Poll sees fall in church-goers

Perth and Kinross numbers down

A new census has been released showing the number of churchgoers in Perth and Kinross has declined.

The study by Brierley Consultancy showed that church attendance in Perth and Kinross is now 10,390, which is only 6.9% of the population.

This has fallen from 10% in 2002, when 13,520 people regularly attended church.

The number of church-goers has fallen in all local authority areas except Aberdeenshire.

The total rate of decline across the country since 2002 is the equivalent of losing 10 congregations every month.

The census broke down the denominations in Perth and Kinross as well, with 3.2% attended the Church of Scotland. A further 0.3% for episcopal, 0.3% baptist, 0.7% independent churches, 0.1% pentecostal, 0.5% smaller denominations, and 1.6% Roman Catholics. The study also found 42% of church-goers across Scotland are over the age of 65.

Dr Peter Brierley, the census’ consultant researcher, said: “We are living in the 21st century and one of the features of the 21st century is that people’s allegiance to particular faiths is no longer as strong as it used to be.

“Part of the problem is the proportion of people in the church who are elderly is much greater than in the population of Scotland as a whole.

“So, you have a great number of church-goers dying. The rate of replacement is not as many. That’s the basic reason for decline.

“It’s not that people are moving away from the faith, although I’m sure some are, but in general terms that is not the case. There are also quite a lot of invisible Christians who used to go to church, still believe in God, but they have moved house, perhaps to a rural area, and simply haven’t found a church to go to.”

Rev Dr David Pickering, the moderator of the United Reformed Church Synod of Scotland, added: “It’s a crisis and an opportunity. Both present themselves. It presents a new opportunity for the church to portray the love of God and the good news of Jesus in a new way for a new generation. That’s an opportunity and a challenge for us.

“Although I wish it were different, I think we must acknowledge that most congregations have more older people than younger, and most young people simply do not see the relevance of God, of Jesus, of the church, to their lives.

“And, of course, there are now more things to do on Sundays than there were even a generation ago. I think if the church doesn’t respond, it is a crisis. If it does respond and it embraces the situation, that’s positive.”