One in ten children is regular churchgoer says survey

Published on Wednesday 3 September 2008 22:06

TEN per cent of secondary schoolchildren go to a Church of Scotland service every week, it emerged yesterday.

And one-third of 11 to 18-year-olds attend a service at least once a year, according to a Church of Scotland survey.

The results also show 27 per cent of young people believe in God, with 43 per cent saying they believe in Heaven.

Steve Mallon, youth specialist with the Church of Scotland, said responses from the Scotland-wide poll of 2,221 pupils were extremely welcoming.

He said: "These findings provide an interesting snapshot of the attitudes young people may have to faith and ideas specifically about the Church and Christianity.

"The numbers saying they believe in God are higher than many commentators would expect. Clearly, many young people still value the religious dimension in life."

Ronnie Convery, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, said: "These figures show young people do have a religious sensitivity which no amount of secularisation can extinguish."

However, Werner Jeanrond, professor of divinity at Glasgow University, called the figures "depressing".

He added: "We have to look at what churches are doing to communicate with youngsters. Even 10 per cent going every week is nothing to be happy about. There is also a big gap between 10 per cent going weekly and one-third going to church once a year."