Scotland’s first openly gay church minister has defied his critics and boosted numbers in his congregation over the past 12 months, it has been revealed. Reverend Scott Rennie’s appointment to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen last year caused controversy, splitting opinion among the Kirk and members of his congregation. As nearly 900 delegates gathered for the General Assembly in Edinburgh yesterday, it emerged there had been a 5% increase in the number of worshippers at the church. The news came as the assembly backed the findings of an investigation that a presbytery was wrong to appoint another gay man as a trainee minister in Lanarkshire.A powerful Kirk court supported the complaint and dissent by Reverend Iain Murdoch of Airdrie High Church and elder Alexander Napier that the Hamilton Presbytery should not have nominated Dmitri Ross, a lawyer who lives in Airdrie, to train. Ross, who is in a civil partnership, withdrew from the role after the news broke but it now looks as if he would have been removed, with potentially significant implications for the Kirk over the wider issue of gay ordination. He was first person within the church to be open about being gay since the moratorium on homosexual appointments was agreed last May. A Commission of the General Assembly that investigated the appointment said it “granted the dissent and complaint and recalled the decision of the Presbytery of Hamilton to nominate Dmitri Ross as a candidate”. The commission voted 43 to 38 in favour of the complaint, and that decision was ratified yesterday.Meanwhile, Professor Trevor Salmon, joint session clerk of Queen’s Cross Church, said Rennie had instilled a “new sense of commitment, enthusiasm, strategy and energy” into the congregation since his appointment in 2009. He said: “The congregation has absolutely taken to Scott Rennie and those who know him get on enormously well with him. “We have 25 new members, some of them young people, which brings the roll to 479, half of whom regularly attend.” Salmon said Rennie showed a natural knack with young children and had rejuvenated the church choir. He added: “We are beginning to experiment with new forms of worship, particularly with a new service every month on Sunday evenings.“He has reinvigorated the commitment of office bearers, including elders and the church’s outreach programme. “People know that Queen’s Cross Church is an inclusive church with a liberal theology and all are welcome.” The Kirk’s Ecumenical Relations Committee heard that the Archbishop of Canterbury could address the General Assembly for the first time. Special envoys are to be sent between the churches of England and Scotland as the two bodies seek the closest links in their history. A former Moderator of the Kirk and an English Bishop will open negotiations. The Church also praised closer links with the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, saying a joint liturgy, or service, for voluntary use in both churches, had not been rejected by Rome. The Kirk has, however, failed to move forward with other churches, such as the Free Kirk.SIC: TheHerald
Monday, May 24, 2010
Controversial gay minister has raised church attendance 5%
Scotland’s first openly gay church minister has defied his critics and boosted numbers in his congregation over the past 12 months, it has been revealed. Reverend Scott Rennie’s appointment to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen last year caused controversy, splitting opinion among the Kirk and members of his congregation. As nearly 900 delegates gathered for the General Assembly in Edinburgh yesterday, it emerged there had been a 5% increase in the number of worshippers at the church. The news came as the assembly backed the findings of an investigation that a presbytery was wrong to appoint another gay man as a trainee minister in Lanarkshire.A powerful Kirk court supported the complaint and dissent by Reverend Iain Murdoch of Airdrie High Church and elder Alexander Napier that the Hamilton Presbytery should not have nominated Dmitri Ross, a lawyer who lives in Airdrie, to train. Ross, who is in a civil partnership, withdrew from the role after the news broke but it now looks as if he would have been removed, with potentially significant implications for the Kirk over the wider issue of gay ordination. He was first person within the church to be open about being gay since the moratorium on homosexual appointments was agreed last May. A Commission of the General Assembly that investigated the appointment said it “granted the dissent and complaint and recalled the decision of the Presbytery of Hamilton to nominate Dmitri Ross as a candidate”. The commission voted 43 to 38 in favour of the complaint, and that decision was ratified yesterday.Meanwhile, Professor Trevor Salmon, joint session clerk of Queen’s Cross Church, said Rennie had instilled a “new sense of commitment, enthusiasm, strategy and energy” into the congregation since his appointment in 2009. He said: “The congregation has absolutely taken to Scott Rennie and those who know him get on enormously well with him. “We have 25 new members, some of them young people, which brings the roll to 479, half of whom regularly attend.” Salmon said Rennie showed a natural knack with young children and had rejuvenated the church choir. He added: “We are beginning to experiment with new forms of worship, particularly with a new service every month on Sunday evenings.“He has reinvigorated the commitment of office bearers, including elders and the church’s outreach programme. “People know that Queen’s Cross Church is an inclusive church with a liberal theology and all are welcome.” The Kirk’s Ecumenical Relations Committee heard that the Archbishop of Canterbury could address the General Assembly for the first time. Special envoys are to be sent between the churches of England and Scotland as the two bodies seek the closest links in their history. A former Moderator of the Kirk and an English Bishop will open negotiations. The Church also praised closer links with the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, saying a joint liturgy, or service, for voluntary use in both churches, had not been rejected by Rome. The Kirk has, however, failed to move forward with other churches, such as the Free Kirk.SIC: TheHerald