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THIS year has been designated the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology across Scotland, with a focus on encouraging visitors to learn more about our land.

As demonstrated by our regular (and popular) series by John R Hume, which focuses on the buildings of the Church, the Church of Scotland is rich in all three.

Every church has a story to tell – some of struggle, some of change and some of a long-standing Christian presence, sometimes pre-dating the Reformation.

Whilst the built heritage of the Church is not always attractive or even sustainable for 21st century congregations, the buildings provide a tangible presence in communities, representing continuity and stability and connections with the torchbearers of faith who preceded today’s generation. The buildings themselves have given a clear message to the people of our land of a constancy and commitment, even during times of turbulent social and political change. The buildings represent the church’s connections with the past, present and future.

The Church has also been blessed with a number of beautiful and historic buildings that attract many visitors, eg St Giles in Edinburgh, Glasgow Cathedral, Paisley Abbey, Dunfermline Abbey and St Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen (although this is not an exhaustive list of the historic built heritage of our Church). This year represents an opportunity to promote the living church of today through its historic connections to the past, whilst offering a chance to demonstrate the key role of the Church of Scotland in shaping the Scotland of today.

“The buildings themselves have given a clear message to the people of our land of a constancy and commitment, even during times of turbulent social and political change.

However, it is not just tourists who may be interested in our heritage. Many people can be unaware of the treasure trove of history sitting on their doorstep within their own community. I well remember discovering as a schoolgirl that one of the churches in my hometown had some Norman remains within its grounds – a discovery made by accident, rather than intention. The discovery sparked my interest in history and yet remains largely unknown amongst local people.

History and knowing where we came from and what happened to our communities in the past is of interest to a wide number of people – not necessarily just those simply interested in Christianity or our local churches.

By pulling together a little potted history of individual church buildings, incorporating key moments in its history and journey to the place of today and promoting this through information boards, leaflets or on websites or online, local communities might be encouraged to come into the building to learn more.

By using stories from the past, it might be possible to grow our faith communities of today and tomorrow.

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