BY its very nature, radical reform is never easy. As Rev Dr Doug Gay will tell a Church of Scotland audience tonight at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, major institutional reform of any body, whether it is the NHS, a university or a large charity, entails some measures being enacted that will be very difficult for some people thus affected.

The hope, however, is that the changes will benefit the institution as a whole.

That surely is the spirit in which Mr Gay’s third and final Chalmers Lecture should be taken by all of those in the audience tonight, by those who work at121 George Street and by everyone in the wider Kirk.

In his lectures Mr Gray has offered what the church itself describes as a “candid, forthright and bold analysis of the state of the church ... and the choices facing it”.

Such an analysis is timely, given the difficulties that are already facing the Church of Scotland and that, assuredly, will continue to confront it.

There are those in the church who, for perfectly understandable reasons, might shrink from some of the radical thoughts that Mr Gay will outline.

Reducing the number of presbyteries from the present total of 46 to just 12 regional ones is an idea that will stir unease in those who will think it a step too far.

Mr Gay also suggests the merger of central councils and the decentralising of power.

But the incontestable fact is that something has to be done. Change, whether radical or of a milder but still daring stripe, will have to be considered.

The key aim of radical reform, as Mr Gay asserts, will be to offer more effective support to the work of local congregations.

He also observes that the church will, over the next 13 years, have to close unsustainable churches and manage those that are in decline.

If nothing else, his prescriptions will offer Kirk members serious food for thought. Decline in membership and in the number of ministers are matters that require urgent attention.

There is, as someone once told Mr Gay, no place left to hide.