Mass Baptism in Great Britain Signals Rise of ‘Quiet Revival’ across the Nation
A recent mass baptism event featuring five churches and hundreds of onlookers may be the latest sign of the so-called “quiet revival” sweeping Great Britain. The five congregations from Bournemouth, England, gathered along the Boscombe Pier on Sunday to witness 92 individuals baptized in the sea. The BBC covered it.
Peter Baker, senior minister at Lansdowne Church in Boscombe, said the mass baptism was organized to “bring together Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and want to tell the world that.”
Baker told the BBC that the Christian church was “alive and kicking” in Bournemouth and has experienced a “quiet revival” post-pandemic.
“We are still praising God for what He did,” Baker’s church said in a Facebook post.
Liam Brownen, a 35-year-old man from Ringwood, England, was baptized. He was formerly addicted to drugs and alcohol, the BBC reported.
“The second I gave my life to Christ, I was instantly relieved of the bondage of addiction,” he said.
The baptism, he said, “means everything to me. I owe my life to Christ, so to be baptized in His name is unbelievable.”
Church attendance across England and Wales has risen by 50 percent over the past six years, according to an April study from the Bible Society, which found that young adults are helping drive the increase. The number of 18- to 24-year-olds attending church at least monthly has quadrupled since 2018 -- from just 4 percent to 16 percent. The increase is especially pronounced among young men, whose monthly church attendance has jumped from 4 percent to 21 percent. Attendance among young women has also risen, from 3 percent to 12 percent.
“These are striking findings that completely reverse the widely held assumption that the Church in England and Wales is in terminal decline,” said study co-author Rhiannon McAleer.
The Bible Society dubbed it the “quiet revival.”
Co-author Rob Barward-Symmons said individuals across Great Britain are searching for meaning in life -- and finding it in Christ.
“With much of the population struggling with mental health, loneliness and a loss of meaning in life, in particular young people, church appears to be offering an answer,” he said. “We found that churchgoers are more likely than non-churchgoers to report higher life satisfaction and a greater feeling of connection to their community than non-churchgoers. They are also less likely to report frequently feeling anxious or depressed -- particularly young women.”
Photo Credit: ©Credit Lansdowne Church
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.
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Originally published July 16, 2025.
