The document discusses the decline of church membership in various Christian denominations in the UK and proposes that Messy Church is an approach that can help reverse this trend. It provides details on what Messy Church is, its principles, a typical session, and a positive personal account of a family's experience with Messy Church. Research is cited showing membership declines for Methodist, Church of Scotland, and Church in Wales denominations by certain dates if current rates continue. Fifteen reasons for religious disillusionment and declining faith are also listed.
4. If the current rate of decline is not arrested the Methodist Church will have zero membership by 2037. Philip Richter & Leslie Francis: Gone but not Forgotten (London: DLT, 1998) If it continues to shrink at the present rate, the Church of Scotland will close its last congregation in 2033. Callum Brown: The Death of Christian Britain (London: Routledge, 2001) Unless something happens to reverse the decline it is experiencing, the Church in Wales will be unsustainable by 2020 Heather Wraight: ‘Strategic Thinking from a Christian Perspective’ (London: Christian Research Association, 2002) Melt down :
