Kirk 'smear campaigns' hit search for Moderator

THE Church of Scotland is set to change the way it chooses its moderators after apparent smear campaigns by factions inside the Kirk.

HOT SEAT: John Christie is stepping down and in the years ahead the search for his successors will change. Picture: GREG MACVEAN

It plans to stop publishing the shortlist of those being considered for the top post because the release of the names sparked a flurry of emails to members of the committee responsible for making the selection, accusing certain candidates of having "unsound views".

The General Assembly, which opens tomorrow, will be asked to order a thorough review of the duties of the Moderator and the nominating process.

But in the meantime, the Kirk's legal committee is proposing the practice of publishing the names of candidates - introduced in 1999 - should be scrapped immediately.

That would mean the process for choosing moderators, who hold office for 12 months, would go back behind closed doors and only the name of the successful candidate would be made public.

The task of finding suitable moderators is carried out by a 61-member committee, which includes former moderators and a representative from each of the Kirk's 47 presbyteries. It draws up a shortlist and chooses one name to put to the Assembly for formal approval.

The decision to reveal the names of those being considered was hailed at the time as a move towards openness and followed concerns that speculation each year over who would get the job meant names were publicised without any guarantee they would be nominated.

However, one insider said publication of the shortlist had deterred some potential candidates from allowing their names to go forward because they did not want to "lose in public".

He said the key factor behind reverting to secrecy had been the campaigning by e-mail and in particular the negative tone of such campaigning in the build-up to the debate on gay ministers.

The source said there had been "a fair bit of traffic".

"There were people saying certain candidates had 'unsound views'. Email allows that to be spread in a way which was not easy before. Because of the polarisation in the gay sex debate, it got a bit out of hand. That has been the driver.

"The feeling is it would all be better handled at a meeting where everyone hears everything."

He said the Kirk had never viewed the choice of Moderator as a campaigning issue.

The legal committee's report to the Assembly says: "Unsolicited information and inappropriate speculation are not helpful, either to the committee or the nominees. There is significant evidence this step in the process places untold pressure on the nominees and has made potential nominees reluctant to allow their names to enter the process."

It adds that "in the age of email" it is too easy for debate on who should get the post to happen ahead of the meeting where the decision is to be made.

A Kirk spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment until the Assembly had debated the matter.