Anglican Mainstream

By Gillan Scott, God and Politics in the UK

The issue of gay ministers will top the agenda at the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, four years after the first openly homosexual minister was appointed by the Kirk. The move caused divisions in the church and resulted in two congregations and six ministers breaking away.

At the heart of debate will be a report by the Theological Commission, which sets out arguments on both sides. But there is no guarantee of a final decision on the matter.

The General Assembly is the supreme court of the Church of Scotland and its annual national business meeting.

About 850 church commissioners – mainly ministers and elders – from across the church's 48 presbyteries, gather in the Assembly Hall on the Mound in Edinburgh for a week in May.

On the gay minister debate, the General Assembly has the option of "pausing for further reflection", which could delay a decision for another year. And even if church representatives agree on the way forward, rules dictate it must be approved at a presbytery level and then rubber-stamped at next year's General Assembly.

The dilemma facing the Church of Scotland goes back to 2009, when the openly gay minister Scott Rennie was appointed to the Queen's Cross parish in Aberdeen. He was backed by most of his congregation and by the General Assembly, but the decision resulted in protest and the break-away of a small number of congregations and ministers.

The issue returned at the Kirk's gathering in 2011, which voted to accept gay and lesbian clergy – on the condition they had declared their sexuality and were ordained before 2009. At that General Assembly, the theological commission was set up to report this year, before a final decision on the issue of gay ordination would be taken.

The 94-page report does not offer any conclusion or recommendations, but set out different paths the Kirk may want to take.

Read BBC News Report here

The Church of Scotland's General Assembly debate on same-sex marriage for clergy is available to watch on Live Webcast here

From The Christian Institute

An Aberdeen congregation and its minister have become the latest to leave the Church of Scotland over its ordination of homosexual clergy.

Gilcomston South’s minister Reverend Dominic Smart has resigned from the Kirk and will start holding separate services in a hotel in March.

Rev Smart said he had no choice: “The decision by the Church of Scotland represented a clear and deliberate move away from the authority of scripture as the word of God and our supreme rule of faith and life.”
 
He added: “We’ve experienced a great deal of unity and strength from within the congregation and we’re looking forward to moving ahead and doing something new.”

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland approved the appointment of an openly gay minister to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen in 2009.

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By Julian Mann, courtesy of Cranmer

The persecution by the Church of Scotland of St George's Tron, a thriving evangelical church in Glasgow city centre, reveals the ugly face of liberal bigotry. This ogre will haunt the Church of England if its militant liberal wing wins the argument over gay marriage.

St George's, now called The Tron Church, has left the Church of Scotland because of the decision by its General Assembly to accept practising homosexual ministers. The congregation has moved out of its building on which it has spent a lot of money recently refurbishing but, not content with that, the Church of Scotland has resorted to legal action over disputed assets.

Shortly before the congregation left its building, the Kirk called in Sheriff's officers over some items of movable property. The 'sheriffs' entered the building to 'serve papers' during the church family's mid-week prayer meeting. The Kirk is now complaining to the Scottish charity regulator over the transfer of financial assets to a charitable trust set up by St George's before the congregation left.

One of the ironies here is that the senior pastor of Tron, the Revd Dr William Philip, is one of the most gracious, kindly, humble Christians Cranmer's Curate has ever met. He undoubtedly shares many theological convictions in common with the magisterial Scottish Reformer John Knox, but temperamentally the two men are about as different as Brian Clough and Peter Taylor.

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By Roger Pearse

• demanded that the congregation either surrender or vacate the building (which they recently spent 2.5 million pounds — around $4m dollars — to put in order);
• demanded that the congregation also pay them 1 million pounds (around $1.5m) to repay a loan, made by the denomination to its congregation to refurbish a building which the denomination claims to own;
• demanded that the congregation also hand over the minister’s house, or manse, which the congregation purchased for its minister, thereby rendering him and his family homeless;
• demanded that the congregation also hand over its bibles, hymn books, etc.

From The Christian Institute

The Archbishop of Sydney, Dr Peter Jensen, has backed a Church of Scotland congregation which faces eviction because of its principled stand against gay clergy.

He has called for mediation to try and find a way for the congregation to continue using the facilities.

The members and leadership of St George’s Tron church in Glasgow had decided to cut ties with the Kirk over its failure to uphold biblical teaching.

The Kirk wants to seize the church’s building – even though the congregation largely funded a recent £3 million refurbishment.

In a letter to the press Dr Jensen said: “I write from afar with great sadness about the decision of the Glasgow Presbytery to deny the clergy and people of St George’s Tron an arrangement for the continued use of their buildings.

“As the general secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, I am all too aware that what we are seeing is part of a broader worldwide struggle.

Read here

From The Christian Institute

Children as young as five are being targeted to take part in a homosexual and transgender storytelling workshop at a Church of Scotland venue this weekend.

On Saturday youngsters have the opportunity to “explore the diverse makeup of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families in a child-friendly way” at the Scottish Storytelling Centre in Edinburgh.

Critics have accused activists of using the event to deliberately mislead children.
 
Norman Wells, from the Family Education Trust, said: “These events are part of a marketing exercise aimed at presenting as natural a type of family that cannot be created by natural means.

“But no matter how much effort is made to present positive images of families headed by lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people, and no matter how young and impressionable the audience, the fact remains that it takes a man and a woman to create a child.

Read here

From The Christian Institute

By Severin Carrell, Guardian

Breakaway church possible with up to 150 ministers ready to quit over ordination of gay clergy

From The Christian Institute

The Church of Scotland is set to lose more of its ministers following its decision to permit openly homosexual clergy.

Last week it emerged that two ministers from the Presbytery of Aberdeen were set to quit the Kirk.

They will be joined by three ministers from the Lochcarron and Skye Presbytery who are also poised to leave the denomination.

Revd Peter Dickson, minister at High Church, Hilton, Aberdeen, has resigned from the Kirk, saying that his position has become “untenable”.

Revd Dickson said: “I feel this is the only path left open for me which will enable me to continue to teach the scriptures with integrity.

“The Church of Scotland wants, sadly, to move on from the Bible and it has walked away from the teaching of Christ.”

Read here

From Scottish Daily Record

A FEMALE minister has shocked her congregation by revealing she has a girlfriend and plans to marry her.

One Church of Scotland elder has resigned and others could follow suit after Reverend Lynn Brady (pictured) told them of her civil partnership plans ahead of an emergency parish meeting this week.

The 47-year-old failed to show for yesterday's service at Newburgh Parish Church in Fife. Parishioners were told she'd gone on "holiday" and a locum minister took over.

A church source said: "The congregation are stunned – this has come as a complete surprise. There is a lot of division over the minister's sexuality.

"One of the elders has resigned and there are others considering their position."

"Personally, I don't think this is right and I don't believe in same-sex civil unions.

"Rev Brady has been a conscientious minister but this is going too far. A lot of us are stunned by this development. This is a quiet parish and we do not welcome the glare of publicity.

"The elders had agreed they would do everything they can to keep this quiet."

Rev Brady refused to comment yesterday.

Read here

By Julian Mann, Virtueonline

St George's Tron in Glasgow is a thriving Church of Scotland congregation. It is financially viable, it has young people and it is serving its local community. It is also a church where anyone struggling with homosexual issues would find love, understanding and biblical clarity.

Like the Church of England, its sister church by law established, the Church of Scotland is an ageing denomination facing financial and numerical meltdown. In a recent article in the Church of England Newspaper, church statistician Dr Peter Brierley predicted that the Church of Scotland will have halved in numbers by 2015 to 280,000 members, down from 560,000 in 2005.

St George's Tron is bucking the trend. But the decision by the Church of Scotland General Assembly to endorse same-sex relationships, contrary to what St George's believes is the clear teaching of the Holy Scripture, has severely alienated this vibrant church.

The issue for St George's is the authority of the Word of God.

Writing to his congregation in the wake of the decisive General Assembly vote to legitimise same-sex relationships, minister Dr William Philip declared: "Dear friends, as has become increasingly clear over recent months in the hostility we have already experienced from our presbytery, we are entering days of uncertainty and difficulty as a fellowship when our faith is going to be tested in many ways, some of which we cannot easily anticipate. This should not surprise us. Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" [Mark 8:34]. He warned that to be faithful would mean being at odds with many in the world and in the religious establishment, and indeed this has been the history of the church throughout the ages, and in our own land also.

Read here

From BBC News

An Aberdeen church is expected to break away from the Church of Scotland following the decision to allow the appointment of gay ministers.

Gilcomston South Church in Union Street will formally vote on the issue at a later date.

The Kirk's General Assembly last month voted to allow the induction of some gay ministers.

The Church of Scotland said it was disappointing any congregation would feel the need to leave.

The row began with the appointment of gay minister Scott Rennie at Aberdeen's Queen's Cross Church in 2009.

Gilcomston South's minister Reverend Dominic Smart told BBC Scotland: "The thing we disagree with is the way in which the Bible seems to have been marginalised."

He added in a statement: "Our decision is not a knee-jerk reaction. It is the culmination of careful study, sincere discussion and prayer over the past two-and-a-half years.

"We have weighed up many different options and believe the decision we have reached has the most integrity.

"Our decision comes from a view shared by most Christians."

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By Craig Brown, The Scotsman

A SECOND Kirk minister has announced that he is to quit the Church of Scotland over its controversial decision to move towards permitting openly homosexual clergy.

The Rev Andrew Coghill, whose church is in the Outer Hebrides, was among traditionalists who spoke out during last week's General Assembly – the governing body of the Kirk -warning that ordaining gay ministers would destroy the church.

At present ministers in a same-sex relationship can freely preach in the national church, if they were ordained before 2009 – the year the row blew up when the Rev Scott Rennie was appointed to an Aberdeen congregation.

A two-year theological commission will examine if the Kirk should allow the ordination of openly gay ministers.

Mr Coghill informed his congregation on Sunday that "in the light of the General Assembly's decision it is with the utmost sorrow and heartfelt grief" he would demit his charge at Leurbost Church in Lochs, Lewis, where he has served for nearly 20 years.

He said he would quit at the end of August, explaining his conscience would not allow him to stay in the Church after it departed from biblical teachings.

Mr Coghill said: "The Cross is not simply to be preached, it is to be lived.

"I do not expect, encourage or require that any of you should follow me out of the Church of Scotland, for I have nowhere to lead you, and I do not know the direction of my own future.

Read here

From BBC News

By Craig Brown, The Scotsman

FOR those Kirk members who feel compelled to leave the Church following today's vote, the question of where they go is littered with potential problems, both theological and practical.

If, as it would seem, it is more likely those in the traditionalist wing of the Church walk, then there are two options.

The first is to splinter entirely and form themselves into an entirely new presbyterian church. Such an outcome would be similar to that of the Disruption in 1843, when the Kirk split over the Church's relationship with the state, resulting in the formation of the Free Church of Scotland.

During this split, the congregations that departed abandoned the church buildings that they had previously worshipped in.

According to Kirk sources, though, it is thought that some departing congregations who have invested heavily in their own churches may try to retain their rights over the buildings.

Read here

By Peter Ould

Scotland‘s largest protestant church has voted to allow gay men and lesbians to become ministers.

by Bill Naphy, Scotsman

The result is actually rather bizarre. This seems to suggest that an individual church can call a gay/lesbian minister as long as the person has been ordained for two years and is "openly" gay.

What about those who are closeted? If they are elected and subsequently come out would their post be in question? What about someone ordained a day after the 2009 deadline?

It is also not clear to me what would happen to a minister already in a post who now comes out. It seems that the Kirk has, explicitly but with "restrictions", accepted that a gay/lesbian person can indeed have a vocation and serve a congregation in the Kirk.

That being the case, why the restrictions? What message does it send to someone who is currently training for the ministry who may actually be openly gay/lesbian? They seem to fall foul of a rather peculiar "grandfather clause". Alternatively, what about a person training for the ministry who is gay/lesbian but not out?

Read here

by Severin Carrell, Guardian

General assembly opens up prospects of church recognising civil partnerships for same-sex couples

Scotland's largest protestant church has swept away centuries of tradition and voted to allow gay men and lesbians to become ministers, opening up the prospect of the church allowing civil partnerships for same-sex couples.

The Church of Scotland imposed a temporary moratorium in 2009 on admitting gay and lesbian ministers after Scott Rennie became the first openly gay clergyman in a homosexual partnership to be officially appointed as a minister in the church.

The church's general assembly, its law-making body, voted on Monday to lift that moratorium, officially officially allowing gay ministers to take on parishes for the first time since its formation 450 years ago.

The general assembly also allowed serving gay and lesbian ministers who have kept their sexuality private to openly declare their sexuality – a proposal bitterly resisted by evangelical and conservative ministers.

Read here