AngelWings Ltd

Sometimes research is a sprint. Someone contacts us at AngelWings Ltd with a question and a deadline. It feels an important piece of work and we value being flexible. There's a quick reshuffle and "bang" away we go.

Sometime research is a marathon. There's a research question that can only be answered with time.

This week involved delivery of a "marathon" report. Work commenced in 2024, designing two surveys to assess the impact of a church revitalisation programme in a Presbytery.

Data gathering began in 2025, working with local congregations to establish a baseline across the two surveys. This resulted in an initial report, delivered in May of 2025.

More data gathering occurred in 2026. We worked again with local congregations, encouraging responses to the two surveys. This meant we could compare changes over 12 months. How was the revitalisation programme received? How was the revitalisation programme impacting local congregations? This resulted in a second report, delivered on Thursday.

But the marathon is not yet over. More data gathering will occur at the end of 2027. This will allow us to compare changes over 33 months.

Running research marathons involves a different type of pace and produces a different type of data. Technically it's called longitudinal research. It's a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables. For those serious about church health and vitality, it's the gold standard of research.

It was a great feeling to deliver a report this week. But a greater feeling to know that there is further to go and to have the privilege of working with a group of churches who are deeply committed.

Another round of congratulations to Director Dr Lynne Taylor, who provided some comments for a NZ Herald article published over Easter. She gave comments first as the article author, Matt prepared to pitch it to the NZ Herald, second as Matt formally interviewed Lynne for the article, and thirdly as Lynne alerted Matt that The Quiet Revival report had been retracted.

It’s great seeing how careful research can inform public writing. This link (in the comments) should take you to a non-paywalled version of the article.

I've been thinking (again) about the Quiet Revival... as the 2025 Quiet Revival report was retracted overnight.

The Bible Society was informed by YouGov that the survey sample that the data was based on was faulty, as a result of errors at the YouGov end. Essentially, usual data quality control was not implemented (excluding people not resident in the UK, preventing multiple submissions, or excluding participants who gave inattentive/random responses). The Bible Society has rightly responded by retracting the original report, and they released a second report, that both outlines the issues with the first report and (based on other data) reiterates core themes and messages relating to openness to Christianity in England and Wales.

I am unsurprised by the retraction. While their analysis of the dataset had been rigorous, the change reported in The Quiet Revival was considerably more extensive than seemed reasonable. However, like the Quiet Revival team, I do think that there has been change in the social and religious climate. There IS something happening that it is right to pay attention to.

The Bible Society’s new report makes five main points. I am adapting these points here, based on (and on the blog post in the comments) linking to some of my own research:
1. The culture is changing.
2. Religious identity is changing.
3. Young people are open to spirituality
4. People are exploring the bible (and doing so can lead to embracing Christianity).
5. People are converting to Christianity.

Cultural change is occurring, including increased openness to spirituality. In Aotearoa, the 2023 Faith and Belief Study reported that only 18% of the population is negatively disposed towards Christianity. Younger generations are more likely to be “warm” towards Christianity. This cultural change includes a desire for spiritual connections, and my PhD demonstrated that such yearning is among things that can certainly motivate faith exploration.

Less people today call themselves Christians by (cultural) default, meaning that less nominal Christians are counted in surveys and this is one reason behind declines in recorded (Christian) religious affiliations in Census data. We’re seeing this in NZ as well as in the UK, Australia, Canada and more widely. (See here for more.) As a result, those who do call themselves Christian are more likely to be actively involved in Christianity.

The Bible Society reports that bible sales are increasing and google searches related to the bible are also on the rise. My own research shows that people engage in various spiritual practices, including reading the bible, as an important step on their journey to embrace the Christian faith.

People are converting to Christianity. However, people are also leaving the church. There is a gender shift which is both interesting as concerning, as more young men come in and more young women leave. I hope and pray that the faith we share and way we share it lead towards the flourishing of all.

Finally, being aware of increased openness to Christianity can change us. As I wrote elsewhere, “what you expect determines what you see and how you act. Data certainly suggests there is an openness to spirituality in Aotearoa today and churches are invited to anticipate, notice, resource and support such interest. It is not necessarily that this is new.”
Such openness may make us attentive to the possibility of newcomers in our churches, and to helping create a place of welcome and connection for them. It might encourage us to talk about our faith and our spiritual practices with friends. Such attentiveness and our own openness to discuss spirituality might just help us notice and participant in what God is doing today.

Bible Society. The Quiet Revival One Year On: What's the Story? Bible Society UK, 2026. https://bible-society.directus.app/assets/4e08929c-6148-49f6-9269-757f6ba3d87d.
Taylor, Lynne. "Learning from a More Secular Future: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand." Post-Christendom Studies 8 (2024): 62–73. https://mcmasterdivinity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/8.PCS_.62-73.Taylor.pdf.
Taylor, Lynne. "Our Doing Becomes Us: Performativity, Spiritual Practices and Becoming Christian." Practical Theology 12, no. 3 (2019): 332–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2019.1595317.

The events of Easter Friday include human moments of betrayal and state power acting badly. The events also include solidarity and care across cultures, as Simon of Cyrene carries the cross of a person (Jesus of Nazareth) ruled “criminal” by the state.

These events has inspired artists and creatives through the centuries, including this painting of Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross, in a manuscript.

These events of Easter Friday continue to inspire us at AngelWings Ltd. They shape our commitments to listen and learn across cultures, pay attention to “edge-walkers” (like Simon of Cyrene) and be in solidarity with victims of state sanctioned violence.

Always a thrill to have a new research journal for a new project for a new organisation. Every project begins with co-design - clarifying the research question that’s really being addressed, defining scope against reality, applying ethics of care to data gathering strategies.

Hence the cover of this research journal. It’s got soft patches. A reminder that as research is done, it always connect with people. Values of unique, respectful and flexible make for high-quality research, in co-design and delivery.

Great piece by AngelWings Ltd Director Dr Lynne Taylor. Having to pull a report because of faulty data gathering is a serious matter and demands considered reflection by those who research. It also requires reflection from those who consume research. Dr Taylor makes important points about navigating shifts in culture with integrity and wisdom.

I've been thinking (again) about the Quiet Revival... as the 2025 Quiet Revival report was retracted overnight.

The Bible Society was informed by YouGov that the survey sample that the data was based on was faulty, as a result of errors at the YouGov end. Essentially, usual data quality control was not implemented (excluding people not resident in the UK, preventing multiple submissions, or excluding participants who gave inattentive/random responses). The Bible Society has rightly responded by retracting the original report, and they released a second report, that both outlines the issues with the first report and (based on other data) reiterates core themes and messages relating to openness to Christianity in England and Wales.

I am unsurprised by the retraction. While their analysis of the dataset had been rigorous, the change reported in The Quiet Revival was considerably more extensive than seemed reasonable. However, like the Quiet Revival team, I do think that there has been change in the social and religious climate. There IS something happening that it is right to pay attention to.

The Bible Society’s new report makes five main points. I am adapting these points here, based on (and on the blog post in the comments) linking to some of my own research:
1. The culture is changing.
2. Religious identity is changing.
3. Young people are open to spirituality
4. People are exploring the bible (and doing so can lead to embracing Christianity).
5. People are converting to Christianity.

Cultural change is occurring, including increased openness to spirituality. In Aotearoa, the 2023 Faith and Belief Study reported that only 18% of the population is negatively disposed towards Christianity. Younger generations are more likely to be “warm” towards Christianity. This cultural change includes a desire for spiritual connections, and my PhD demonstrated that such yearning is among things that can certainly motivate faith exploration.

Less people today call themselves Christians by (cultural) default, meaning that less nominal Christians are counted in surveys and this is one reason behind declines in recorded (Christian) religious affiliations in Census data. We’re seeing this in NZ as well as in the UK, Australia, Canada and more widely. (See here for more.) As a result, those who do call themselves Christian are more likely to be actively involved in Christianity.

The Bible Society reports that bible sales are increasing and google searches related to the bible are also on the rise. My own research shows that people engage in various spiritual practices, including reading the bible, as an important step on their journey to embrace the Christian faith.

People are converting to Christianity. However, people are also leaving the church. There is a gender shift which is both interesting as concerning, as more young men come in and more young women leave. I hope and pray that the faith we share and way we share it lead towards the flourishing of all.

Finally, being aware of increased openness to Christianity can change us. As I wrote elsewhere, “what you expect determines what you see and how you act. Data certainly suggests there is an openness to spirituality in Aotearoa today and churches are invited to anticipate, notice, resource and support such interest. It is not necessarily that this is new.”
Such openness may make us attentive to the possibility of newcomers in our churches, and to helping create a place of welcome and connection for them. It might encourage us to talk about our faith and our spiritual practices with friends. Such attentiveness and our own openness to discuss spirituality might just help us notice and participant in what God is doing today.

Bible Society. The Quiet Revival One Year On: What's the Story? Bible Society UK, 2026. https://bible-society.directus.app/assets/4e08929c-6148-49f6-9269-757f6ba3d87d.
Taylor, Lynne. "Learning from a More Secular Future: Insights from Aotearoa New Zealand." Post-Christendom Studies 8 (2024): 62–73. https://mcmasterdivinity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/8.PCS_.62-73.Taylor.pdf.
Taylor, Lynne. "Our Doing Becomes Us: Performativity, Spiritual Practices and Becoming Christian." Practical Theology 12, no. 3 (2019): 332–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/1756073X.2019.1595317.

The place of “edges” in faith, church, theology is a research colloquium happening 13 March.

It’s a research colloquium with a difference.

A panel of practitioners will share about their lived experiences of faith and ministry at the "edges" – those spaces that have traditionally been marginalised in the Christian context.

Woven in will be the introduction and use of a research methodology as a way of learning with and from the edges in a community.

What - and how - can we learn from the experiences, practices and reflections of those working at the edges of ministry?

Facilitators will include: Dr Armen Gakavian, Dr Joel Hollier, Rev. Dr Karina Kreminski, Dr Tanya Riches and Rev. Dr Steve Taylor (from AngelWings Ltd).

The interactive colloquium is open to any who want to explore the place of edges in our Christian community.

It’s online, so to learn more and register here: https://www.utc.edu.au/events/the-place-of-edges-for-our-faith-church-and-theology-research-colloquium

One of our directors Lynne (Dr Lynne Taylor) has been reporting on church stats for the Baptist churches of New Zealand for many years. Here’s an article she recently wrote - inviting attentiveness and anticipation, as the post-Covid recovery in attendance and baptisms continues …

Heartening signs of growth in attendance and numbers of baptisms | Baptist New Zealand Lynne Taylor contracts to the Baptist Churches of New Zealand as Researcher, which includes her reporting annually on Baptist church statistics. She is also Senior Lecturer in Pastoral Theology at the University of Otago, where one of her main research interests is contemporary faith formation. In t...

For those interested in cultivating spiritual practices, the article ("How to Use a Pen Labyrinth for Reflection or as a Centering Practice") provides some very practical resources for centring prayer and reflection. The author, Bruce Stanley, has a track record of design, innovation and spiritual care. He brings all these dimensions together to offer some paper labyrinths, that can be printed out.

You can walk the labyrinth without leaving home!

The designs are based on real places, which is connects with real places (Chartes, Ely, St Omer) and the spiritual lives of thousands of people who have, and continue, to walk these paths. We are not alone.

Bruce also offers suggestions for how to use the labyrinth as a tool for reflection and centring prayer.

How to Use a Pen Labyrinth for Reflection or as a Centering Practice If you’ve ever seen a labyrinth set into the floor of a cathedral, or mown into the grass at a wellbeing or retreat centre, you might have wondered what it’s for.The most famous example is the great labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral in France, laid into the stone floor in the early 1200s. It is ne...

For Christians wanting to think holistically about governance, Matike Mai is an excellent resource.

Matike Mai was an indigenous led, nation-wide set of gatherings that invited local communities to think about constitutional transformation. Instead of inheriting a governing system from Britain, what could we build in Aotearoa that was uniquely ours?

It’s about imagining—and building—a better future.

The work was done 10 years ago and offers a range of excellent conceptual models to think decisionmaking and participation.

In celebration of the 10 year anniversary, Community Research has put together a Matike Mai Resource Hub. It brings together written resources, video resources, and community networks and projects.

You can learn more about this flourishing kaupapa by exploring the collection online 👉

Matike Mai Resource Hub — Community Research Nau mai haere mai ki tēnei Whakaipurangi o Matike Mai. Welcome to this Matike Mai resource hub. We are launching this page to mark the 10th anniversary of the Matike…continue reading

A privilege this week to be able to present some research findings from a 2023 and followup 2025 commissioned research project for an organisation in Australia.

First up was an informal meeting with key leaders to reflect on implications. Next was a verbal presentation to another group of key leaders, with a focus on initial reflection on the implications.

It takes months of careful research and data analysis to get to a few big picture slides. But the energy in the room as organisations' engage about their future makes it so worthwhile.