The News Agents Podcast: What’s going on with young people and God?
In 2025, The Wildfires Team has been witnessing something remarkable: a noticeable increase in Church attendance, especially among Gen-Z. The Bible Society recently coined it the “Quiet Revival,” and this movement is now being explored across mainstream media platforms. From our vantage point, it feels like a collective turning point – one shaped by years of prayer and deep longing for change.
Against this backdrop, we were invited by the News Agents podcast (one of the most popular news shows in the UK hosted by leading journalists Emily Maitlis, John Sopel, and Lewis Goodall) to contribute to a special edition exploring: What’s going on with young people and God? After careful thought, we chose to participate.
We made a conscious decision to lean in.
Rather than shy away, we accepted the invitation to be part of the national conversation. It was released on 1st August 2025 and you can listen to it on any podcast platform.
The episode was recorded on site at Wildfires Festival 2025. Pete Greig, one of our founding team members, served as our spokesperson. The News Agents team also interviewed four Gen-Z attendees who told their stories.
We’re deeply encouraged by the way that Wildfires Festival – and Christianity – were portrayed. The interviews were thoughtful and sincere, and we’d warmly recommend the episode to anyone interested.
We’re aware that the News Agents podcast approached this topic with a focus on the long-term political* and social impact of Christianity’s rise in the UK. Wildfires Festival is not a political event; we are committed to praying for the next Great Awakening. However, we are also committed to engaging thoughtfully with the cultural questions that revival brings. We welcome opportunities to be part of the broader conversation, and we hope this encourages all of us to share our story with confidence and reflect on the impact our faith is having in public life.
We would particularly like to thank Monique, Marcos, Joe, and Camilla for their contribution. They told their stories with such openness and honesty. We hope the integrity and sincerity of all our contributors shines through to all who watch or listen.
The Wildfires Team
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*A further note on Politics
Since The News Agents is a politically led podcast, we wanted to share the fuller piece we contributed on the subject of politics:
While Christians often lean toward social conservatism, this isn’t synonymous with political conservatism. The UK’s political landscape differs from the USA’s—for example, the roots of our (left-leaning) Labour Party were Christian.
The fact that Gen-Z is now 50% less likely to be atheist than their parents doesn’t make them inherently left or right wing. For example, biblical teaching may simultaneously inspire greater compassion for refugees (typically seen as left wing) and a strong commitment to personal freedom (often viewed as right wing).
We don’t believe the Quiet Revival is politically driven, but we do acknowledge the risk of it being politically co-opted – particularly by forms of nationalism. One outcome of renewed faith, we hope, will be increased political engagement among young people, but not a movement toward any one party.
