• Church of Scotland rejects biblicist position on sex and marriage

    It is going to be important not to underestimate the significance of the votes in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland today. A last ditch attempt was made to get that church to commit to the idea that sex belongs only between a married heterosexual couple. That idea was comprehensively rejected.

    People with widely differing opinions never thought we would see this day. Though the legislation that the Church of Scotland is now consulting on accepting is a dreadful mess, and a long way from equality for LGBT people, today was a huge and historic boost for those who reject the ideas of those who claim the Christian tradition to be by definition narrow and anti-gay in character.

    It seemed to me, as I watched the debate, as though those seeking to promote an anti-gay view had made a huge strategic mistake by going for an all or nothing approach and trying to get the Assembly to affirm only their view.

    Generosity won the day in Edinburgh today. Generosity that has divine fingerprints all over it.

2 responses to “Conversation, Striptease & Fishing – how to blog for beginners”

  1. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    I rarely read blogs where I cannot comment – and yes I am a chatterbox on line as well as in real life.

    I blog because there are things I long to share – which is not to say they are things others long to read. I do sometimes wonder what others make of a mix of family weddings, current church controversies, sheep keeping and hairdressers.

    I can’t do strip tease – the most I can manage is keeping a one piece bathing costume on. (There is a dated phrase for you!)

    I do so wish there was more conversation on my blog. I know how many daily hits I get, but am not sure how many readers that equates to – more than I used to preach to, that is for sure.

    I am heartened by how many who do not have strong church connections read your blog, Kelvin, mine and Kimberly’s.

    But more than anything else I want to show that Christianity is a part of the lives of ordinary people, who have sheep and hairdressers (you don’t have both – you don’t have a hairdresser??) and do not, not subscribe to every idiocy believed by extremists on either side.

  2. Neil Oliver Avatar

    I rarely comment on blogs, but perhaps you’re right and it’s part of the experience, to conect and open up. I enjoy your blog since I found it, the first church leader’s blog I’ve come accross. It often seems some church people just don’t use this medium, which just cuts them off further from the world many of us live in. Your refeshing view on topics also makes it a must go to.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Tales of the City #4

    Upon stepping out into the street this morning at about 8 am, I saw out of the corner of my eye a person walking up Great Western Road, towards St Mary’s wearing not a stitch of clothing. She walked with quite a determined gait and then disappeared into a sidestreet. She did not come to…

  • Newsletter published

    I’ve just published the St Mary’s Newsletter for September. You can read it here or sign up to receive it automatically here. A tip of  the biretta to Mother Dunoon for the link to wordle

  • Which psalms to sing (Andrew's Question from earlier)

    I’m indebted to Andrew for making this comment on another post. I’ve moved it here because I think it is worth discussing in its own right, rather than in the comments for something only tangentially related. Andrew says: Would it be possible to have a channel on which to write comments not specifically connected with…

  • Sermon – 100th Anniversary of St Mary's being made a Cathedral

    Here is the this morning’s sermon. Audio and visuals are on the preaching page as usual. A couple of days ago, I was away from home overnight. I was away on church business, staying in a retreat centre. I have to admit that I’d generally rather not stay in Christian premises if I can help…