Theologian's Rallying Call for Reform

THE Church of Scotland is the fastest declining denomination in the UK and reform needs to take place against a backdrop of falling membership and secularisation, according to a leading theologian.

Delivering the first of three in the 2017 Chalmers Lecture series at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, the Rev Dr Doug Gay offered a series of stark statistics which revealed membership and the numbers of children in the pews each Sunday had fallen by 30% between 2005 and 2015. During the same period the number of ministers had fallen by 24 per cent and the number of elders by 26 per cent. Census figures showed affiliation to the Church of Scotland had also declined dramatically between 2001 and 2011.

In a far-reaching lecture which sought to chart the journey of the Church of Scotland in the late 20^th and early 21^st century, the Principal of Trinity College in Glasgow described how membership of the Church of Scotland had peaked in 1956 and had fallen ever since amid a backdrop of increasing secularisation and influenced by social change,

However, Dr Gay, predicted that there could come a time when the Church could emerge again - a post-secularisation time and post-atheist phase - but that this would not be the same as a revival of religion experienced by previous generations.

But in preparing for this, he outlined a strong case for reform, based around four areas: spiritual renewal, liturgical renewal, missional refocusing and institutional reform. The lecture series would, he said, primarily focus on the last two, with the opening lecture setting the scene for the following two.

Emphasising the need to both rethink and reform the Presbyterian structures of the Church of Scotland, he said: “Ours is not the only game in town, nor should it rest on the conceit that it is the original and the best…. If we are going to reform it, we need to reclaim it, re-evaluate it and rethink it.”

The series continues at St Giles next Wednesday (February 8) and on February 15.

Post Tags: chalmers lectures

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Comments

james knight - Friday, February 3rd, 2017

“Hopefully our ministers, elders and congregations are listening because his is truly a prophetic voice. My hope too is that this may be the beginning of many fruitful conversations out of our perceived complacency.”

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