• Scotland says “I do!”

    News is just getting to me regarding the news that the Scottish Government has said that it will indeed legislate for gay couples to get hitched.

    I can’t help but feel immensely proud of all those who have come on board and made this the most positive campaign that I’ve ever been a part of.

    Scotland’s head can be proudly held up high.

    Several years ago, I took the decision that campaigning  on these issues within the church was not a terribly productive pursuit. Generally speaking most of my work in this area in recent years has been looking towards a change in the law. Quite a few of my friends thought I was mad. Many people thought it would come but not in my lifetime. I always believed this was possible within the lifetime of this Scottish parliament.

    The focus will turn to the churches soon. They will each have their own decision making process to follow. The key thing for me is that no-one in the Scottish Episcopal Church should be forced to act against their conscience – one way or the other. We’ve lived with different views on the marriage of divorcees for long enough now to know pretty well how we might proceed peaceably.

    There’s a lot more that I will say about all this later but for now, a great well done to all concerned.

    (oh, and by the way, Vacancy: Husband. All reasonable offers considered).

2 responses to “Carmen from the wings”

  1. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    A week already? Bother. Saw the notification, meant to listen/watch all week. Haven’t. Sigh. (previous five sentences describe phd-student life generally, I suspect, lack of grammar included).

  2. Rev Ruth Avatar

    Imagine if our little flocks could see behind the scenes at church on a Sunday morning. Would they be surprised to see the thurifer on his/her knees blowing frantically on the charcoal, swinging the thurible through 360 degrees to get it going? Would they be surprised to see the MC rummaging through the pile of paper looking for that Collect which has just been asked for? Would they be surprised to see the Altar Servers giggling and larking around before processing out sedately?

    These things are best left unseen too, I suspect.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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

Previous Posts

  • The Anglican view of Marriage

    I'm indebted to another member of the clergy for forwarding this o­n to me yesterday – it brightened up the day and made me laugh a lot:?The actions taken by the New Hampshire Episcopalians are an affront to Christians everywhere.  I am just thankful that the church's founder, Henry VIII, and his wife, Catherine of Aragon,…

  • Christmas

    I've just received my first Christmas card. It is from a company wanting to sell me Church Copyright licences – a business which I find unpleasant enough at the best of times. I hope that I am not being too Scrooge-like by putting it straight in the bin. I have a feeling that a lot of…

  • Gunpowder, treason and plot

    I rather like bonfire night, but the cat does not. Last night she spent part of the evening hiding under the dining room table refusing to come out until the banging noises stopped. I ended up under the table trying to convince her that life was worth hanging o­nto for a couple of days and…

  • Old Gold

    One aspect of the Gene Robinson story really interested me. It was the news that people around his diocese had been contributing gold jewellery to be melted down to make a pectoral cross – ie the cross which most Western bishops wear near their heart. Some divorcees had contributed wedding rings and there were some…