The Church of Stland's annual General Assembly is set to bate the ordatn of gay misters today
Contents:
- CHURCH OF STLAND VOT TO ALLOW GAY AND LBIAN MISTERS
- THE CHURCH OF STLAND BAT GAY MISTERS
- CHURCH OF STLAND TO DEBATE GAY MARRIAGE: IS A HUMAN RIGHT?
- CHURCH OF STLAND TO BATE ORDATN OF GAY PEOPLE
CHURCH OF STLAND VOT TO ALLOW GAY AND LBIAN MISTERS
The vote mak the Church of Stland the largt church the UK to allow gay marriag, creasg the spl wh the Prottant fah.
It has already allowed gay misters to wh the threat of a global revolt wh the Anglin munn, the Church of England has nsistently refed to approve same-sex 2017 the Sttish Epispal church, which is Anglin, voted at s synod to approve same-sex marriag, beg the first Stland to do so.
THE CHURCH OF STLAND BAT GAY MISTERS
Methodists, Quakers and the Uned Reformed church already nduct measure had already been supported an ditive vote by Church of Stland prbyteri, which are s lol erng bodi, but crics warned uld crease ternal rifts and leave the church open to legal Rev Stt Rennie, a mister at the centre of a bter and protracted dispute the church over the employment of openly gay clergy 13 years ago, told the general assembly he was heartened that spe the fear and uncertaty surroundg the proposal, now had majory support.
”Another speaker, Craig Dobney, told the general assembly that s past opposn to gay marriag had alienated people: a primary school near his church had stopped g after the church refed to appot a gay mister. Stland's largt prottant church has swept away centuri of tradn and voted to allow gay men and lbians to bee misters, openg up the prospect of the church allowg civil partnerships for same-sex Church of Stland imposed a temporary moratorium 2009 on admtg gay and lbian misters after Stt Rennie beme the first openly gay clergyman a homosexual partnership to be officially appoted as a mister the church's general assembly, s law-makg body, voted on Monday to lift that moratorium, officially officially allowg gay misters to take on parish for the first time sce s formatn 450 years general assembly also allowed servg gay and lbian misters who have kept their sexualy private to openly clare their sexualy – a proposal bterly risted by evangelil and nservative one of the fal vot, the general assembly chose by a small majory to lift a parallel ban on ordag and trag people who are same-sex relatnships, and gay and lbians civil partnerships. It lled for a new report by 2013 on both proposals and on allowg misters to bls gay and lbian vote followed official warngs that allowg gay clergy uld spl the church, forcg tradnalists to rign and jo more nservative church formed after the last great schism, when 474 misters rigned 1843.
A missn set up 2009 to vtigate the implitns of the Rennie affair predicted that up to a fifth of the church's misters, ans and elrs and 100, 000 worshippers uld leave said that the issue was so divisive that another 1, 800 church lears and 40, 000 parishners had warned they would leave if gay misters were not admted. A leadg cric of the proposal, the Rev Andrew Coghill, a nservative mister on the Isle of Lewis, warned the general assembly that allowg homosexual clergy would be vastatg to the church.
CHURCH OF STLAND TO DEBATE GAY MARRIAGE: IS A HUMAN RIGHT?
To applse om his supporters, Coghill said the proposal to allow gay misters was "the hand grena [and] we're beg asked to pull the p out, and will blow the church apart. He likened opposn to homosexual misters to South Ain pastors g the bible to jtify apartheid. "Some of the gay Christians I know will be much better Christians than I will ever be, " he said.
CHURCH OF STLAND TO BATE ORDATN OF GAY PEOPLE
Misters Aberen said Rennie's ordatn was so divisive had "broken" the cy's prbytery, s lg body, leadg to threats of vlence agast some a clear ditn of the general assembly's mood, the cisn to allow gay misters on prciple went through unopposed, leadg to the vote late on Monday to allow gay and lbian misters to be ordaed and addn, the church has set up a missn to vtigate the theologil issu raised by the acceptance of gay clergy. Delegat to the assembly, known as missners, narrowly voted down a proposal to lay fal cisns until 2013 on whether gay and lbian misters had to be celibate, or whether they were allowed to be sexually-active and long-term also rejected a proposal to prevent a mister who had not "e out" to their parishners or prbytery before 31 May 2009, a cut-off date based on the general assembly's last bate on the Rennie affair, om clarg his or sexualy. That suggts gay and lbian misters who have kept their sexualy private uld now openly clare .
While clergy will not be required to marry same-sex upl, the move mak the mory who oppose the natnal church’s volvement gay marriage worried about further divisn. Refg to nceal his homosexualy, he tackled the issue head-on and was weled by his new parishners; but his sistence on honty was to plunge both his own life and the Church of Stland to a state of ongog turmoil. Wh threats to leave promptg fears of a schism on a sle not seen sce the Disptn of 1843 when nearly 40 per cent of the mistry and a third of the ngregatns broke away to form the Free Church, the Church imposed a moratorium on actively gay misters, then later voted to accept them so long as they had clared their sexualy and were ordaed before 2009.
As a rult the row has mostly mbled on beneath the surface, breakg through only when an evangelil ngregatn – such as St Gee’s Tron Church Glasgow – has seced om the Kirk now, nearly four years on, the clash of relig cultur is fally g to a head; last week, the long-awaed report om the Theology Commissn on Same Sex Relatnships the Mistry outled two possible urs of actn, and next month, at the General Assembly, the Church is expected to choose eher to allow the ordatn of actively gay misters who are a civil partnership, or to reaffirm the Church’s belief that the only appropriate exprsn of sex is wh a marriage between a man and a woman. They believe the Bible outlaws homosexualy and any move to orda an actively gay mister would be a breach of God’s word.