Tag Archives: Scottish Episcopal Church

  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 ...

LGBT Catholics have welcomed Pope Francis’ call for Christians to apologise to gay people and others marginalised by the Church. On his flight back to the Vatican from Armenia, he told journalists: “I repeat what the catechism says: that they (LGBT people) must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally.” He also said the Church ...

  Today, the Scottish Episcopal Church’s General Synod voted to approve a proposal to change the Church’s Canon on Marriage. The motion proposed removing a doctrinal clause stating that “marriage is between a man and a woman” and adding a “conscience clause” for clergy whose views on marriage meant that they would not wish to conduct a same-sex marriage. The ...

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 ...

  A Scottish Episcopal priest has expressed his solidarity with his the Episcopal Church of the USA, after sanctions were imposed on it by the Anglican primates earlier this week. The Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth, Rector and Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, has been quick to support his American colleagues – whose sanctions relate to what was described as ...

  The first Christmas after I was ordained nearly 20 years ago, I happened to come down sick before Christmas. My senior colleague had to take all the services instead of us sharing them and all I could do was drag myself to midnight mass and sit at the back of the church amongst the congregation. The lights were low, ...

It is ten years since the first civil partnerships in Scotland, but there is still no equality before the law.  Now, after a rather biased consultation process, the Scottish government is about to make a choice for us.  The anniversary provides as with an opportunity to take a look at the role of civil partnerships in Scotland’s future, and ask: ...

A gay couple have had their same-sex wedding blessed at a ceremony in St Paul’s Cathedral in Dundee, the first of its kind to take place in the historic church. Paul Hastie and Steven Gray were married recently in Dundee’s registry office but, being Christians, also wanted their union celebrated in church. The Scottish Episcopal Church agreed to bless their ...

The Scottish Episcopal Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness has called for the Church to vote for marriage equality, revealing he once was in love with another man. The Right Reverend Mark Strange decided to speak out about his own past to prove that “love was love” in support of the ongoing debate within the Scottish Episcopal Church about solemnising marriage between ...

The Scottish Episcopal Church has passed a historic motion that could lead it to commit its clergy to conduct same-sex marriage. The church’s General Synod voted to start a process that will enable it to  “decide whether to bring same-sex marriage into its life theologically and liturgically”. The vote followed a lengthy and detailed discussion on the nature of marriage (theological doctrine committee) ...