According to the latest UK Church Statistics report (2020), Dumfries and Galloway currently has the lowest percentage church attendance of any Scottish council area. In 2016, 4.6% of the population here attended church, second only to East Lothian (4.5%). However by 2025 Dumfries and Galloway’s church attendance is forecast to drop to 2.8% by 2025 - with the next worst being Clackmannanshire at 3.1%.
For Scotland as a whole, the figure was 7.2% in 2016, forecast to drop to 5.5% by 2025.
Of course, the percentage of the population attending a Bible-believing church will be much lower.
We have previously discussed the closure of churches in Stranraer and Wigtownshire, while Stephen also contributed an article for the Free Press pointing out that even in churches that remain open, the Bible has long since been stolen from unsuspecting churchgoers.
We have recently begun a new series in church on the book of Nehemiah examining both how we got here and where we go from here, as we pray and work to see the church of Jesus Christ revitalised both in Stranraer and throughout Scotland.