THE a whole lot of buildings currently being disposed of by the Church of Scotland needs to be made available to the country’s diaspora churches, whose lack of premises is a “missional leash” on their growth, a latest report suggests.
Churches Without People and People Without Churches: Diaspora congregations in Scotland, by Brendan Research, argues that the ministry and mission of the Church in Scotland has been “turned the other way up and inside out, with the bulk world now coming to Scotland to minister and evangelise, where once Scotland went in mission to the world”. It records that, while church attendance within the country fell by 40 per cent between 1986 and 2016, diaspora churches are “certainly one of the true success stories of mission”.
Drawing on interviews with 66 leaders of diaspora churches, it concludes that, despite being a number of the fastest-growing and most energetic Christian congregations in Scotland, such churches are sometimes isolated, and hampered by a lack of awareness or support from the broader Church.
It diagnoses a “failure of the Scottish Church to properly steward its buildings”, arguing that, moderately than pursue profit, Churches comparable to the Church of Scotland should use their surplus buildings to ascertain multicultural and multiracial church partnerships, offering them free of charge, or at reduced rates.
Currently, it reports, diaspora churches are “being frozen out as a consequence of an absence of consideration from majority white denominations, or by prohibitive costs. The result’s that ‘missional leashes’ are being placed on churches that are able — and prepared — to grow.”
Diaspora churches in Scotland — defined as distinct congregations of Christians from one other country — now number 204, the report calculates. In 1999, Scotland had 14. Drawing on reports by church leaders, the researchers estimate that such churches welcome about 22,000 people to worship each week, comparable with the dimensions of denominations comparable to the Scottish Episcopal Church, which reported a membership of just below 24,000 in 2022.
The churches are predominantly in urban areas, with a “notable concentration” in socially deprived regions. A complete of 70 per cent are of African origin. English language stays prevalent in worship. With regard to denomination (a complete of 35 were reported), 61 were “independent”, and 57 members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Almost three-quarters of leaders defined their congregations as Pentecostal.
When asked why that they had began a church or ministry in Scotland, most respondents spoke of a “divine call” or “leading” from God. Other leaders mentioned starting a church to cater for the spiritual and social needs of specific groups. These included helping people to beat language barriers; promoting social and community integration; navigating immigration issues; and worshipping and praying meaningfully in a single’s language of alternative. Several expressed concern about “the dearth of vibrant Christian expressions and a decline in faith inside traditional churches in Scotland”.
A key challenge reported by church leaders was an absence of suitable places for worship. While 28 per cent of the congregations worship in their very own property, 25 per cent share a sacred space, and 42 per cent hire a secular public space. Respondents reported an absence of support from mainstream denominations and the federal government, mentioning the limited opportunity to purchase available church buildings, and the absence of subsidies or assistance from local councils. Discrimination, racism, and hostility were identified as “significant challenges”.
The authors call on the broader Scottish Church to embrace the contributions of diaspora churches with “openness and enthusiasm”, and lament that the need of ethnic-minority Christians for “fellowship and shared worship, ministry and mission” just isn’t shared by some white Christians.
In the approaching years, the Church of Scotland is predicted to get rid of about 30 per cent of its churches, or between 350 and 400 buildings. The authors of the report argue that “stewardship within the Christian Church can’t be equated with the maximisation of profit, but the usage of properties for the glory of God and the necessity of Church and world.”
They write: “Whether the usage of buildings were free or provided at a reduced rate, such partnerships could be mutually useful to all parties. They would help to preserve ministry and mission in under-churched areas; they’d profit growing diaspora congregations; they usually profit Scottish communities. They would also achieve what a lot of our respondents dream of: diaspora and white majority congregations working in missional partnership to the secular Scotland of today.”
The “resacralisation” of public space, as diaspora Christians repurpose abandoned churches, office blocks, and retail units for Christian worship, plays an element in “raising the plausibility of religion”, they write.
The report was commissioned by Action for Churches Together in Scotland. The authors — the Revd Dr Fiona Tweedie, a statistician with the Church of Scotland (Interview, 1 November); Dr Sheila Akomiah-Conteh, a Ghanaian scholar based in Scotland; and the Revd Dr Liam Jerrold Fraser, Minister of Linlithgow Parish Church — pay tribute to the Revd Dr Wes White, a lecturer in biblical studies on the Nazarene Theological College, who pioneered a community of Iranian and other Christians in Glasgow. He died in April.
