Kirk prays for a way to resolve gay debate

SEX is back at the top of the agenda for the Church of Scotland as this year's General Assembly gets under way at the weekend. The question of whether the Kirk should accept gay ministers - which has sparked talk of splits and schisms - will dominate the week's proceedings on The Mound.

There are plenty of other topics up for discussion, from climate change and the war in Afghanistan to church finances. However, the assembly has set aside a whole day to debate same-sex relationships and the ministry.

The issue was raised at the assembly two years ago, when evangelical churchmen challenged the appointment of the Rev Scott Rennie, who lives openly with his male partner, to a parish in Aberdeen.

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The Assembly upheld his appointment but agreed to ban the ordination of any other gay ministers until a special commission had studied the matter. The commission's report will be the focus for debate on Monday.

As part of its work, the commission carried out a consultation exercise within the church, which found a clear majority opposed to allowing people in same-sex relationships to become ministers. In Edinburgh, however, there was a slight majority in favour.

The consultation also asked people if they would leave the church if the decision went against them. Across Scotland, almost one in five of those taking part said they would feel obliged to leave if gay ministers were allowed, while 15 per cent said they would go if gays were banned from the ministry. In Edinburgh, both camps seemed more reluctant to walk.

The report asks the Assembly to appoint another commission, this time made up of theologians - to look at the issue further. But it also asks the Assembly to give a steer by opting for one of two paths - either towards an indefinite moratorium on gay ordination or towards accepting gays for training and ordination.

However, a compromise, allowing the new commission to carry out its task without being pushed in one direction or the other, is expected to be proposed and could well be accepted.

Ministers are banned by the church from talking to the media about the issue, but one leading churchman says the Kirk's preoccupation with sexuality risks making it look out of touch with modern society. "The rest of the world has come to terms with this and moved on," he says. "But we just seem to be obsessed with sex."

He says some "young Turks" on the Kirk's evangelical wing are "hellbent on secession" and are determined to walk out unless the church falls in line with their position. "That's fine," he continues. "It would be good for the church if they did leave. But moderate evangelicals don't want to split, so long as their position is respected."

In Monday's debate, the evangelicals, buoyed by the consultation findings, are expected to push hard for the "indefinite moratorium" path.

One Edinburgh minister opposed to gay ordination says compromise offers no solution because the two sides are so diametrically opposed. "It's oil and water - two very different views, two different starting points and two different conclusions. People say we should agree to disagree, but the nature of the church means that doesn't really work. If there are practising homosexuals ordained as ministers and I don't recognise them how can we coexist and work together because we are radically opposed?"

But he expects a less than clear-cut outcome from Monday's debate. "The Church of Scotland has an amazing capacity to create a fudge-like situation where no-one is quite sure what we've decided and both sides claim they have won."

However, another city churchman, who backs gay ordination, believes taking time may lead to a significant shift in the Kirk's position, and he compares it to an issue which was controversial for the Kirk 50 years ago.

"In 1959, the Church of Scotland agreed ministers could, if they so chose, marry people who had been divorced - but that began as a question that was asked at the Assembly in 1948. Lots of people had come back from the war and there were a lot of marriage break-ups as a result of that experience. It took the church that long to work it through to where they said this is okay. It was the beginning of a sea change not just in the church but in society. We were a place where debate happened at a deep level and we took our time to debate it.

"I think that's what's going to happen here."