Joshua May
3 Dec 2025
All across Europe, there are signs of gospel stirrings. In Christian and in secular media, there are reports of people - particularly young adults - coming to church for the first time. We hear of increased adult baptisms, increased Bible sales, and increased sales of Christian worship, as well as a plethora of celebrity and other high-profile conversions. In this article, we collate and assess some of the encouraging trends from across Europe.
A PEW Research Centre article, published in 2018, reported that only 18% of ‘Christians’ in Western Europe are in fact churchgoing, with the majority identifying as ‘non-practising’. The research reinforced the common narrative about the decades-long decline of the church in Europe, but today there is new evidence and hope for the renewal of Christian worship in Europe. Named by some as the ‘Quiet Revival’, for many this moment speaks of a vital inflexion – one that invites an investment of prayer, faith, and new churches into the harvest.
The secularism that has become so deeply entrenched in the European psyche has, in recent years, begun to be found wanting. The spiritual barrenness secularism fosters has led to an increasing curiosity in and openness to the gospel across Europe. In France, for example, the National Council of Evangelicals reports that the number of Protestant evangelicals in France has increased from 650,000 in 2017 to 745,000 in 2023, an increase of 15% (Le Monde, Premier Christianity). The French Bishops’ Conference has reported a dramatic increase of 45% in the number of adults receiving baptism into the Catholic church this past Easter, compared with 2024, building on an upwards trajectory that can be traced over the course of the past decade. Encouragingly, 42% of newly baptised adults are aged 18-25 (The Economist). According to research undertaken by journalist Antoine Pasquier for his new book Enquête sur ces jeunes qui veulent devenir chrétiens (Inquiry into Why Young People Want to Become Christians), for those aged 15-25 in France, Bible reading, more than social media and the internet, has been fundamental to mass conversions among the young (Spectator).
Continuing this trend, in the past eight years, the number of Finnish men aged 15-29 attending church has more than doubled (5% in 2011 to 12% in 2019; Evangelical Focus). Further, a longitudinal study of over 100,000 Finnish participants published in the Finnish journal Uskonto found that the number of teenage confirmands into the Church of Finland has risen from 52% in 2019 to 66% in 2024 among boys and 63% to 67% among girls (also reported in the Nordic Times) Among the same group, belief in the Resurrection of Jesus has increased from 34% to 45% during the same period, with an increase in young men praying at least once a week from 16% in 2011 to 26% in 2019 (Evangelical Focus).
In the Netherlands, Gen Z is more open to Christianity than the preceding generation: 27% identify as religious compared to 22% of Millennials (NL Times). In Norway, research by the Institute for Church, Religion and Life has seen an unexpected increase in Church of Norway membership amongst young adults, with an increase of 4,000 new members in both 2023 and 2024 (Norwegian News). In Sweden, a stereotypical bastion of European secularism, the number of new members in the Lutheran church has increased from just over 6,000 in 2010 to almost 15,000 in 2024 (Statista; Gothenburg Post). Whilst in Belgium, there has been a 3.6% increase in church attendance from 2023-2024, with the Brussels Times noting that ‘More individuals are consciously opting for initiation sacraments — baptism, Eucharist, and confirmation — rather than following family tradition…’ (Brussels Times).
Hopeful signs can also be found in popular culture. The UK’s Guardian newspaper recently published an article entitled ‘Can I become a Christian in a year?’, based on a young woman’s encounter with Christ while on a Scottish retreat. The Somali-Dutch public figure, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, formerly a militant atheist associated with the New Atheism movement, announced in 2023 her conversion to Christianity (Spectator). Historian and public intellectual, Tom Holland – not to be confused with Gen Z’s Spiderman! – revealed in a recent public discussion that he has been regularly attending Salisbury Cathedral for worship (Christian Today). Other public European figures, such as journalist Louise Perry, historian Niall Ferguson, influencer Russell Brand, ecologist Paul Kingsnorth, and political commentator Rory Stewart, are actively talking about their new faith (The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God).
Australian evangelical pastor Mark Sayers, and host of the podcast Rebuilders, highlights the role of both the pandemic and geopolitical instability in encouraging renewed spiritual curiosity. He draws attention in a myriad of ways to the cultural cues suggesting a rekindled fascination with the spiritual and divine, exhorting Christian leaders not to miss the missiological chance this affords (Rebuilders).
As such, now is a critical missional opportunity for Europe. For the first time ever, measurable inroads are being made into the secular heartlands of Europe, with younger generations leading the charge and discovering faith in Christ. If anything, the statistics lag behind the true picture, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that the number of young people converting and seeking baptism continues apace (see, for example, mainstage discussions at New Wine and Focus festivals this year). Now, more than ever, is the time to invest into the church in Europe.
This is good news not only for Europe, but for every region of the world where secularism has a grip. For the narrative that Europe’s future would be necessarily secular has been found to be wanting (for discussion, see Charles Taylor, A Secular Age). The timeless words of St Augustine’s Confessions are instead ringing true: human hearts are restless until they find their rest in God. The fruitlessness of rampant secularism seems to be pushing prodigals living in the affluent West back into the arms of their heavenly Father. May we dare to hope with Estonian theologian Gunnar Mägi that “Europe is not post-Christian… It is pre-revival”? (Christianity Today).
‘See I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.’ (Isaiah 43.19)
Joshua May
*This article has been updated on 13 April 2026 to reflect the recent statement from The Bible Society UK: https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/the-quiet-revival/statement-from-paul-williams
Sources consulted:
https://journal.fi/ukk/article/view/154948/100247
https://nltimes.nl/2025/04/14/dutch-feel-socially-connected-without-religion-study-finds?
https://www.brusselstimes.com/1600572/slight-increase-in-the-number-of-churchgoers-on-sundays
https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/faith-in-god-increases-among-finnish-15-year-olds/
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/religion/article/spiritual-gen-z-drive-increase-in-bible-sales-vnphxfjn5
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/09/religion-in-europe/ - :~:text=Roughly two-thirds of Europeans,of Europe's residents are Muslims.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/05/29/being-christian-in-western-europe/
https://www.christianitytoday.com/2025/06/young-evangelicals-eager-revival-evangelism-europe/
https://cne.news/article/3033-five-signs-of-christian-revival-in-europe
https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/05/26/frances-improbable-adult-baptism-boom
https://www.christian.org.uk/news/number-of-evangelicals-continues-to-rise-in-france/
https://www.christiantoday.com/news/evangelicals-are-growing-in-france
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-christian-revival-is-under-way-in-britain/
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-christian-revival-is-under-way/
Publications:
Hurd, Elizabeth Shakman. The Politics of Secularism in International Relations (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics). 1st ed. vol. 105. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Harvard University Press, 2007.