A Spiritual Awakening Is Sweeping the Globe, Says YouVersion CEO

The founder and CEO of the world's most popular Bible app says record engagement shows that God is on the move globally, with a growing openness to Scripture unlike anything seen in recent memory. Easter Sunday marked a record day for the popular YouVersion Bible app, with 18.95 million users engaged with the Bible around the world, marking a 12 percent increase over the previous Easter.

But it wasn't the only record of 2025 for YouVersion, which has experienced a surge of 16 all-time highs so far this year, reflecting global trends indicating the popularity of God's Word is growing.

"We're obviously very humbled to be a part of something that, clearly, God's doing," Bobby Gruenewald, YouVersion Founder and CEO, told Crosswalk Headlines. "... This has been a record year for the Bible app, and there's a momentum that's building that we see happening globally."

Meanwhile, Bible sales are soaring on both sides of the Atlantic. Last fall, The Wall Street Journal reported a 22 percent year-over-year rise in U.S. Bible sales, according to Circana BookScan. Around the same time, the Southern Baptist Convention's publishing arm noted a 30 percent surge in Bible sales. In the United Kingdom, sales have nearly doubled over the past five years, according to Christian publisher SPCK Group.

"It's not just our app," Gruenewald said. "It's something God's doing with His Word globally. And there's just a real openness right now to Scripture and to the church and to things that we've not seen in recent history."

A Barna survey released this year found that 66 percent of U.S. adults say they've made a personal commitment to Jesus that remains important in their lives -- a 12-point jump since 2022. Barna attributes the rise in part to renewed spiritual interest among Gen Z and Millennials. Surveys in other countries have found similar results. 

"That level of openness is new. And then what you see happening on college campuses here in the United States and other parts of the world -- these kinds of revivals that are breaking out," Gruenewald said. 

Gruenewald's own church experienced around 50 spontaneous baptisms after a recent worship service. The worldwide popularity of The Chosen is another sign of that hunger for Christ, he said. 

"These are just anecdotal, but yet, when you string them all together, you can recognize God's doing something," he said. "We are privileged to be a part of it, but we do think that the Bible app has become just a really critical and important tool for this generation at this time."

Speaker and author Jennie Allen told Crosswalk Headlines last week she believes revival has broken out around the world. 

"I think revival is here," Allen said. "I don't think it's coming -- I think it's here."

Allen has helped lead the UniteUS college campus movement, which began in 2023 at Auburn University and has seen thousands of students pack arenas for nights of worship.

"For all the darkness, for all the anxiety, the depression -- that loneliness sure does create a lot of the desperation for God," she said. "And we go to these campuses, and we ask, 'Are you anxious? Are you lonely?' And every single light comes on, and phones are raised. And it's sad -- it's the whole room. But when we lay out the gospel, they want Jesus. It's a special time to be alive."

Allen added, "Yes, I think there's a hunger for God that is fresh, and I believe He's blessing it and pouring out His Spirit. We saw it at Asbury [in 2023], and it's just spread from there."

Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Unite US

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

Originally published April 30, 2025.