Publications

Our flagship publication is, of course, Churches to Visit in Scotland.

However, the Scheme also publishes four brochures explaining how to research and present your church's story, and how to welcome visitors to your church.

How To Secure Your Church
Open churches are the safest ones. Buildings used by people on a regular basis and displaying a high level of activity are less likely to be targeted by vandals. Police statistics indicate that a church is much more likely to suffer criminal damage if it is locked and seldom visited.

Yet security remains the biggest single concern for those wishing to open their churches, whether they are rural or urban buildings.

This eight-page leaflet is packed with tips and advice on types of threat, personal security and protecting the building fabric and contents.
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How To Research Your Church's Story
'Every church building is the house of a congregation with a story to tell'

This six-page leaflet describes how to access and use known history, verbal history, physical evidence, church records, local sources, state sources and specialist national sources.

Written for those who have decided to 'do it themselves' rather than employ a professional historian, the brochure also suggests ways of harnessing volunteers' interest and use their skills to best effect.
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How To Present Your Church's Story
Visitors to your church, people in your area and community, school pupils, members of the congregation - how can you tell them your church's story in ways that are interesting, challenging and fun?

This four-page brochure will help define the story, make best use of research, and then tell the story itself using leaflets, tours, audio, interpretative panels and trails.

Advice is also offered on weaving current information about the life and work of the church into historical material.
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How To Welcome Visitors To Your Church
The purpose of this six-page leaflet is to offer practical help to any church wishing to improve its welcome to visitors, or to review its arrangements for opening the building and organising such a welcome.

By offering simple, practical guidelines, SCS hopes to suggest steps to ensure that visitors enjoy the experience of exploring your church.

Much of the advice offered is straightforward and can be implemented quickly and at virtually no cost.
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