With the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland beginning in roughly 12 hours, the Scottish news media has had a variety of articles this week. Here are a few:
A tribute to the outgoing Moderator Alan McDonald and an introduction to the Moderator Designate Sheilagh Kesting are both written by Ron Ferguson and appear in his column in The Herald. In “The Ministry of a very Modern Moderator” Mr. Ferguson writes about Presbyterian Polity saying:
The Church of Scotland deliberately elects a moderator for one year only. This arises out of a Presbyterian distrust of entrenched ecclesiastical power. The ghost of John Knox still walks the land. The system has some obvious weaknesses, but among its strengths is the elevation of a variety of voices from within the Kirk. In his moderatorial year, McDonald has exemplified the highest traditions of ministry.
Mr. Ferguson introduces the Rev. Kester in “Breaking the Mould: Meet the Kirk’s quiet rebel.” He writes how she will be only the second woman to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly and the first clergy. And as Rev. McDonald was high-profile about his combating sectarianism (My comments from December and March) Rev Kester has made it known that with her work and background in ecumenism, she will be proactive in that area as well. This is one of the longer and most informative articles I have read about Ms. Kester.
Probably the most closely watched issue this year will be the Report on Same-sex Relationships, especially after the motion to allow ministers to bless same-sex partnerships was defeated by the Presbyteries. An editorial in The Herald calls for compromise. They write:
It is hoped that the Church will debate this
sensitive area with maturity and restraint and not precipitate any
rupture or stand-off between evangelicals and liberals, which would
only serve further to entrench their positions and weaken significantly
the Church’s authority in the eyes of the public. Instead, it must
surely be in everyone’s best interests to reach a conclusion advocating
tolerance towards those who choose to make these blessings, while
wholeheartedly accepting the stance of those for whom this ministerial
act is inconceivable.
However, an earlier article about this issue, also in The Herald, talks about the possibility of this issue leading to a split in the church. I must note that while I found the article reasonable, it was interesting to see that all the quotes were from those who support the blessing of the partnerships, and most of them said they would defy the church if it passed a prohibition. Related to this issue, the progressive group OneKirk is putting together a panel discussion on Monday evening that is not part of the official program. However, the panel includes Rev. Ian M. Watson, a leader of the conservative group Forward Together, as well as Dr. Barbara Wheeler, President of Auburn Theological Seminary in New York and the PC(USA) official representative to the GA. More details and the full panel can be found in a flier from OneKirk.
In other items, the Free Church of Scotland will be meeting at the same time and the ecumenical relations committees of each church will address the other’s General Assembly and they will be issuing a joint statement (The Herald article). In addition, the Church and Society Council report will challenge church members to make changes in their lifestyles to reduce global warming (Christian Today article).
Finally, The Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly, that is the Queen’s representative, will be the Duke of York, HRH Prince Andrew, the second son of the Queen. In my limited experience with Church of Scotland General Assemblies this is the first time that a member of the Queen’s immediate family has been the Commissioner, although vidio clips on the church web site show HRH Prince Charles serving in that capacity. The best of the articles I have seen about Andrew’s service is from the Berwickshire News.