July/August 2025

The Quiet Revival is happening, according to a recent report by the Bible Society. Their research shows that church growth and conversion are noticeably on the rise in the UK. They write, ‘There are now over 2 million more people attending church than there were six years ago.’ This is not the case in every church, but where this increase does exist, the rise is particularly noticeable amongst men and the younger generation, both groups typically thought of as harder to engage. We pray that this increase will not be short-lived, will not stay quiet and will spread.

Revival is a significant part of our history in the UK and particularly here in Wales. A number of the revivals experienced here have not crossed the border into England and the rest of the UK. It does us good to reflect upon our heritage and allow it to encourage us that God will move in our time in whatever way he will, whether in a quiet revival or an even more abundant outpouring. We can also be encouraged to continue to slog away in our sharing of the gospel for the precious ones and twos that respond.

For this edition, we have a focus on revival and its heritage. Eryl Davies gives us a brilliant theology of revival. We have Meirion Thomas’ tales of missionaries who left Wales to reach parts of the world with no gospel witness, most of whom were affected by times of awakening. Dan Pugh ponders the failings of characters in history that we might want to hide, but do better to learn from. Finally, influenced by a recent conference, Jonathan Hodgins helps us to think through the challenge of how we use our buildings, many of which were built during times of outpouring, as resources for gospel purposes today.

If all that wasn’t enough, we have a variety of other articles alongside our currently running series before we finish up with our selection of reviews and updates. We trust that this edition serves you well and brings glory to God.