Tag Archives: faith

LGBTI groups and allies have staged a protest this weekend outside a Dumfries Church against an appearance of Pastor Angus Buchan who promotes homophobic and misogynistic views. Buchan preaches to tens of thousands paying participants in South Africa where he says that homosexuality is a “disease” that can be “cured” by prayer. The Pastor also runs “Mighty Men” conferences where ...

  This evening Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson delivered the Amnesty International Lecture in Belfast as part of the city’s Pride Festival. Addressing people from across Northern Ireland’s political and faith communities about Scotland’s journey before and after the passing of equal marriage legislation, Ms Davidson leader outlined how equal marriage changed her own life, and those of others across the country. She praised Holyrood ...

  I’m in church. Mass will shortly be starting. I am praying, reciting the familiar words, thanking God for my life and explaining my problems. But something isn’t right. I feel I am praying to nothing, I feel an emptiness. Perhaps I have had a row with my husband or am angry at the latest homophobic outburst from some influential ...

  Yesterday the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church (URC) voted in favour of giving its local churches the right to conduct and register same-sex marriages. The motion, which required a two-thirds majority, was passed by a majority of 240 to 21, with 4 abstentions. This means that the URC is now the largest UK denomination to freely permit the celebration and registration of ...

  Politicians – and especially English Conservative politicians – have a habit of making unhelpful interventions on the subjects of sexual orientation and same-sex marriage. The latest is Andrea Leadsom, who is running against Theresa May to become the next Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister. Yesterday, she gave a rather odd interview to ITV News, in which she made ...

Don’t you just love a feel good story? In a week in which the Church of Scotland convenes in Edinburgh for its General Assembly, it’s more than appropriate that a positive story of a religious nature should be making headlines. Unfortunately, those headlines do not centre on anything the Kirk has said or done – or even on the pending ...

  From 4 to 8th May, the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups met in Gothenburg,  Sweden. This was the 35th year of the annual conference, which is held in a different European city each year. “Richness in Diversity” was the theme of the annual conference. Community, solidarity, common debating, singing, prayer and worship are the essential elements of the ...

  One of the main positives to emerge from the Scottish parliamentary election campaign so far has been a broad consensus from the main parties on issues of LGBT+ equality. This was highlighted last week at an LGBTI hustings in Edinburgh, hosted by Stonewall Scotland, the Equality Network and the Scottish Transgender Alliance. In some respects this was inevitable and ...

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail suggested the Queen did not approve of same sex marriage. Regardless of the accuracy of the report (and the Daily Mail is not always the most reliable of sources) it does raise the question of the role of faith in what is now a predominantly secular society. Secularists sometimes suggest that faith should be ...

In our weekly “Belief matters” column we have taken a look at various faith issues, often within the context of how they affect LGBTI communities – or from the perspective of LGBTI people of faith. Today, being Christmas Day, we are publishing a message from the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Dr Angus Morrison. While his ...