Space number 23 in the parking lot of St. Giles Cathedral is believed to hold the grave of Scottish reformer John Knox. Church history enthusiasts may be dismayed to learn that the Presbyterian founding father has such a utilitarian resting place. Equally surprising, perhaps, is the current spiritual state of a nation with such a theological heritage.
Census data from 2022 shows the majority of the people of Scotland now identify themselves as having “no religion.” One in five Scots (20%) identify with the state Church of Scotland, and 5% see themselves as “Christian–Other.” The percentage of evangelicals may be closer to 2%, according to Keith Knowlton, Mission to the World’s U.K. regional director.
“I think people don’t really recognize how post-Christian the U.K., and especially Scotland, is. It’s a secular nation,” Knowlton said.
But the dominant secular culture has not dampened the work of ministry. A vibrant church planting effort is underway in hopes of establishing 30 new churches by 2030. These church plants represent a partnership between MTW and the Free Church of Scotland, and with 17 churches already planted, they are more than halfway there.
The Free Church of Scotland broke from the Church of Scotland in 1843. Driving that split was “a growing divide between evangelicals and moderates within the church and issues of spiritual independence between church and state,” Knowlton explained.
While the Church of Scotland is now the largest denomination within the county, Knowlton says there are few evangelical churches within the denomination. According to 2021 numbers, the Church of Scotland has 283,600 members – down from a peak of 1.3 million in the late 1950s. As churches close, three or four parishes will merge to form one.
The Free Church is evangelical and Reformed Presbyterian, though a denominational minority with a little over 100 congregations.
“[While] many of these churches are small and struggling, we’re actually seeing growth in the domination,” Knowlton said. “There’s a big effort toward church planting and church revitalization, and MTW has the unique privilege of assisting the Free Church in their 30 by 30 initiative.”
MTW plays a supporting role with this initiative, seeking to provide support, resources, and manpower to the Free Church’s efforts.
“My goal is not just to grow MTW’s footprint in the U.K. for the sake of MTW,” Knowlton said. “But because we have national partners who have the vision and mission of seeing Reformed Presbyterian churches grow, I want to be all about supporting what they’re doing and embedding our people within the local church for the sake of the gospel and growth.”
This mindset is important for American missionaries coming into the mission field in Scotland. MTW isn’t interested in concentrating American Christians in one place. “If we can embed our people within the local church to serve the vision, mission of the Free Church and individual churches, that’s much healthier.”
MTW has been in Scotland since 2000, though the relationship with the Free Church was not always as healthy and collaborative as it is today. Much of the last decade has been spent intentionally rehabilitating that relationship and building trust with the Free Church.
What does this partnership look like? At the leadership level, Knowlton meets monthly with the Free Church’s mission director. He also works to build relationships with elders in the various churches and preaches regularly to ease the load of the 20% of churches experiencing vacancies.
Spiritual Support in a Secular Environment
The partnership can take many forms depending on the church and the ministry involved. Robbie Sweet has been in Scotland since 2015 working in youth ministry as a part of MTW NEXT. Three years ago, he and his family moved to Glasgow to join the partnership with the Free Church.
“Our primary role has been partnering with local churches trying to help either start or serve ongoing youth work,” Sweet said. “A big part of the vision of NEXT is to facilitate the multiplication of leaders within it…trying to identify leaders within churches or churches themselves that would like us to come alongside just for training, equipping, encouraging, resourcing, that kind of thing.”
Sweet says the churches in Scotland often have a missing demographic of young people as church attendance tends to drop off among 12- to 18-year-olds. Sweet helps to run a citywide youth group for Glasgow that partners with four to five Free Church congregations in the city.
This summer served as a prime example of the partnership between MTW and the Free Church in action. MTW assisted with holiday clubs, a decades-old Free Church tradition, which Sweet compares to Vacation Bible School in the U.S. Ten camps around the country drew 350 young people with hundreds of volunteers. Volunteers include the main leaders, assistant leaders, and even cooks who provide home cooking.
Additionally, the NEXT team was invited to co-lead a Teen Conference, the equivalent of an American weekend youth retreat. The conference was specifically aimed at equipping teens preparing to finish high school. Teens from all over the country attended, giving the team an opportunity to hear more about the life of the church around Scotland. These summer ministry events facilitated growing relationships among youth leaders and momentum to carry out the ongoing work of youth ministry.
“Our big heart is how can we, as MTW people in the places where we’re serving, help the summer camp, not just be a summer experience, but how can our churches be places that do ongoing care and discipleship for our young people?” Sweet said.
These summer ministry events are often such a spiritual highlight in a secular landscape that students will have reunions throughout the year. Because the country is so small (about the size of South Carolina), even teens on opposite ends of the country can reach a meeting point in just a few hours. Because the hunger for fellowship is strong, it’s a trip many are willing to make.
For teens in Scotland, Sweet says there’s no social capital for youth ministry involvement. In fact, the opposite is true. “It’s a net negative on your social life to be sure,” Sweet said. “There’s just something really beautiful about the faith of those young people, and of those camp leaders who are willing to give of their time.”
When youth ministry is stripped down to essentials, the power of simple faithfulness becomes apparent. Sweet says he’s learned the value of a caring adult showing up. Serving in a spiritually difficult climate, he finds encouragement in the faithfulness of God.
“He doesn’t promise the way results are going to happen, but he promises that he’s going to be the same yesterday, today and forever,” Sweet said. “And so my hope is that he’s going to be the same, and it’s worth it to keep being here, to keep with the vision that we’ve been drawn to and the call that we have.”
Erin Jones is a contributing writer for byFaith.