Talk of a Gen Z church revival may have been premature

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The Sensemaker reported yesterday on contradictory data about Church of England attendance among young people. While YouGov surveys pointed towards a mini-religious revival, figures from the Church itself showed that Gen Z participation was still below Covid levels. Now the Bible Society has pulled its report on the YouGov data, which it said “could no longer be regarded as a reliable source of information about the spiritual landscape in Britain”. YouGov has admitted that some of the respondents were fraudulent and will now rerun the polls. This is unfortunate timing for Sarah Mullally, who was formally installed as the archbishop of Canterbury on Wednesday. One bright spot for the troubled institution was the intimation that young people might be returning to the Church. But the data never did pass the smell test.

Further reading: Sarah Mullally must lead a global church through stormy waters