Rev Dr George Grubb: Non-partisan Assembly can promote peace

LATER this week the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland meets, and the great and the good will debate all sorts of matters. However, hanging over it will be a matter due to be debated at next year’s assembly, the ordination of gay clergy. It is the elephant in the room.

Over the years as an observer and participant I have been encouraged and amazed at how the assembly tackles the important issues that relate to Scotland and the world. In the past the assembly was regarded as Scotland’s parliament, and it must be said that the debates are often far better and delivered with greater passion than those at Holyrood.

Peace and poverty are world issues, and the assembly will want to consider those issues, not just because they are relevant to the world we live in, but because it has a world view based on its experience and its “missionary” partnerships throughout the globe.

In fact, the Kirk, through its worldwide network with faith communities, and that includes all faiths, has an enriched and non-partisan view of international issues.

In Edinburgh, we have taken a decisive step forward in bringing faith communities and the United Nations Association (UNA) together to create a Centre of Peace.

It’s early days yet, but the enthusiasm and engagement of the faith groups and UNA has been exemplary in their willingness to work together.

UN peacekeepers are involved in more than 17 operations worldwide, and the problem seems to be that once they move in they have to remain for years. In Cyprus, where I served as an RAF chaplain, the UN arrived in 1963, and the green line they established is still there, and UN forces still police it.

It may be that engagement with faith communities across divides could provide some of the answers to reconciliation and peace.

Peace and tackling poverty go together. Armed conflict is often fuelled by poverty, as we have witnessed in the Arab Spring. At the end of the day it is better to talk than shoot, and if that simple message can get across to areas of conflict then it could be the start of a better and more peaceful world.

• The Rev Dr George Grubb is a retired minister and former City of Edinburgh councillor.