The legacy of the Scottish Reformation is to be marked with a day
conference organised by the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic
Church of Scotland with an evening service at St Giles Cathedral.
Called Scottish Reformation – Marking the Legacy, Imagining the
Future, the ecumenical conference hosted by the Joint Commission on
Doctrine at the Storytelling Centre, High Street, Edinburgh, on November
3, will be opened by the Archbishop Mario Conti, Joint Convener of the
Commission.
The First Minister Alex Salmond will address the conference.
The event includes guest speakers such as former Moderator of the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Very Rev Dr Sheilagh
Kesting, Rev Dr Alan Falconer, Joint Convener of the Commission, Rev Dr
Alison Peden, from the Scottish Episcopal Church and historian, Prof Tom
Devine.
Also in the line-up is Prof Paul Murray, an expert in the field
of ecumenism who will be sharing the floor with Dr Kesting discussing
ecumenical relations today and in the future.
Each session is run along
the lines of what has the Reformation done for us?
Such an ecumenical event would have been difficult to conceive even
some 30 years ago.
Mutual distrust and suspicion, caricatures and
stereotypes of each other inhibited positive relationships. Through
patient dialogue on major theological issues, mutual respect and
understanding has grown and developed.
But this year alone we have seen vast strides taken in ecumenical
relationships.
Pope Benedict XVI came to Scotland and met the Moderator
of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Right Rev John
Christie.
The visit was a sign of the continuing work of Christ’s Church
in the 21st century and helped strengthen interfaith and
interdenominational relations.
The conference and service is another
example of the continuing work of the church in what has been an
exciting year for the Christian Community in Scotland.
We have learned to accept that the theological issues we disagree on
are less important than those we agree on. Today there is agreement on
the central affirmations of the Apostles’ Creed.
The conference and service allow the churches to build on existing
relations and helping to creating momentum to continue working together
on issues of common interest.
It shows that the denominations are
striving tow working together in the spirit of the Lund Principle of
1952; that is, that churches should not do apart what they can do
together.
An event of this kind gives us an opportunity of healing of memories.
From the past we can learn how to deal with the present. Old wounds are
healed and relations are strengthened by it.
The day conference begins at 9am until 5.15pm at the Storytelling
Centre followed by a service at St Giles Cathedral with guest preacher,
the Very Rev Dr John Miller, at 6pm.
SIC: AMS/UK