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Loading ...Church of Scotland appoints gay rev.
05.26.2009 8:54am EDT
Updated 12:45 p.m. EST.
(London) The Church of Scotland has voted in favor of appointing an openly gay minister.
The church’s ruling body voted 326 to 267 to support the appointment of the Rev. Scott Rennie, 37, who was previously married to a woman and is now in a relationship with a man.Rennie was first appointed as a minister 10 years ago, but has faced opposition from some critics since he moved to a church in Aberdeen, Scotland, last year.
Protesters had lobbied the Kirk – the Church of Scotland’s ruling executive – over Rennie’s case, saying his appointment was not consistent with the teachings of the Bible.
“We are absolutely opposed to that on the basis of what God has to say about homosexuality in the Bible,” one opponent, Pastor Jack Bell of the Zion Baptist Church in Glasgow, Scotland, said.
The case has divided Scottish religious leaders. About 900 elders and ministers took part in a debate on Rennie’s case, but many chose to abstain from casting a vote.
Rennie said he believed religious conservatives were behind attempts to oust him from his post.
“The same talk was about when women were ordained and I think that argument suits those that don’t want any change,” he told Britain’s Sky News television on Saturday.
Following the vote to back Rennie, Scotland’s Equality and Human Rights Commission said the Church of Scotland had proven itself to be “a modern church for a modern Scotland.”
“We are certain that this decision will be welcomed by the majority of Scots and certainly the majority of Queen’s Cross parish in Aberdeen who overwhelmingly demonstrated their support for Mr. Rennie,” said Alyson Thomson, a commission spokeswoman.
The Church of Scotland has no ties with the Anglicans…the Anglican branch in Scotland is the Scottish Episcopal Church…just so you know…
the word “kirk” is commonly used even in modern Norwegian for church and is one of several Norse words that likely came into Scotland with the Vikings from Norway.
The word for church in the Gaelic language of Scotland is “eaglais” (close to “eclesiastic”) or “tigh Dhe” (House of God from Gaelic “Dia” or God..close to deity)) In Irish it is either “eaglais” or “seipeal” (close to chapel) or “teach an phobail” (house of the people)
Civil partnerships for same-sex oouples are law in Scotland (Alba) same in the rest of the UK. Scotland has its own laws (Roman system whereas England and Wales-Cymru under English law) its own Parliament (Parlaimaid na hAlba)flag (yellow with red lion), its own national anthem Flower of Scotland (Flur na hAlba), bank and bank notes as well as the general UK pound currency (Banca na hAlba,) its own languages beside the standard British English (Scots dialects and Gaelic-Gaidhlig), its own cusine, its own music in English, Scots dialects and Gaelic. The harp and a few different types of bagpipes are local to Scotland.
So Scotland shares in a national UK culture while it retains some of it own cultural identity.
However, civil partnerships are something that are nationwide in UK including its part of the North of Ireland.
Clearly, there are many Christians who welcome LGBT people and wish us to be in ministry. It is clear from the comments of Pastor Bell of the Zion Baptist Church, that many of those who try to deny a role and welcome for LGBT people in many denominations comes from members of other denominations who would be wise to mind their own business and support the right to freedom of religion on the part of those who disagree with them.
Someone should tell the Associated Press that the Church of Scotland is NOT Anglican / Episcopalian, it’s Presbyterian! The governing body, by the way is the “General Assembly” which is composed of ministers and lay elders. The word “Kirk” is simply the old Scots word for “church.”