Gay Marriage in the Church of Scotland?
A
leader of the Church of Scotland, who convenes the church's Theological Forum,
told the General Assembly there is no theological reason to oppose same-sex
marriages in the Church, as he presented a report that proposes the governing
body approve a detailed study of how such ceremonies could be allowed.
According
to the BBC,
the Very Rev. Iain Torrance told the assembly "We see this as permissive
rather than directive. We say that after reflection we can see no sufficient
theological reason for the Church now not to authorize specific ministers to
officiate at same-sex weddings, if doing so does not prejudice the position of
those who decline to do so for reasons of conscience."
Torrance
added, "I hope, I pray, we are moving to a different stage in this long
argument. We can begin perhaps by saying gently to those with whom we have
disagreed, I am sorry. That notion of an apology is directly linked to taking
this into a non-binary stage and trying to think these pieces differently with
a different perception."
According
to The Guardian, the assembly is yet to make a decision on the
matter
The
report says that individual ministers and deacons who do not want to conduct
gay marriages due to their conscience must not be forced to do so.
To
deal with the opposition, the report also states, "For example, we do not
believe that extension of marriage to two persons of the same gender opens the
door to a rights-based argument that marriage should be extended to polyamorous
unions. Nor, for example, do we think the door should be open to marriage with
robots. Consent within a covenanted relationship between two persons remains at
the heart of our understanding."
The
Rev. Dale London, a minister who is opposed to the idea of allowing same-sex
marriage in the Church, was quoted as saying that homosexual activity is "contrary
to the Word of God … it is sinful. … We cannot call good what God has called
evil."
The
latest Church census in Scotland showed that the number of regular churchgoing
Christians in the country has fallen to 390,000, representing 7.2 percent of
Scotland's population, down from 854,000 (17 percent of population) in 1984.
The
statistics came from the 2016 Scottish Church Census, according to BBC. The
study also showed that 42 percent of the churchgoers were aged over 65, and
that the number of congregations dropped from 4,100 in 1984 to 3,700 in 2016.
Lead
researcher Peter Brierley said the figures indicated that Scotland faces a crisis
in Christianity. "We are living in the 21st century and one of the
features of the 21st century is that people's allegiance to particular faiths
is no longer as strong as it used to be," he said. "There are also
quite a lot of invisible Christians who used to go to church, still believe in
God, but they have moved house, perhaps to a rural area, and simply haven't
found a church to go to."
In
January, an Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow stirred controversy after it allowed the reading of a verse
from the Quran that states that Jesus Christ is not God's Son during a church
service.
St.
Mary's Episcopal Cathedral provost, the Very Rev. Kelvin Holdsworth, at the
time defended the service, saying that it was aimed at fostering relationships
between Christians and Muslims. However, some church leaders criticized the
Quran reading inside a church, calling it "ill-advised."
Source: The Christian Post
Leave a Comment