Figures showing further decline in the number of Scots who say they are religious do not represent the full picture, the Church of Scotland has insisted.
The latest Scottish Household Survey revealed nearly half of Scots don't identify with a religion – a steady rise from 2009 when 40 per cent said they had no faith. The data also showed a continued drop in the proportion who say they belong to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland from 34 per cent in 2009 to just 25 per cent in 2015.
Rev Dr Richard Frazer, convener of the Church and Society Council and a minister in Edinburgh, said the figures only tell a "small part of the story," however.
He said the decline in affiliation to formal religion was "not surprising" but said increasingly "people express an openness to faith and spirituality without feeling it necessary to tie that into to affiliation to a church".
He insisted the Church is successfully adapting to this "changing nature of faith" and said people continue to have spiritual needs even if they would not declare themselves religious.
"Many of the initiatives of the Church of Scotland over recent years have sought to meet people where they are, rather than expecting everyone to come to the church," he said.
"We have almost 1,400 congregations, and there are many where activities throughout the week are as much a part of church life as the activity of Sunday morning worship.
"In some cases there may even be more people affiliated to groups associated with the church than there are church members. These activities include everything from lunch clubs, mother and toddler groups, social enterprises and the organising of professional support such as counselling and social care, offered to everyone, regardless of belief."
He pointed to the Kirk's recent "Take a Pew" video campaign as an effort to reach beyond the dwindling numbers in church pews. He also highlighted the Church's care arm, CrossReach, as an example of providing for the vulnerable.
The value of the Church of Scotland was "incalculable", he said.
"If these latest statistics provide something of a challenge, they will not diminish the social impact the Church of Scotland has in communities the length and breadth of the country."
