《苏格兰民族》苏格兰长老会加速衰亡

/2019/07/08/scottish-church-decline-a-repeated-conversation/

And the slow death of the Church of Scotland continues to accelerate, with news of yet another three congregations merging in Dundee. The Broughty Ferry congregations of St James, St Luke, and the New Kirk will become one as ministers retire and worshipper numbers dwindle. This trend of church decline is not limited to Dundee but is happening throughout Scotland, especially in the Church of Scotland. In fact, one church per year closed in Dundee for each of the 20 years that I served as a minister there. However, very few people in the church were prepared to face up to this desperate picture of decline.

Reasons for Decline

The Presbytery clerk cited the fall in birth rates, the changing nature of the population in Scotland, the fact that immigrants are less likely to be Christian and, if they are, not Presbyterian, and the decline in youth organizations as reasons for the decline of the Church. However, this fails to explain the decline of the Church of Scotland. Less than 3% of the 50,000 babies born are baptized into the Church of Scotland, and baptisms have declined by 70% over the past decade, while births have only declined by 15%. Immigrants are more likely to be Christians than native Scots, and the decline in youth organizations can be attributed to the Churchs own decline, rather than being the cause of it.

The Church is Dead – Long Live the Church!

Despite the decline in the Church of Scotland, some congregations are still growing. Broughty Ferry St. James had a growing and developing church under the ministry of Alberto de Paula until the Presbytery wanted to link this evangelical congregation with a declining liberal one. When Alberto and the majority of the congregation decided they could no longer go along with the decisions of the Church of Scotland assembly, they left to form Broughty Ferry Presbyterian Church, which later joined the Free Church and is still a living and developing church.

Hard Truths

The solution offered by the Presbytery, changing the way the church is run and appealing to young worshippers, is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. Amalgamating congregations and redistributing staff are pointless if the church has lost its vision, purpose, depth, love, and joy. Even those churches which are more faithful to the Word have a tendency to just hold on and batten down the hatches rather than leading the next generation. The lack of vision within the Church, combined with the "Im alright, you find your own way" attitude, is leading to its extinction.

A Repeated Conversation!

The decline of the Church of Scotland has been a topic of concern for many years. Various reasons for the decline have been given, and solutions have been proposed, but the trend continues. It is time for the Church to face up to reality and seek Gods vision for its future.