An evangelical church leader has welcomed national polling pointing to a more open spiritual landscape in the UK, as churches prepare for a nationwide mission effort in the run-up to Easter 2026.
John Stevens, National Director of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC), said the findings should give congregations confidence and boldness in sharing their faith, challenging the widespread assumption that Britain is uniformly closed to Christianity.
The survey was commissioned by A Passion for Life and conducted by Whitestone among 2,112 UK adults during early June last year, exploring church attendance, spiritual interest and what people believe their lives are lacking.
One of the most striking findings is that 15% of adults say they attend church at least once a month, either in person or online.
That figure is higher than the 12% recorded in the Bible Society’s 2024 “Quiet Revival” research.
Attendance is particularly strong among young men: nearly a third (30%) of young men aged 18 to 24 said they attended church at least once a month.
By contrast, churchgoing was least common among adults in midlife (aged 35-54).
The report notes that the broader geographical scope of the new survey, which included Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales, may help explain the higher overall figure.
Beyond attendance, the survey found that 20% of respondents are open to exploring the Bible and Jesus Christ.
More than half said they personally know a practising Christian, and over one in five said they would be willing to visit a church service at the invitation of a friend or colleague.
The findings also indicate that people are more willing to attend a regular church service if invited than to go to a standalone event or special outreach meeting, underlining the importance of relational invites.
Stevens said such figures should reshape how churches think about evangelism.
“We can inadvertently discourage people from evangelism by suggesting that they will face hostility, so that the key quality we say they need is courage,” he said.
“The survey suggests we should be more positive and give people a vision for the opportunity and possibility of evangelism. They may be talking to one of the 20% who would be interested in finding out more!”
Participants were also asked what voids they perceived in their lives. The most common responses were purpose, freedom and security, with purpose proving the most prominent at more than 30% for both men and women, and 40% among 18 to 24 year olds.
Love, meaning, hope, truth and community also featured prominently, each cited by around one in five respondents. By contrast, relatively few said spirituality, forgiveness, order, identity, justice or purity were missing from their lives. Just 3% said that God was missing.
Stevens said these findings present both a challenge and an opportunity.
He said: “We can easily assume that we know what people’s felt needs are, often because these are our own felt needs or the felt needs of the Christians we spend most of our time helping. But preaching to these needs may not resonate with unbelievers.
“It is clear that the greatest need for most is the existential desire for purpose and meaning. The survey suggests that people are not directly looking for God, and they do not feel his absence.
“Instead, we need to patiently show them how the absence of God might be the very reason for the felt needs they experience," he said in an FIEC blog.
The survey also revealed notable generational and geographical patterns. Younger adults were more likely to report that something is missing in their lives and showed higher levels of openness to Christian faith.
Those over 65 were the least likely to say they lacked anything on the list, though purpose still ranked highly for them.
Middle-aged adults, particularly those aged 45 to 54, showed a renewed sense of dissatisfaction compared to older age groups but were less likely to attend church or respond positively to invitations.
Church attendance and interest in Jesus and the Bible were higher in Scotland and Northern Ireland than in England and Wales.
Within England itself, London stood out, with almost one in four reporting monthly church attendance.
At the other end of the scale, Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the lowest levels of regular attendance.
Stevens urged churches to avoid comparing ministries in different contexts, noting that urban centres and university towns often see more visible growth due to demographic factors.
"The survey ought to drive us to prayer that God will have mercy on our land and work a mighty revival by his Spirit, and to take comfort that it is the Gospel alone which is the power of God for salvation," he added.
The findings come as churches across the UK prepare for the next A Passion for Life initiative, a nationwide mission focusing on the month before Easter 2026.
Hundreds of churches are expected to take part, using refreshed “LIFE” branding and evangelism resources designed to support local outreach.
The initiative follows similar missions in 2010, 2014 and 2022, and aims to combine national visibility with local ownership. FIEC has been a significant supporter of the project.
