At the beginning of June we celebrate the festival of Pentecost. According to the account of Pentecost in the Bible, the followers of Jesus were together in a house when they heard the sound of a rushing violent wind. “Tongues of fire” rested on each of the followers and they began to speak in other languages by the power of God’s Spirit.

This extraordinary event is often considered to be the birth of the church, and if we use the traditional dating for this event - AD33 - then the Christian Church is celebrating its 1992^nd birthday! We would need a lot of candles (and a comprehensive risk assessment) for the Church’s birthday cake!

This moment - when the followers of Jesus were filled by the Holy Spirit and empowered to bring the good news of Jesus to all peoples – was remarkable in itself. But in the centuries that followed, Christians believe that God has continued to pour out his Holy Spirit, and that He still does so today. 

As a church at Pentecost, then, we are not only celebrating what has happened in the past, but also what is happening today as the Spirit continues to be poured out into the world. 

In particular this Pentecost, there has been much interest in a recent Bible Society report into churchgoing in England and Wales. This report shows that since 2018 a new generation of young people are discovering the work of God’s Spirit in their own lives. Large numbers of young people have started going to church, are practising prayer and worship, and are reading the Bible regularly.

The report argues that this new generation is interested in finding meaning, purpose and a sense of belonging, as well as a renewed spiritual life, in a world that has been dominated by individualism and materialism.

It’s also interesting that the report highlights that one of the fastest growing churches in England and Wales is the Pentecostal church – a denomination that emphasises the work of the Spirit in the life of individual believers.

Ultimately, the authors of the report believe there is a “Quiet Revival” at work after decades of decline in churchgoing. This is something we’re also seeing in the church here in Rugby. We’ve had a number of people come to us at St Mark’s recently expressing an interest in finding out more about the Christian faith. Many church leaders do have a sense that there is an exciting new work of God’s Spirit taking place.  

So if you’re interested at this Pentecost-time in finding out more about the Holy Spirit and the spiritual life of Christianity, I’d love to hear from you!

Every Blessing

Dan