Charles: The Kirk faces challenges... our prayers are with you
King’s message as hundreds of Church properties to close
KING Charles has acknowledged the ‘challenges’ facing the Church of Scotland after the Kirk warned hundreds of its buildings would have to close amid falling membership and reduced income.
In a letter to the annual General Assembly, which began in Edinburgh yesterday, the King spoke of ‘the process of reform’ which would be needed to address the problem – and offered his ‘prayers’ for the future.
A report will this week be submitted to the Assembly, the gathering of Kirk leaders including moderator Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton,
‘Painful but necessary to close places of worship’
highlighting the rapid recent decline in congregations.
It shows that about 60,000 people worship in person on a Sunday – compared to 88,000 pre-pandemic. A growing number are opting to worship via ‘alternative means, including online’, it notes.
The King wrote: ‘We are aware of the challenges which the Church is facing as it continues the process of reform, as well as its discernment of God’s will for the future shape of ministry and mission across Scotland.
‘Our prayers remain with you, and may the Holy Spirit continue to guide the Church with wisdom, grace and hope in all its decisionmaking.’ King Charles – who regularly attends Crathie Kirk in Royal Deeside during visits to his estate at Birkhall – also added his ‘deep appreciation’ over messages he received following the death of the Queen.
According to 2021 figures, the Church has 283,600 members, down from a peak of 1.3 million in the 1950s. Each church averages just one wedding and one baptism a year – about 1,200 in total – while there were 50,000 a year in the 1950s, and the average age of those attending church is now 62.
The Kirk said having more than 1,000 churches to cater for the numbers attending was ‘simply untenable and unsustainable’.
Reverend David Cameron, convener of the Assembly Trustees, who will present the report on the way forward, said closing churches was ‘painful but necessary’.
He added: ‘We recognise the real sorrow but we do have to rationalise our buildings in an appropriate way. Uniting congregations brings a new lease of life and a new energy, and looks to the future in a way that’s much more hopeful than trying to maintain the portfolio of property we currently do.’
He added a further problem was a lack of ministers, with record numbers of vacancies, and a majority of clergy now aged over 50.
The Church said there was increasing pressure on existing ministers to cover vacant parishes in addition to their own, and cited St Kentigern’s in Kilmarnock which has been without a full-time minister for more than seven years. Parishioners there, as with other locations, have taken on some of the roles of the minister as efforts continue to fill the role full-time.
Moderator Rev Foster-Fulton said: ‘There are hefty challenges facing the Church of Scotland. There are monumental challenges facing the world and the Church is not exempt.’
HUMZA Yousaf threatened to spark a constitutional war last night after insisting businesses should demand compensation from the UK Government if the SNP’s chaotic recycling scheme is scrapped.
The First Minister raised eyebrows when he appeared to suggest UK Ministers were responsible for the downfall of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) – after businesses yesterday said they would seek compensation payments from the Scottish Government if the scheme is dropped.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association and the Federation of Independent Retailers were among those pledging to pursue Scottish Ministers for payouts if it does not go ahead.
Business chiefs across Scotland have already ploughed hundreds of millions of pounds into trying to prepare for the introduction of the DRS.
On Thursday, Scottish Greens’ Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater cast doubt on its future, saying it could be scrapped if the UK Government does not grant an Internal Market Act (IMA) exemption by the end of this month – an unlikely outcome.
The legislation is in place to ensure there is no divergence in the treatment of businesses across the UK. Yesterday Colin Wilkinson, managing director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: ‘This gets more farcical by the day. The IMA issue is like building a 20-storey tower block then applying for retrospective planning permission. Who would be so presumptuous?
‘Lorna Slater has effectively torpedoed the scheme. Businesses have already pulled resources from preparing for it and it’s unlikely they’ll revisit it until the IMA situation is resolved – if it ever is. If the scheme is cancelled and millions wasted, the Scottish Government will have to brace itself for the compensation claims that will inevitably start pouring in.’
Mo Razzaq, national deputy vice president of the Federation of Independent Retailers, confirmed his organisation would pursue Scottish Ministers too.
In a desperate attempt to divert the flak from his own Government yesterday, Mr Yousaf claimed it was Westminster that should be offering compensation. He said: ‘If the UK Government end up pulling the plug on the scheme, because they don’t give the Internal Market Act exemption, then I wouldn’t be surprised if companies are asking for compensation.
‘And the UK Government would have a real challenge on their hands.’
He added: ‘If we don’t get it this month we have been told by Circularity Scotland, the operator of the scheme, that the scheme could be unviable.
‘There’s no reason for the UK Government not to grant that exemption. They are playing politics with what is the climate emergency.’
The SNP leader’s defence of the scheme comes as his Cabinet colleague Ms Slater was humiliated last month when the plans had to be delayed and drastically overhauled following an outcry from stakeholders.
The DRS, which will impose a 20p charge on all drinks bottles and cans, could now come into force in March next year rather than this August.
Last week, Ms Slater admitted the scheme may have to be axed as Circularity Scotland is running out of cash.
A UK Government spokesman said: ‘Ministers received a formal request for a UK IMA exclusion for the deposit return scheme on March 6.
‘The Scottish Government has since paused the scheme until March 2024 to allow it more time to address concerns raised by businesses. It therefore hasn’t been possible yet for us to fully assess the impacts of the exclusion request on cross-UK trade.’
‘Compensation claims will inevitably start pouring in’