ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the percentage of people attending church in European countries in general, and Scotland in particular, has fallen and in no case has this decline been reversed except in some specific congregations. This decline has not been due to any lack of enthusiasm among Scottish Churches in seeking to engage in evangelism and mission. Edinburgh is a useful case study when examining the decline of affiliation with the Church in contemporary society. Edinburgh is no longer 'bible-black, pickled in boredom by centuries of sermons, swaddled in the shabby gentility of the Kirk', but growth in the midst of decline is occurring. The congregation of Morningside United Church is a union of the United Reformed Church and the Church of Scotland. They intentionally seek to be inclusive, open to dialogue and not to draw boundaries. There are 57 Episcopal churches in Edinburgh, reporting 8,529 communicants in 2001 although those who take communion are not necessarily Church members.
