The Free Church of Scotland will facili-tate a focused outreach initiative called ‘Generation19’ which aims to encourage local churches to reach out to their com-munities with the gospel.
In 2017 a census of Scottish churches was carried out by Brierley Consultancy which indicated a sharp decline in church attendance and engagement. The report showed that ‘some 390,000 people regularly attended church, being 7.2% of the Scottish population, down from 17% in 1984.’ This decline was the equivalent of ‘losing ten congregations per month’.
Mission Director, the Revd David Meredith, said: ‘The statistics are clear, but they tell us what we already know. Scotland is for all intents and purposes an unreached people group.
‘Although the figures are sobering, we are not motivated by them to get people on seats, but rather to fulfil the Great Commission and tell people about Jesus.
‘During the first ten days of September, we hope that people will do something to engage with their community. It could be reaching out to the youth in your area, a café evangelism event, or an evening of music and testimony – whatever you choose to do, be bold, be creative and be imaginative.’
The Free Church of Scotland is one of the few Scottish denominations which has seen growth over the last decade. It is robustly committed to the Westminster Confession of Faith and to historic biblical evangelicalism, but seeks to apply these timeless principles to the generation of 2019.
