Church going is resurging worldwide especially in young men

[GreenBlaze]

Hi everyone. Hope life is treating you well, nice weather where I live.

I came across the first two articles linked below on church attendance in the UK and I was surprised to read the news. I read in the articles that church attendance is increasing in the UK and church's are seeing resurgence and especially was so around Easter with church's being full to bursting. I was surprised to see the information because for much of my life  I have heard that church going is going down in the UK. The clear information is though is that church going among young people especially Generation X the 18-24 age group and men are increasing.

Just a few years ago I read that Church's were in decline in Europe too and resurging in other lower developed countries like Africa and Latin America. Resurging areas in particular were church's that were Catholic Charismatic and around the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.

I read these articles and found them interesting. I read to further analytical research for me the third and fourth article and I saw that church attendance varies in different age groups. Areas of growth particularly seem to be around young people aged 18-24 joining the church for the very first time. Interesting.

Much of the world has seen calamity and tribulation in the world in the last few years and it does make some people question what exactly is going on in the world. I know I have at times myself questioned what exactly is going on.

Are some people now returning to the church? It seems it.

New people seem to be returning to God now in time of great distress. People seem to be wanting more to life and deepening a sense of spirituality and faith.

Revivals for church going is happening what was for secular countries like France baptisms are increasing.
 
This is not what Samuel Huntingdon predicted in the Clash of Civilisations.

More people are wanting to learn more about God the creator and have deepened spirituality. The last few years for many may be this might have something to do with it. It can be hard to find and see a future and everything can be expensive and seem overwhelming at times. They seem to need a God to take care on their needs and advocate for them through their promised comforter that Jesus promised them.

What do you think of this resurgence? I studied religion and am a social social scientist and this resurgence is very interesting.

There are a number of articles, but the evidence seems that it cannot be argued against.

https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/christianity-is-back-heres-the-data/19549.article
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/11-april/news/uk/dramatic-growth-in-young-people-attending-church-bible-society-research-finds
https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/quiet-revival-uk-bible-society
https://www.premierchristianity.com/renewal/many-churches-are-reporting-record-breaking-easter-attendance-heres-the-best-stories/19373.article
https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/revival-is-coming-but-is-the-church-ready/18948.article
https://www.premierchristianity.com/real-life/more-men-are-finding-jesus-my-church-is-full-of-them/19559.article
https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/weve-never-seen-spiritual-hunger-like-this-before-revival-is-here-here-are-4-ways-you-can-steward-it/19457.article
https://www.premierchristianity.com/opinion/3-reasons-why-were-confident-a-quiet-revival-is-taking-place/19427.article
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/01/04/the-young-men-leaving-traditional-churches-for-orthodox/

https://apnews.com/article/orthodox-christians-cliffside-monastery-monks-488a9ec2bea52f54071bf91ddfc7d56d

[Recusant]

Hi everyone. Hope life is treating you well, nice weather where I live.

Good to hear.

As for the rest of your post, what is your point?

[GreenBlaze]

Hi everyone. Hope life is treating you well, nice weather where I live.

Good to hear.

As for the rest of your post, what is your point?

I was wanted your thoughts and a discussion on why you think this is happening and do you believe it is actually happening or something else?

[Recusant]

It would not surprise me if the reports of rising church attendance among younger folk are accurate. It's not as if the human species has magically become less gullible. I think things do look a bit more precarious than several years ago, at least to inhabitants of wealthier nations that had previously felt more insulated from turmoil and grief on a wide scale. When the world seems less safe, people tend to seek whatever comfort and reassurance they can find, however threadbare.

[GreenBlaze]

It would not surprise me if the reports of rising church attendance among younger folk are accurate. It's not as if the human species has magically become less gullible. I think things do look a bit more precarious than several years ago, at least to inhabitants of wealthier nations that had previously felt more insulated from turmoil and grief on a wide scale. When the world seems less safe, people tend to seek whatever comfort and reassurance they can find, however threadbare.

Thank you for your thoughts, they are interesting.
I would agree there does seem to be something going here especially with young people, the world has been very unstable for some time and there has been some high profile of late too who have converted in the media like the co founder of wikipedia.
I look with interest to at the Pew research which needs to be updated as it only goes back to 2010-2020 and misses critically out the period post COVID and war/economy effect.

[Recusant]

Thank you for your thoughts, they are interesting.
I would agree there does seem to be something going here especially with young people, the world has been very unstable for some time and there has been some high profile of late too who have converted in the media like the co founder of wikipedia.
I look with interest to at the Pew research which needs to be updated as it only goes back to 2010-2020 and misses critically out the period post COVID and war/economy effect.

Indeed COVID and its disruption of people's lives (particularly youngsters) had an undeniable effect on society. It's been cited as a big part of the reason so many of the younger cohort of "Gen Z" have tended more toward a conservative political stance, for instance. Religious belief is loosely associated with a conservative outlook. Also, I expect the opportunity for engaging in a community is a factor. The young people who were deprived of social life by the shutdowns may crave the sense of gathering they find in church.

I don't think it's all COVID though. Generally society moves in the manner of a pendulum. People's relation to religion will naturally ebb and flow; we're seeing that now apparently. I think religion often does more harm than good but I understand that many people find its pat answers to difficult questions expedient to getting on with their lives.

[Asmodean]

Looking for something greater than oneself to identify with and/or belong to is quite common - especially among the younger crowd.

Even I sometimes find myself doing activities which I know are a waste of my time because, for example, a friend would like to and it doesn't really cost me anything I'm unwilling to give.

That said, religions do tend to offer some hard answers. Whether or not said answers are of questionable quality is quite beside the point. People want it - especially in uncertain or volatile periods and a priest can offer a lonely 20-something with a touch of environmental anxiety and misplaced guilt for some bullshit something people like my own sweet self can't - for it all to "mean something" in a remotely satisfying way, at least to a mind prone to needing that kind of meaning.

[zorkan]

https://www.timothygough.co.uk/blog/is-church-attendance-really-rising-a-closer-look-at-the-quiet-revival

The churches do not educate people.
They sell promises instead, drawing in people with phoney ads.
An educated person will know that there was no such person as Jesus.
Jesus is not a Jewish name.
All jews believed they were the sons and daughters of god.
The bible is a basically a book of recycled mythology as seen from a Jewish perspective.
There are no original surviving manuscripts of books of the bible.

Christianity is redefined for every new generation.
In my youth it was all about the fear of god.
It is now all about the love of god.
At no point does the word love appear in the bible.
That's because it was not written in English.
A church near me displays a poster "Jesus Loves You Passionately."

Quite simply, more bums on seats means more money.

[Icarus]

Church attendance is a social exercise as well as a religious one. 

In my younger days I was a certified  heathen who often went to church on Sunday. The reason for doing so was because there were girls there. Many of the girls went to church because there were boys and young men there. Church is a prime place to hook up. Can that be at least a partial reason for the resurgence of attendance by the younger set?

[Asmodean]

Hmm... Maybe less likely to immediately get cancelled on Twitter for violent verbal rape or some such for having said that she had pretty eyes if you hooked up with a church-going gal...

There might be something to it.

[zorkan]

So night clubs loss is churches gain?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czed9321l37o

[billy rubin]

greenblaze did three hits. i imagine his work here is done.

[Recusant]

I recall that back in the day certain Christian institutions assigned it as part of a class. "Go post on an atheist discussion board." Also an occasional undergraduate doing research. Though that was a long time ago in internet years, the self-identification as a social scientist resonated for me.

So I can't claim that I was particularly welcoming. Maybe the fact that initially I was the only one replying was less than inspiring.



 

[Dark Lightning]

I've tilted against these knuckleheads in the past, but I'm just over it, these days.

[GreenBlaze]

Very interesting reading all your thoughts. I tried to get on earlier, but the website was down.
One story I was a bit unsure of, the young men going to church Orthodox ones for 5 hours during the COVID period-when most church's were shut and also if on, the service was as short as possible. I couldn't imagine a service an Orthodox one lasting for five hours with young men. I know some who are pentecostal can reach like 3 hours, but 5hrs. To me if they wish to go it is up to them-but the five hours service  I never found one so long which was orthodox.

People as you have agreed are clearly searching for something during these difficult times and since I wrote this even there have been new strikes going on in the military. This is a hard time to be a young person no doubt.