Cardinal Keith O'Brien has told a meeting of Catholic youth officers in Ayr that while he accepted assurances from Jack McConnell on sex education proposals, he still required "urgent clarification" on six issues. One of these including a pledge that the morning-after pill will not be made available to youngsters without parental consent, either in or out of school, and another was for the executive to consider new guidelines for health workers on confidentiality when dealing with minors.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 4:02 PM

The leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland was set to return to the attack on sex education on Thursday by issuing a public demand for "clarification" from the Executive. Cardinal Keith O'Brien was expected to seek a string of assurances, among them that the morning-after pill will not be made available to youngsters without their parents' consent, either in or out of school.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 3:54 PM

East Kilbride History Society has blasted a decision to demolish the West Kirk Church halls in the Village. The halls are attached to the existing church building and the Church of Scotland want to replace them with a modern facility.
Source: icLanarkshire - East Kilbride News.
posted at 2:12 PM

Rev Charles Robertson, minister of Edinburgh's historic Canongate church, has delivered an address at the opening of the new Scottish Parliament building.
Source: Reuters.

posted at 5:07 PM

The Edinburgh Progressive Jewish Community can now become a fully-fledged congregation after acquiring a 150 year old Torah scroll. A traditional dedication ceremony called a Siyyum was held on Sunday when the final letter of the word Israel was carefully inscribed on the scroll by the youngest member of the group, Daniel Naftalin, 13, and the oldest, 89-year-old Edith Skubjecka. The group has been running for around 30 years and was briefly affiliated with the Glasgow New Synagogue. It will now decide whether to affiliate with the Reform Synagogue of Great Britain or the Union of Liberal Progressive Synagogues.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 1:24 PM

Church leaders in the far north will tonight be asked to back a call to the Scottish Executive to conduct an urgent inquiry into the running of NHS Highland. According to a report going before Caithness Presbytery, it is "astounding" that the health authority should be considering downgrading services at a time when its budget has risen by 44% over the past three years.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:34 AM

Clergy participating in Glasgow's new anti-sectarian campaign - 'We're Every Kind of People ' - are Ruchill minister Rev John Matthews and Father Gerry Nugent of St Patrick's Church, Anderston.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 8:13 AM

Obituary of Ian Morrison, missionary and Bible Society administrator; born 25 June, 1912, in Ardeonaig; died 9 August, 2004, in Lesmagahow.
posted at 8:11 AM

A campaign to challenge prejudice and discrimination in every walk of life was launched in Glasgow yesterday with an emphasis on confronting the city's sectarian divide. The high-profile initiative, We're Every Kind of People, features Glaswegians from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds including a Catholic priest, a Church of Scotland minister, three primary school pupils and a husband and wife whose allegiance lies on either side of the Old Firm divide.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:02 AM

The Church of Scotland's longest-serving woman elder has been honoured for her commitment and dedication since she was ordained in Culross 38 years ago. Mrs Barbara Hepburn (87) made history in 1966 when she was one of seven ladies who were the first in the country to become elders.
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 10:07 PM

A minister who saw his flock fall by a quarter last year after he urged them to pay more as well as pray more was given a fond farewell by churchgoers yesterday as he retired from the pulpit. The Rev Daniel (Don) Hawthorn, who will be 65 years old on Wednesday, preached his final service at Belhelvie Church. Rev Manson Merchant of Newmachar Church will act as interim moderator.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:01 PM

Centuries after being destroyed by religious turmoil in Scotland's cradle of Christianity, the historic Whithorn stones - the country's finest collection of medieval carved crosses - are to be displayed again in all their glory in the museum at Whithorn Priory in Dumfries & Galloway.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 7:41 PM

More than 80% of Church of Scotland ministers have defied kirk leaders and expressed support for a campaign of opposition to sex education by Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the Scottish Catholic leader. In a survey of 100 ministers by The Sunday Times, 84 said they were against any form of sex and relationship education (SRE) for pre-school children.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 7:37 PM

Cardinal Keith O'Brien and first minister Jack McConnell are at war, and parents want to know who is right.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 7:35 PM

Some of the bestselling brands of condoms contain a spermicide that can increase the risk of contracting HIV, the World Health Organisation has warned. Teenage girls are said to be at particular risk from Nonoxynol-9 (N9), a gel that lowers the body's resistence to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Eileen McCloy, of Not With My Child, a pressure group, said: "Either civil servants knew about this and covered it up, in which case it is a scandal with potentially devastating effects on the health of young people, or they didn't know about it, in which case they're not up to the job of protecting our health."
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 7:33 PM

Families face losing their £300,000 dream homes after a building firm led by the boss of the Jesus Revolution youth movement plunged into chaos. House-buyers fear losing deposits of up to £60,0000 after evangelist Brian Taylor shut up shop. Trouble at Chimes emerged two weeks ago when 90 staff were not paid. They now face losing their jobs completely.
Source: Sunday Mail.
posted at 7:28 PM

A north-east businessman whose employees might not be paid this week has been using the same workforce to do up his detached home in an upmarket suburb, it was claimed. The Press and Journal revealed building firm Chimes was in such financial dire straits that owner Brian Taylor sold his Mercedes to pay last week's wages. As well as owning the building firm, Mr Taylor is the mission principal for the UK and Europe for the Jesus Revolution organisation.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 7:24 PM

Campaigners have claimed victory in the three-year campaign to end the detention of asylum-seeker children at Dungavel detention centre in Lanarkshire. Visitors from church groups who regularly attend the centre to support detainees have revealed that there have been no children held there for several weeks.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 7:10 PM

The priest at the centre of a row over the government's draft sexual health strategy has criticised Scotland's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, for failing to consult with colleagues before attacking the plans. Father Joe Chambers, the Catholic representative on the group set up by the Scottish Executive to examine the strategy, said the Cardinal had not consulted him and had got some of his facts wrong. "I don't wish he had consulted with me specifically, but it would have been good if there had been consultation with the Catholic education commission beforehand."
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 7:07 PM

First Minister Jack McConnell's plan to encourage entrepreneurs to fund state schools was "condemned last night after it emerged it was attracting the attention of Christian fundamentalists" who have banned Harry Potter books from classrooms and who advance creationism. Interest has been expressed by David Vardy of the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, Steve Chalke's Oasis Trust organisation, and Christian Vision. Ewan Aitken, a Church of Scotland minister, said on behalf of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that he would not like to see creationists fund Scottish schools. "I'd say, 'don't bother coming'. I'd resist it both as a politician and as an ordained minister."
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 7:05 PM

Alison Elliot, Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly enters the debate on sex and teenagers. "As a society, we're not good at nurturing healthy human relationships and secure identities, and the church knows just how hard it is to do so. But that's the framework we need to develop if we want to address the specific problems of sexual development in a responsible way."
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 7:00 PM

Health workers are routinely arranging for Scottish schoolgirls to receive emergency contraception despite a vow by First Minister Jack McConnell that the morning-after pill will not be handed out in schools. A Scotland on Sunday investigation has uncovered numerous ways in which health professionals bypass government policy to provide teenagers with the morning-after pill, all without parents ever being told. The revelations have angered the Catholic Church, which last week hit out against proposals for a new sexual health strategy in Scotland.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 6:57 PM

Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of the Royal Family prayed for victims of the Russian school siege at a church service today. Mr Blair and his wife Cherie joined the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales for the morning service at Crathie Kirk in Royal Deeside. The service at Crathie was conducted by Rev Bob Sloan and guest minister Dr Alison Elliot, Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly.
Source: The Scotsman/PA News.
posted at 6:55 PM

Dundee doctor Lawrie Mitchell and his Nigerian wife Eme - the great-great-granddaughter of the famous Ma Eme, who befriended Scots missionary Mary Slessor - are following in the footsteps of Slessor by re-establishing her mission station in eastern Nigeria in a bid to bring modern healthcare to the area and revitalise the economy.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 8:30 PM

Cardinal Keith O'Brien called for a return to Christian values to combat secularism when he spoke at the annual Whithorn pilgrimage on Sunday. Addressing almost 1,000 pilgrims at the sea-cave associated with Scotland's first missionary St Ninian, the cardinal referred to the rising tide of secularism "almost submerging us with its volume and its power."
Source: Galloway Gazette.
posted at 11:24 PM

An 84-year-old woman was attacked and robbed as she made her way to St Joseph's RC Church in Kilmarnock on Monday.
Source: icAyrshire - Kilmarnock Standard.
posted at 11:23 PM

The new moderator of Dumfries and Kirkcudbright Presbytery is the Rev Christine Sime, minister of Glencairn and Moniaive, linked with Dunscore.
Source: icDumfries - Galloway News.
posted at 11:09 PM

A new Roman Catholic primary school for Dumfries is set to be agreed in principle next week. It is to be developed on the site of the Ladyacre Children's Home in Craigs Road.
Source: icDumfries - Dumfries & Galloway Standard.
posted at 11:08 PM

Bishop Joseph Devine joined members of St Bride's Church in East Kilbride when they celebrated its 40th birthday on Monday evening.
Source: icLanarkshire - East Kilbride News.
posted at 11:04 PM

A Glenrothes church is welcoming a special visitor. Elvira Basic, who works with the Ecumenical Women's Solidarity Fund (EWSF) in Bosnia, is set to stay in the town for 10 days as a guest of St Margaret's Parish Church.
Source: Fife Now - Glenrothes Gazette.
posted at 11:02 PM

God's spirit can cross boundaries to other religions and faith, argued the Archbishop of Canterbury at this year's Greenbelt Arts Festival. In response to a question about whether Muslims can go to heaven, Dr Williams, said 'yes', but then affirmed the belief that "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by Jesus. But how God leads people through Jesus to heaven, that can be quite varied, I think."
Source: Church of England Newspaper.
posted at 10:45 PM

The Evangelical Alliance has organised an event to address disquiet about Steve Chalke's position on a number of key theological issues in the light of his recent book, The Lost Message of Jesus.
posted at 10:36 PM

The Church of Scotland's 10th annual National Youth Assembly takes place in Dundee later this month.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 10:30 PM

The Church of Scotland's 10th annual National Youth Assembly takes place in Dundee later this month.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 10:29 PM

The painstaking restoration of Edderton Old Parish Church will be celebrated at a ceremony there next Thursday. Visitors to the churchyard, near Tain, will for the first time be able to see markings on the 8th-century Edderton cross slab, uncovered after nearly 300 years by exposing it to its full height.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:10 PM

The four churches at Keith - North Church, St Rufus, Holy Trinity and St Thomas - have teamed up to provide Friday nights full of fun for local youngsters.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:09 PM

Church Action on Poverty is hosting a one-day conference on September 11 at Edinburgh's Sacred Heart Church Centre, aiming to raise awareness of poverty issues within Scotland and across the UK.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 9:43 PM

Obituary of Rev William Uist MacDonald, a founder member of the Iona Community; born January 19, 1913, died August 30, 2004. "In the years of George MacLeod's leadership of the Iona Community, what would now be described as MacDonald's laid-back style balanced MacLeod's tendency to storm the gates of the kingdom of God three times a day."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 9:34 PM

The Scottish Episcopal Church was represented at a conference of Provincial Secretaries of the Anglican Communion in Johannesburg , which ended today. The conference heard presentations and held workshops on a range of practical matters including communications, fundraising, financial sustainability, church governance and the role Provincial Secretaries can have in fostering unity.
Source: Anglican Communion News Service.
posted at 9:32 PM

The Church of Scotland has accepted 37 candidates for training to become ministers this year. Rev Douglas Cranston, convener of the Board of Ministry, said: "Not only do I welcome the growing numbers of new entrants into the ministry, but also the exceptional calibre of those candidates who have been accepted for training. Many of these individuals have given up very successful careers in order to heed God's call."
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 9:16 PM

Chalmers Church in Academy Street, Wishaw, is to be the home of the new South Wishaw Parish Church. The new church comes after the membership of Chalmers and Thornlie Churches agreed six months ago to unite and Rev Klaus Buwert, who is currently minister of Thornlie, was appointed minister of South Wishaw.
Source: icLanarkshire - Wishaw Press.
posted at 5:11 PM

Plans to provide extra space and access for disabled people at Newmachar Church are only possible through the relocation of seven graveyard plots. The general trustees of the Church of Scotland have now raised an action in Aberdeen Sheriff Court for permission from relatives to re-inter any remains found in the graves, which date back to the 1800s.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 5:09 PM

One of Iona's last links with its spiritual past ended this week with the death of the Rev Uist Macdonald, aged 91. He was the only surviving member of the original Iona Community, the radical Christian collective whose arrival on the island breathed new life into Scottish faith. Mr Macdonald cut a popular figure in the tiny community and, even in his final years, was known for wandering the village barefoot, entertaining people with tales of that first mission to rebuild the ruined monastic quarters of Iona Abbey.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 5:04 PM

The Church of Scotland was accused last night by one of its own ministers of showing "a lack of courage" for its decision not to back Cardinal Keith O'Brien's outspoken attack on the Executive's plans for sex education in schools. The Rev Iain Murdoch, of Cambusnethan Old Parish Church in Lanarkshire, said Kirk leaders had "lost their critical faculties" and were frightened to "rock the boat" on controversial issues. Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, welcomed Mr Murdoch's support for Cardinal O'Brien's position. "Judging by the messages of support that have been received, it's clear that the Cardinal is articulating widely-held public concerns." Susan Leslie, of the Church of Scotland's education committee, said that the Kirk shared "Cardinal O'Brien's passionate concern for the well-being of Scotland's children", but added that it was satisfied young children would not be exposed to sexually explicit material.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 4:59 PM

Harry Reid, former editor of The Herald and author of Outside Verdict, unleashes a splenetic attack on the Kirk. Prompted by its failure to react immediately to Cardinal O'Brien's weekend article on sex in schools, he rages: "The Church of Scotland seems to regard the very notion of high-profile communication with supercilious disdain. When a moral or spiritual debate is raging, it hides."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 4:55 PM

The Church of Scotland yesterday backed plans for sex and relationships education to begin at pre-school level. David Alexander, convener of the Kirk's education committee, said: "Young children must be taught about how to recognise and respond to both healthy and potentially abusive relationships."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 4:42 PM