As Pentecost Sunday approaches, Jemimah Wright reflects on a wave of spiritual renewal emerging in the UK, particularly among Gen Z, with growing church attendance, spontaneous conversions, and bold public faith. 

matthew-de-livera-ZnMg8y-O5AY-unsplash

Source: Photo by Matthew de Livera on Unsplash

Fifteen years ago during Pentecost 2010 I joined a packed-out Hammersmith Apollo as a venue for Christians to praise Jesus, and to pray the ancient prayer: ‘Come Holy Spirit’.

Normally a comedy and music venue, the Apollo was, I assume, chosen because of its size as a place to get more people together. However it wasn’t big enough, and the following year in 2011 the O2 Arena was booked to celebrate Pentecost.

This Sunday, 8th June, is Pentecost Sunday. Fifteen years after the Apollo celebration, I believe God is answering those prayers and many more, and moving by his Spirit, in Hammersmith, and beyond.

Pentecost, is the 50th day after Easter. The Greek word ‘pentekoste’ means ‘fiftieth’ and it commemorates the moment described in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and other followers of Jesus in Jerusalem.

That event marked the birth of the Church and the beginning of its global mission. 

That event marked the birth of the Church and the beginning of its global mission. However, the chequered history of the Church, the lack of unity between denominations, the wars, factions and fighting, cause many to wonder if there is any good coming from the Church. But, when the Holy Spirit comes, he will purify his Bride, and draw us to repentance, away from our idols and selfishness, back the adoration and obedience to Jesus. That is why we pray, ‘Come Holy Spirit!’

The Hammersmith Apollo is in the shadow of the Hammersmith flyover, and behind that, St Paul’s Hammersmith, led by Rev Pete Wynter and his wife, Sarah.

READ MORE: From the revival at Asbury: The God of all eternity is here

It’s almost like God has heard the prayers of saints for decades

Pete was recently interviewed on Simon Guillebaud’s Inspired podcast. He said: ‘It’s almost like God has heard the prayers of saints for decades, who have been praying for this land and something is waking up, so the Gen Z’s are coming to Christ, there more young men coming to Christ than ever before, and here is evidence of it. It is not just anecdotal stories that we are telling, or you are hearing on this podcast, it’s census material, it’s published polls. The Quiet Revival has been published by The Bible Society which takes together some of the YouGov polls which show there is a major decrease in atheism, and a major upturn in Christianity. More people are going to church than ever before, church numbers are bouncing back. God is doing something.

‘It’s not a clever church strategy, or a clever church leader. It almost feels leaderless. It feels like there is a generation stepping up and going after something.’

READ MORE: The Asbury outpouring didn’t come out of nowhere - there were some key ingredients that paved the way for revival

Pete and Sarah joined the church in 2022 to serve as lead pastors. He said, ‘There is the birth pains of awakening going on in this land, and I don’t think it’s just the UK, I think it’s in other places too, but there is definitely something turning in the UK. I have just been on a call with about 50 church leaders, and the constant narrative after Easter is ‘more baptisms, more people coming to Christ, more young men sovereignly walking into churches giving their lives to Jesus.’

‘It’s probably not happening in every church, and if you are in a community where you are not seeing that happen yet, don’t despair, but say, ‘Yes God’ to the stories you are hearing. Say, ‘God we want to partner with what you are doing’, and ask God to do it. There is a sense something is stirring in the land, even the press are reporting it. In fact there was a Times article about four Gen Z’s and three of them are at St Paul’s Hammersmith. The newspapers are getting in touch asking, ‘Why are choosing to follow Jesus, and why are you choosing to live as a Christian when we thought the world was not going in this direction?’

READ MORE: Speaking in tongues – is this the gift to ask the Holy Spirit for this Pentecost Sunday?

A year ago Premier Christianity magazine reported on two young men from St Paul’s giving away free Bibles in the street. Since then they have given away over 6000 Bibles in the streets of Hammersmith. Pete said, ‘it’s a regular occurrence that people now walk into the church saying, ‘I got a Bible in the street three weeks ago, I’ve been reading it and I want to find out more.’

God is on the move, so let’s approach Pentecost this year with expectation, for the Holy Spirit to continue to move and bring revival to our nation and beyond. ‘Come Holy Spirit!’