About Sacred ScotlandOrgan Playing Fund

The Sacred Scotland theme promoted by Scotland's Churches Scheme focuses on the wish of both visitors and local communities to be able to access our wonderful range of church buildings in a meaningful way - whether the visit be occasioned by spiritual or heritage motivation or both.


Scotland's Churches Scheme can advise and assist member churches on visitor welcome, and with its range of "how-to" brochures (see Publications), provide information on research, presentation, security and other live issues.

The Scheme, with its network of Local Representatives, encourages the opening of doors, the care of tourists and locals alike, and offers specific services such as the provision of grants for organ playing.




What is Scotland's Churches Scheme

Scotland's Churches Scheme is an ecumenical Charitable Trust, providing an opportunity to access the nation's living heritage of faith by assisting the "living" churches in membership to:

  • Work together with others to make the Church the focus of the community
  • Open their doors with a welcoming presence
  • Tell the story of the building (however old or new), its purpose and heritage (artistic, architectural and historical)
  • Provide information and care for visitors, young and old


Scotland possesses a surprising and delightful diversity in the range of buildings designed for worship, deriving in part from its complicated and rich church history.

The Scheme has grown rapidly since its inception in 1994 and there are now more than 1200 churches in membership, operating an "open doors" policy.

These churches are spread across Scotland and across all the religious denominations. They contain a significant part of the nation's heritage with the major proportion being 'listed' buildings, many being Category A.

Scotland's Churches Scheme has successfully promoted access to the nation's ecclesiastical heritage, with many of our buildings - large and small, urban and rural - in membership.

The Scheme's success to date, over a relatively short period, is hugely encouraging and has the potential of further raising the awareness of our spiritual heritage and making it more accessible to a wider audience.