In recent years and as congregations dwindle, Scotland’s churches have been turned into flats, shops and even pubs.
But one group of worshippers has bucked the trend and snapped up a local health centre to accommodate an expanding population.
Tain and Fearn Free Church recently purchased the old NHS building on Scotsburn Road for more than £100,000 – after deciding against bidding for a bus depot and a care home.
They intend to construct a new multi-purpose church facility over the coming years.
In the past few years numbers at Sunday services in Tain have almost doubled, meaning that latecomers and occasionally visitors are having to sit in the very front pews because of the church’s limited 120-capacity.
The Fearn end of the congregation completed a £50,000 extension earlier this year, because they had run out of room for children’s activities.
It poses an encouraging problem for minister Rev Alasdair MacAulay and the church leadership.
Rev MacAulay said: “Tain and Fearn currently covers an area that used to have five congregations. We have folk coming from all these areas to our services.
“The Fearn congregation was united with Tain about five years ago, when it was vacant and unable to support a full-time ministry of its own with Sunday attendances in the low 20s.
“Fearn now has over 50 attending each Sunday morning with a large number of kids.
“To cater for these a new extension to the hall there has just been completed.
“Most of the work was done voluntarily by tradesmen in the congregation which kept the cost to a minimum.”
He added: “The Tain end has also grown from attendances of around 60 on a Sunday morning to around 90 now on a regular basis and it is not infrequent to see over 100.
“Our building could hold 120 if all the seats were filled but even at current capacity it is difficult for families to find a place where they can all sit together.
“It can be difficult for new folk as they may need to come to the front for a seat.”
The congregation had considered various options to solve their building headache, including demolishing and rebuilding on their current site, purchasing a neighbouring bus depot and even a former care home.
In the end, they bought the old Tain Health Centre – the site is 0.66 acres including ample parking space too, and close the present church enabling the congregation to remain in the same area of town.
