London vibe shift?

A lot of people are talking about the possible dawning of a new age of opportunity and openness to the gospel. It does seem, anecdotally, that a lot of London churches are seeing

• an upturn in attendance,
• flyers through the door that seemed to be a waste of time now leading to people showing up,
• people walking in the door of a church for the very first time, having watched some Christian (or proximate) content on YouTube, bought a Bible off Amazon and started reading it,
• particular interest from young men.

Even a couple of years Talking Jesus research found that a staggering 24% of people in London believed that the resurrection of Jesus happened literally as per the Bible account (this in a city of max 9% practicing Christians).

The National Ministry Survey (2022) also brought out some huge opportunities in London:

There is more openness to evangelism than we might think. 59% of non-Christian Londoners said they would feel comfortable having a conversation with a friend who walked to talk to them about Jesus (cf. 54% nationally). Almost half (46%) were comfortable with such a conversation with a work colleague or neighbour (cf. less than 40% nationally). Even with strangers, 1 in 3 said they’d be comfortable with someone talking with them about Jesus.

Similarly, there are high levels of openness to considering an invitation to church or an evangelistic course. Over half the general public say they would feel ‘very comfortable’ or ‘comfortable’ attending a Christmas or Easter church service. Even for a ‘normal Sunday church service’ at a Protestant/Evangelical church, almost half (45% UK, 48% London) said they’d feel comfortable attending. 38% of Londoners would feel comfortable meeting up with a Christian 1-to-1 to read and discuss the Bible together (much higher than the national result of 25%) and 37% would be open to attending a course explaining Christianity (cf. 30% nationally).

There is more evangelism going on than we might think. The reality check is that almost two-thirds (65%) of non-Christian Londoners can’t remember a conversation with a Christian about their faith in the last 10 years (not as bad as the national picture (71%) but still over 5 million people unengaged). But the positive side is that active Protestants are sharing their faith. Two-thirds of London Christians have talked about their relationship with Jesus with a non-Christian in the last month, 39% in the last week! (cf. 55% and 25% nationally.)

There is a more positive reception to evangelism than we might think. When active Protestants in London were asked to reflect on the last conversation they’d had with a non-Christian about Jesus, 77% said they felt it had a positive effect on that person’s opinion of Jesus and only 3% felt it had a negative effect. 18% said the person had become a Christian, largely as a result of the conversation. When looked at from the other side – i.e. when the general public (who’ve had a conversation in the last 10 years) were asked to reflect on that conversation – 58% (in London) said they “felt more positive about Jesus Christ” as a result, with only 14% more negative (this dataset were clearly still not active Protestants yet though). The Talking Jesus research came up with very similar, encouraging results.

Online is an important doorway. 19% of active Protestants in London mentioned “watching church services online” as an important factor in their decision to become a Christian (cf. 10% nationally). This is particularly striking as the majority of active Protestants became Christians as children, some years before the recent rise in church streaming, meaning those who mentioned watching services online as key to their conversion must be a very large proportion of all those who became Christians recently.

When the general public who had expressed some degree of comfort with at least one sort of church event were then asked whether online access would increase their likelihood of attending a range of church meetings, there were clear gains, particularly in London and particularly for a course explaining Christianity (62% would be more likely to attend, 12% less), small group Bible study (56% more likely, 18% less) and 1-to-1 Bible reading (52% more likely, 14% less). Even for a normal church service in London, 46% said they’d be more likely to attend online versus 21% for whom that would be less attractive.

While we want to keep emphasising the huge importance of gathering together physically and inviting people along to meet our friends and hear the Word proclaimed and eat and drink together, there does nonetheless seem that for a significant proportion of people, offering something online might be a great first step.

One final stat that gives a sobering insight into the lonely state of London without Christ and without His church:

• Over a quarter of Londoners say that if they had a significant problem then there are no friends or family they could rely on to help them (Mayor of London, Survey of Londoners 2021-22).

Pray for the city…