Gay row minister to be inducted in Scotland
The gay minister whose appointment sparked a furious debate in the Church of Scotland is set to be formally inducted in Aberdeen.
The Reverend Scott Rennie will be introduced to his congregation at a service at Queen’s Cross Church.
Hundreds of ministers and thousands of Church of Scotland members signed an online petition opposing the move.
After arriving in Aberdeen, Mr Rennie said he was looking forward to serving God in the city.
The issue had gone to the General Assembly which narrowly voted in favour.
But there has been a two-year ban on the ordination of gay ministers and a special commission is considering the issue.
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Gay row minister to be inducted
BBC News
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/gay-row-minis…
Gay row goes before Kirk’s ‘court’ as split threat talked down
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 appearance 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.” SeeGay row goes before Kirk’s ‘court’ as split threat talked down Scotsman
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Anti-gay minister the Rev Ian Watson in ‘Nazi battle’ outrage Times Online
The Church of Scotland is moving towards a schism after one of its ministers compared an increasingly determined campaign against gay clergymen to the war against the Nazis.
The Rev Ian Watson railed against homosexual lifestyles, declaring that such people would not “inherit the kingdom of God” in a sermon that religious leaders and politicians condemned as deeply disturbing.
Mr Watson is a prominent opponent of Scott Rennie, an openly gay minister whose appointment to a parish church last year has caused divisions. Mr Rennie, a divorced father of one, lives with his partner, David, and has the support of his Aberdeen Presbytery. The Church of Scotland is due to debate his appointment at its General Assembly next week after a petition was signed by almost a third of ministers pushing for all gays to be banned from the pulpit.
A motion has been lodged urging the Church not to “train, ordain, admit, readmit, induct or introduce to any ministry of the church anyone involved in a sexual relationship outside of marriage between a man and woman”.
See Anti-gay minister the Rev Ian Watson in ‘Nazi battle’ outrage Times Online * Tags = gay men gay news lesbian news transgender bisexual
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‘Third of Kirk ministers sign anti-gay petiton’
Almost a third of Church of Scotland ministers have signed a petition attacking the appointment of a gay minister to a church in Aberdeen, organisers claimed yesterday.
The online campaign, led by the Fellowship of Confessing Churches, a new organisation, has attracted almost 6,000 supporters - more than 300 of whom are ministers.
The Rev Ian Watson, who was involved in setting up the body, said that Kirk members were galvanised after Scott Rennie was appointed to Queen’s Cross Parish Church and announced his intention to move his boyfriend into the Manse See ‘Third of Kirk ministers sign anti-gay petiton’
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Church of Scotland magazine backs gay partnerships
A potential rift within the Church of Scotland over gay relationships emerged yesterday after the Church’s house magazine backed civil partnerships and openly gay ministers.
Accusing religious traditionalists of selectively quoting the Bible to support their attacks on homosexual relations, the editorial in Life And Work urged the Kirk to show strong leadership on an issue that has threatened to split the Church of England and could prove just as divisive in Scotland.
The article, which was written by the magazine’s editor, Muriel Armstrong, comes ahead of next month’s General Assembly in Edinburgh and has been timed to influence a key debate on whether openly homosexual ministers can be appointed to the Church.
Ms Armstrong rounds on the “selective literalists” who use parts of the Bible to bolster their own views but ignore other parts that undermine them. She says that these commentators “presumably no longer accept biblical teaching on sexual matters such as polygamy and sex with slaves” but are happy to quote Leviticus 18:22 on homosexuality: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”
The Church said yesterday that the magazine was editorially independent. “It is not the voice of the Church of Scotland, which is not trying to steer debate on this important issue,” the Rev Angus Morrison, convenor of the council of mission and discipleship said. He added that he had already received “a couple” of e-mails expressing concern that the magazine was interfering in the “due process” of the Church.
Senior figures within the Church fear that the issue of gay partnerships could prove as damaging for the Presbyterian ministry as the row that has split the Anglican Church.
A minority in the Presbytery of Aberdeen has already challenged the appointment of an openly gay minister, the Rev Scott Rennie, to Queen’s Cross Church in the city. They have appealed to the Commission of the General Assembly, with a final decision on the matter to be made next month.
In her editorial Ms Armstrong also champions the right of gay ministers to serve in the Church. She said said that two years ago the Church had effectively shelved its decision on the issue and that the moment had come to challenge those who use the “familiar arguments” of tradition, orthodoxy and the “plain meaning of scripture”.
“The question of the integrity of a relationship didn’t enter the \ argument. It has been suggested that if the Kirk stuck its neck out on this one it would upset other churches that are still in a reflective no man’s land on this issue. Isn’t it time for leadership?
“What is clear to the lay-person is that not everything Biblical is Christ-like. Every student of the Bible is a selective literalist. Those who swear by the anti-homosexual laws in the Book of Leviticus wouldn’t publicly advocate slavery or stoning women taken in adultery. They presumably no longer accept Biblical teaching on sexual matters such as polygamy and sex with slaves.
“And yet there are many who continue to be bound by a few Biblical verses — none of them in the Gospels — about homosexuality, nowadays understood as a matter of genetics rather than lifestyle.”
The debate on gays in the Church will involve members from every Presbytery, drawn from Scotland and overseas. It is likely to polarise opinion, just as it has in other Churches.
See Church of Scotland magazine backs gay partnerships Times Online
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