Plans for a new Roman Catholic secondary school for North Ayrshire have been given the go-ahead by the Scottish Executive. It will replace St Michael's Academy in Kilwinning and St Andrew's in Saltcoats.
Source: icAyrshire - Irvine Herald.
posted at 8:41:21 PM

"Absolutely stunning!'' That was how the Episcopalian Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane described the new St Catharine's Community Centre when he opened and dedicated it in Blairgowrie on Sunday. The Right Rev. Michael Henley said it was an important historic occasion, the realisation of what had seemed at times only a dream.
Source: icPerthshire - Blairgowrie Advertiser.
posted at 8:35:27 PM

On Holocaust Memorial Day, Christian and Jewish leaders said that anti-Semitism was resurfacing in Britain. A statement on Tuesday by the seven presidents of the Council of Christians and Jews reinforced their warning last month that anti-Semitism was growing faster that at any time "since the dark days of World War II".
Source: Church Times.
posted at 8:20:16 PM

Catholic Church leaders have today ditched their demands for changes in a £150million mixed faith campuses plan. A stand-off over the landmark "super-schools" project in North Lanarkshire has been resolved after an agreement was reached with council bosses.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 8:13:48 PM

Catholic Church officials last night dropped their demands for "immediate commitment" to changes in a £150 million plan for mixed-faith campuses.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:04:45 PM

Peace broke out yesterday between the Catholic Church in Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council as Bishop Joseph Devine moved to defuse the row over new campuses to be shared by religious and non-denominational schools.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 7:56:34 PM

The Church of Ireland today announced plans to set up a Hard Gospel Committee to respond to lessons learned from a scoping study of members' attitudes to sectarianism and living with differences.
Source: Anglican Communion News Service.
posted at 7:44:43 PM

Bishop Joseph Devine says in an official statement: "The Diocese of Motherwell welcomes North Lanarkshire Council's recently stated 'unequivocal commitment' to Catholic schools. I appreciate their commitment to our ongoing discussions, about the design and layout of various schools."
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 7:42:48 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Professor Iain Torrance, will deliver a short reflection speech during his visit to the Scottish Parliament next Wednesday (4 February). He will also visit the site of the new Parliament building and attend a meeting in connection with the Parliamentary Fellowship, hosted by Andrew Welsh MSP.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 7:40:26 PM

In an official statement, Bishop Joseph Devine says the Diocese of Motherwell "welcomes North Lanarkshire Council's recently stated 'unequivocal commitment' to Catholic schools".
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 7:04:12 PM

Married Scots who have a sex change will be forced to divorce their partners even if they want to stay together. Without an annulment, partners would effectively be in a same-sex marriage - which is opposed by the Scottish Executive and Westminster. The new measures are contained in the Gender Recognition Bill, under which anyone who has undergone a sex change would be issued with a new birth certificate showing their new gender. Last night, the Catholic Church said they had ''grave concerns'' about the Bill. Reverend Jim Cowie, convener of the Church of Scotland's board of responsibility, said: ''The Church doesn't have a view on this.''
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 7:00:42 PM

Matthew Parris debates with himself and the Presbyterian editor of the Sunday Post the question that just won't go away: is Sunday this week or next week?
Source: The Spectator.
posted at 6:54:23 PM

A historic Scottish chapel has become the first in the UK to have an organ built by a leading French designer. The University of Aberdeen's King's College Chapel is now home to the instrument designed by master organ builder Bernard Aubertin.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 6:51:34 PM

Leaflets containing the text of a comprehensive statement on marriage and the family will be distributed to Scotland's Catholic community this weekend.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 6:20:55 PM

A meeting to discuss the feasibility of a Muslim denominational school in Dundee is going ahead as planned next month.
Source: Dundee Evening Telegraph.
posted at 6:15:19 PM

Christians from throughout the north-east will descend on Buckie this weekend for the start of a three-day convention. The event is an offshoot of a similar, but larger, convention which has been held at Keswick in the Lake District for over 100 years and attracts thousands of Christians.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 6:12:51 PM

Projects including an alcohol-free pub in Arbroath have been given grants from the Church of Scotland. The Kirk's parish development fund has awarded money to projects which will improve the lives of people in greatest need throughout Scotland.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 6:09:35 PM

Feature: "We're all for tolerance." Michael McGrath explains the Catholic Church position in the shared-campus row in North Lanarkshire to Lorna Martin, saying the Church is trying to promote tolerance.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 6:01:51 PM

Rikki Fulton, one of the kings of Scottish comedy, is dead. He was 79. Fulton was best known as one half of the Francie and Josie partnership, and for his portrayal of the Rev I M Jolly. His Scotch & Wry programmes became a Hogmanay institution, with characters such as Jolly, the archetypal downbeat Church of Scotland minister, and Supercop, the glaikit motor-cycle policeman.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 5:57:32 PM

Rev A Kingsley Lloyd, former President of the Methodist Conference in Britain, died on Saturday 24 January at the age of 100.
Source: Methodist Church News.
posted at 6:41:44 PM

The Church of Scotland's Parish Development Fund last year awarded grants of more than £444,000 over three years, to 16 projects to improve the lives of people in greatest need throughout Scotland - and even in Holland.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 6:40:14 PM

Norman Robertson, an elder of Stobswell Church, has been named as Dundee's Citizen of the Year.
Source: Dundee Evening Telegraph.
posted at 6:38:02 PM

A former Episcopalian bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney will be showing off his singing and acting skills after landing a role in a city musical. Fred Darwent, 76, was picked to play Pops, the stage doorman, in Aberdeen Opera Company's production of Kiss Me Kate. Originally from Liverpool, Mr Darwent was the Bishop from 1978 to 1992.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 6:32:13 PM

Labour MP Frank Roy wants the public to be able to vote on whether Orange and republican parades in North Lanarkshire should be outlawed ahead of this summer's marching season. He says people are fed up with the ''violence, mayhem and misery'' connected with religious parades.
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 6:25:30 PM

Obituary of retired university administrator David Dorward, a member and elder of Hope Park Church in St Andrews for 44 years, and author of the book 'Scottish Surnames'.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 6:21:42 PM

Council leaders are confident of resolving a crisis in talks with the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, which has stalled a landmark £150 million plan for mixed-faith campuses in North Lanarkshire.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 6:16:34 PM

An unholy row broke out when a minister tried to diffuse a dispute between Edinburgh's notorious parking Enforcers and a group of tourists. The Rev Peter Hadden, of the Christian Centre Ministry on Dean Bridge, thought he was being a Good Samaritan by trying to help an American family whose car was being towed away on George Street. But he was appalled when an Enforcer allegedly told him to "f*** off" and mind his own business.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 6:14:19 PM

The Catholic Church in Scotland yesterday accused North Lanarkshire Council of deliberately "muddying the waters" in the row over new campuses to be shared by religious and non-denominational schools.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 6:08:08 PM

A 'Scottish Sunday' service at First Presbyterian Church in Boynton Beach, Florida, paid tribute to the rich political, musical, literary and religious traditions Scotland bequeathed to the United States, most notably in the early Presbyterian churches that played a role in the American Revolution and subsequent democracy. "This is a Sunday to help us remember our historical roots as a church," Rev. Randall Gill said. "The Presbyterian Church was run democratically by elders, and it was one of the first forms of representative government in this country." Among those participating was Kenneth Hislop, who came to the United States from Glasgow 42 years ago.
Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

posted at 3:04:58 PM

On behalf of the Anglican Primates of the British Isles, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has confirmed the appointment of Bishop Martin Wharton of Newcastle as the new Anglican Co-Chairman of the Porvoo Contact Group, succeeding Archbishop John Neill of Dublin, Ireland. Together with the Lutheran Co-Chairman, Bishop Ragnar Persenius of Uppsala in Sweden, Bishop Martin will take the lead in coordinating the work of the Porvoo churches as they move even closer together in partnership and common mission. The Porvoo Declaration was signed in 1996 by the Churches of England and Ireland, the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church, together with the Churches of Norway and Sweden, and the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches of Estonia, Finland, Iceland and Lithuania. It was the first time the Anglican Churches in Britain and Ireland had moved into visible communion with other national Churches in Europe, in addition to the communion already existing with the Old Catholic Churches.
Source: Anglican Communion News Service.
posted at 1:07:51 PM

Unless demands for separate staffrooms, libraries and entrances are met, the Catholic Church says it will withdraw its support for the £150 million plan which would merge campuses for 14 primary schools in North Lanarkshire.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:14:59 AM

The Catholic Church in Scotland last night threatened to pull out of a flagship shared school campus scheme in North Lanarkshire. It said the final proposals ignored its calls for separate school entrances for Catholic pupils. It also wants separate gyms, nurseries, staff rooms and staff toilets. Jim McCabe, the council leader, defended the authority's stance. He said he did not see the need for two separate adult entrances when the campus was being used by the local community.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 8:01:32 AM

The Scottish Catholic Media Office has issued a "clarification" on shared school campus proposals in North Lanarkshire. "Unless written assurances are provided by the council that tenders will proceed on the basis required by the Church, the Bishop of Motherwell will have no alternative but to withdraw consent from the shared campus proposals and seek the intervention of the First Minister," says Michael McGrath, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 7:43:15 PM

Some of Britain's most controversial artists, including Tracey Emin, John Bellany and Peter Howson, are to show their work in London's St Paul's Cathedral as part of a major exhibition challenging the traditional view of Christ. The exhibition is sponsored by the Christian organisation BibleLands. At St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow - the only Scottish venue - new work by Howson will also be seen for the first time, alongside installations by six emerging Scottish artists. Howson, who became a Christian while fighting drug and alcohol addiction, plans to show his latest work, The Crucifixion, as well as his £100,000 commission, The Stations Of The Cross and its associated drawings.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 7:39:03 PM

The future of joint faith school campuses in Scotland is in doubt amid threats by the Catholic church that it intends to pull out of a £150m flagship project. Senior church officials have warned they will refuse to use seven primary school sites in Lanarkshire because they do not want Catholic pupils sharing facilities with non-Catholics.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 7:25:31 PM

Another shared campus school for Catholic and non-denominational schoolchildren in Scotland has been criticised by parents and staff, who say enforced separation of the pupils is encouraging divisions between them. The controversy at Edinburgh's Pirniehall and St David's RC primaries comes only days after it was revealed there has been escalating violence at a similar campus for two secondary schools in Midlothian.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 7:15:13 PM

Greyfriars Kirk, which suffered serious setbacks during its £1.2 million refurbishment, is set to be unveiled as a key Edinburgh tourist attraction. Despite running into problems last year when the building company working on the 17th-century church folded, officials said the transformed kirk would be finished by the end of February.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 7:47:27 PM

A minister has rapped fast food giants McDonald's for failing to pay GBP 100 owed for an advert in a charity football match programme. Rev Frank Campbell arranged the game in Galashiels between a Borders Select team and a side from Premiership club Newcastle United to raise money for World Mission, who help sick kids in Iraq and Thailand.
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 7:44:37 PM

Families across Scotland will enjoy a fixed Easter break next year after plans were announced yesterday revising the traditional school holiday. Schools will close on Good Friday and Easter Monday, then again for the first two weeks in April. The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland had some reservations. Spokesman Peter Kearney said: "Easter is a moveable feast so, if the two-week holiday is in April and that falls outside the Easter weekend, it seems odd to still refer to it as the Easter holiday."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 11:41:45 PM

People in Central Buchan have an opportunity to do something different on Thursday evenings, starting this week, when a new Alpha Course begins in St Kane's Church Centre in New Deer.
Source: Buchan Observer.
posted at 10:41:26 PM

According to the 2001 Census results for Skye and Lochalsh, published last year, the Church of Scotland is the largest denomination in the district with 44.4 per cent of the population. Another 18 per cent adhere to one of the Free Churches, and 4.7 per cent are Roman Catholic. A total of more than 30 per cent are either atheists or declined to answer this question.
Source: West Highland Free Press.
posted at 10:36:04 PM

A number of Stornoway pubs will be opening into the early hours of Sunday morning, after the Western Isles Licensing Board granted several controversial applications despite objections from Stornoway Free Church Kirk Session and the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (Outer Isles Presbytery). Solicitors for the pubs - the Star Inn, the Lewis Lounge and Public Bar, and the Caledonian Hotel - argued successfully that there was no causal link between the premises and nuisances which might arise from extended licensing hours.
Source: Stornoway Gazette.
posted at 10:03:46 PM

The Roman Catholic Church will make a major election issue out of Inverclyde Council's decision to ditch plans for a denominational school in Wemyss Bay. Father Tom Boyle told yesterday's education committee that Bishop John Mone "feels let down" because the council had seemingly made a decision in principle last April to establish a Catholic school in the village.
Source: Greenock Telegraph.
posted at 9:47:44 PM

Retired minister Rev William Finlayson-Young has been honoured with a special service held in Abdie and Dunbog Parish Church in Fife to mark the 60th anniversary of his ordination.
Source: Fife Now - Fife Herald.
posted at 9:45:51 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is to visit Cumbernauld next week. Right Rev Professor Iain Torrance will be accompanied by Cumbernauld woman Janette McNaughton, who is Moderator of the Presbytery. Janette's appointment to this position was quite unique because she is not a minister, but is deaconess at Condorrat Parish Church.
Source: Cumbernauld Today - Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Chronicle.
posted at 9:39:25 PM

THE Lanarkshire Society of Organists is keen to help people in the district who are less experienced organists.
Source: icLanarkshire - Rutherglen Reformer.
posted at 9:29:36 PM

Hamilton South and Quarter Parish Church are this week welcoming a South African man as their new minister. Rev George MacDonald, 57, comes from Durban but has Scottish ancestry. His grandfather, also named George MacDonald, hailed from the area and around 1910 went to Cape Town as a fitter and turner.
Source: icLanarkshire - Hamilton Advertiser.
posted at 9:26:49 PM

Lanarkshire councils pointed out this week that they have no plans to introduce same-sex marriage ceremonies. It follows a move by Clackmannanshire Council to introduce commitment ceremonies for gays and lesbians in its registry offices. The Convener of Hamilton Presbytery's church and social interests committee, the Rev Anne Paton, said each minister in the Presbytery had been given the opportunity to comment on the Scottish Executive's proposal for a new legal status for couples as "registered civil partners" with a package of rights and responsibilities. But she added that since the Presbytery had not discussed it as a group as yet they were not in a position to comment.
Source: icLanarkshire - Hamilton Advertiser.
posted at 9:23:26 PM

Impoverished children in Romania tucked into a tasty Christmas dinner thanks to the efforts of a Christian charity based in Perth. Blythswood Care's 2003 Festive shoebox appeal saw a record 4603 boxes transported to Talita Kum - the aid and rehabilitation programme - in Jimbolia, Romania.
Source: icPerthshire - Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 9:16:25 PM

A Kilmarnock minister is celebrating 25 years with his church. The Rev William Hall began serving the parish of the Old High Kirk in January 1979.
Source: icAyrshire - Kilmarnock Standard.
posted at 9:08:09 PM

North Lanarkshire is facing mounting challenges in completing the final stages of its £150 million public private partnership (PPP) programme. "A battle for the soul of North Lanarkshire" is how one council insider described the fractious dispute between the Roman Catholic Church and the council over joint primary school campuses. The Cumbernauld primary / St Andrews primary campus is in the Archdiocese of Glasgow while the rest of North Lanarkshire is in the Diocese of Motherwell.
Source: Times Educational Supplement Scotland.
posted at 8:47:06 PM

The Church of England must abandon the idea that there is "one standard form of church" if it is to survive long into the 21st century, says a radical new report. 'Mission-shaped Church' says "a mixed economy" of church models is necessary to connect with people who have no concept of Christian faith nor pattern of Sunday worship. It lists a range of what it calls "fresh expressions of church".
Source: Church Times.
posted at 8:44:16 PM

Alison Twaddle, general secretary of the Church of Scotland's Guild, will visit Zambia and South Africa next month to see a range of projects tackling HIV and Aids. The 53-year-old, whose husband Laurence is a minister at Belhaven Parish Church, East Lothian, will have to travel through impoverished and crime-ridden areas including Durban, Johannesburg and Ndola in the Copperbelt mining region of Zambia.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 4:21:00 PM

Families across Scotland will enjoy a fixed Easter break next year after plans were announced yesterday revising the traditional school holiday. Schools will close on Good Friday and Easter Monday, then again for the first two weeks in April. The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland had some reservations. Spokesman Peter Kearney said: "Easter is a moveable feast so, if the two-week holiday is in April and that falls outside the Easter weekend, it seems odd to still refer to it as the Easter holiday."
posted at 9:45:48 AM

Professor Neil Hood, who has emerged as the favoured candidate to become chairman of the business development agency Scottish Enterprise, is a devout Christian, lay preacher and author of 'God's Payroll: Whose Work Is It Anyway', a book aimed at Christians in the workplace.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 9:25:28 AM

Alison Twaddle, general secretary of the Church of Scotland Guild, is a member of a group of UK church leaders visiting Zambia and South Africa next month to study HIV/AIDS projects and how local churches are dealing with the growing spread of the virus.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 9:54:28 PM

Parents have demanded the re-introduction of pupil segregation on a campus shared by Catholic and non-denominational pupils following violence on the site. At a special meeting held at St David's RC High School, part of Midlothian's £33 million new super-campus which is shared with Dalkeith High School, more than 60 parents expressed their fears after a series of attacks on pupils and staff.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 9:43:22 PM

Glasgow is preparing for a 13-day Festival of Love with more than 115 love-related events taking place during February, based on the claim that the remains of St Valentine are housed in the Blessed John Duns Scotus Church in the Gorbals.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 9:40:43 PM

A commitment to open Scotland's first state school for Muslim children has come a step closer with the revelation that East Renfrewshire council has included one in its future building plans, following discussions last year with parents and leaders of the Muslim community.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 9:23:06 AM

Concerns have been raised about violence and disruption on Scotland's first shared school campus. Dalkeith Schools Community Campus in Midlothian was praised for bringing down the barriers of religious segregation when it opened in 2003. It involves two high schools with more than 2,000 pupils - the Roman Catholic St David's and the non-denominational Dalkeith High School. It is alleged pupils have been assaulted and staff threatened.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 9:15:01 AM

Buckie-born Joseph Geddes, who emigrated to America in 1921 and became a minister in the 1930s, has celebrated his 100th birthday at Covenant Village in Turlock, California.
Source: Turlock Journal.
posted at 5:04:00 PM

Churches, not schools, are to blame for sectarianism in Scotland, Edinburgh's education leader has claimed. Labour councillor and Church of Scotland minister Ewan Aitken argues joint campuses for Roman Catholic and non-denominational schools can help counter sectarian attitudes and bring communities closer together. But he says the problem will not disappear until the divisions between Catholic and Protestant churches are ended.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 2:08:20 PM

Pope John Paul II made an urgent appeal to underline the start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In "a world thirsty for peace, it is urgent that the Christian communities proclaim the Gospel unanimously," the Pope said. "It is indispensable that they witness the divine Love that unites them, and that they be bearers of joy, hope and peace, becoming leaven of new humanity."
Source: Zenit.
posted at 8:31:39 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, has written to the president of Sudan to ask for clemency in the case of Intisar Bakri Abdulgader, a young woman who faces a sentence of flogging in Khartoum.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 8:27:28 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Right Rev Professor Iain Torrance, will visit Falkirk Presbytery later this month.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 8:25:35 PM

The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland yesterday accused the government of hypocrisy in the wake of a claim in London by Panos Zavos, an American reproductive specialist, that the first cloned baby is on the way. John Reid, the Westminster health secretary and a Roman Catholic who said the government shared the "widespread public repugnance" that human cloning could be attempted, adding that there would be no cloned babies in the UK while he was in his post. But a Church spokesman said: "Cloning is permitted in the UK and it is bordering on hypocrisy to say that it is not allowed."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 8:15:55 PM

Church leaders in a small Highland parish have hit the roof over demands by council planners. And unless Highland planning officials relent, the small congregation at Acharacle on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula could be struggling to find £11,000 for repairs to their church building.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 8:07:50 PM

Mike Tapper, father of Flight Lt Jonathan Tapper, one of the pilots blamed for the crash of an RAF helicopter carrying 29 people on the Mull of Kintyre in 1994, believes the forthcoming General Assembly will be crucial in clearing his son's name. "The Church of Scotland is a very influential body and has said it will not let this lie, and it is asking questions on a theological basis," said Mr Tapper. "They are outside Westminster, and cannot be controlled. When they meet again in May, their tempers will be raised by the way the Government has replied to them."
Source: EDP24, Norfolk.
posted at 6:38:21 PM

The manse maketh the man: you thought the Kirk had little political influence, but the children of ministers are everywhere.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 6:22:48 PM

Church counsellor May Green was easy prey for psychotic patient Edward Finlayson. Bosses at the Catholic Church run drug clinic where May, 56, worked did not warn her he had sexually assaulted another patient just hours before she agreed to counsel him. Nor did they tell her about his history of psychiatric treatment and violent behaviour. Now May is suing her former employers, the Archdiocese of Glasgow, for failing to protect her from being attacked at the Red Towers drug rehab clinic in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire.
Source: Sunday Mail.
posted at 6:19:10 PM

Actor John Hannah has condemned Scotland as a "strange, angry place" in his latest outburst against his home country. Hannah, who lives in London, recently caused outrage when he said he did not want to expose his children to sectarianism between Catholics and Protestants and intense football rivalries in Scotland.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 6:08:03 PM

A new exhibition in New York celebrates the life of a former African-American slave, Frederick Douglass, who visited Scotland in 1846 in his international drive to rid the world of slavery. Called 'Send Back the Money', his campaign called on the Free Church of Scotland to send back funds it had raised in the American south to build schools and churches back home.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 6:06:18 PM

Greece's conservative Orthodox Church has begun holding regular services in a modern Western language for the first time to cater to English-speaking churchgoers in Athens. The Orthodox liturgy hails directly from the Byzantine church tradition and is normally held in third-century Greek. The new services will be conducted by Father John Raffan, a Scot who converted to Orthodoxy in 1984. Athens expects a flood of foreign visitors during the Olympics, but Raffan said the service's first aim is to look after the Greek capital's homegrown, English-speaking Orthodox community.
Source: Ekathimerini.
posted at 2:09:33 PM

The British mixture of liberal, established churches linked to the institution of monarchy appears to many anachronistic, yet it may prove more flexible than the American or French models, writes Ian Bradley, reader in practical theology and church history at St Andrews University.
Source: The Guardian.
posted at 7:23:23 PM

Veteran Glasgow minister Pastor Jack Glass, 67, has spoken in a BBC Scotland documentary about how he defeated cancer, claiming the ordeal was a fight against "Satan". Mr Glass founded the hardline Zion Baptist Church in Glasgow's south side in 1965. Over the next 40 years, his fierce campaign against the Pope's visit to Scotland in 1982 and his picketing of comedian Billy Connelly's early gigs have caused controversy. But even the intense chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments couldn't silence the preacher, as he went straight from his hospital bed to protest outside a concert by the US rocker star Marilyn Manson at Glasgow's SECC.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 1:40:28 PM

An Aberdeen church is hoping to release cash held in trusts so it can be used more effectively for charity work. Five trusts managed by the Kirk of St Nicholas Uniting hold a six-figure sum between them, but bosses say the money cannot be usefully spent due to archaic restrictions. The church already has agreement for the change from the church session and the trustees have passed a resolution under section 10 of The Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provision) (Scotland) Act 1990 that the trusts be amalgamated.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 1:31:17 PM

The January edition of Baptist Union of Scotland News is now online.
posted at 9:04:10 PM

Glasgow Lodging House Mission is to receive an award from Learn Direct Scotland in recognition of the work it has done to provide computer training and internet access for homeless people.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 9:02:51 PM

The congregation of the East and Old Parish Church have received the gift of a specially made banner from their counterparts at Carnoustie Church as thanks for the Rev Graham Norrie's 18-month spell as interim moderator at Carnoustie during a vacancy.
Source: Forfar Dispatch.
posted at 8:57:48 PM

Miss Daisy Gordon, a member of Castle Street Church of Scotland, Dingwall, celebrated her 100th birthday on Tuesday. She moved from Peebles to retire in 1968 to Maryburgh, where she stayed until 2001.
Source: Ross-shire Journal.
posted at 8:50:58 PM

Galashiels Baptist Church has announced the biggest birthday party in the Borders during 2004 in celebration of its bicentenary. Although a number of events are still being finalised, already confirmed are the following: Riding Lights Theatre Company, Jim Bailey and The Spice Camels, Ian White, Left Behind - The Movie, Neil Alton, Syd Little, Adrian Plass, Origin Scotland.
Source: Border Telegraph.

posted at 8:31:59 PM

Sunday School was back at Melrose Parish Church, and joined in a discussion on "growing up" and the ways of marking that in various religions, including the Jewish Bar Mitzvah - "Son of the Commandments" - and Bat Mitzvah - "Daughter of the Commandments." While the Protestant tradition, for fear of Mariolatry, paid too little attention to what in other faiths was the place accorded to Mary, it was time for the contribution of Joseph to come out of the shadows.
Source: Border Telegraph.
posted at 8:30:23 PM

A 32-year-old man has been charged in connection with alleged incidents of child sex abuse at Trinity Church of the Nazarene in York Place, Perth.
Source: icPerthshire - Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 8:23:50 PM

Retired minister Rev David McLeish has died in Muthill at the age of 91.
Source: icPerthshire - Strathearn Herald.
posted at 8:20:25 PM

The fate of the 20-pupil Holy Trinity Episcopal Primary School, which Stirling Council plans to close down from this summer, was discussed in a member's debate at the Scottish Parliament sparked by Tory list MSP Brian Monteith.

posted at 8:16:15 PM

At least one in seven Church of England churches was vandalised last year, the House of Commons heard in a debate last week. And average weekly attendance at churches and cathedrals dropped by three per cent in 2002.
Source: Church Times.
posted at 7:53:56 PM

A former hospital chaplain has passed away. The Rev Alan Swinton was also a former moderator of Aberdeen Presbytery. In the summer of 1990, he was invited to dedicate the Piper Alpha memorial at Hazlehead Park because of his work with the bereaved and injured at the time of the 1988 disaster, which claimed 167 lives.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 7:27:02 PM

The Scottish Parliament's rehousing during the Church of Scotland's General Assembly in May is being misrepresented, said the Rev David Lacy, convener of the Kirk's Board of Practice and Procedure. He denied press reports that MSPs were to be 'kicked out of their temporary home again'.Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 11:34:45 PM

In the February issue of the Kirk's Life & Work magazine, diet and fitness guru Rosemary Conley describes how she became a committed Christian after illness in the 1980s, and how her faith and integrity influences every aspect of her highly successful business. Rev Ewan Aitken, a Church of Scotland minister and councillor in Edinburgh, explains why sharing campuses between Catholic and non-denominational schools will not only play a key role in eradicating sectarianism, but could bring the churches closer together. Gordon Jamieson, director of Stewardship with the Church of Scotland, explains the importance of sacrificial giving. And Doug Swanney, who has responsibility for children's ministry with the Board of Parish Education, says a higher profile has to be given to ministry for children within the Kirk.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 1:41:00 PM

Western Isles Licensing Board has approved applications from five hostelries wanting to extend their opening hours into Sunday morning or to allow all-day Sunday drinking, breaking the traditional Lewis Sabbath. Objections from Stornoway Free Church and the Free Presbyterian Church were rejected. The Board also refused to accept an objection from Northern Constabulary's Chief Inspector Andrew Maclean, who urged it to reject most of Sunday morning drinking applications. He said that there had been a recent increase in incidents of serious disorder, drunkenness and anti-social behaviour, particularly on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 1:27:42 PM

A former bishop who scandalised the Scottish Catholic Church when he eloped with one of his flock is "gravely ill" with a severe form of liver cancer. Parishioners at churches throughout his former diocese of Argyll and the Isles have been asked to pray for Roddy Wright, who now lives in New Zealand with Kathleen MacPhee, the divorced mother-of-three for whom he deserted the church in 1996.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 4:30:25 PM

Edinburgh Cardinal Keith O'Brien has made his singing debut - on a new CD produced by Lothian pupils. Cardinal O'Brien sings alongside pupils from St David's High School, St Thomas Aquin's, St Peter's Primary and St David's Primary, who, together with staff and friends of the schools, make up the Scotus Community Ceilidh Band.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 4:16:35 PM

The Lord's Day Observance Society has criticised the number of pubs and hotels in Stornoway applying for Sunday licences. The Western Isles Licensing Board faces a host of applications this afternoon from five hostelries looking to extend their opening hours into Sunday morning or to allow all day Sunday drinking. It marks the first anniversary of Sabbath pubs since Stornoway airport was granted the town's first pub licence one year ago this week.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 4:12:13 PM

The joint ACTS - Church of Scotland October Conference for Ecumenical Contacts and representatives of Churches Together Groups will be held on Thursday, 28th October 2004 - venue to be announced later. The keynote speaker will be Rev Dr Keith Clements, General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches. Please put a note in your diary and spread the news to your local Churches Together Group or Council of Churches.
Source: Church of Scotland Committee on Ecumenical Relations.
posted at 9:38:38 PM

Christian groups appeared before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Draft Gambling Bill last week (Thursday January 8th) to highlight concerns about the potential harm that could be caused by government proposals for further deregulation of gambling.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.
posted at 4:45:07 PM

The Moderator of the Church of Scotland has spoken out in support of church Aids projects worldwide. The Right Reverend Professor Iain Torrance said around £255,000 had been raised for educational schemes supporting HIV and Aids awareness.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 1:43:24 PM

A Scots missionary in Russia fought off two armed gangsters who attacked him in his home in the town of Pettigorsk, near the Chechen border. Father Stephen Rogers, 41, suffered deep cuts to his right arm in the attack. His sister, Christine Donald, from Arbroath, said: ''He is being called a hero by his parishioners. He didn't want to abandon them.'' Father Stephen, whose mum lives in Glenrothes, Fife, is a Sacred Heart priest and has been in Russia for five years.
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 1:29:57 PM

Big Brother winner Cameron Stout will guest at Resurrection Day, the largest Easter Sunday service to be held in Dundee. Organised by dundee4christ, a collaboration of churches across the city, it will include music and video presentations. Admission is be free.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 1:13:44 PM

Want to be happy? Find God.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 6:04:26 PM

Craigmillar Park Church and St Mary Magdalene Church in Edinburgh are to receive local authority grants to improve accessibility for the disabled.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 8:22:55 PM

The Caithness Church of Scotland Presbytery this week added its voice to the growing opposition to plans to store reactor cores from decommissioned nuclear submarines in the Far North.
Source: John O'Groat Journal.
posted at 11:56:08 PM

Teenage yobs who target churches and other community facilities must be stopped in their tracks. That was the blunt New Year message from the Rev Robert Macleod of the Free Church of Scotland in Carron, whose congregation has to find over GBP 2,500 each year to repair damage caused by vandals.
Source: Falkirk Today - Falkirk Herald.
posted at 11:47:23 PM

Churches in Dumbarton come together next week for a service of unity on the theme of peace. The event is being organised by Dumbarton Churches Together to mark the week of Prayer for Christianity Unity.
Source: icDunbartonshire - Lennox Herald.
posted at 11:39:10 PM

The funeral took place this week of the Rev Russell Brown, who was minister of Kinnoull Church for 17 years. Mr Brown died in Viewlands House, Perth, on Christmas Eve, aged 88.
Source: icPerthshire - Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 11:34:14 PM

Juliet Austin, the headmistress of Kilgraston School in Bridge of Earn, has been awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontificio Cross by the Pope. The award is given in recognition of exceptional service to the church. In Mrs Austin's case it was for the support she has given to the church in Scotland and the way she has brought together other denominations.
Source: icPerthshire - Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 11:33:11 PM

Tributes to the work carried out over the years by the Rev James Sinclair have been paid by his local congregations. Presentations were made to him on Tuesday night to mark his retiral from the linked charges of Auchencairn and Rerrick with Kelton and Buittle.
Source: icDumfries - Galloway News.
posted at 11:23:34 PM

The imposing Greyfriars building in Dumfries closed its doors as a church for the last time on Sunday. Steeped in history - there has been a church on the site or nearby since the time of Robert the Bruce - even the current building is almost 150 years old. It was named after the Monastery of the Grey Friars, sited nearby, where Robert the Bruce slew his chief rival John "Red" Comyn to open the final stage of the war for Scottish independence.
Source: icDumfries - Dumfries & Galloway Standard.
posted at 11:21:18 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly will preach in Whitekirk, East Lothian, this Sunday on the nature of Christian compassion in the context of supporting and encouraging the Church of Scotland's Project on HIV/AIDS.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 11:10:36 PM

Online and speed dating are becoming increasingly popular among Christian singles, according to the latest edition of idea, the Evangelical Alliance's magazine. Churches are looking at new ways to address the rise in the number of singles across the UK and especially within the church. The January/February 2004 edition of idea also carries an article on urban mission, previewing this summer's 'Soul in the City' event in London, when around 15,000 young Christians will spend 12 days in London, working with local churches in deprived urban boroughs.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.
posted at 11:08:26 PM

Church sermons with a Simpsons theme have failed to increase congregation sizes at the Rev Duncan Eddie's Holburn West Church in Aberdeen.
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 7:58:19 PM

Church leaders yesterday condemned Scotland's smallest council for becoming the first local authority in the country to hold same-sex "commitment ceremonies". Clackmannanshire Council, based in Alloa, announced it was prepared to organise the ceremonies in its register offices with immediate effect.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 7:56:08 PM

Clackmannanshire Council is preparing to host Scotland's first same-sex "marriage", ahead of new laws to give gay couples equal legal rights. Rev Graham Brown of the United Free Church in Sauchie, Clackmannanshire, said the council's ceremonies were "sinful and immoral". And the Catholic Church in Scotland said the move debased marriage.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 7:52:26 PM

Peter Kearney, the director of the Catholic Media Office in Scotland, who has warned of the "dangers" of homosexuality, has a brother who plays the first gay character in the Scottish soap River City.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 4:15:20 PM

The Scottish Parliament has spent more than £600,000 on hiring the Church of Scotland's Assembly Hall as its temporary home since MSPs were first elected five years ago.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 4:12:05 PM

A call for the Church of Scotland and local communities to join forces to recognise the abilities rather than the handicaps of disabled people has been made by a Dundee minister. Church of Scotland minister the Rev Erik Cramb, who is himself disabled, made the call on the back of a challenge laid down by the World Council of Churches' disability network.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 3:26:40 PM

Bishop Bruce Cameron, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, received the scroll and two traditional eagle feathers making him a chieftain of Clan Cameron from Colonel Charles Cameron, brother of the Clan Chief, Sir Donald Cameron of Locheil.
Source: Scottish Episcopal Church news release.
posted at 6:34:46 PM

A call to churches, employers and the community to recognise disabled people's abilities rather than their handicaps, is made today by a Church of Scotland minister, the Rev Erik Cramb, who is himself disabled. "People with disabilities - particularly learning difficulties - disturb," he says. "We disturb human notions of perfection, purpose, reward, success and status. We disturb notions of a God who rewards faith and virtue with health and prosperity. We can be slow, noisy, messy. Responses can be pity or disgust, banishment or fear. Disabled people are rarely given any meaningful place in society."
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 6:33:24 PM

A Donside church group is opening its own village shop to raise funds for charities, and is now seeking donated goods along with volunteers to staff the venture. Alford's Howe Trinity Church is planning to open the thrift shop in March.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 6:26:21 PM

A retired Moray minister has died after a four-and-a-half year battle with cancer. The Rev Duncan Murray, 66, was minister at St Gerardine's High Church in Lossiemouth for 16 years until he retired two years ago.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 6:25:08 PM

A Leith church is set to convert its social club into 14 flats and build a new function hall. The congregation of the B-listed St Mary's Star of the Sea on Constitution Street is seeking permission to convert a former school building on the site dating from 1903 into housing.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 6:14:50 PM

Kirk leaders and parliament chiefs were today urged to end the secrecy over how much taxpayers are forking out for the MSPs' temporary home on The Mound. Liberal Democrat MSP Donald Gorrie said it was "completely unacceptable" for the Scottish Parliament and the Church of Scotland not to disclose the rent being paid for the Kirk's Assembly Hall.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 6:11:39 PM

The Moderator of the Church of Scotland has preached to a Catholic congregation for the first time in Glasgow. And the move has been hailed as a milestone in the fight against sectarianism. Prof Iain Torrance gave a sermon at St Andrew's Cathedral last night after an invitation from Archbishop Mario Conti.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 5:30:18 PM

A churchman who helped prepare the way for the Scottish Parliament has been recruited to bolster the case for devolution south of the Border. Canon Kenyon Wright, the Episcopalian priest who chaired the executive of the cross-party Scottish Constitutional Convention, has been enlisted to promote the case for regional assemblies in England.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 5:27:51 PM

Church leaders hailed a service held last night in Glasgow as a milestone on the road to fighting sectarianism. For the first time, a moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly preached to a congregation at a Catholic cathedral. Professor Iain Torrance gave a sermon at St Andrew's Cathedral to celebrate the feast of the epiphany after an invitation for Archbishop Mario Conti.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 5:21:52 PM

Disabled people will be able to see inside one of Edinburgh's most famous buildings for the first time in 900 years after plans to build access ramps on to the side of St Giles' Cathedral were given the go-ahead.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 3:44:33 PM

New Year wishes: "For Dr Alison Elliot, who later this year becomes the first female Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, we wish the heavenly strength and wisdom to help a once great institution find its path back to influence..."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 9:46:33 PM

A Catholic bishop yesterday criticised the detention of the children of asylum-seekers in the controversial Dungavel detention centre. Bishop John Mone said that holding children in prison-like conditions "shamed the people of this country" and was contrary to international law. The bishop, president of the Catholic Church's Justice and Peace Commission, said he wanted Home Secretary David Blunkett to find more humane ways of dealing with families.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 9:17:30 PM

A Catholic bishop has renewed his appeal against the detention of the children of asylum seekers in Dungavel detention centre. Bishop John Mone said that holding children in prison-like conditions "shamed the people of this country". The Bishop of Paisley is also president of the Catholic Church's Justice and Peace Commission.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 9:15:47 PM

Human bones have been unearthed in the ancient chapel at the University of Aberdeen's King's College during recent renovation work.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 9:11:33 PM

St Leonard's Church of Scotland in Forres celebrated 100 years of worship last month.
Source: Forres Gazette.
posted at 9:19:52 PM

Galashiels Baptist Church is celebrating 200 years of Baptist witness in the town.
Source: Border Telegraph.
posted at 9:10:16 PM

Rev Robert Jamieson, who served as minister of Galston Parish Church for 32 years, has died aged 88.
Source: icAyrshire - Kilmarnock Standard.
posted at 9:03:33 PM

Fullarton Parish Church minister Neil Urquhart and his roaming camera crew continued their search for God on the streets of Irvine over the festive period. Neil is staging his own version of ITN - 'Into The Neighbourhood' - and he and his roving reporters have been asking passers-by if they feel God has moved into their neighbourhood.
Source: icAyrshire - Irvine Herald.
posted at 9:00:12 PM

David Murray, the doyen of Scottish church musicians and certainly one of the most admired and respected, has died in Blairgowrie Hospital. He was 91. For 26 years, until 1982, he was organist and master of the choristers at St Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen, and was head of music at St Margaret's School in the city from 1957 until his retirement in 1974.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 8:42:42 PM

The financial director of Scotland's only hospital for war veterans is quitting in the middle of a multi-million pound cash crisis. Iain Grimond is leaving Erskine Hospital later this month to work at the Edinburgh headquarters of the Church of Scotland.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 8:27:22 PM

Hurricane-force winds in Shetland have damaged the roof of the Church of Scotland in Scalloway.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 8:24:57 PM

Muslim school campaigners are to form their own teachers' association to help press the case for establishing state-funded Muslim schools in Scotland.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 8:22:35 PM

New Scottish Executive advice to schoolteachers on how to deal with issues of homosexuality when they arise in the classroom have been >criticised by the Catholic Church and the Christian Institute.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:19:48 PM

The Very Reverend Graham Forbes, Provost of St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh, was awarded a CBE for services to public life.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:14:25 PM

Former Scottish Opera alto Martha Alexander has been awarded an MBE after 21 years as captain of the 31st Aberdeen Girls' Brigade, affiliated to Oldmachar Church.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 8:14:14 PM

A drive to raise funds for the redecoration of a north-east church will get under way in the new year. The congregation of Macduff Parish Church will be asked to make monthly donations between February and November to help pay for the refurbishment.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 8:13:47 PM