CHURCH of Scotland membership has fallen by more than a third in the last decade, according to data from the General Assembly.

A repot said there was a 34% drop in church membership between 2011 and 2021, with no sign of the trend changing.

But the Kirk is set to make up to £25million available over the next seven years for projects to grow local churches and create new congregations, despite the decline.

Measures are already underway across the country to merge congregations due to a shortage of ministers and falling income

A report from the Assembly Trustees said the income of congregations badly affected by covid would not recover to pre-pandemic levels this year or next.

The Very Reverend Dr John Chalmers, convener of the Assembly Trustees, said the Kirk had to find new ways of being accessible, relevant and real.

He said the new Seeds for Growth fund, to be launched in October, would fund projects aimed at growing the local churches and creating new congregations.

Dr Chalmers said: "In my lifetime we have gone from a church of 1.3 million members to fewer than 300,000.

“Our contact with children and our reach to millennials and Generation Z are marginal.

"These missing generations are our children and our children's children.

"They are not without a desire for spiritual nourishment.

“They are still in search for meaning and they share many of our values.

“But all evidence suggests the ways in which these generations will pursue their search for meaning will not be through a top-heavy religious institution.

“We must invest seriously in new ventures, pioneer ministry and church planting.

"The time has come for us to cast our bread upon the water before the last one of us finds it is time to switch off the lights and redistribute what is left to other charities with similar aims."

The Assembly also voted in favour for the church to set up a scheme to support parish ministers who find themselves in hardship amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Although living in manses, ministers had to meet all utility costs from their stipends.

The Rev Bryan Kerr, from Forth Valley and Clydesdale presbytery, said some ministers were in ‘abject fear’ over their fuel bills.

While some manses were modern, others were old and hard to heat and ministers had no control over upgrading or insulation.

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Mr Kerr told the Assembly: "I've spoken with ministers who are considering whether they can continue to afford to live in the manse and therefore continue to be a parish minister.”

And the Rev Iain Machjer from Bothwell said: "This winter fills me with fear and the realisation hard decisions will have to be made by us as a family."