A row has erupted within the Church of Scotland after gay candidates were banned from applying for a minister vacancy.
Kinross-shire Parish Church, which is formed of Kinross, Orwell and Fossoway churches, will shortly be advertising for the position, however the majority of ‘elders’ voted against allowing gays to apply, leaving some members of the congregation threatening to leave the church.
One Kinross-shire Parish Church member said: “Many of the members are extremely upset, especially those who have friends or family who are gay, as their local church’s stance seems to be that, if you are gay, you are not good enough.
“This has caused a great deal of personal hurt for many.
“There is a great deal of unrest within the congregation as it is felt that the views expressed by a subset of elders is not representative of the views of the wider congregation.
“We do have members of our church who are gay. You can probably imagine the level of distress they are experiencing as a result of this recent decision, as they now feel their church is devaluing them and so are questioning whether they still belong.
“Added to that are other members of the church who are now considering whether they wish to be associated with a church that holds such hurtful views.
“And I would have to include myself in that number.”
In 2013 the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly narrowly agreed to allow congregations to vote on admitting gay and lesbian ministers.
The Kinross-shire church member questioned the ‘elders’’ decision, adding: “The Church of Scotland has been in decline for some time, resulting in the radical changes implemented in the last couple of years to close several churches and merge others to form super-parishes.
“Sadly it seems they have not learned the lessons from the past and so continue not to reflect modern society, remaining totally out-of-touch and becoming increasingly irrelevant.
“As a result it seems that the church is intent on its continuing decline.”
