Scottish Church Leader: Don't Force Church on Children

The moderator of the Church of Scotland has warned parents not to "force" church on their children, WORLD News Service reports.  According to the newspaper The Scotsman, the Rt. Rev. Albert Bogie "believes it may be counterproductive for the iPod generation to have to sit on pews and be made to listen to ministers 'rabbiting on.'"  It's no surprise that the 63-year-old minister's stand won praise from the National Secular Society.  On the other hand, Rev. David Robertson, of St. Peter's Free Church in Dundee, said the problem in Scotland is not ministers "rabbiting on," but a "famine" in preaching and hearing "the word of the Lord."  The Church of Scotland, once dominant in Scottish life, now claims less than 10 percent of the population as adherents and regular attenders.  Officially, membership stands at about a half-million, down by more than half since the 1960s