gations of the Peterhead Grouping met together for a morning united
service at one of the Peterhead churches. St Andrews, Trinity, and the
Old Parish Church are the three Peterhead congregations in the Peter-
head Grouping. Little St Fergus Parish Church, the congregation I pas-
tor, is the fourth congregation of the Grouping. The village of St Fergus
is about three miles north of Peterhead.
Peterhead is a town of 16,000 people and has more than its fair share
of churches. I've heard it said that there are thirty three or so different congregations. Over half are Brethren fellowships. Peterhead is a key
centre of the Brethren. This larger area of North East Aberdeenshire
has been referred to as the Bible Belt of Scotland. The Church of Scot-
land has been the national church in the land. So it is not surprising
that there have been three Church of Scotland congregations. There
may have been more earlier in the last century.
But the Church of Scotland has been in steep decline all across the
country since the 1960s and 70s. Two of Peterhead's C of S congre-
gations are feeling the strains of smaller congregations that are growing older. Younger people
rarely turn out for worship at these churches, but go to more energetic non-denominational con-
gregations in the area, if they even attend church at all. I have heard it said that ten years ago,
no one would have thought seriously that the three churches should merge as one. There would
have been massive walkouts from the churches if the uniting had been done.
But two summers ago, the four churches (the three Peterhead churches and St Fergus) met
together and seriously discussed the plan to bring together the three town churches. Since
then representatives of the four churches have been meeting together to take further steps
to do just that. The Peterhead Working Committee is waiting on architectural and engineer-
ing analyses in order to decide how best to move ahead or drop the plan. The situation looks
bleak to some people; others are being cautious, waiting to see what develops; and a few are
more optimistic. The people in the three town churches see the serious challenges before
them, yet put their trust in the Lord who will guide for them and provide for them.
We have had six united services over the past two years. These united services were held
in one of the four congregations of the Peterhead Grouping in February, July, and Novem-
ber. On the Sunday that there was an united service, the congregation of the other three
would not have their own Sunday service, but would go to the church where the joint ser-
vice was to be held. Except for one or two times, turnout was not that high. Some people
chose to stay at home. But on February 8, we were pleasantly pleased by the turnout. We
at St Fergus Parish Church had 15 there, quite a surprise! Altogether there were about
180 people at the service. It was so nice to see. The spirit of the congregation was unlike
I'd ever sensed in other united services, let alone other church services.
I took the lead on planning the service. It was nice to be in front of a large congregation
that responded to those of us up front. Here were four congregations who were together
worshipping Jesus Christ as one congregation. I was up front with the other two leaders
and we enjoyed the full brunt of the beautiful singing of hymns with full gusto. It was a
service I will always remember. A lot of people commented on how there was such a
nice spirit there and that they enjoyed it. That's so great. I will write more about the ser-
vice in my next blog posting.
As always, blessings to you and yours,
2 comments:
Church growth research has shown that when churches merge you end up with a merged church the size of the biggest one that join together. Unless it is a God thing, it is not a good idea to merge. You don't gain anything.
Gary Nordin
That's true, Gary. I have even read that merged churches even end up smaller than the larger or largest congregations in the merger. You are very right that it has to be a God thing to merge. I really sense that in this case it is a God thing, without a doubt. Two of the congregations are in sharp decline now and one is holding its own. There is a energetic, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit inspired core in two of the congregations. Perhaps there is in the third as well. With those three cores, a critical mass of evangelism and ministry is reached that is not there if the three are separate. There is one church that united two congregations that has really taken off in the last few years since merging. It was very much a God thing. Five years ago there would not have been any chance of coming together. For the past two years there has been more and more people of the three congregations who are at least willing to discuss it. That in itself is a God-given miracle. Not one of the three congregations has full-time minister of their own. The only way this will come about is if it is a God thing.
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