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Church of Scotland
UK News

Church in Scotland increases by 230% in 9 years

by Cara Bentley

The church, called Inverness St Columba New Charge, meets in a special needs school and has seen its congregation increase in size by more than 230% since its inception nine years ago, having 30 people when they started and around 100 now. 

Over half of the attendees are under 40, thirty of them are under 18 and a couple of people are in their 80s.

The church was founded after St Columba High Church, also in Inverness, closed.

Minister, Rev Scott McRoberts, 36, thinks the congregation will continue to grow, saying: "We are born from the sale of an old church in the city centre because what was needed was a church in a new community housing estate.

"The form of gathering and worship is very modern and relaxed in style. We don't have an organ, we have a modern praise band instead. It is a very different image of the Church of Scotland from what a lot of people who live in the parish might remember from their childhood."

He added: "A lot of the sermons are focused on knowing and loving Jesus and how he shapes our families, workplaces and the culture around us.

"It is stuff that connects with the day-to-day lives of the folks in their 30s, 40s and 50s who are raising kids and working in professions.

"We're interested in God's answers to today's identity questions, and our church's vision is we are people discovering and sharing that life in Jesus is infinitely fuller."

The church are raising money to build a space of their own which could also be used to serve the community on a new site, estimating it will cost about £2 million, about half of which they've raised. 

The minister said: "At a time where there is not a lot of community space in the area, lots of houses going up and people experiencing loneliness, wounded mental health and huge pressures of busyness carried on the shoulders of individuals, we would like to enable the development of a flourishing community."

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