Churches (or Not!) of Scotland

I am used to identifying churches by their steeples. Well, in Scotland most of the buildings I identified as churches were not. 

This first one, Church of Scotland, Calder Parish church was.

And I spotted a church next to what we thought was a church (One Church):

But it turned out to be a funeral home, and we sort of crashed the funeral, jumping sidewalks just as the bagpiper started to play to release the hearse. We jumped sidewalks quickly and I didn't get a photo.

And then we saw these church-looking buildings housed apartment homes.

We didn't make it over to see if this spire was on a church, or something else.

We saw a few spired buildings on our Highlands tour.

Our tour bus parked near Sts Peter and Benedict Roman Catholic Chapel.

Edinburg had lots of spires, but I only identified some as churches:

St Giles Cathedral

St Columba’s Free Church

We saw a very small chapel (St Margaret's Chapel) up at Edinburg Castle.

And then a few churches walking home from our ride on ScotRail:

Bellshill St. Andrew’s United Free Church of Scotland

Bellshill and Bothwell Parish Church West Halls (but the actual church building was for sale?)

I stopped taking pictures of churches repurposed for other things [like The Hub in Edinburg-gorgeous, but no longer a church (Edinburg International Festival, n.d.).

Props to Scotland for repurposing famous buildings, but is this indicative of spiritual decline in the country? Because that would be even sadder than letting some church buildings go into disuse. Building won't last forever. Souls will!

Postscript: Indeed, the above is true. In 2022, the Census showed that 51% of Scotland's population claimed "no religion" (Carrell, 2024). Catholicism, Church of Scotland membership, and Christianity are all falling. Sad times for a nation with such a rich history of seeking after and following God-or is that what it was? Maybe it was religion, not relationship, which once again is very said in terms of eternity.

References:

Carrell, S. (2024, May 21). Majority of people in Scotland have no religion, census shows. The guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/may/21/majority-of-people-in-scotland-do-not-believe-in-any-religion-census-shows

Edinburg International Festival. (n.d.). History of The Hub. https://www.eif.co.uk/festival-guide-2/history-of-the-hub