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The Church in Scotland - Scotland was once the most 'Reformed' nation of the Reformation. The Scottish Reformation of Knox and his colleagues was through and revolutionary. Much of modern Scotland, the law, education and the church owe their origins to this time. Sadly the Scottish nation and people have to a large extent neglected and abandoned the heritage of our fathers. The Church in Scotland declined in the 20th Century - in particular from the 1960's on. It would not be right to oversimplify the reasons why but surely one of the major causes was the abandonment by many within the Church of the historic Calvinism of the Westminster Confession and above all the abandonment of much of the Bible. Today the Church in Scotland is in a weak state. 90% of Scotland's population seldom if ever darken any kind of church door. The following is a brief summary of my perception of where we are: I would be grateful if anyone who wishes to correct any of this information would contact me at darobertson@blueyonder.co.uk so that I can do so.

The Catholic Church - now claims to be the largest church in Scotland with some 650,000 baptised. Attendance is certainly high in some areas (notably the West lowlands) but in reality the Catholic Church faces many problems. There are a large number of nominal Catholics and there is a severe shortage of priests. Until the celibacy issue this dealt with this is not likely to be resolved. Cardinal Winning is one of the best known church leaders in Scotland. To his credit he has made a strong public stand for Christian moral ethics.

The Church of Scotland - is our national church. Presbyterian in government and with a fine history it now faces an unprecedented crisis. Membership has fallen from a peak of 1.2 million in the 1950's to some 600,000 in 2001.
Last year it lost over 23,000 members. In our city of Dundee it was recently reported that the Church of Scotland was losing the equivalent of two congregations every year. The number of evangelical ministries has increased over the past number of years so that there are now over 400 evangelicals out of some 1200 ministers. However although there are many fine ministries within the Church of Scotland there are not so many
evangelical congregations and the decline continues. It is estimated that a further 500 churches will close and that there will be over 200 vacancies within the next few years. Furthermore there are potential theological and practical problems arising out of issues such as the ordination of women (it is now compulsory that all ministers have to accept the ordination of women), homosexuality and the uniqueness of Christ.

The Scottish Episcopal Church - Anglican with a membership of some 20,000. Has had some excellent evangelical ministries and yet is known in Scotland for its most famous member , Bishop Holloway whose extreme liberal stance has done a great deal of harm.

The Scottish Baptist Church - has experienced slight growth. Most cities and large towns would have a reasonable Baptist Church. The question of women's ordination also threatens to cause further division.
Independent and Charismatic - There are charismatic groups in most areas of Scotland. Some do a fine social and evangelistic work. Others are authoritarian and divisive. They tend to draw from the declining pool of Christian adherents although some charismatic churches have been quite
successful in bringing the gospel to the unchurched.

The Free Presbyterians - A tiny denomination founded in 1893. Probably has less than 100 male members. Known for its extreme position on social matters. Largely based in the Highlands.

The Associated Presbyterians - Broke away from the Free Presbyterians in 1989. At the time it was hoped that this new denomination might be the focus for uniting evangelical Presbyterians. Sadly this has not been the case and indeed the few APC churches have declined further during that period with several ministers joining the Church of Scotland.

The Free Church Continuing - Separated from the Free Church in January 2000 over an internal disciplinary matter. About 22 active ministries and 800 people - mainly in the Highlands.

The Free Church of Scotland- With about 10,000 members and adherents the Free Church is the largest evangelical Presbyterian denomination in Scotland (actually in Europe!). A period of growth in the 1980's was followed by a period of decline in the 1990's. The split in 2000 rather than harming the Church seems to have done it some good. Although there are areas where the church is in decline there are also signs of blessing in other areas. The number of students applying for the ministry is increasing, some congregations are growing, there is a renewed interest in church planting and growth in areas where the church has traditionally been weak. St Peter's belongs to the Free Church of Scotland and we are grateful for the support offered to us through our lean years. It is our prayer that we will be able to repay that by supporting church revitalization and church planting work elsewhere in Scotland.
I realise that the above is a weak and inadequate summary but it does give a general picture. Although there are some encouraging signs we are conscious of our desperate spiritual need. We long for reformation and revival. May the Lord bless and pity us and may Scotland once again become a nation where the people can be described as 'the people of the book'.