First ordained woman begins as Church of Scotland moderator

[DigitaLVampirE]

Edinburgh (ENI). Ecclesiastical history has been made in the Scottish capital with the Church of Scotland welcoming leaders of the Free Church of Scotland to its 2007 General Assembly that was officially opened by Prince Andrew, a son of British Queen Elizabeth II.

"I think this is a tremendous thing," said the new moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Rev. Sheilagh Kesting, who made church unity the theme of her sermon at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh. "I don't think that any of us guessed that we would be able to do such a thing but we have been meeting for a couple of years and it became clear that there were areas where we could say we have common ground."

The Church of Scotland split into two factions after what has been called "the disruption" of 1843 following years of debate among elders and ministers about the exact relationship between Church and State.

Writing in Scotland's The Herald newspaper on 19 May, Jennifer Cunningham wrote: "In a historic step, the general assemblies of both churches will be asked to agree a joint statement which recognises 'the scandal of the divisions in our Presbyterian Church family'."

The Church of Scotland general assembly opened on 19 May and will close on 25 May.

The 53-year-old Kesting heads the Church of Scotland's committee on ecumenical relations and was the first ordained woman appointed as the denomination's moderator when she was named in October 2006, although she is not the first female elected to the 12-month post. Alison Elliot, a church elder was appointed in 2004.

"If we live as though God had not torn down the barriers that divide people of different backgrounds and cultures, if we cannot ourselves work for the healing of the tensions that are so disabling and can find no way of respecting difference as the sign of a healthy community, we will fail to be convincing," said Kesting, who has often spoken out against sectarianism in Scotland. "We will have turned the spotlight onto ourselves and our divisions, as so often in our history, and away from Jesus, who is the only focus of our unity."

Although she will be in the job as moderator for only one year, Kesting hopes to visit New Zealand and Australia later in 2007, and may visit the Middle East.

Recently published statistics showed the Church of Scotland's membership fell to 503 363 from 520 940 the previous year. Still, Kesting said, "We can get too anxious about numbers."

By Trevor Grundy

[DigitaLVampirE]

RURITANIA returned to Scotland yesterday in a flourish of over-blown pomp, creaking formalities, Royal condescension, comic opera costumes and funny hats. Did you know? Did you care?

Of course you didn't. Not unless you are a flummery freak or happened to be fuming in a traffic jam at the top of The Mound in Edinburgh. Or unless you are a member of Scotland's national church whose faith means more than just dressing up and paying lip service on a Sunday.

Prince Andrew, alias the Duke of York, is this year's Lord High Commissioner, the Queen's representative to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. What he knows about the Kirk's affairs is open to question.

It is a sad manifestation of the decline of the Church of Scotland that the appearance of a near-forgotten nonentity will claim more attention than the deliberations of the supreme court of the national church.

For almost 300 years, the Assembly was the nearest thing Scotland had to a Parliament. There was something akin to a 'fiery Cross' feeling to the gathering of ministers and elders from cities, towns and rural communities who converged on the capital and gave voice to our nation's concerns.

Especially during the years of alien English Tory government, Scotland had a voice of its own. When it thundered, it mixed old-time religion with moral outrage and a decidedly left-of-centre stance.

Being religious affairs correspondent in those decades was the nearest thing to being a parliamentary reporter in Scotland and the Kirk was front-page news. The Assembly Hall reverberated to furiously fought debates about nuclear weapons on the Clyde (in case you had not noticed, it is still on the side of the ban-the-bombers), the destruction of Scotland's industrial base, city centre deprivation, rural neglect and the beginnings of the social problems which now blight Scotland.

Sadly, when the world is in crisis and Scotland is in ferment, that roar has faded to a polite whisper. Regrettably, in this immoral age, what should be the moral Voice of Scotland counts for little.

Scotland is now a secular - in fact, pagan - post-religious society in which, for the majority, religion has no relevance. Two-thirds of Scots still declare themselves 'Christian' but church attendance figures give the lie to their sanctimonious claim. The suspicion is they really mean 'I'm not Muslim, Sikh or Buddhist'.

At the last census, 42% said they were 'Church of Scotland', but if that were true there would be two million in the pews every Sunday, it would be standing room only and every parish would need a Securicor van to take the collection to the bank. In fact, the official membership has shrunk by half in the last 50 years to just over half a million.

And who needs a single-sect pseudo-parliament now that we have the real thing at the other end of the Royal Mile? Never mind that Holyrood has a lower IQ, poorer vocabulary and softer collars; it fills the vacuum vacated by the General Assembly.

The Church of Scotland has also allowed itself to be upstaged by the media-savvy Scottish Catholic hierarchy, with a slick PR set-up and its own Parliamentary liaison operation. Moderators make statements and they are mere footnotes; but when cardinals and bishops let rip they make headlines and the political establishment quivers.

Nearly 450 years old, the Kirk has not learned how to make itself heard in the 21st century - unlike the 2,000-year-old Catholic Church. It claims 860,000 adherents (although its empty pews and priest shortage tell a different story) and has become the moral megaphone in Scotland.

The late Cardinal Tom Winning out-politicked the politicians and became Tony Blair's real Opposition in Scotland. Winning was so dominant that the then leader of the Scottish Episcopalian Church, the ultra-liberal Bishop Richard Holloway, tartly reminded the Labour hierarchy: "It might fortify our leaders to remember that in Scotland non-Catholics have the vote as well."

In this month's elections, for the first time, there was a blatant attempt to wield the power of the Catholic vote. In a letter read from 600 pulpits, the bishops urged their faithful to challenge attacks on Christian values "at the ballot box". Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell publicly declared: "For generations, including myself, Catholics in their droves tended to vote consistently for the Labour Party. That allegiance has been severely tested to the point, I think, of being broken."

The traditional ties between Scottish Catholics and Labour, which accounted for a significant part of the core vote in West and Central Scotland, were severed and Cardinal Keith O'Brien said he would be happy if Scotland became independent. No one can say what electoral damage was done but it cannot have helped Labour when they were struggling - and failing - to stave off the SNP.

Nineteen years ago, Margaret Thatcher appalled the Assembly with her ill-judged 'Sermon on the Mound', a travesty in praise of capitalism which could have been delivered by Gordon Gecko. Next year, if they are smart, the ministers and elders will invite the new Prime Minister, son of the manse Gordon Brown. He could quote his father, the Reverend John E Brown, who asked 20 years ago: "Why is it that the Church is not exerting the influence it should in Scotland today?"

The Church of Scotland should be trying to find the answer this week - if it is not already too late.

By Tom Brown

[Scottish_Republican]

Although not the first female moderator (which the article doesn't mention). However, I think that the Kirk has handled this matter far better than the Church of England (despite my biases).

"that was officially opened by Prince Andrew, a son of British Queen Elizabeth II"

This has got to be wrong. Scotland has never had an Elizabeth the second.

"The Assembly Hall reverberated to furiously fought debates about nuclear weapons on the Clyde (in case you had not noticed, it is still on the side of the ban-the-bombers), the destruction of Scotland's industrial base, city centre deprivation, rural neglect and the beginnings of the social problems which now blight Scotland. "

To be fair, again, the Kirk has taken a strong stance on these things, and still does, and it is one of the things that is to its credit.