Christians or not, we can all take hope from the Christmas message – Murdo Fraser

The findings of the recent census for England and Wales that only 46 per cent of the population identified as Christian, down from 72 per cent two decades ago, provoked a degree of handwringing amongst commentators.

For some, this was demonstrative of a long-term depressing trend of the rise of secularism, whilst for others it was welcome evidence that an increasingly sophisticated population was turning its back on superstition.

We do not yet, of course, have the figures for Scotland given that our census was delayed, but when they are published I would fully expect them to show similar findings. Certainly there is plenty evidence of a decline in support for organised religion here, not least in the dwindling attendances in many church congregations.

The national church, the Church of Scotland, is facing a crisis when it comes to numbers. In 1956 the membership was counted at 1.3 million. Today it is a fraction of that at 312,000, and in rapid decline.

We see evidence of this all around us. Country churches which two decades ago had 50 to 60 regular worshippers, with a choir and a small Sunday school, have dwindled today to barely a dozen hardy souls, not one under the age of 60. With deaths and departures from membership outnumbering new joiners by a factor of more than 20 to one, the future for such congregations is not difficult to predict.

These challenges are laid bare in the mission plans being drawn up by Kirk presbyteries across the country. In my own home presbytery of Perth, the decline in attendances, coupled with a reduction in funding, is leading to the number of full-time ministries being cut from 26 to 16.5. The consequence of this is that a number of existing churches will close entirely, whilst others will be linked or united with neighbouring congregations. It is an understandable, but deeply depressing, response to the catastrophic drop in church attendance.

All this mirrors the decline of the relevance of the Kirk in the national life of the country. Recently reading Stuart Kelly’s tremendous book “The Minister and the Murderer”, on the admission of the convicted killer James Nelson as a Kirk minister, I was struck by just how significant were the proceedings of the General Assembly of 1984 – just a generation ago – in the life of the nation.

At that point, and even more recently, there were nightly news bulletins, TV special programmes, and acres of newsprint devoted to matters being discussed. Today, barring an unhealthy obsession with anything to do with matters of human sexuality, proceedings at the General Assembly barely warrant a mention in most media.

The essential Christmas message is one of hope for the future through faith in Jesus Christ (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The decline of the Kirk is not in itself typical of the experience of all Christian churches in Scotland. Attendances at the Roman Catholic Church have seen something of a revival with a large influx of new members from the Polish community over the last two decades. The Free Church of Scotland, once considered a bastion of Highland theological conservatism, has been expanding its base with new churches in communities across the Central Belt. And we have seen the rise of new evangelical congregations attracting young people in large numbers in our cities.

It would also be wrong to see a decline in Christianity as part of a world-wide phenomenon. While much of western Europe might be going the same way as the UK, the situation internationally is very different. In Asia, Africa and South America, the church is growing rapidly. Despite persecution, the growth of Protestant Christianity in China is exponential, with an estimated 38 million adherents today. Brazil is estimated to have more than 65 million Protestant Christians, many in the evangelical tradition, representing the second largest Protestant population in the western world.

Seen against these international trends, the decline in identification with Christianity demonstrated in the census would put us out of step with trends elsewhere. I would suspect, however, that many of those ticking the box marked “no faith” would consider themselves culturally Christian even if they had themselves no personal belief.

We will see this writ large this very week, as families across the country prepare for the annual Christian festival that is Christmas. Many will not give much thought to the underlying Christian message as they write cards, wrap presents and put up decorations, but it is impossible to escape.

Were it not for Christ, there would not be Christmas. Were it not for the fact that God came to Earth in human form, to be born and, in time, to die on the Cross to take away the sins of the world, there would be no annual festival to celebrate, no family gatherings, no exchanging of presents, and no season of goodwill.

The claim that Christianity simply reinvented ancient pagan festivals and claimed them as their own is one that has been largely debunked by historians such as Tom Holland. Christmas is not some ancient rite which has been rebadged with angels, shepherds, and an infant Jesus. It is a distinctively Christian festival, whether or not all those who celebrate it acknowledge it as such.

So this weekend, in between the celebrations, the feasting and the family arguments, it would be worth us all just reflecting for a moment what exactly this season is all about. Whether we identify as Christians for the census or not, the essential Christmas message of hope for the future through faith in Jesus Christ should resonate with us all.

In the words of Phillip Brooks’ famous hymn:

“The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in thee tonight.”

Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife