Over this past year, there have been several reports indicating that a spiritual revival may be stirring in the United Kingdom. While there has been a noticeable turn towards secularism in the UK in recent years, three reports suggest a spiritual shift is taking place in the island nation.

From ‘The Spectator’ in April 2024

Back in April, podcaster Justin Brierley, author of The Surprising Rebirth of Belief, stated in a column for The Spectator that he believes a revival is stirring in the UK.

He cited multiple instances of high-profile UK figures publicly announcing they have become Christians, including Russell Brand, author and poet Paul Kingsnorth, former atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and tech pioneer Jordan Hall.

Brierley also discussed a conversation he had with historian Tom Holland, about his recent move towards the Christian faith after he was divinely healed of cancer.

This led Brierley to attend a midnight service with Holland at the very church where he was healed after praying at a midnight mass.

Brierley was surprised by what he saw.

“In contrast to the usual ageing demographic of many Anglican churches, the congregation of St Bart’s seems to mainly consist of young professionals, both male and female,” Brierley noted. “I noticed a famous politician among the gathered faithful, and was told that a well-known melancholy rock star has also been frequenting the church of late.”

From ‘CBN’ in July 2024

More recently, in an article for CBN, Wendy Griffith interviewed several individuals from the UK who believe the Holy Spirit is moving in the UK.

This included Craig Cooney, who pastors Hope Church in Northern Ireland.

“Something has shifted in the last six months and it feels almost like it’s a rising river,” Cooney said.

Cooney, who also has 100,000 followers on Instagram, added that this is showing up in various ways.

First, he has noticed an increased sense of God’s presence during church services, along with a significant increase in attendance and intensity at their midweek prayer meetings.

“There’s this sense of ‘God is in the room’ that has been birthed out of and has probably birthed prayer, an increase in prayer,” Cooney said. “We have seen that in our own church. About 20% of our church now come to our weekly prayer meeting, which is at 6:00 PM on a Wednesday. It’s not a convenient time, but it’s just an hour of solid intercession. And there’s just people crying out for the lost people, crying out for their families.”

These events have been combined with several reports of divine healings taking place in the congregation from unexpected sources.

“And every single week we are getting testimonies of healing from people who might not even six months ago believed in divine healing. I mean really, it’s not the people you might expect quite honestly,” Cooney said.

From ‘The Times’ in May 2024

In an article for The Times in May, entitled Millennials are bending the knee to religion, James Marriott started off his article with “Faith in God is enjoying a resurgence in a sign that our culture is less secular than we assume.“

He then goes on to talk about the recent conversion of controversial broadcaster, Russell Brand.

“If I were a believer, the baptism of Russell Brand in the Thames this week might lead me to question, if not the Almighty’s existence, then at least His good judgment,” Marriott wrote. “Though the Lord’s summons to the devilish Brand is a perplexing development in the unfolding of the divine plan, it belongs to a discernible cultural trend. God is in fashion with the shapers of public opinion.”

Of course, members of the early church had similar questions after Jesus knocked Saul (who would become the Apostle Paul) off his horse as he rode to Damascus to continue his persecution of Christians.

When God told Ananias via a vision to visit Saul and pray for him, Ananias had some serious reservations and actually questioned God whether this was a good idea.

“Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem, Ananias said.  “And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

But God said go. Ananias obeyed, and the rest they say is history.

Marriott then discussed how Joe Rogan, who Marriott described as “the most popular broadcaster in the anglophone world,” recently shocked listeners “with the reflection that ‘we need Jesus‘”.

In addition, Marriott also attended a 2023 presentation in Britain by Canadian Psychologist Jordan Peterson that was more reminiscent of a Christian service, than a secular presentation.

“When I watched Peterson — looking as gauntly prophetic as an early desert father — thunder away to a young, diverse and raucously appreciative audience at a crammed O2 arena last year, his principal subject was God. But the event was not reported as a religious one,” Marriott noted.

While the world grows darker, the light is getting brighter.