Proof The Bible Is True

“The article was written by Rev David Robertson who will become the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland in May.”  Admin

I suppose it is a good thing that most modern denominations now have press officers and issue press releases. It helps keep the church in the news, after all. But we also run the danger of ‘spin’. It’s hard to be a prophet in the land of spin. I wonder if sometimes the church makes an enormous mistake when we try to spin bad news as good news.

This week the Church of Scotland released its ‘Blue Book’ – a 428-page book of papers for the General Assembly. It contains some good things, but the picture it offers of the Church is of one in serious decline.

1. Membership is down 16,000 to 380,000.

2. Number of ministers is down from 940 in 2009 to 811 in 2014.

3. The Church expects to be at least 200 parish ministers short by the 2020s, even with declining congregations.

4. The act re-allowing ministers to depart from the ‘official’ stance and practice on same-sex partnerships has been passed by Presbyteries and will become law at this Assembly.

I was asked by the Scottish press to comment and I did, pointing out the facts above. Of course the Church of Scotland was asked to respond and the Principal Clerk’s office said:

Read More  Is the Church of Scotland in terminal decline? | Christian News on Christian Today.