Church of Scotland General Assembly in gay ministers debate

(The issue of gay ministers will top the agenda at the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, four years after the first openly homosexual minister was appointed by the Kirk.

The move caused divisions in the church and resulted in two congregations and six ministers breaking away.

At the heart of debate will be a report by the Theological Commission, which sets out arguments on both sides.

But there is no guarantee of a final decision on the matter.

The General Assembly is the supreme court of the Church of Scotland and its annual national business meeting.

The Assembly was first held in 1560, the year of the Scottish Reformation which marked the beginning of the Protestant Church in Scotland.

About 850 church commissioners - mainly ministers and elders - from across the church's 48 presbyteries, gather in the Assembly Hall on the Mound in Edinburgh for a week in May.

On the gay minister debate, the General Assembly has the option of "pausing for further reflection", which could delay a decision for another year.

And even if church representatives agree on the way forward, rules dictate it must be approved at a presbytery level and then rubber-stamped at next year's General Assembly.The dilemma facing the Church of Scotland goes back to 2009, when the openly gay minister Scott Rennie was appointed to the Queen's Cross parish in Aberdeen.He was backed by most of his congregation and by the General Assembly, but the decision resulted in protest and the break-away of a small number of congregations and ministers. The issue returned at the Kirk's gathering in 2011, which voted to accept gay and lesbian clergy - on the condition they had declared their sexuality and were ordained before 2009.

At that General Assembly, the theological commission was set up to report this year, before a final decision on the issue of gay ordination would be taken.

The 94-page report does not offer any conclusion or recommendations, but set out different paths the Kirk may want to take.

The Church of Scotland spokesman said it had been put forward by the seven members of the commission who had a broad spectrum of views.



Last June, a Glasgow Kirk became the first to split from the Church of Scotland over the issue of gay clergy. St George's Tron Church said its 500-strong congregation believed the General Assembly's decision in 2011 had "marginalised the Bible".

And in February, the Rev Dominic Smart and his congregation of 300 at Gilcomston South in Aberdeen left the Church over the same issue.A total of six ministers have now left the church over gay ministers.One of whom, Rev Paul Gibson, is now minister of the Free Church in Perth.

He said: "I decided to leave following the General Assembly of 2011, where there was confirmation by the Church of Scotland that it was going to operate in a way that wasn't Biblical, with regards to the matter of homosexuality in the ministry.

"If the Church genuinely exists for the Christian good of Scotland, it absolutely must reverse, unconditionally and fully, the trajectory that it has set itself upon.

"Because it cannot stand with any integrity in a Christian sense, whilst walking in a direction that is away from the Bible, and is therefore away from the Lordship of the one who is king of king's, Jesus Christ."

Some fear a major fall-out, whatever is decided.

Muriel Armstrong, a writer on Church affairs, said: "The Church of Scotland has always had different views within it and that has always been its great strength in the past and I hope it will continue."

She appealed to people in the Church to stay within it, even if they are uncomfortable with any decision made, saying: "It will make the Church a better place if it has a variety of views and opinions on theological, political and social matters.")

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22580322
menterinya mendeklarasikan diri sebagai gay, membuat gereja dilema...maka atas permintaan pemirsa, dimulailah sesi revisi gan.hehe