Kirk tackles digital divide: ‘Church of Scotland is totally switched on’
The Church of Scotland is totally switched on [sic] and committed to tackling the digital divide [sic]. The digital divide is the gap between those in society who have access to and the resources to regularly use new technology including the internet, social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and those who are unable to. [...]
Almost no couples with children who stay unmarried stay together, study claims
A study by the Marriage Foundation calculates that cohabiting couples who have children are more than twice as likely to split up as those who had tied the knot beforehand. But of those who do not then go on to get married after having children, only a handful will still be together by the time [...]
Gay clergy struggle blamed for crisis in Kirk recruitment
One of Scotland’s leading theologians has blamed a drop in evangelical students training for the ministry on the Church of Scotland’s battle over gay clergy. The Reverend Professor David Fergusson, principal of the New College, Edinburgh University’s divinity school, said the Kirk must stop squabbling over sexuality or risk alienating more young people. He appealed [...]
Church of Scotland: Only 16 new ministers taken on
The Church of Scotland needs to take “real risks” and create “radical models” of training if it is to persuade more young people to become ministers, the General Assembly heard yesterday. The call for change came as ministers were told that only 25 people had applied for full-time ministry in 2012, and of the 16 [...]
Youth Moderator makes plea against domestic violence
Speaking to the General Assembly this afternoon, the Moderator of the National Youth Assembly, Euan Patterson, urged all male delegates to support the White Ribbon Campaign against domestic violence. The National Youth Assembly brings together a diverse group of young people and aims to give them a voice within the church. In August 2012, they [...]
HM Forces report to Kirk’s Assembly is dedicated to General Sir Michael Gow
Church of Scotland chaplains have continued to provide pastoral care and support for the servicemen and women in Afghanistan and other parts of the world as well as their families back home. Their work is recognised tomorrow in a Report of the Committee on Chaplains to Her Majesty’s Forces at the General Assembly of the [...]
Kirk seeks to implement wider review and development of its ministry and ministers
The Church of Scotland is to introduce a plan to ensure the continued professional development of its Ministers. The aim is to ensure it has the right people in the right places delivering the right kind of worship to congregations. Reporting to the General Assembly today, Wednesday May 22, Convener of the Special Commission on [...]
Free Church (Continuing) has message of hope for the gay community
In his moderatorial address to the General Assembly of the Free Church Continuing, the new Moderator, Rev Warren Gardner stated: “The gay community needs to hear a message of hope, a message of hope for ‘all’ sinners. “They must hear that ‘some of us’ in Christ’s Church, in the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), were [...]
Nuns cleared of child assault as lead cop with ‘no surrender’ sticker and RFC carplate is charged with racist attack
Two nuns have been cleared of assaulting girls in their care at an approved school in Renfrewshire. Anne Kenny, 79, known as Mother Rosaria, and Agnes Reville, 77, known as Mother Martin, had been accused of hitting pupils at Dalbeth Approved School in Bishopton from 1969 to 1971. Their trial at Paisley Sheriff Court heard [...]
Perth to host loyalist march
A massive Loyalist march will be held in Perth this weekend. Around 3200 participants from across Scotland will march through the city centre for the annual Apprentice Boys of Derry May Rally on Saturday. And the event is expected to draw another 5000 people into the city to watch the spectacle. Over 50 branch clubs [...]
Church of Scotland care services under threat
The head of the Kirk’s charity wing has warned it will be forced to consider the future of some care services if local authorities keep cutting funding. The Reverend Syd Graham, convener of the Church of Scotland’s social care council, said it would not run “cheapo” services for councils in the face of falling funding [...]
Rev Scott Rennie on Kirk Assembly sexuality vote: ‘We are crossing that Jordan river’
Yesterday’s decision on sexuality and the ministry at the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly means that “the Kirk has moved and is moving”, according to the Rev Scott Rennie, the openly gay minister whose appointment at Queen’s Cross church in Aberdeen helped precipitate the debate. Commenting on the weblog of the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, [...]
Time for a ‘conversation shift’ in Scotland’s referendum debate
Scotland will next year be voting on independence but the Church of Scotland’s Sally Foster-Fulton wants the ongoing conversation to move away from a “tennis match of yes and no”. Foster-Fulton, convener of the Kirk’s Church and Society Council, said the debate so far had been “quite polarised” and that she wanted to see people [...]
Glasgow Churches Together
- Get on your marks with More Than Gold at the Velodrome on June 6
- French Churches from Lutheran and Reformed traditions unite
- Iona celebrates 1450th anniversary of Columba’s arrival
- Spreading God’s Word starts with getting God’s Word into our own lives
- Conference to explore situation of Christians living in the Middle East