there’s an attitudinal shift towards christianity in under 35s in britain. at least that is what lamorna ash says in her wonderful book don’t forget we’re here forever: a new generation’s search for religion. the quiet revival, a research report from bible society, says pretty much the same thing with some surprising stats to back it up.

the shout out statistic is that in 2025 16% of under 35s go to church once a month. rewind to 2018 and that figure was 4%. (it frustrates me that people can’ resist throwing in the revival word – i really think that is unhelpful. i’ve been around long enough to have heard people banging that drum and ending up diillusioning everyone so just calm down!) it’s intriguing to know why but ash says that the new atheism of the 90s is gone when if you were a christian people thought you were an idiot. now so called gen z seem almost envious of those with faith – they know it helps mental health, gives you hope, a community to belong to amongst other things, and perhaps a map of how to be in a troubled disorienting world. in ash’s case it’s clearly not naive – she meets people wanting an engaged faith that fits environmental concerns and that will rage about genocide in gaza, and which is also aware of the abuse and control thaty doesn;t ever seem to disappear from news headlines around church at the moment.

her book is the result of a year long quest, an adventure to travel the country and meet christians in their 20s and 30s of all sorts of traditions and background – the more the merrier – and try and get inside theior world, theor experience of christian faith. she organises it into three sections. the first is visits to more conservative evaangelical christians – i found myself cringing at some of her encounters. the second is more of a personal quest where she goes on retreats to iona, st beuno’s, and walsingham abbey among others. and the third is conversations with people whose faith has shifted. in many cases this is because of leaving church due to it being controlling or damaging. this is a large group by the way – i will come back to that in another post but do have a read of trauma informed evangelism if you are interested in that space – a truly amazing book.

i was preaching at st mary’s in ealing on sunday about the experience of the presence of the risen christ, of the spirit – we are in the easter season. i used ash’s book as a conversation partner as the thing i noticed was the number of ways she seemed to be bumping into that presence. i’d love to talk to her – perhaps i’ll bump into her at greenbelt . i am a big fan of the examen which is a practice in which you review the day or a season and take note of moments of consolation and desolation. the idea is that those that are consoling over time become a way of noticing god’s presence and something to pay attention to. it was a noticing of how many moments of consolation ash described that got me thinking of applying that to the book. i won’t rehearse the talk here – you can listen online if you’d like to here (the talk starts about 25 minutes in). the quotes in this post are some of the slides from the talk in case you were wondering

those moments include being in church spaces like iona abbey or communion at st luke’s holloway, they include an experience of being at home in the world – a oneness of connection, experiences through culture and art, through people, through reading and reflection (i think lamorna is a really wonderful theologian in the way she sets a text in conversation with her experience), and through openness to the journey of faith and where it is taking you.

i recognised all of these things as spaces i too have encountered the presence of god as best i understand it. i liked her resistance to certainty. she prefers the mystical path. she remains open, not sure of answers, still curious, still searching. but the experience has changed little by little – a coming home to herself, a growth in courage to be the version of herself she would like to be.

somehow prayer, keeping going to church she senses will help her in that in spite of her awareness of its flaws and abuses.

i found it a lovely book to read. she writes well and whilst claiming not to know much dives deep in her theological reflections. i have got so used to hearing stories and stats of church attendance ageing and declining, perception that having a faith and being part of a church community is culturally odd. i have been held by it and it orients my life so i have no regrets about that and no desire to change my habit but it is a surprise to learn of a new openness in younger people. i hope lamorna ash inspires their quest. and i hope they find spaces and forms of christian faith that fit them well. i was so pleased when i read that ash had landed at st luke’s for example, a church i know fairly well – it’s creative, artful, inclusive. but maybe there will also be a new round of innovation as young adults find an invitation to create church in a way that makes sense. i hope so.

one of the insights i thought was helpful from ash was that she reflects that faith requires practice, it has no reality if you dont act it out. for her that involves putting on an iona cross, attending silence with quakers and so on. she writes that it fades if you don’t put yourself in the way of it. she chooses to put herself in the way of it. – i love that. i’ll keep putting myself in the way of it.