Dalton Kirk, Dumfriesshire

The church at Dalton in Dumfries closed in the September of last year; I called the month following. It is another property on the market, another liquidised asset for the Kirk, assuming they can find anyone to buy it. In its grounds, ironically, is its ruined predecessor from the eighteenth century, a disused shell sitting among the graves. If the latter closed because the congregation outgrew its premises, the former closed because it outgrew its congregation. This is what happens when churches grow and churches decline: buildings which were once adequate become too small, while buildings which were once adequate become too large as congregants deplete. Offer spiritual food and the hungry come; offer nothing, and all leave. 

And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested. 1 Chronicles 4:10