To find it interesting how the UK is apparently having a 'Christian revival'?

[BonxBonx]

I was watching the news the other day and they were talking about how there has been a big increase in church attendance over the past couple of years, particularly among Gen Z. Anecdotally, I have seen a few friends (in our mid-to-late 20s) 'find God' and start going to church over the past couple of years. Not just passively attending either; actively engaging in Bible classes and retreats. My TikTok is also showing me a lot of this - British 20-somethings talking about their Christianity.

I find it really interesting, especially the timing of it. With the advances in science and us having been a pretty atheist society for a while now, I am surprised. Is it a consequence of being on the back end of the pandemic followed by a cost-of-living crisis that people are looking for answers outside of themselves? I know when things get hard I find myself praying, even when I don't believe in God. Is this an example of that kind of thinking but on a bigger scale?

What?? This is so far from the truth it’s scary!

Who are the "they" that you are referring to?
As a Christian working in an Sen school i obviously don't look down on kids with Sen. The average person understands that children with diagnosed disabilities aren't "out of control". I have never ever heard anybody claim a child with Sen has a disability because they don't have a present father. I don't call single mothers sluts nor does sny decent person, Christian or otherwise. Don't lump all Christians together.

I'm sorry that you have experienced those attitudes from people who have said they are Christian. They are a minority though and that is not how the vast majority of Christians would behave. At our church (CofE) we welcome anyone and everyone, no judgement, no shame and I would say that was the same for all the other Christian churches I know.

@SinnerBoy
The Roman Empire and all the entities that followed have been Christian in majority and/or have made it a state religion since the 4th century, UK the 6th, more than a millenium ago.

Even if originating from the Middle East, any ties with the region were cut early on, the hq of the church having moved to Rome, the schism with Constantinople and the Arab conquest, until it splintered much later with the reformation.

It is the Western European religion.

Really ?thats interesting
I waa brought up as a RC but im very lapsed and would conider myself agnostic .are there more men going into the priesthood?
As i know a lot of priests are having to manage two or three parsish,s

On the face of it, a rise in young people following religion is a good thing, however we know from experience that the bigger and more powerful a religion becomes, the more dangerous it becomes.

My family are / were Christian and they were some of the worse people I know. At the funerals of my grandparents, everything was about their service to the church, forgetting the fact that they neglected and emotionally abused their kids, deserted them for divorce, protected peodophiles because they were vicars, thought AIDS was a good thing because it would address the problem of homosexuality and people having sex out of wedlock. They spouted on about kindness and charity but were horrified that I might adopt the child of a (grabs pearls and whispers) prostitute. In short they were fucking awful but sat in a position of judgement of others because they felt a connection to god.

I don’t believe for a second that these people were in a minority, so for that reason a move to accepting whatever is spouted at you in the name of god is scary. If you want to be kind and connect with people, volunteer somewhere with other people and do something which is genuinely positive.

Absolutely not. Still declining worldwide. The average age of priests in Ireland is well over 70, and there’s a lot of controversy over bishops asking them to keep working past 75 because so few men are entering seminaries. I think 21 men started in seminaries in the whole country last year, and that was the largest number in years. The age profile isn’t dissimilar in the UK, though it got a bump from Anglican clergy converting because they were against women’s ordination. (Like Catholicism needed even more misogynists…)

What is happening in some London parishes is that they’re being staffed by extremely theologically conservative priests imported from west Africa via missionary connections existing between dioceses. This has driven quite a few of my Catholic friends away from the church, especially in relation to attitudes to homosexuality.

3ormorecharacters · Today 12:18

Not really. They are just the signs through which Jesus showed us who He is. A sign wouldn't be much use if it obeyed the laws of science!

A virgin visited by the spirit of a god, in the form of a dove, born in a cave, visited by astrologer, 12 disciples, betrayed by one to the priests, miracles such as raising the dead, evangelistic and rose from the dead.

Sound familiar?

Why, it's the myth of Mithras, 600 years before Jesus supposedly was born.

Wealthy Romans weren't admitted because they were rich, like every other club; the lowliest soldier adherent could black ball them, so they turned Christian instead and lifted the story wholesale.

My DS who is 18 and has been brought up atheist but has Christian grandparents, is suddenly quite clear that his school friends who have a strong religious background (whether Christian, Moslem, Sikh or Hindu) often have a much clearer set of values and he has expressed that he envies them that. This makes sense to me.

Thats really interesting thankyou.

All the RC churches around here have African priests while the Church of Scotland has American or South African ministers so I'm guessing there is no interest in locals going in to ministry.

I think the individualism of the 80s left a lot of people without much community.
Community values can look a lot like judgement, but can perhaps have a positive side as well. Young people may be seeking a connection that their parents didn't appreciate.

Or in the 80s people woke up to the awful practices of the church and made a decision on principle to step away from it.

Were you there, @CanYouTurnItDown ? I don’t actually think the appalling safeguarding stuff, and the mother and baby homes in Ireland, had made it into the mainstream consciousness at that point. It was just the beginning.

It was more about braces and striped shirts, moving away from home for a better job, and breaking the power of the unions, if I remember correctly.

It may not have been publicly discussed but plenty of us certainly knew what it was to have the cold fingers of the catholic church around our families' necks.

”Family values” is such a right wing dog whistle…..

We have three churches in my area that within the past five years have become Evangelical churches. Huge congregations with black worshipers in white robes. Don’t think the traditional Cof E churches locally have had a boom in their congregations.

You only have to look on social media

The traditional Christian values merchants love shaming single mums

When I'm out shopping I've had judgement from the 'married women' who go to church each Sunday and talk about their Christian values

Were gonna see a greater restriction of women's rights as society moves to the right and embraces religion in the mainstream

Sorry if my opinion differs from those who have quoted me - I grew up in a church myself so I am speaking from experience

Lovely to see that there are people who try to be kind and accepting though 🙌

But we aren’t America or any other nation of faith.
Hardly anyone interprets the bible to be relevant with regard to flogging or any other medieval scriptures.
The majority British people don’t think that something written thousands of years ago is to be considered a good example of how to do things today.

Really? Can you explain why?

Whereabouts do you live? That’s awful!

Round here it’s a much more mixed society. I may be making incorrect assumptions about everywhere else- my street has gay people, married people, gay married people, single women with children… not many single men with kids I can think of.
The church goers are the ones that attract funny looks as there aren’t many of us!

Interestingly didn't Jesus say it's easier for a camel to to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

But, I doubt many of the Heads of the CofE ( past and present Kings and Queens of GB since Henry VIII ) not to mention Popes, Archbishops etc have been lying awake at night worrying about their enormous wealth condemning them to Hell.

Obviously one religion for the rich and one for the poor - ie for the latter, God has put you into your station in life and you must be satisfied and obey your betters.....reinforced by compulsory Church attendance.

It’s really quite fascinating. It’s being called the quiet revival. I go to 2 churches. My village CofE that I’ve attended my whole life. Our small congregation of 30 is literally dying off and it feels like a dying church.

I also go to a much more evangelical church held in a school. It’s absolutely booming. Hundreds of people at a Sunday service and we have seen signs of this quiet revival. Teenagers coming along, youngsters asking questions that the leadership haven’t had in 20 years of preaching.

One thing the evangelical church do is really try to serve the community. They served Christmas lunch to 60 people in our local town who would otherwise have been alone. They have a skills swap - I’ll babysit your kid if you can fix my loo type thing. There’s a hardship fund so if any church member is struggling they will help out with either time, advice, practical help or money. It reminds me a bit of what the early church seemed to have been like and it certainly gives a community feel that has long since been lost in my local area.

No it really doesn’t. It’s society that shames people not most religions.

@ElizaMulvil yy the church preaches the eye of the needle message seemingly unaware of the rooms and rooms of Vatican gold, churches lined with gold, etc.