If you read the headlines of late, we are either in the early stages of a fresh, new spiritual revival or continuing to experience the malaise of spiritual decline.

Here are the revival headlines:

According to a Bible Society/YouGov survey, there has been a 50% increase in church attendance in the U.K. over the last six years (between 2018 and 2024).

A new Barna study, part of the State of the Church 2025, has found a “groundswell of commitment to Jesus over the last four years.” According to Barna’s latest data, “66% of all U.S. adults say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus... that marks a 12-percentage-point increase since 2021.” This shift, they report, “is not only statistically significant—it may be the clearest indication of spiritual renewal in the United States.”

Among the biggest drivers in both studies would appear to be members of Generation Z and Millennials, and particularly younger men.

Added to the good news is that the “rise of the nones” appears to have somewhat leveled off, at least for now, and sales in Bibles have spiked.

Oh, and lots of people like watching “The Chosen.”

Ah, but then come the other headlines, backed with equally respected surveys. According to Gallup, younger Americans are becoming less likely to say they are religious, with around a third of Generation Z and millennials now identifying as having no religion whatsoever.

And Christians aren’t adding to their base. Gallup also has found that the percentage of Americans identifying as Protestant or nondenominational Christian in 2024 is within a percentage point of their 2018-2020 levels.

Further, while the recent release of Pew’s Religious Landscape Study (RLS) found that the “rise of the nones” that has dominated most cultural assessments over the last decade or so appears to have temporarily stabilized, it also alarmingly reminded us of the overall decline of adults who identify as Christian. In 2007, the RLS found that 78% of all U.S. adults identified as Christian. In 2014, the second RLS found that number had “ticked steadily downward” to 71%. The latest RLS finds that 62% of U.S. adults now identify as Christians. As Pew reports, “That is a decline of nine percentage points since 2014, and a 16-point drop since 2007.”

That’s not all. As the RLS report itself states, “despite these signs of recent stabilization and abiding spirituality, other indicators suggest we may see further declines in the American religious landscape in future years.” Why? Younger Americans remain far less religious than older adults.

So what, exactly, is happening? Are there signs of spiritual renewal, or has the doomsday clock moved closer to midnight?

The answer, of course, is both.

There are encouraging signs of people, particularly younger people, being open to exploring spirituality, and specifically the Christian faith. This is, however, a minority report in the wider context of a staggering decrease in the number of people who identify as Christians.

Consider the YouGov report. Is there an increase in church attendance in the UK? Yes. Is it truly a 50% increase over the last six years? Yes. But that 50% is going up from a dismal 8% of the population to only 12% of the population. And the quadrupling within Generation Z? Up from 4% to now 16%. Impressive, to be sure, but not exactly a generational shift. In other words, you still have a generation that is 84% unchurched.

All to say, this is no revival. Some positive, encouraging signs in the midst of a seemingly non-stop drip of discouraging reports, yes,

... but no revival.

But I would call it a moment. I do believe that signs are pointing to a renewal of spiritual interest and openness, including interest and openness to the Christian faith. There is a moral and relational bankruptcy in culture, and it is translating into a new search for meaning.

Author Douglas Coupland expressed the longing well:

... here’s my secret: I tell it to you with an openness of heart that I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God—that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem to be capable of giving; to help me be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.

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