Kirk Session Statement, 10th July 2011The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland met on Monday 23rd May 2011 to debate a report of the Special Commission on Same Sex relationships which had been set up by the 2009 General Assembly. The background to this move was the decision of one Presbytery of the church to induct (appoint) to a congregation a minister who was living openly in a relationship with another man.This year’s General Assembly was faced with several options, one of which was to confirm the traditional teaching of our denomination. This had been re-stated as recently as the General Assemblies of 1994 and 2007 and is that “the practice of homosexual acts is contrary to God’s will for mankind”.
However, after lengthy debate the Assembly decided to give consideration to accepting persons in same sex relationships for training and ordination and appointed a Theological Commission to examine this matter and report back to a future Assembly. This has been described as taking a 'trajectory' which will lead to the full inclusion of ministers in same-sex relationships within the Church of Scotland.
As a Kirk Session here in Bristo we have monitored the progress of this debate since the 2009 Assembly and have discussed the issues on several occasions. At our meeting on Thursday 7th July 2011, in order to clarify our position for the congregation and for the wider church community, we agreed the following resolutions:
As the Kirk Session of Bristo Memorial Church of Scotland we: - Reaffirm our belief that the Word of God, written in the books of the Old and New Testaments, is all given by inspiration of God and is our supreme rule of faith and life.
- Reaffirm our belief that the traditional teaching of the Church of Scotland that sexual intercourse is God's gift to be enjoyed only within the context of marriage between one man and one woman, is based upon and is consistent with the Word of God.
- Express our compassion for those who struggle with orientations they may not act on as they seek to live a life of self-denial in following the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Express our disappointment and sorrow at, and our dissent from, the direction taken by the majority of the General Assembly in the debate on the Report of the Special Commission on Same-Sex Relationships, a direction which is contrary to the clear and plain teaching of the Word of God.
- Commit ourselves to prayer and reflection so as to ascertain what our further response to the General Assembly's decision should be.
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