Gay minister dispute could force us to defect to Free Church, Kirk rebels warn

EVANGELICAL Kirk members have warned they might join the Free Church of Scotland following the decision to appoint the openly gay minister the Rev Scott Rennie.

The move yesterday came after a week of controversy in which the General Assembly, the Church of Scotland's executive body, agreed to uphold Mr Rennie's appointment to Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen.

An evangelical minister, who asked not to be named, said that in light of the decision on Saturday night regarding Mr Rennie, he and others were willing to speak to the Free Church of Scotland with a view to joining them.

"If the Free Church of Scotland made agreeable noises I, and many others, would be willing to sit down and listen because of all the hurt people are feeling," he said. "The only thing that separates us is the exclusivity of psalm singing instead of hymns.

"Surely that is not enough to separate like-minded people."

The minister said the decision had been the "lowest point in living memory" for conservative Kirk members and that conservative congregations around the country had been "devastated".

"People up and down the country feel awful about what has happened," he added.

The assembly also stopped short of a potentially divisive debate on the issue of the ordination of openly homosexual ministers. Instead, it opted to set up a commission, headed by Lord Patrick Hodge, to investigate the issue and report back in 2011, barring the appointment of any more openly gay ministers in the meantime.

The Rev Iver Martin, a senior member of the Free Church of Scotland, said it would be "happy" to enter into dialogue with Kirk members seeking to join it.

"The Free Church has always been open to meaningful dialogue with like-minded believers, and would be ready always to sit down and talk about where we are and how we might interact in the future," he said. "To say more than that at this stage would be speculative."

He said worship practice was a "secondary issue and is currently under review".

"It can be freely discussed and is not an issue which would necessarily prevent the inclusion of like-minded believers in the future," he said. "As convener of our ecumenical relations committee I would be very happy to positively respond to any approach which might be made."

Many Free Church of Scotland ministers and members signed a petition set up by the conservative evangelical Kirk group Forward Together protesting at Mr Rennie's appointment.

In the run-up to the assembly there was a joint report on building closer links between the Free Church and the wider Kirk, but Mr Martin has in the past insisted that the primacy of the Bible in the Free Church's theology would be a fundamental stumbling block in any union.

The Kirk also moved yesterday to clarify the meaning of the moratorium placed on courts, committees and councils making public statements on the issue of ordination of gay ministers for two years. A statement has been issued for ministers to read to congregations.

Tutu points to Kirk court's 'merciful' support for gay minister

ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu has given his backing to the appointment of openly-gay minister Scott Rennie.

The Nobel Prize-winning South African cleric said it was "merciful" that the Kirk's supreme court, the General Assembly, voted in support of Mr Rennie.

The anti-apartheid activist addressed the Assembly yesterday with a sermon in which he said everybody, no matter what their background, race or sexuality, was part of God's family.

He was later asked whether he had been following the events of recent days at the Assembly. The archbishop said he was aware of the debate over whether the body would agree to endorse the gay minister's appointment, adding that, "mercifully", this was done.

"I find it a little difficult to understand when, from all that we know about our Lord, he would have been on the side of the oppressed and on the side of those in the minority, but then we say in this one case Jesus goes against all the paradigms that we know about him and sides with those who persecute an already persecuted minority," he said.

"And if we say sexual orientation is a bar to ordination, how come we don't say it's a bar to baptism, if it's such a ghastly thing?"

He said that he had been involved in the struggle to allow the ordination of women in his church, and that it was now a "non-issue". He continued: "So, under this rubric, I would find it impossible to stand by when people are being persecuted for something about which they can do nothing – their sexual orientation."

The archbishop also visited the University of Edinburgh, where he received an honorary degree.

Churches at risk as Olympics divert cash

A FUNDING drought caused by the London Olympics could endanger the future of some of Scotland's finest churches.

Congregations in some cases are facing bills close to a £1 million for substantial repairs, with no possibility of additional funding.

Addressing the Church of Scotland General Assembly yesterday, Findlay Turner, chairman of the general trustees committee, said that the 2014 London Olympics had caused government cash to "virtually dry up".

Speaking outside the Assembly, he accused the government of failing to live up to its pledges to conserve the UK's architectural heritage, and that the implications of this for the Kirk were "very serious".

He said: "There are certain jewels in the crown you can't imagine Scotland without: Kirk of St Nicholas Uniting in Aberdeen, the Church of the Holy Rood at Stirling and places like that. But it's inevitable that, unless there is money, some of these important, historic buildings could come under threat.

"It's time people spoke to the Church in the understanding that it can't solve this problem on its own. This has to be a partnership and we need government funding, and it's not there."

Culture minister Michael Russell said that he understood the concerns of the assembly and would be pressing for the return of funds diverted to the Olympics as soon as possible.