As a football fan I constantly start the new season with a renewed sense of hope and optimism: “This is the year my team will win the league.” Sometime this is confidently based on the players we’ve bought in over the summer or how we did last year but it’s still optimistic hope. As church leaders we can seem to have the same optimistic hope – this is the year we will see revival, this is the year the church will flourish and grow. Is this just positive hopeful thinking or does it have a real and solid foundation?
From what I see and hear from churches across the East Midlands, and my own church network, there is a real and tangible sense that something is happening, that the spiritual atmosphere in our nation is shifting; stories of people walking into church to find out about Jesus, young men exploring what faith in God is all about, a hunger and passion amongst young adults, something is happening.
But is this the case in every church? Are there any patterns emerging?
Many of the large city churches are experiencing weekly salvations, people walking in that are exploring faith and making the decision to follow Jesus.
Malcom Baxter, senior pastor of Heart Church in Nottingham, shared that in the first few months of 2025, he has seen 63 responses, with 24 firm decisions to follow Jesus.
This is significantly more than they saw in the same period last year. He said: “The number of people seeking answers to life’s big questions and engaging with church are up, people are open in a way I have rarely seen before.”
Are they doing anything different? No, they are continuing to preach and teach God’s word, focusing on discipleship and continuing to worship Jesus with passion. They are intentional about creating a great welcome, making it as easy as possible for people to engage with church and encounter Jesus.
"The number of people seeking answers to life’s big questions and engaging with church are up..."
For smaller churches, like the one I have the privilege of leading, we have seen growth often through people who are coming back to explore and follow their faith. Paul Bedford, pastor of Hope House Church in Barnsley said: “We have seen most of our growth through people coming back to Jesus – the return of the prodigal and the drifters. We’ve found people want to be in the room and stay in the room when they are made to feel welcome.”
Again, they haven’t been doing anything new or different, but they have been allowing people to engage at their own pace, helping them find their place and home within the church and giving them the space to ‘fall back in love with Jesus again’.
In Nottingham at The King’s Church Arnold, we have had a few examples this year of people walking in with no previous connection to church wanting to explore what faith is all about – even of a four-year-old telling her Mum that she wanted to go to church to learn about Jesus. We’ve also seen partners of long-term Christians leaning in to explore faith rather than remaining cynical or critical.
There is definitely something happening across our nation.
"There is definitely something happening across our nation."
The Evangelical Alliance’s Talking Jesus research has shown there is an openness amongst people to explore and talk about faith in God, with one in three wanting to talk further and find out more about Jesus. And our new research, Finding Jesus (due to be released in June), shows the importance of both the Sunday service and the Bible in people making a decision to follow Jesus.
As a football fan, I’ll remain optimistically and unrealistically hopeful that this is the season for my team and will continue to cheer them on.
But as a church leader, I know my hope is founded in the security of God’s promises and on the confidence of the words of Jesus that, “He will build His church” and that ‘He will fulfil His promise, and that He will draw everyone to Himself’ (John 12:32) – a sure and solid, reliable hope.
And we get to play our part in this too, as churches and church leaders, we need to build open and welcoming atmospheres in our churches which allow all who come along to feel part of a community and encounter Jesus in a life-transforming and life-giving way.
A unique opportunity for churches to relieve some challenges for the NHS
As the new government reimagines the NHS and increases focus on health services in the community, churches have a unique opportunity to support social prescribing.
