A COMPLAINT against openly gay Kirk minister Scott Rennie will be heard before the Church of Scotland's own equivalent of a civil court next week.
However, the moderator designate refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the appointment of Mr Rennie, 36, as he faced questions over the possibility of a split in the Kirk if it goes ahead.
During what was his first public appearan
ce in the role, the Rev Bill Hewitt, 58, insisted his job would be to oversee a forthcoming Church debate on the issue and he would not be drawn into answering questions about the row.
However, reacting to the suggestions that supporters of controversial preacher Fred Phelps – who has protested against homosexuality in the United States – are planning to demonstrate outside the General Assembly when the issue is being discussed, he said: "People are free to demonstrate if they want. It won't affect what happens inside."
Mr Rennie's case is the first to have been referred to the General Assembly by the Court of Assembly since it was created under the 1997 legislation to consider Kirk matters.
The debate over Mr Rennie's future will see proceedings at the Assembly taking a form similar to that of a civil court case. Both sides will be able to air their views and a wider debate will also be held.
Front and centre will be the 12 dissenting members of the Presbytery of Aberdeen who raised the complaint against the rest of the presbytery.
There will be no time limit on the proceedings and the Assembly's decision is final, with no opportunity for an appeal within the Church or to the civil courts. The Rev Dr Marjory MacLean, acting principal clerk to the Assembly, said it has been many years since the General Assembly has heard an appeal case in such a way, and the first time under the new legislation
Giving her own view on talk of a split within the Church, she said:
"I think for as long as I've been involved in the governance of the Church, this has always been something on which there have been very different views.
"To say the Church is splitting now in a way that it hasn't before, that would be more dramatic than the language I would use."
She added that there were a number of possible outcomes to the debate and it was impossible to predict which one was likely.
The court will sit on 23 May, followed directly by a proposed amendment the Kirk ministers' code of conduct to prevent openly gay ministers from being appointed in future.
The amendment, proposed by the presbytery of Lochcarron-Skye, recommends that "this Church shall not accept for training, ordain, admit, re-admit, induct or introduce to any ministry of the Church anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of faithful marriage between a man and a woman".
It is possible that while Mr Rennie's appointment will be passed, the assembly could vote to prevent the situation reoccurring. If passed, however, it would not become church law immediately, as the individual presbyteries around the country would have to vote on it.
