OUR LATEST ISSUE
SITE SEARCH
Minister backed in gay row
By: Nigel Robinson
5,000 have signed an online petition
5,000 have signed an online petition
Evangelicals in the Kirk are backing a minister in a gay row
As the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland opened in Edinburgh, several evangelical groups spoke out in flavour of the appointment of the Reverend Scott Rennie to a post at Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen.
Mt Rennie’s appointment has threatened to split the Church of Scotland, after traditionalists formally appealed against his posting on the grounds that he is gay and lives with his male partner.
More than five 5,000 members of the Church of Scotland have signed an online petition opposing Mr Rennie’s appointment.
However, the evangelists supporting Mr Rennie said that the Kirk had “erred through the ages” in its attitudes to both slavery and sexism.
In a letter to the General Assembly, they said that faithful gay relationships are “as commended by God as marriage between a man and a woman.”
This follows an editorial in Life and Work, the Kirk’s independent house magazine, calling for a more tolerant attitude towards homosexuality.
The debate over Mt Rennie’s appointment will take place will take on Saturday 23 May.
For the first time the main points of the proceedings will be relayed on social networking site Twitter.
