THE incoming moderator of the Church of Scotland today refused to become embroiled in a row over the future of a gay minister which threatens to split the Kirk.
Rev Bill Hewitt, 58, insisted his role would be to oversee a forthcoming Church debate on the issue and he would not be drawn into answering questions about the row.
The Rev Scott Rennie, 36, is the minister at the centre of the controversy, which
is deemed by some to be biggest issue to face the Kirk in around 160 years.
The divorced father-of-one, who now lives with his male partner, has been appointed to Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen.
But some church-goers objected to the move and lodged an appeal against the appointment. Many more people have reportedly signed a petition to block him from taking up his role with the church.
The issue was recently discussed at the Commission of Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which voted by a narrow margin to refer the final decision to the Kirk's General Assembly in Edinburgh next week.
The debate is scheduled to begin at 6.30pm on Saturday May 23 and could run into the early hours of the morning.
Today, the man who is set to take up one of the Church's highest honours, refused be drawn into the debate.
Mr Hewitt, who is set to take over from current Moderator Rev David Lunan when the General Assembly gets under way, told a news conference in Edinburgh that he would not speak about the Saturday debate and would not take questions on the issue.
"I am there to moderate a debate and so I'm not willing to be drawn into that area of questioning at all today," he said.
Newspaper reports have suggested 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.
Questioned on the reports, Mr Hewitt said today: "People are free to demonstrate if they want.
"It won't affect what happens inside."
