Anxiety and the future of the church?
I just read a social media post from a retired church leader, asking for forgiveness from God for the decline in numbers of their church during their time as a leader. This leader appeared wracked by the anxiety about their failure. In Scotland (and most European and some US 'mainline' churches) there is, indeed, a story of decline in those who belong to these Christian denominations. The pandemic was a shock to Scotland - zero 'in-person' attendance mandated by law - but the reality in most denominations is decline. The Scottish Episcopal Church overall is declining, and has been for many years. The numbers dying, or drifting away are not being replaced by new people walking through the doors, either connected to existing members or 'converts' from either other denominations or from a position of no faith. A great deal of anxious discussion takes place (like the social media post described above) about 'what are we doing wrong?'. The comments on