The most important Christian leaders in Scotland have decided to conduct a census on 12 May 2002. It will involve all the Christian denominations. The changes in the life of the church and in society in recent years have prompted the Churches to investigate what’s happening also in the Christian communities. The Census will investigate attendance at Mass during the week and try to understand how many people participate in the activities organized by the various churches, though without showing any interest in Mass. “The information we’ll obtain from the census said the Catholic Archbishop O’Brien is indispensable in helping us to plan for the future. If we have a snapshot of each Scottish congregation we’ll be able to gauge the spiritual temperature of the nation”. Also eagerly awaiting the results of the census is the Scottish Presbyterian Church, the most important Christian denomination in the country, which keeps a register of all the faith who take communion with regularity; it is called the “communion roll”. “This third Scottish census says the Rev. John Miller, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland provides us with an excellent opportunity to collect significant, accurate and useful information”. The Census is being conducted by Peter Brierley of the association “Christian Research”, which also handled the last two censuses in 1984 and 1994. S.G.
