Kirk looks to end gay row as minister takes up post

The gay lover and former wife of a homosexual minister who almost caused a schism in the Church of Scotland will tonight attend the service to mark his controversial appointment to a new post.

The Rev Scott Rennie, 37, will be inducted at Aberdeen’s Queen’s Cross Church where he will become the first openly-gay preacher in the Kirk to minister to a congregation.
He should have taken up his appointment in January, but the furore surrounding the move came close to creating a devastating split in the Kirk.

Mr Rennie’s partner, David Smith and Ruth, his former wife and the mother of his child, are expected to join the 400-strong congregation at tonight’s service. Church of Scotland leaders will be hopeful that the ceremony will draw a line under months of controversy.

But yesterday the senior clergyman who will lead the induction service conceded: "There is still a lot of hurt around." The Rev Dr Alan Falconer, minister of St Machar Cathedral and the Moderator of Aberdeen Presbytery, told The Scotsman: "As a presbytery, as well as the rest of the Church, we are still coming to terms with the healing processes."

The Rev David Randall, of Macduff Church in Banffshire, a leading opponent of the appointment, said: "I have a huge feeling of sorrow and dismay at the prospect of the Church of Scotland crossing a line … in which it departs from its own foundations in scripture."

• Full story at The Scotsman.

• Posted in Church of Scotland, North East + Northern Isles, Sexuality