If the Church of England were serious about revival, this is what they would be doing

 OPINION

by Bijan Omrani  

THE TELEGRAPH

February 19, 2026

As it is, the Church simply isn’t doing enough - James Manning/PA Wire

This past year, there has been a lessening of the multi-generational gloom that has hung over British churches since the 1960s. The conviction that Christianity would soon be swept away by secular modernity has been recently overturned by the “Quiet Revival”: the idea that many, particularly the young, are beginning to find faith and even return to the pews.

However, these claims, which were based on surveys by the Bible Society published last April, have now been thrown into doubt. Humanists UK, following the lead of Matthew’s Gospel, has started to warn of false prophets who “shall shew great signs and wonders.” In their view, the Bible Society is one of this number.

The Humanists’ analysis of other new data, including the 2024 Social Attitudes Survey and even some of the Church of England’s own statistics, shows, so they argue, that there is no Quiet Revival in churchgoing, but rather “ongoing decline”.

The truth remains unclear. Sources connected with the Bible Society survey argue that the Humanists’ critique is flawed. Many clergy, dealing with crowds of Gen Z converts, observe that it does not pass the sniff test. The Humanists, however, claim the support of psephological grandees such as Prof Sir John Curtice.

And all this is before one acknowledges that how one measures religious affiliation – is it regular church going, church membership, self-identification? – has been the subject of acrimonious disagreement since the 19th century.

Whatever the truth, British Christians, and especially the Church of England, would be wise not to despite the Humanists’ chastening. What if, like Jeremiah, they are correctly prophesying a collapse from which we are foolishly turning our eyes? If there is even a possibility that the Quiet Revival is merely a statistical mirage, and that “destruction upon destruction” is really what awaits the parishes and congregations, is the Church of England treating this desperate situation with the urgency and seriousness that it deserves?

The Church’s General Synod was meeting last week in Westminster. If its business is to be taken as an indication of the Church’s thinking, the answer has to be that it is refusing to confront what might well be an existential crisis.

This is not to say that the Synod is not dealing with worthy and necessary matters. It has debated poverty and social care. It has been grappling with safeguarding and the mental health of clergy. But whilst it seems happy to be contending with issues of process, and to devote endless air-time to questions of same-sex marriage and minor issues from special interest groups – for example, a crusade for sustainable flower arranging – there is hardly any intellectual energy or attention devoted to debating the fundamental questions of why it seems so difficult to engage the nation with the Christian message, and what the Church should do in response.

If the Church were serious about dealing with the decline in numbers, it would be straining every sinew to reacquaint the nation with the fundamentals of the Christian story and scripture. It would be attempting to re-propagate an inherited culture of hymns and music, choirs, liturgy, poetry and literature which brought the faith to life, and into people’s lives. It would be working boldly to call for the Bible and Christian culture to be a more prominent part of school education and public life, and to remind people of the central importance of this culture.

In the absence of this, people will simply not have the knowledge of Christianity that will allow them to come to faith, even if they have the urge to do it. When Christ and the disciples preached in Galilee and Jerusalem, they were preaching to a people who, although poor, knew scripture and the idea that a Messiah had been promised.

As it is, the Church simply isn’t doing enough. It is underpowered in spreading public knowledge of the faith. Instead of proper investment in its workhorses – the parish clergy – it funds ever ballooning diocesan bureaucracies and wastes its capital with unjustifiable initiatives such as Project Spire, the £100m “reparations” payment for historic slavery.

This is not the behaviour of a church that is taking its problems seriously. Just as Jerusalem should have listened to Jeremiah before the Babylonians destroyed it, so too should the church now pay heed to the warnings of the Humanists, before it is too late.

Bijan Omrani is the author of God is an Englishman: Christianity and the Creation of England