It is a sad time for worshippers in many churches in Scotland as the C of S are drastically cutting the numbers of churches now. Fewer people are interested in church as we become a more secular society and it is harder to get volunteers to maintain the work of the church.  During the past half century membership has declined with the accompanying fall in income that would once have been spent on the maintenance of their buildings so many are not in a good state.  In the three years since 2020 114 churches were closed and many more have been closed since 2023 with an anticipated closure of another 30% within the very near future.  Churches are amalgamating which makes sense but often it is impossible to travel many miles to another church without a car and meetings in houses or a community hall do not have the same fellowship.  Churches are being sold off often to the highest bidder in spite of the willingness of a community buyout.  Some churches have been there for hundreds of years and others have been built fairly recently but will have played a significant part in the lives of the community.  Churches have been places of fellowship and to celebrate moments of joy or to find comfort during times of stress, worry or loss.
Johnston-Smith, director of Scotland’s Churches Trust. said “Scotland has changed remarkably in our lifetimes, in social attitudes and outlook. But these building are anchors in our landscapes and in our collective history. We are concerned that the Church of Scotland is looking at short-term financial returns and not considering the damage it may do to its own legacy or the impact upon the culture and heritage of the many communities around Scotland who have a close relationship to their kirks and other Church buildings.”
It is a difficult situation to solve satisfactorily and the membership will fall even more if people can't reach a church.
St Nicholas Buccleuch Parish Church in Dalkeith is about to close after almost 700 years of worship having been built about 1350 originally as a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas.  It was enlarged about 1416-20 and after the Reformation the choir was blocked off from the main body of the church in 1590.  Unlike the rest of the church this part was never restored and remains a ruin.  A friend told me that some people were crying last Sunday at the loss of their church where some of them had been christened and married and even had ancestors who had worshipped there.  Their sentiments are felt throughout the land.