst questions among the many youth.
Almost two-thirds (64%) of Gen Z respondents described themselves as spiritual, compared with just over a 3rd (35%) of baby boomers, while those in midlife were almost certainly to discover as atheists.
According to the report, 54% of respondents identified as Christian, a rise from the 2021 census figure, which placed the proportion below half of the population.
Mr Gasson said: “I expected the information to substantiate what has been assumed for a very long time: Britain is steadily becoming a more atheist country. The results are the reverse of what I used to be expecting.”
Some researchers have urged caution in interpreting recent survey data. A latest evaluation published by the Pew Research Center has questioned claims of a widespread revival within the UK, arguing that several high-profile findings depend on opt-in surveys slightly than random population samples, which Pew considers more methodologically robust.
That critique has been levelled specifically at The Quiet Revival, a 2025 report commissioned by the Bible Society, which found a marked increase in churchgoing and belief amongst 18 to 34 yr olds in England and Wales. The Bible Society defended its research against Pew’s claims.
While Ms Jordan-Wolf acknowledged that the pace of change has been startling: “Faith has turn out to be more necessary to those generations in only the last five years”.
However she rejected claims that the Church is in decline.
“The Church within the UK is just not in decline – I repeat, the Church within the UK is just not in decline,” she said.
Ms Jordan-Wolf also pointed to the dimensions of recent practical engagement by churches, noting that greater than 140,000 Gospels were distributed across the UK by Hope Together last yr through its Great Gospel Giveaway initiative.
The initiative, which is anticipated to run again this yr, encourages churches to put free copies of the Gospels into public spaces equivalent to high streets, cafés, schools, food banks and community centres, removing each cost and social pressure for those exploring Christianity for the primary time.
“A Gospel — the lifetime of Jesus — is the proper place to start out,” Mrs Jordan-Wolf said. “We have the desire to make people’s journey to Jesus as easy as possible, and the Great Gospel Giveaway helps churches do exactly that.”
Christian booksellers have reported evidence of that curiosity.
Staff at GLO Bookshop in Glasgow have described a growing number of shoppers – lots of them young – coming in after searching online or attempting to visit churches, some simply saying they were unsure what they were in search of but felt a powerful must read Scripture.
Ms Jordan-Wolf said such encounters underline the importance of churches being visibly prepared.
“Let’s be ready when someone says, ‘I don’t really know what I’m in search of … but I want a Bible,’” she said.
Hope Together is now preparing churches for a renewed phase of the Great Gospel Giveaway, with a deal with equipping local congregations to reply confidently and practically to spiritual curiosity of their communities.
An online webinar, Reaching and Responding to an Open Generation, is scheduled for March 2, where Ms Jordan-Wolf alongside Director of Elim Evangelism Mark Greenwood will discuss what the present moment means for mission and the way churches can participate in the subsequent phase of Gospel distribution.
For Ms Jordan-Wolf, the priority is the Church recognising the chance before it: “God is doing something latest, and we’re being invited to reply.
“How can we help every young adult and young person we all know — or everyone our church might come into contact with — receive a Gospel?”
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