Fresh bid to reunite Kirk and Free Church after 150 years apart

EFFORTS are to be renewed to reunite the Kirk and the Free Church of Scotland after more than 150 years of separation, church leaders said yesterday.

The Church of Scotland's Ecumenical Relations Committee, which manages the Kirk's links with other churches, is to recommend closer links with the Free Church in a joint report by both bodies to the General Assembly later this month.

The Free Church was formed in 1843 after almost a third of the Kirk broke away in protest over its relationship with the state.

Rev Bill Brown, convener of the Kirk's committee, said the strengthening of links was a step towards reuniting the churches. "It certainly is our aspiration. The way talks have been going and having spoken at both of our assemblies, which was significant in historical terms, have given us new impetus.

"The point of the report is to highlight that relationships are developing well at a grassroots level, as that is where people have to find if they have a shared view about the community."

He acknowledged there were still tensions over theological differences and that the current debate about the ordination of openly gay minister Scott Rennie by Aberdeen Presbytery would be causing concern to the Free Church, which is generally evangelical and conservative.

He said, however, that no matter how the issue was resolved, it would not be the end of collaborations or discussions between the two churches as they were "in for the long haul".

Mr Brown said that the churches' shared culture made it "a scandal" that divisions remained: "We have common roots and a common heritage, and this makes it more difficult to explain to people why you can't relate, get back together and pool resources. That's why what is happening at a local level is so important."

Mr Brown, however, said that while a merger was the ultimate aim, it was unlikely in the near future. He stressed any moves towards closer ties were likely to be driven at a local level.

Dr Mark Elliott, an expert on ecumenism and the church in Scotland at St Andrews University, said: "There is already precedent for churches to enter back into the Kirk, as with the United Free Church of Scotland in 1929. It's not unthinkable."

He added, though, that the merging of the two churches could ultimately strengthen the evangelical wing of the Kirk, currently still a minority, which could then have an impact on debates relating to issues such as homosexuality.

Iver Martin, a spokesman for the Free Church of Scotland, agreed that the aspiration was for reunification, but said that remaining theological differences currently made it an "impossibility".