Joined January 2009
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Jumping back on to say my book 'Becoming Evangelical' from @BloomsburyRS is out soon! More info and pre-order here bloomsbury.com/uk/becoming-e…
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Prof Sir John Curtice - "I've looked at the tables that YouGov provided to the Bible Society. It's perfectly clear that the Bible Society were reliably reporting the [Quiet Revival] data that were acquired for them by YouGov [cont]
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so I don't think there's any reason to believe that the Bible Society, in some way or another, were putting a particularly favourable light from their point of view on the data."
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Rob Barward-Symmons retweeted
Jan 16
Have young men lost their ‘herd immunity’ to Christianity?
@theosnick and @robsymmons were quoted in the Times commenting on whether Gen Z men are becoming increasingly warm towards Christianity.
Read it here: thetimes.com/uk/religion/art…
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Of course this is significant, but again this kind of reporting just brushes over the fact that no-one asked will actually be impacted by it. Three quarters of *adult* Britons support it.
It's difficult to survey children and young people, it's not difficult to say you haven't
Exactly this it has mass support among the public and supporters of all big parties back it - just 11% oppose. Speaking to parents in focus groups they are desperate for govt action because it’s so hard to do at individual parent level because it means your kid missing out.
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During austerity, 1,200 youth clubs were closed and funding was cut by 70%. Social media is a challenge, but just adding further restrictions to their lives is not the answer to addressing youth crises right now. theguardian.com/commentisfre…
Jan 11
I find myself agreeing with a lot of what Kemi Badenoch is saying about children and social media. It seems to me parents would welcome a cross-party consensus around much bolder action.
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It's incredibly disappointing but entirely predictable of a politician to highlight the views of parents (=adults=voters) rather than the young people themselves. But as ever they are best kept out of the conversation, because they can't possibly have anything to contribute.
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It may be from a different era of social media, but this from @zephoria remains brilliant. Young people long to just hang out offline, but adults have consistently found ways to ban it and forced them online - through necessity, not preference. yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300…
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Another interesting piece from this morning news.sky.com/story/how-did-g…
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A great article on the rise of Bible sales, particularly among Gen Z theguardian.com/world/2026/j…
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Fascinating piece on the rise of Christianity (particularly among Gen Z) in Sweden of all places. Lots that resonates I think
Jan 8
“Christianity is at its best when it does not rage against the present age but engages it with curiosity and a sense of adventure.”
@joelsh explores why Sweden is getting religion.
bit.ly/3NcupMP
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Incredible story this. More evidence that something is definitely happening among young adults dailymail.co.uk/news/article…
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Interestingly in our interim survey (for The Quiet Revival) in early 22 we found approx stability in terms of reported churchgoing compared to 18. Smaller sample and straight off COVID so difficult to interpret, but also suggests something has happened in the last few years
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18 Dec 2025
Last night, while 95 mins straight down the M1 from my destination, Google maps suggested I instead take a route *14 hrs and 11 mins* slower, somehow (between London and Nottingham) involving a ferry. Absolutely outstanding work.
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Rob Barward-Symmons retweeted
13 Dec 2025
"Hope feels in short supply right now. We won’t list the reasons. You know them already."
@theosnick and Bob Kikuyu unpack a theology of hope to mark 80 years of @christian_aid.
Read it here: theosthinktank.co.uk/in-the-…
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3 Dec 2025
If anyone (or their librarian) is really eager, my upcoming @BloomsburyAcad book 'Becoming Evangelical: Life and Liminalities in Christian Youth Groups' is now available to pre-order! Bizarre but exciting to see it live waterstones.com/book/becomin…
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Rob Barward-Symmons retweeted
1 Dec 2025
We're hiring! 📹
We're looking for a videographer and video editor to work with us on @sacred_podcast, shooting, editing and delivering regular audio and video content.
Find out more and apply here: theosthinktank.co.uk/about/w…
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Rob Barward-Symmons retweeted
28 Nov 2025
This NYT article on the "golden age" of air travel is an amazing example of an unthinking journalist failing to make contact with reality.
The narrative: air travel used to be much better, but less affordable.
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