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We discuss how churches are strengthening discipleship and helping people grow in confidence in the Bible in a changing culture.
The Quiet Revival Podcast: what's the story? explores the stories behind a renewed interest in Christianity in England and Wales.
Whether you’re a church leader, small group leader, Bible communicator or simply curious about the Church in the UK, this podcast will inform, encourage, and equip you to discover your place in this unfolding movement.
The Quiet Revival sparked a national conversation about faith, church and what God might be doing in England and Wales today. Since its publication and the recording of these podcast episodes, we've had to retract the report after the underlying data was found to be flawed – but the conversation it started hasn't ended.
The Quiet Revival was always more than a single survey. Across England and Wales we're seeing signs of renewed interest in Christianity, especially among younger people: rising Bible sales, more conversions and adult baptisms, growing attendance at evangelism courses. Many of you have shared stories that point to a changing spiritual landscape. The questions this moment raises are more important than ever.
How is your church responding to this missional moment? And how can you invite today’s spiritually open Gen Z to experience Scripture?
Jos (00:03)
What is my definition of success? Am I wrapped up and caught up in a numbers game or am I seeing the value and worth of the one person that God is working in and willing to journey deeply with those people?
Sian (00:19)
As a leader, as a pastor, how do you go about helping people to engage with the Bible?
Jos (00:25)
you've gotta be willing to reorient your priorities. And I'll put this challenge out to church leaders, churches can be so program oriented that sucks in their people to serve and to do good things, but in fact you find all your free time is then spent within the walls of the church. We've gotta go to the margins, we've gotta go to those forgotten, overlooked people and spend time with and listen to them.
Sian (00:53)
Hi there and welcome back. My name is Sian.
Andrew (00:57)
And I'm Andrew, and in this series we've been saying that if things are different in this season of spiritual openness, then we should be doing things differently. Now in this episode we're going to ask the question, is the quiet revival merely an urban phenomenon, or is God at work in rural settings too?
Sian (01:16)
Well today we're going to hear from Joss Edwards at Capel Craig in beautiful North Wales and we'll hear some of the stories of faith and transformation emerging from their rural congregation and looking at how they do Bible mission in their community. Now Joss and his wife Lydia left behind friends and family not to mention a great church in Cardiff and a job at Bible Society in September 2021.
to plant a new church four hours north in Blaenau-Festiniog. What followed was a season of listening to the Lord before establishing a youth group in the local rugby club, plus a parent and toddler group for families. Weekly Sunday meetings followed in September 2025, where they soon realized that the way they did church would need to become more of a dialogue than a monologue.
Your perspective on mission is incarnational. You are highly relational, community focused, you you exist for the community. But how does somebody who has moved from four hours away, how do they, you know, access the community? What was your in point with the community?
Jos (02:31)
Yeah, that's the funny thing, growing up half an hour away and yeah, I am an outsider, even with the Welsh language and you're right, Sian, like the conviction has been that we can't come in here parachuting and say, hey, launch Sunday, come to our church. Like this is just totally foreign and alien completely to them. It would be met with total suspicion. They've got to see your life. They've got to know what you're about.
To do that, you've gotta live, you've gotta work here, you've gotta sew into the place, and people need to know that you're in it for the long haul. They've gotta know who you are and what your life is about. Are you just coming in here for a bit and then shooting off to somewhere bigger or better or whatever, or are you actually gonna stay and sew and build your entire life here, which we are doing, we are all in.
Sian (03:23)
Yeah, you certainly are. So how did serving in community sort of influence the culture and the mission of the church that you eventually, much later on, planted?
Jos (03:34)
Yeah, I think again it was learning and listening and understanding what is the general narrative of the church here. The gap between the church and the community was just massive and again you want to honor those faithful saints who've kind of, yeah, faithfully plugged away but even then we've got a great relationship with the local Presbyterian chapel here but even they would say people aren't going to walk through our doors, they're just not. ⁓
And so we saw, okay, like how does this narrative change? Well, Book of Acts, Acts chapter two, you see the church was a gathered community, but also they were scattered. As well, which means we've got to be willing to go to the places where the people are. We've got to go to the margins. We've got to go to those forgotten, overlooked people and spend time with and listen to them, see what the needs of the town are. And for me, it was young people that struck me.
Sian (04:13)
Yeah.
Jos (04:32)
So we thought again, okay, what is the church called to do? The church is called to be at the heart of renewal and to be in the middle of society. so we like, okay, well, let's offer an evening a week that they can come to somewhere to be fed, to have fun, a safe place, and where we could share something about the love of Jesus with them. And so we started KICK, our youth club, which has now developed into...
three separate sessions, kids and youth clubs. We see over, regularly over a hundred young people coming through. It's just, it's been so encouraging, both your testimonies from parents and their gratefulness, but also being recognised more widely. We just even recently had a significant grant given to us by the police that we didn't go looking for it, anything. I just read an email saying you've been awarded.
£2,000 because we recognise the work that you're doing and the difference that it's making and that was it for us. was like, I remember hearing, was visiting a church down in London actually with some friends and the minister there was sharing their kind of vision Sunday and he said, ⁓ what is success for this church? Now that's hard to define but he said how we define it is if we left tomorrow, if...
the church would cease tomorrow, would our community feel it? Would they notice? Would they feel our loss? And we weren't even gathering publicly on Sundays yet. We were gathering in this living room as a small team, praying and worshiping on a Sunday night. But yet we could say, and still now when things are tough, I am encouraged because you see that recognition there and other stories as well, you think.
Yeah, the Lord's done an amazing work and if we were to leave ⁓ this town here, they do really make you feel that gratitude for the work that you do. So it's a special place.
Sian (06:31)
Let's talk about that measurement of success then, because from what I hear, the first Sunday meeting of your new nicely packaged church plant perhaps didn't go quite as you'd expected.
Jos (06:47)
No,
no, in fact, months, months and months didn't go as expected. You're right. But God did a lot in that. God reforms and reshapes your character and makes you realize exactly that, Sean. Like, what is my definition of success? Am I wrapped up and caught up in a numbers game and in a comparison game? Or am I loving the people that God has put before me right now? Am I seeing?
the value and worth of the one person that God is working in and willing to journey deeply with those people. That really encouraged me to then say, okay, it's not about the numbers, it's about loving the person. And actually, we were doing church the way we've always known how to do church. And that season of wilderness and wandering and everything made us ask the question, but what does church for Blayne and Fistin Yogg look like?
Sian (07:42)
Now that's interesting because in this second series of the podcast we looking at you know if things have changed and if things are different what are we doing differently? So what's changed? What did you have to tweak, change, stop, start in this church planting?
Jos (07:58)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, not that we weren't particularly formal anyway, but we were just doing church the way we've always known how we do church. We decided to leave the main kind of meeting hall in the community center. We went into the little cafe space. But immediately then when we were just gathered around the table on Sunday mornings, like God just started doing something, we would start our meetings just enjoying breakfast and catching up together and hearing about one another's weeks and how we could be praying for one another.
And then I started teaching the Bible in a completely different way, where instead of monologue, you quickly realize people in Blenar, they're never formal in any setting. Even when they're asked to be formal, they're not formal. And they don't do monologue, but they do do dialogue, and they do a lot of that, and a lot of that around tables in the rugby club, in the pub, that's where you'll find them, that's where they feel safe.
And so we started kind of turning that around and thinking, yeah, church, like what does church for them look like? I'd print off the passage, I'd ask them, look, underlined, squiggle, question mark, whatever it looks like, let's talk about this thing. Like we're unashamedly like, like Bible, so we're going through a series through Philippians at the moment. ⁓ Last Sunday, I had two or three messages after church from people who are completely unchurched saying,
how amazing, not the service or the production or anything, but how amazing the passage that we looked at was. yeah, Paul was saying that we forget what is behind us, we strain towards what is ahead, and that's what you're trying to do. You're trying to give totally unchurched people who haven't had any Bible background or anything, but trying to say, this is the text in front of you, and I want you to grapple with it, not just listen to me. I don't want you coming away saying,
Joss is a great speaker, I want you to come away thinking how beautiful Jesus is. That's what the text does.
Sian (09:59)
So how do you ⁓ as a leader, as a pastor, how do you go about helping people to engage with the Bible? How does somebody who's completely new and fresh to it get encouraged to go back and go back and investigate further?
Jez (10:16)
Mm.
Jos (10:18)
think this journey's taught me that you've got to trust in the power of the Bible to begin with. ⁓ And I think that's been a journey. We do on a Sunday evening here, ⁓ again, in this living room, a group of men gather. We've been journeying through Mark's gospel. ⁓ And it's just so interesting when you have the passage in front of you. And guys, again, who aren't coming in with a previous framework or understanding or anything, just trying to read this thing for itself.
And of course there's gentle shepherding along the way, but actually it is letting them journey and go deeper into it themselves. think having the big story massively helps, and that's been a big part of our journey, is helping them see the big story of the Bible and then being able to locate themselves in that. But also ⁓ it is just consistency. It's just, yeah.
It's my joy. What I love the most is just meeting regularly this group that we do here, but they're in the week as well. And one thing that we use is Safar, which has been an app that, now I don't know much of the story behind it. I've heard something around Iranian house church leaders being behind this because they realized that there were so many people coming to know Jesus in Iran that they needed to develop a resource that would outgrow them as just church leaders because they couldn't meet the need of the amount of
of church leaders they are, I use that. So I meet with guys and there's 30 steps along the way, three stages of what does it look like to walk with God, to live free and to stay strong. And that has just been massive along the journey. And the prayer and encouragement is, and the simplicity of it is that then these guys can use it themselves and they could be doing so far with others then in the group. So I would then encourage that as well of like,
we need to still be, if we are expecting and are seeing, yeah, an outpouring of Spirit and a stirring and a hungering for the real thing, then we need to be equipped as church leaders to say, because discipleship is messy in this journey. And when they don't even understand or know what does it look like to walk with Jesus, what does the narrow way really look like that leads to life? I really do believe that.
Yeah, those resources that can equip the busy, everyday church leaders is vital in this as
Sian (12:51)
Great. So Joss, we've heard from a few people saying that they meet as well in community centres or school halls, leisure centres, and they sense that they may be even at a disadvantage because it doesn't look like a church. And so how can people find them? Has that been an issue for you and what words of advice or encouragement would you give them?
Jos (13:15)
There is that advantage, I think, being in a small town that's close-knit as Blayna is, that your life does become visible and known. But that's taken a lot of time. He's called us to be a people who are just living every day on mission, to go to the forgotten, overlooked places and to value the things that they value. And if Morris Dancers is what they value and is important here, then...
be in that space, the rugby club. Don't just play the game as I do, but stay afterwards and talk to people. And it's not often that the conversations get to the deeper stuff and the real stuff, but just be in a presence in those spaces. Despite thinking small town, there's an advantage in that, but I think urban places work the same as well, that they're still, you can still be sowing in to that place. Find those spaces, whether,
You have young children, you're on the school run, you've got faces that you're seeing every day. Like, get to know those people, love on them, invite them, use your homes like we've been using our home that's been quite foreign to the community here in fact. So there's both, yeah, like an entering into the community and understanding what the community needs are like, but also
You do live distinctively. And there's flavors of the gospel that you can bring to everyday life. That calling to be the salt of the earth. Like would people like taste something and see something of life? But that means you've got to be willing to reorient your priorities. And I'll put this challenge out to church leaders. I think church can, especially what I've seen in urban context and having had experiences of working in large big churches, I down in London.
⁓ and over in Oxford as well for a season. Churches can be so program oriented that sucks in their people. And again, to serve and to do good things do not get me wrong, but in fact you find all your free time is then spent within the walls of the church. And unless we are a people who are sent, and I think again I was reading it.
the early church exploded because it was through their natural relational networks that they were inviting people in. They would go and invite people in. And I think it was some statistic, I think it was Michael Green I read, 80 % of the early church growth could be explained by them simply being an invitational community, of being a relational people who both served the community and were
willing to stay when others were leaving in pandemics and willing to adopt children left on rubbish dumps and all of these things. They served and they invited as well. And they journeyed together then richly, deeply in community. And that's the other thing then that stood out is once people, once those bridges are built, if the gospel is saturating your community and shaping it, it means that when people come,
feel that welcome home and they're like, haven't, and that's what our guys have seen. I haven't experienced family like this. I haven't experienced unconditional love like this, care like this. And that's the church's, there's no silver bullet on this journey, but that is our weapon, that is the gospel, and that makes us distinctive to the rest of society, that we are a city built on a hill.
and may people find their way, may they see that light as we gather, but then also as we go as well. And it is a journey, and it isn't easy, and don't hear me wrong, it's not all romantic and there's pain and heartbreak along the way and guys that then don't turn up for Sundays at a time. And yeah, I think it is the consistency, because that's what grace does, doesn't it? It just keeps on showing up. It keeps on showing up. You do not give up. And that's why personally,
You've got to be drawing from a deeper well. That's why you've got to, like my prayer lifers on this journey has become far more ⁓ honest and real and deeper than it ever has before, because it forces you into that. It forces you to be totally honest with the Lord of like, God, this is how I'm feeling right now. I am gutted. I am heartbroken. I am struggling. But then again, the sounds like give you so much permission.
to do that, that he can handle that and then that gives you strength to keep going and to keep expecting and believing for more and our prayer is that it doesn't just remain here as well, that it would go out to the towns and villages of North Wales.
Sian (18:14)
Jos, thank you
Jos (18:18)
dear Sam.
Sian (18:20)
We also heard from Jez, a member of the congregation who's recently come to faith after a long journey exploring lots of other spiritual practices like Reiki and crystals. We got to sit down and ask about how she's finding church and reading the Bible. So you turn up for church for the first time. Yeah. And what did you encounter? Was there singing? Was there a talk? Did people make you feel welcome?
Jez (18:48)
Yeah, everyone made us feel welcome. ⁓ So my husband actually, he's in prison at the moment. ⁓ We still didn't know what was happening with him. His bail had been extended for a long period. during that first service, it kind of resonated with my husband and it was very emotional actually. ⁓ And I felt it was needed for him at the time. I just started crying during the...
the worship songs ⁓ and every time after actually, most of the time, even still, I still do have kind of like a release and I've found a lot of healing myself through worship and prayer.
Sian (19:31)
So looking back on this journey, you know, first of all in spirituality and then towards Jesus, is there a particular part of life with Jesus or the Bible or anything that you've learnt about church? Is there anything about the Christian message that has really deeply impacted you?
Jez (19:51)
Just knowing that I'm like unconditionally, and I don't have to be perfect to be loved, because growing up, that's how I've always felt. ⁓ I've always felt like I've had to earn love in the form of like being good or being successful, know, doing well in school and having a good job. And even up to having my children, that was like...
The main thing that I was aiming for in life was that had to be successful. Otherwise I've kind of failed. But after having my children, I realised that the career side didn't matter that much. And then I became a stay at home mum. The Bible has confirmed to me that being a mother is a really important job.
Sian (20:38)
Absolutely,
it's just an amazing, amazing role. Yeah, absolutely. So important. So when it comes to reading the Bible, it's not always easy. Have you found any tools that really help you in terms of engaging with it?
Jez (20:54)
Yeah, so Craig Blenner as a church, well, Joss always follows the Bible plans on the Bible app. At the moment they're doing like reading a Bible in a year and the devotionals, I listen to them, but they're, you know, like 10 minutes long every time, but they're very in depth and ⁓ even if you haven't got time to read the scripture in itself, it can still help a lot with the understanding of the Bible and, you know, how it links to Jesus and
⁓ how it can help you and how you can apply it to your life. And I found praying a lot on guidance of what part of the Bible I should be reading because even like last night I prayed ⁓ for guidance on where I should read because I felt a bit stuck. Following the Bible plan that we're following, it's looking at a lot every day.
which is quite overwhelming but I can listen to it but I don't feel it's the same as like reading the book yourself and really meditating on like a certain part of the Bible. Just getting an understanding of a verse or like a passage.
Sian (22:07)
Sometimes it's better to just focus in on a short piece from the Bible and really get into that, think about it and consider what it's saying rather than perhaps going for chapters on end, isn't it?
Jez (22:20)
Yeah,
yeah. Thank you.
Andrew (22:23)
Sian, what a great interview. I've got so many fond memories of Joss myself. It's great just to see what God is doing through him. I think, you know, what stood out for me when he first moved was his commitment. Absolutely. You know, it's like I remember saying to him, I remember saying, presume you're going to rent a house. And he was like, no, we're looking to buy. It's like we're there for the long haul. We're digging in. Yeah. And, know, that's not cheap and easy, is it? That's costly.
They're committed as a family, which I really admire. I've, mean, like you, I've been to Bline and it takes ages to walk down the street with Joss because everyone, you know, because he's committed in. Yeah, he knows that. Yeah. And I think the other thing is, and you picked up on it, I think this creativity they've had to learn, you know, like you can't reach every town in the same way or every context and old patterns or models that he was familiar with, he's had the ability to step back creatively and say, maybe there's a smarter way.
more contextual way to do this and I think that's brave. takes guts.
Sian (23:20)
What really strikes me is that Jos and his team are not just establishing a church in Blenifest Inyog, but a church that is for Blenifest Inyog, in that they're looking to both serve the needs of the community and bring people to faith in Jesus through engaging with the Bible and through relationships. And this resonates with what you're going to share with us from the Bible, Andrew, doesn't it?
Andrew (23:43)
It does, yeah. Let's get into the Bible again, just briefly, and reflect. This time in Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, we were in chapter 5 last time, but chapter 10 we see Jesus doing something significant. I think for the moment we're in and the mission and discipleship we're called to, he sends out, in Luke 10, 72 other ordinary followers. Not just the 12 apostles, as they'll be known, but he sends them ahead of him, ahead of Jesus, into towns and places that he is going to visit.
And I think that detail really matters because it reframes mission, not as a specialist activity for the chosen few, but as a shared calling for every one of Jesus' followers. Jesus is multiplying participation here. He's widening the circle. He's making it clear. This is what I want all my followers to do. And he begins with a striking diagnosis. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
In other words, the issue is not the spiritual openness out there, it's mobilization in here. And I think that resonates deeply with what many of us are seeing today. In very different contexts, whether rural communities, where life can feel slow and stable and relational, or urban, busy, cosmopolitan, there is a quiet openness. People are looking for hope, meaning, healing. And often they're not looking for events or programs, but for people that they can trust.
Which brings us to the method that Jesus then gives. You know, it is, well, surprisingly relational. What does he say? When you enter a house, stay there. Do not move around from house to house. This is not a strategy of constant movement or light-footed endless activity. It's a strategy of presence, of rootedness, of receiving hospitality, building trust, and becoming known over time.
In other words, it's incarnational. Jesus is not sending them out to run events. He's sending them to inhabit relationships, to be present in homes, to bring peace into ordinary spaces, to live among ordinary people in such a way that the message of the kingdom can be seen and heard. Now for leaders, especially in contexts shaped by transience or
a more program-driven ministry, this is both a challenge and an invitation. Because much of our inherited model of church life has been built around attraction, creating moments for people to come to us. But here, Jesus sends his followers out to them to stay, to commit, to be known, to build reputation or trust in a place. Not as an organization passing through, but as a people who belong.
who are there for the long haul, just like Joss and Lyds have done in Blina. Now, in many ways, that's exactly what we're seeing in communities where there is genuine traction. Not the quick wins, but the slow, steady presence. Not surface engagement, but deep relationships. A church that feels less like an event and more like a family on a mission. And that kind of presence requires something of us. It requires stability,
It requires visibility, a willingness to be interrupted, a commitment to people, not just outcomes. And it also requires a kind of, almost a simplicity. You Jesus says, doesn't he, don't take a purse or a bag, go without being over-prepared, not because preparation is unimportant, but because dependence builds trust and relationship. It's essential.
You see, there's a temptation in leadership to feel that we need everything in place before we step out. The right resources, the right answers, the right structures. But you know, Jesus sends them before they feel ready, which suggests that fruitfulness in mission is not ultimately driven by our completeness, but by our trust and obedience. And then there's the outcome, right at the very end. The 72 return with joy.
surprised even by what God has done through them. There's authority, there's impact, there's visible fruit, but Jesus just gently redirects their focus. Do not rejoice that the Spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. In other words, don't root your identity in your effectiveness in numbers. Root it in your belonging in God.
because in seasons of fruitfulness the danger will be pride. And in seasons where things feel slow or hidden, the danger is discouragement. Both are steadied by the same truth, that our primary identity is not as successful leaders or effective ministers, but as those who are known and loved by God, names in the Book of Life. And from that place we are sent.
So as we reflect on our own context, whether urban or rural, fast-paced or deeply rooted, the questions become, where is the harvest already present? And are we mobilizing people not just to invite others in, but to go out and stay, to build trust, to embody peace, to live lives that make the gospel visible? You know, the pattern that Jesus gives here, it's not complicated.
It's things like this, go together, not alone. Be present, not transient. Receive and build trust and speak peace. And as you do these things, God is already at work ahead of you. You can know that. The harvest is not the problem. The invitation is to become the kind of people and the kind of churches who are willing to step into it.
Sian (29:58)
Thank you so much, Andrew. That is so helpful for us to consider how we approach mission and community. Next time, we'll be in Sirencester to discuss how the team at Sirencester Baptist Church are encouraging their congregation en masse to engage with the Bible. It's an episode you'll certainly not want to miss.
Andrew (30:19)
Until then, please do send us your questions at biblesociety.org.uk forward slash questions or email us at podcast at biblesociety.org.uk and we will include them in a special Q &A at the end of this series. But for now, remember if things are different, we should do things differently. See you next time.