Churches in the United Kingdom are witnessing a significant increase in the number of people committing to follow Jesus Christ, with recent research revealing that twice as many are making such commitments compared to five years ago.
The latest report titled “Changing Church,” published by the Evangelical Alliance in the United Kingdom, supports this trend and aligns with findings from “The Quiet Revival” report by the Bible Society, which indicated a rise in young men converting to Christianity.
The research gathered the perspectives of 300 church leaders and nearly 1,000 church members across the country, examining changes since the COVID-19 pandemic challenged traditional notions of engaging with church life.
The data shows that “average church attendance has been upsurging by 13% since January 2020,” though Danny Webster, director of advocacy for the UK Evangelical Alliance, describes this as “an underestimate of what’s happening across the U.K.”
While churches with 47 or fewer members experienced a 15% decline, about a quarter of churches with more than 165 members grew by 21%. Despite an anticipated decline in weekly church attendance, data confirms this trend, showing a decrease from 90% in 2020 to 78% in 2025. However, most respondents who no longer attend weekly still participate in church gatherings “about three times per month.”
Gavin Calver, chief executive officer of the Evangelical Alliance, stated, “The last five years have significantly impacted the Evangelical church in the UK.” He remarked, “What I’m seeing as I travel around the country are churches that are adapting well to the landscape, serving their communities wholeheartedly and growing numerically as they confidently share the hope of Jesus with those around them.”
He added, “There’s an openness to the Christian faith, especially among young people, which is reflected in our new ‘Changing Church’ report. The next few years may well be even more dramatic in this time of spiritual openness.”
Calver also highlighted that larger churches have experienced growth while smaller churches have shrunk, explaining that “the overall attendance change across all the churches surveyed was 22%, with larger churches seeing significant growth disproportionately contributing to that number.”
