The LGBT Group at St Mary’s met on 18 February to prepare its response to the current Scottish Government consultation on the bill that it is proposing to bring in on allowing changes to marriage law in Scotland including allowing same-sex couples to be able to be marriage.
In case anyone is interested, here is the response that the group made:
St Mary’s LGBT group response to government consultation
I’m reminded of a remark which Senator Dianne Feinstein (D- California–which happens to be my home state and political party) made regarding our current President, to the effect that it would be better if we could help him to be a good president than if we merely got rid of him. Oh, my, did that ever provoke angry outpourings! At the time, I was attending a parish retreat, so it seemed appropriate to mention during a group discussion that this nice elderly Jewish lady was actually quoting Scripture and saying that “God desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.” This didn’t go over very well, but there you are. God bless our elected politicians, indeed.
Amen. We don’t usually pray for the Queen, but we often pray for politicians and leaders. Good challenge about MEPs and those who make international government – EU, Council of Europe, UN etc – work.
Amen. I’m wondering whether this point works in reverse, as well: “If collectively, as a people, we had been more thankful for the EU, would we have prayed more for its welfare?”
If, collectively, as a people, we had prayed more for the welfare of the EU, would we have been more thankful for it? Might we have felt more like a part of it? It’s difficult to know the answer to either formulation.
this Sunday I was the lay intercessor at morning Eucharist at our church. In preparing the prayers, I looked at the last ones I had done, in Mid November, and used this one virtually unchanged as it seemed as relevant now as then.
“In our country, political leaders are struggling to agree terms for our exit from the European Union. Our politics seem ever more polarised and confrontational, and it seems that any possible outcome could cause further strife and division.
Almighty Father, we pray for all who have important decisions to make, and especially for our own country at this time.
Guide the decisions of those who govern so that they may strive for justice, freedom, peace and the common good.
Give those of us who are governed wisdom, love and courage, and the resilience to find ways to grow and flourish, whatever the future may bring.
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Time for my annual Blog Break. I’ll not be blogging for July, but will be back at the start of August.
[starts 0900] Devotions (such as they were) and thinking about last night’s bizarre dream. Check webfeeds. Meeting with electrician and lighting expert re bulbs blowing at great height. Answer messages and e-mails. Several international ones re current Anglican position on The Usual Topic and about who actually said what at the big ACC meeting. Visit…
No sermon this morning – I was baptising again instead.Who would have thought that so many in the congregation would take up the invitation to come to church and the Young Church Garden Party in Victorian Fancy dress?I did not participate in the dressing up, though could be found dancing around a Maypole later in…
Well, the Church Times did not publish the letter that I sent them this week. However I can forgive them much in exchange for the following: 1 – publishing a correction to last week’s erroneous claim that the Scottish Episcopal Church had accepted the Windsor Report at the General Synod 2 – the headline: “Methodists…
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