BBC Radio Scotland to visit St Andrew's Bo'ness
A poll, conducted last year among people aged 16 and over, suggests that one in four UK adults attends church at least once a year.
REGULAR UK CHURCHGOERS
Northern Ireland: 45%
Scotland: 18%
England: 14%
Wales: 12%
Source: Tearfund
Tearfund said 53% of people identified themselves as Christian, compared with almost three-quarters who had in the last census in 2001.
But it said that its survey indicated that three million people who had stopped going to church, or who had never been in their lives, would consider attending "given the right invitation". This could be a personal invite, the chance to accompany a relative or friend, or the offer of help during difficult personal circumstances, it said.
So you can imagine that I was interested when the BBC rang me this afternoon to comment on the poll. It turns out their going to come to the Bo'ness tomorrow to interview some of the folk who hang about the church on a day to day basis. Tomorrow will be a busy and noisy day. I believe a music work shop will be in full swing from 10am - 1.00pm. The researcher asked me another interesting question. Do you have people who attend your church who are not what you would call fully pledged Christians? Of course we do I told her. We're the church for the people who don't go to church. in other words we like to think that we can give people space to walk and talk as we journey together on the faith experience.
What I thought was interesting regarding the poll, was the fact that some people are just waiting for the invitation. So why are we Christians so inhospitable when it comes to inviting our friends and neighbours to church. Of course the truth is so many of our buildings are still anything but user friendly. I was hearing about someone who had attended an outpatients department in one of our local hospitals. It was the fact that the room and the surrounding area was so user friendly, it made the person feel at ease and indeed looking forward to going back again. I think we all need to up our game when it comes to making church acessable and also when it comes to giving invitations.
