Church of Scotland to debate ordination of gay people
By Joseph DeCaro
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND (Worthy News)– Last year, the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly decided that it couldn’t condone same-sex marriages or civil partnerships, yet its commissioners approved a proposal that allowed individual congregations to hire gay ministers while the assembly continues to debate their ordination.
“The General Assembly reaffirmed biblical teaching that same-sex civil partnerships are wrong, but then allowed ministers who are gay in,” David Robertson — a Free Church minister in Dundee — told Christian Today. “It confused people and made a laughing stock of the Church here.”
As a result, many congregations have opted to leave the Church of Scotland and join churches that ban homosexual clergy. Robertson said this trend will likely continue.
“In reality, most people now don’t expect the Church’s position to change and as a result a number of congregations have left and more will leave in the next year. Some conservative evangelicals will stay and accept the situation, but not the theology behind it … It’s largely been taken over by the theologically liberal and conservative evangelicals are permitted only if they don’t rock the boat. On the one hand it’s a broad Church, but then it’s like: ‘If you don’t agree with us, you should be out'”.