AP

Recently I did an experiment. I visited a new church on my holiday. Having done my due diligence, I felt more than confident that it had faithful biblical teaching, a thriving congregation and outward looking ministries.

I sat down in an empty row, looking over the church handout. My test was to see how long it would take before someone came over and welcomed me. It was an excruciatingly long time. Eventually, a lovely young lady came and welcomed me and asked if I’d like to sit by her. I was already a Christian, but I may not have been.

From my own recent experience, unbelievers are coming to church. They haven’t been invited, they may know nothing about the gospel, they’re just coming in and sitting in a pew/chair. I have also noticed and had reports from friends that a large number of them are young men. Holes in welcoming at churches, as I experienced, are not a new phenomenon, but those holes need to be patched urgently.

For many are now talking about a “quiet revival”. There is a problem however: silent can mean unnoticed.

When pointing out this new dynamic to fellow Christians, more often than not I am met with tolerance for my characteristic earnest manner of speaking, quiet amusement, or doubtful eye glazing.

This should not be. We need to be like the men of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:33, who knew the times. Looking around us, it is clear that people – mainly young adults – feel that the world offers them no hope, that the culture has become unmoored from reality, that deep relationships and community can be hard to find. People are looking for meaning, tradition, beauty and transcendence. For hope.

For many decades now, the emphases has been placed on reaching our friends, neighbours, family and strangers with the gospel outside the church. Obviously, this ministry is forever vital, however we are living in a quickly transforming society, one in which many people are recognising that the demise of Christianity in the West is a significant loss. That people will just turn up at church without any previous contact should not take us by surprise. All it requires is a change in thinking and preparation to meet this exciting challenge.

A silent revival seems to be underway. It won’t be silent if we notice it.

– Lucy Barry