Rev N M Ross
This year’s General Assembly of the Church of Scotland will go down in ecclesiastical history as a momentous event – but for the wrong reasons. “Last night,” reported The Scotsman, “the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted to allow Presbyteries across the country to choose gay or lesbian ministers.” Those in the Church in favour of this decision – the revisionists – are throwing dust in the eyes of Church members when they say that the matter is still undecided. Although the Church has appointed a Theological Commission to discuss the matter further, it has in practice accepted clergy in same-sex relationships.
Other matters connected with the Assembly might be mentioned: for example, an event called Roll away the Stone was held in Princes Street Gardens on the Sabbath. “Several thousand people”, says the Church’s website, “came to display their faith, see the work of all the Kirk’s Councils, enjoy a comedy act by two ministers of the Church, to listen to Fischy Music (that’s rock-style music for young people) and to join in worship. . . . As for enthusiasm, the Scotland African Choir, a group of Africans living in Scotland, took the stage in the gardens and sang and danced non-stop for all of 20 minutes, by which time perhaps 50 of the audience had joined in, dancing in front of the stage, led by a retired minister.” Next day, Monday, May 23, after the disturbing and divisive debate in the Assembly about ministers in same-sex relationships, the Moderator said that the Princes Street Gardens event was “the true face of the Church of Scotland” – in spite of the fact that this face was marred by Sabbath desecration and worldliness.
But we return to look at the other aspect of the true face of the Church as revealed by its deplorable decisions on that Monday. The Church’s news release states, “Commissioners voted by 351 to 294 to adopt deliverance 7B, which means a move towards the acceptance for training, induction and ordination of those in same-sex relationships for the ministry. The Assembly also voted to allow ministers and deacons in same-sex relationships ordained before 2009 to be inducted into pastoral charges (by 393 to 252).” Also, a theological commission was set up to “bring recommendations to the 2013 General Assembly, as well as considering whether ministers should have freedom of conscience to bless civil partnerships and possible liturgy for such occasions” (italics ours).
This deplorable situation developed when the Report of the Special Commission on Same-sex Relationships and the Ministry was debated. The 2009 General Assembly had appointed the Special Commission, to consult with
Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions and to prepare a study on Ordination and Induction to the Ministry of the Church of those in same-sex relationships. This it did after deciding to dismiss the complaint against the Aberdeen Presbytery’s decision to induct Rev Scott Rennie, a practising homosexual who lives with his male partner, into a pastoral charge. For all practical purposes that decision of the 2009 Assembly sealed the matter. It was now too late to shut the stable door.
To its shame, our national Church has made decisions this year which effectively affirm the 2009 decision and again promote the sin which provoked God to destroy “the cities of the plain”, where it was rife (Gen 19:29). The significance of such decisions is not lost on homosexual lobbyists. Indeed, in 2009, Scott Rennie was made “Hero of the Year” by Stonewall, the pro-homosexual group.
At the outset of the Monday debate, the Moderator, Rev David Arnett, in calling for courteous debate, told the commissioners that the “eyes of the world” were upon them. True, but it is to be feared that few of them had any consciousness of the all-seeing eye of God being upon them, for the majority voted contrary to the mind of God as revealed in Scripture.
The Special Commission emphasised the need for unity. “We are aware,” they said in their Report, “that at the core of our remit is the peace and unity of the Church.” True unity, we say, is from the Spirit of God and based on the Word of God. The Special Commission does state, “We have endeavoured in all our work, to be guided by the Holy Spirit, in discerning the will of God for the church at this time”. The Holy Spirit guides through the Word, the only rule of faith and practice, but the Special Commission thinks that the Holy Spirit also guides, for example, by science. In discussing the revisionist perspective of the question, the report states, “We read the Bible with our contemporary knowledge in science, social science, history and other matters. Thus our understanding of the account of the Creation in Genesis is conditioned by modern scientific knowledge.” Or again, “Paul, as a good Hellenistic Jew of his time, had an understanding that any form of homosexual activity was unnatural. But that does not amount to an unequivocal scriptural prohibition of all such activity in all circumstances.” When such attitudes, contrary to the supremacy and sufficiency of Scripture, prevail among the members of Assembly commissions, it is vain to hope for reliable guidance from them.
The order in which the recommendations of the Deliverance of the Special Commission were dealt with was a source of concern to the traditionalists. The Assembly allowed “the induction into pastoral charges of ministers and deacons ordained before May 2009 who are in a same-sex relationship”,
before considering whether or not to continue the ban “on the acceptance for training and ordination of persons in a same-sex relationship, thus maintaining the traditional position of the Church”. The reason for this inverted order, the Assembly was informed, was pastoral concern for those in the Church who are in same-sex relationships. How perverse that the Assembly should address pastoral concerns before principles, and that its pastoral concern should primarily be for some individuals living in gross sin rather than for the thousands of Church members who wish to preserve the scriptural stance of the Church on morality.
The proposal to allow “the induction into pastoral charges of ministers and deacons ordained before May 2009 who are in a same-sex relationship” (as in paragraph No 4 of the Deliverance of the Special Commission) was strongly opposed by several ministers, among them Rev Andrew Cogill, Lewis. “Everything in the deliverances is put in the literary equivalent of cotton wool and bubblewrap lest we take too definitive a step,” he declared, “and yet, nestling here in No 4 is a hand grenade which we are being asked to take the pin out of, and it will blow the unity of the Church wide apart. . . . I beg the Assembly not to pursue it.”
The Church was trying to appease and please everyone, said Rev Thomas MacNeil, Lewis. “What Scotland needs,” he said, “is not a compromising Church but one that is clear and strong on the Word and communicates that Word with grace and love.” After referring to fears about a split in the Church, he added, “My concern is that we will have a greater split – a split from God and from His Word”.
In his speech, Rev Louis Kinsey, Aberdeen, implied that Scripture was not being heeded. “The Holy Spirit is grieved,” he said; “God has spoken repeatedly throughout the whole of Scripture.” Therefore, he concluded, the Church cannot allow ministers in same-sex relationships “to move to pastoral charges to be teaching the Word of God when manifestly their lifestyle contradicts the Word of God in every place”.
Rev Ivor MacDonald, Skye, stated, “We have in our possession a book – the Bible – which makes patently clear what God’s mind is on this matter. . . . The problem is not that we do not understand it but that we are not willing to submit to what it says. There is a passage in the Scriptures which is relevant to our position today.” He then referred to words in 1 Kings 18:21: “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” Mr MacDonald then continued, “Similarly, if God has spoken, then the question is, Are we willing to submit? Are we willing to obey?”
One commissioner made the valid point that any decision to permit other
practising homosexuals to be ministers would weaken and discourage anyone of that tendency in the Church who is conscientiously living according to the morality prescribed by Scripture. A commissioner from abroad warned that a decision in favour of the practice of homosexuality would expose professing Christians to increased persecution from Islamists.
However, all such earnest appeals went largely unheeded. The Assembly pressed ahead to allow the induction of ministers in same-sex relationships. Rev Andrew Coghill dissented and 106 other commissioners are listed with him in the minute of the meeting as adhering to his dissent. There were 76 dissents against the Assembly’s decision “to consider further the lifting of the moratorium on the acceptance for training and ordination of persons in a same-sex relationship, and to that end instruct the Theological Commission to prepare a report for the General Assembly of 2013”.
It seems that the revisionist lobby is slowly but surely ratcheting the Church towards a full blown acceptance of homosexual clergy. This is how it is seen by a spokesman for the liberal One Kirk group in the Church; he does not wish to see a split but admitted that the acceptance of the Special Commission’s recommendations “was a nudge; it was a steer for this group [the Theological Commission] in their discussions”.
The divisiveness of the decision is shown by the intention of some ministers and members to leave the Church. The congregation of Gilcomston South church in Aberdeen, is to vote in autumn on whether or not to leave the denomination. The minister and elders disagreed with the General Assembly’s decision because it was a “clear and deliberate move away from the authority of Scripture”. The minister said, “It is therefore with great sadness that we feel we can no longer be part of the Church of Scotland, and will take such measures as will allow us and the congregation to leave the denomination. . . . Our decision is not about Scott Rennie. Our decision is a response to the way in which the General Assembly, as the highest court of the Kirk, has marginalised the Bible by approving the practice of same-sex relationships for ordained ministers.”
During the General Trustees Report presentation, Rev Ivor MacDonald asked: “Are there circumstances in which the general trustees would allow the congregation to leave with its buildings?” As one would expect, the answer from the Chairman of the General Trustees was, “The trustees must act within the powers conferred on them in these statutes – otherwise we would be in breach of trust”. But he also said that the congregations wishing to leave would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
The decision has also caused dismay among Presbyterian denominations in various parts of the world which regard the Church of Scotland as their
mother Church. In the debate, the traditionalist view was articulated by every visiting delegate who spoke, including the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. As a result, the General Assembly of that Church (which met after the Church of Scotland Assembly), “viewed with concern the deliverances of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on the Report of the Special Commission”. A former moderator stated, “It is a matter of concern for us that our ‘mother Church’ has, in the eyes of many, departed from the Church’s traditional teaching. As such it is a watershed, for their decisions are a clear and definite departure from the authority of the Word of God as the supreme standard and rule of faith and life.”
In a special statement to the press after the Monday debate in the Church of Scotland Assembly, its Moderator said that it was too soon to say what impact the decision would have, but he confidently added: “The national Church will continue to provide guidance and spiritual leadership for the people of Scotland”. It need hardly be said that, unless leadership is based squarely on Scripture, it can never give genuine spiritual guidance.
He also said, “We very much hope that people who disagree with what has been decided will nevertheless remain in the Church and work with us as we seek to find a way forward”. A strenuous effort is certainly being made to keep everyone on board, but the sad reality is that the once-sturdy vessel, the Church of Scotland Reformed, is holed under the water and must inevitably become a beached, decaying hulk if God will not effect another reformation. God omnipotent is able to bring about such a change so that our national Church will become once more a powerful force for the spiritual and moral benefit of the land – surely something we must pray for. “Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause” (Ps 74:22).
Protestant View
Roman Catholics Leaving in Droves
A report in the German magazine Christ & Welt (a supplement in the weekly Die Zeit) says that Roman Catholics have been deserting their Church in droves. A survey conducted by the magazine shows that 180 000 people left the Church in 2010 – a rise of 40% on the previous year. In Austria, reports The Scotsman, “more Roman Catholics left the Church . . . last year than at any time since 1945. Figures published by the Austrian Bishop’s Conference said 87 000 Austrian Catholics left in 2010 – a 64% increase over 2009”.
The departures in Austria were linked by Church officials “to disgust over recent cases of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy”. In Germany “member-
ship decline was concentrated in the first half of the year, when public anger over child abuse scandals was at its peak,” says Christ & Welt, and the vicar-general of Cologne stated that many left as a “personal form of protest and expression of disgust”.
It would be a great blessing indeed if many of those who came out in protest from such gross darkness were led to the light and truth of the Word of God. May God fulfil His promise, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Is 9:2). NMR