“Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.” (Haggai 1:7 NKJV)
In 2025, three church buildings in and around Glasgow were reduced to ashes. The newspapers called it tragic. The Holy Spirit called it a warning.
To the world, they were just old buildings catching fire. To those with eyes to see, they are solemn signposts of a deeper tragedy.
- Pollokshaws Parish Church – 7 December 2025
A beautiful 182-year-old Georgian sanctuary, once filled with the sound of psalms and preaching.
By the time the flames came, the pews had been empty for years. The congregation merged away in 2019, services stopped in 2020, and the doors stayed locked. The glory had departed long before the roof fell in. Ichabod was already written over the door (1 Samuel 4:21).
- Christ Apostolic Church, Govan Road – 17 October 2025
Another church went quiet. The people who used to go there moved on, leaving only the shell of a building. When the fire brigade showed up, it was empty, no one inside to save, because no one had been there for ages to worship, hear the Word being preached or pray.
- St Mungo’s Church, Cumbernauld – 2 August 2025
This one hurts the most. Unlike the others, St Mungo’s was still alive, Sunday services, youth work, weddings, a merged parish with a fresh vision. Then, in one night of deliberate arson, a B-listed landmark that pointed to heaven for sixty years was gutted.
The people of God lost their spiritual home, yet even here the Lord is speaking: “Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these’” (Jeremiah 7:4).
You see, folk, God never promised to preserve steeples and stained glass. He promised to build His Church, and the gates of hell won’t prevail against that (Matthew 16:18).
But He sure can remove a lampstand when the light goes dim (Revelation 2:5).
And when the preaching goes soft on sin, soft on the blood, soft on the Word… well, sometimes the Lord lets the building burn, so we’ll quit trusting in the building.
I’m not up here to throw rocks at anybody. I’m just saying: don’t put your confidence in denominations, or moderator titles, or how pretty the architecture is. Only place your trust in Jesus; He is the sole foundation that fire cannot damage.
Empty sanctuaries do not catch fire by accident; they are already cold before the flames arrive.
Yet the true Church is not stone and timber. The true Church is every blood-bought believer who refuses to bow to the spirit of this age.
While denominations drift into unbelief, ordaining what God forbids, doubting what God has plainly said, Christ is quietly building His remnant. House churches, Bible studies, Gospel halls, and little flocks who still preach the whole counsel of God are springing up across Scotland.
I’ve seen this before. I really enjoy the stories from the Jesus Movement era and the Jesus Freaks. I often wear my Jesus Revolution hoodie when watching movies or documentaries about those days.
They would walk up to dying churches and say, “Let us use your building, we’ve got hippies getting saved by the dozens.”
The answer came back, “No, we’re selling it to the Masonic lodge.”
So, they met on the beach, in tents, in school gyms… and the Lord built Calvary Chapel anyway.
I know exactly how that feels.
Over a decade ago in Helensburgh, I saw two Church of Scotland buildings close down. The Park Church was sold to Buddhists, and the Sinclair Street church became “The Tower” cinema. Each time, I wrote to plead, “Let me rent it. I’ll keep the Gospel alive.” But I received no response. My requests for the Scout Hall and Churchill Community Centre were also ignored.
So what did I do?
I started Bible studies with believers in the middle of Costa Coffee and Waterstones in Glasgow city centre, pulled chairs around a table, opened our Bibles, and taught the Bible verse by verse for over a year.
Right there between the lattes and the novels, people got saved and got deeper in a walk with Jesus, through the Word of God.
At one point, I was seated with twelve people around a table, similar to Jesus and the Upper Room. Unfortunately, culture eventually made that impossible, but the fire within me still burns.
I believe the Lord is speaking to each of us in Scotland today:
“I’m not seeking a cathedral, but a table. Give me twelve people again, or even just one or a few, and I will do everything anew.”
Buildings can be destroyed. The cinema can replace the pews. The Buddhists can keep the organ. Jesus only requires a living room, a kitchen table, a bandstand, or a community hall in the back room.
If you live anywhere near Helensburgh, Garelochhead, Dumbarton, the lochs, or even just passing through on the train or bus… and you’re hungry for the Bible taught straight, sin called sin, Jesus lifted high, and the Holy Spirit welcome…
Please message me.
Bring your Bible and a biscuit. We’ll find a table, whether it’s just you or a small group. Maybe twelve again, or even a hundred tomorrow.
The buildings are burning, but the Builder is still on the job.
Who’s in for the next twelve?
Peter
Helensburgh, Scotland
“Preaching Christ crucified, risen, and coming again”