CTBI, the ecumenical body for Britain and Ireland, is to become more closely integrated with the national ecumenical bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Source: Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) news.
posted at 8:51 PM

A funeral service for Lorraine Dick, daughter of the Rev James Dick of Kilsyth Church of God, and his wife Margaret, will be held at the Christian Life Centre at Drayton Hall, Norwich, this Friday at 12.30pm.
Source: Norwich Evening News.
posted at 7:58 PM

The growing campaign for St Andrew's Day to be made a national holiday was yesterday taken to the Scottish Parliament as the independent MSP Dennis Canavan launched his proposed bill for 30 November to be turned into a day of national celebration.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 7:20 PM

The Christian Medical Fellowship today sent a reminder to the Church of the role it has to play in the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide and warned that unless Christians in the West increase their efforts, the spread of the disease could become uncontrollable. While many people believe that Christians are prejudiced towards those living with HIV and AIDS, estimates suggest that Christian-run projects account for more than two thirds of all HIV/AIDS care in sub-Saharan Africa, where 25 million people have the disease, 60% of the world's total.
Source: Evangelical Alliance Media Consultancy.
posted at 7:14 PM

The blaze which destroyed Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Stornoway on Friday is thought to have been caused by an electrical fault in the roof space. Police have ruled out any wilful or malicious action in connection with the incident.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 7:14 PM

An exact replica of one of Scotland's oldest and most imposing symbols of Christian worship - the elaborately-carved, 8ft high Kildalton Cross, which has stood for 1,200 years on Islay - has been created for the First Presbyterian church in Davenport, Iowa, where worshippers give thanks for their Scottish heritage. It was carved from American white oak by master carver Don Hultgren, who gave his services free. First Presbyterian's minister, the Rev Dick Wereley said: "Our cross faces west so it looks out towards the world where missionaries were sent from Scotland."
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 7:13 PM

Anti-sectarian novels about the religious divide in Northern Ireland are to become texts in the English curriculum in Scottish schools in a radical bid to tackle discriminatory attitudes among pupils. The teenagers' books by Joan Lingard, Across the Barricades and The Twelfth Day of July, tell the story of a Catholic boy and a Protestant girl from Belfast who overcome their communities' hatred and eventually marry.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 9:36 PM

"Rangers cannot crush their sectarian problem," writes Graham Spiers.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 9:36 PM

Sectarian hatred at football matches faces a crackdown, with legal bans from all stadiums for those involved, backed by the possible threat of a jail sentence. Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, yesterday made clear the Scottish Executive's intention to get tough on the problem following a particularly confrontational Rangers-Celtic match last weekend.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 5:55 PM

The priest at the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Stornoway, which was gutted by fire in the early hours of Friday, is one of five Catholic churchmen received death threats earlier this year. Father Paul Hackett said of the fire: 'I really hope it's an accident, unless it's proved to be a complete nutcase and then you've got no defence against that. I wouldn't like to think it was the same person who was behind the threats.'
Source: Sunday Mail.
posted at 5:30 PM

Students at St Andrews University are to stage a Christmas play featuring Jesus as a homosexual and the Virgin Mary as an alcoholic. The American play, Corpus Christi, portrays Christ as a hard-drinking, swearing gay who wears nothing but a skimpy purple robe. He is crucified for being the 'King of the Queers' after being betrayed by his lover Judas. Rev Canon Dr Robert Gillies, of St Andrews Episcopal Church, said: 'It strikes me as bad taste as well as bad history."
Source: Sunday Mail.
posted at 5:26 PM

Scotland's most senior Catholic believes a public holiday on St Andrew's Day would unite Scotland's faiths and has challenged Jack McConnell to test the issue with a consultation process. Cardinal Keith O'Brien said: "I admire the way the First Minister has put many other issues out to consultation and that could be done on the issue of St Andrew's Day. He has said people don't want another holiday, but I've yet to hear any major voices raised in protest." Full article.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 5:05 PM

A long-lost medieval manuscript - the Legenda Aurea, or Golden Legend, which details the lives of saints - has been discovered during the first audit of Sir Walter Scott's library since his death in 1832. The 15th-century manuscript is one of only three known English translations of the popular religious work written in Latin by Jacopo de Voragine, the 13th-century Archbishop of Genoa. Dr Simon Horobin, a specialist in medieval English based at Glasgow University, has traced the book back to Clare Priory in Suffolk, one of the oldest religious houses in England, where he believes it was produced in the 1440s by Osbern Bokenham, the Augustinian friar and poet.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 4:54 PM

Paedophiles are to be entertained at dinner parties and taken 10-pin bowling or to the cinema as rewards for not abusing children. High-risk child molesters released from prison in Scotland will be assigned volunteer "buddies", who will help them raise their self-esteem in the hope that this will reduce the likelihood of reoffending. The Circles of Support and Accountability programme, a Quaker initiative started in Canada in 1994 and expected to expected to cost £12,500 a year for each paedophile, has the backing of local authorities, social work directors, senior police officers and Sacro, the offenders' rehabilitation organisation. There has also been positive feedback from criminal justice professionals, offenders and the volunteers, who are often drawn from church groups. Supporters claim the scheme has cut the predicted rate of reoffending by released paedophiles in Canada by more than 70%.
Source: Sunday Times.
posted at 4:47 PM

Sex education material should have the word 'abstinence' deleted for fear it might make sexually active children feel that they are "doing something wrong", MSPs and health chiefs have warned. The Scottish parliament's cross-party group on sexual health, made up of politicians, health boards and doctors, have declared that telling pupils to be abstinent is too "preachy" and will stigmatise those pupils who have already had sex.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 4:37 PM

Dr Alison Elliot, convener of the Scottish Churches' Forum of ACTS and Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, took the chair at yesterday's Scottish event in the World Council of Churches 'On the Wings of a Dove' campaign, which is aimed at overcoming violence against women and children.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 4:28 PM

Bishop Ian Murray, Roman Catholic Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, has commiserated with the 210 parishioners of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Stornoway, and their priest Fr. Paul Hackett S.J., over the church's destruction in a fire on Thursday.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 4:27 PM

Scotland's greatest living composer, Dr James MacMillan CBE, has received an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Abertay Dundee. Professor Mike Swanston, vice-principal, said, "Dr MacMillan's art draws heavily on his Scottish Roman Catholic upbringing and his strongly-held political beliefs. He is passionate about introducing contemporary music to communities that might not otherwise come into contact with it."
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 4:26 PM

Scotland's greatest living composer, Dr James MacMillan CBE, has received an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Abertay Dundee. Professor Mike Swanston, vice-principal, said, "Dr MacMillan's art draws heavily on his Scottish Roman Catholic upbringing and his strongly-held political beliefs. He is passionate about introducing contemporary music to communities that might not otherwise come into contact with it."
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 5:56 PM

A historic Mearns church with links to William Wallace is to undergo a £139,000 makeover after the Church Of Scotland approved its plans. Church General Trustees have sanctioned the upgrade to Dunnottar Parish Church, in Stonehaven, which dates back to the High Middle Ages. The Rev Gordon Farquharson said the aim was to make the church more "user-friendly" and create a stronger family atmosphere.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 5:38 PM

Terry Waite, the former Beirut hostage and Church of England envoy, arrived in Glasgow yesterday to accept nearly £700,000 from the city council, the final piece in a funding package aimed at creating a future for the homeless and addicted. As president of Emmaus, a charity which restores the destitute to society, Mr Waite launched the £2.5 million project to create the first Emmaus centre in Scotland. The Glasgow project, in Hamiltonhill, will provide a home and work for 24 people whose lives are in chaos.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 5:34 PM

Plans by the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen to axe one of their two superintendent posts in North West Sutherland have been greeted with consternation locally. The Fishermen's Missions at Lochinver and Kinlochbervie, each presently headed by a superintendent, are to be consolidated under the one person based at Lochinver. Present head at Kinlochbervie, John Anderson, is to move to Lochinver while the superintendent there, Jim Ralph, is being shifted out of the area to take up relief work with the mission elsewhere.
Source: Northern Times.
posted at 8:54 PM

Rev Harry Woods, who was previously a minister in Rogart, has been inducted to the charge of Kilmorack and Strathglass Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) in Beauly. This charge had been vacant since the retiral in April of the Rev Daniel MacKinnon after almost 25 years in Beauly. Mr Woods was ordained to the Free Church Ministry in 1982 and has previously enjoyed ministries in Paisley and Glasgow as well as Rogart. Despitethe poor weather 237 persons attended the induction service.
Source: Northern Times.
posted at 8:48 PM

In a further development, two men appeared in Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday (Thursday) charged with assaulting a man and woman on the Shetland island of Papa Stour. It has been alleged that the men confronted Reverend Adrian Glover and his wife Karen Glover while they were driving on the tiny island, which has just 28 inhabitants. The alleged incident took place the day before 44-year-old Mr Glover, a pastor with the Bournemouth-based Church of the Apostolic Faith, appeared in court in Lerwick to be found not guilty of causing a sheepdog unnecessary suffering by shooting it in the leg.
Source: Shetland News.
posted at 8:28 PM

The Perth support group for the Blythswood Care charity estimates that local donations for Romania have topped the £60,000 mark this year. Group contact Dennis Brown confirmed that 4353 gift-packed shoeboxes had been counted and sorted for customs by more than 100 volunteers at the North Kirk, with a further £4000 donated towards dispatching the presents to Eastern Europe.
Source: Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 8:15 PM

The Archbishop of Canterbury defended the role of faith communities in the voluntary sector, contradicting secular beliefs in the total separation of church and state. "To recognise the role of religious commitment in the motivation of moral community is not to return to theocracy but to do justice to what actually fuels human self-respect and respect for others. We can build little indeed without it," he said.
Source: Church Times.
posted at 8:04 PM

God is being pushed to the margins of society, thwarted by an "aggressive secular ideology", according to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Pope's doctrinal chief and one of the Vatican's most outspoken figures said secularism was no longer a neutral influence which opened up space for religious freedom. Instead, he said, "It is being transformed into an ideology which is imposed through politics and does not give public space to the Catholic or Christian vision, which runs the risk of becoming something purely private and thus disfigured."
Source: The Tablet.
posted at 7:54 PM

The Episcopalian Bishop of Brechin, the Right Rev Neville Chamberlain, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Al-Maktoum Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, based in Dundee.
Source: Dundee Evening Telegraph.
posted at 7:45 PM

New community rooms at the St Andrew's Church in Peterhead will be officially opened next weekend. Rev David Pitkeithly said the extension had cost £87,000.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 7:42 PM

New life-sized carved figures of a shepherd boy and his sheep created by Tim Chalk have been added to the popular Christmas Nativity scene in Edinburgh's West Princes Street Gardens. The new-look scene is a gift to the city's churches from Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer. Church leaders will join together for a special Nativity blessing and carol service in the Gardens on the first Sunday of Advent. Cardinal Keith O'Brien will be joined by the Episcopalian Bishop of Edinburgh, the Right Reverend Brian Smith, and Dr Alison Elliot, Moderator of the Church of Scotland, for the outdoor blessing this Sunday.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 7:32 PM

The Catholic church in Stornoway has been extensively damaged by a fire which broke out in the early hours of the morning. Residents close to the Holy Redeemer chapel were evacuated as a precaution as fire units from across the island tried to extinguish the blaze. The church was built in 1991.
Source: North Tonight.
posted at 7:23 PM

Mini-profile of Rev Dr Mary Levison, who first petitioned the General Assembly on the issue of appointing women to the ministry in the 1960s. Now 81, Levison, who wrote a book about her fight entitled Wrestling with the Church, recalls the prejudice and sexism she experienced at that time.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 7:20 PM

The Church of Scotland, the biggest owner of superior entitlements in Scotland, said that farmers were likely to be pursued most vigorously for compensation for the loss of traditional duties owned under feudalism, which will be abolished from Sunday, and may face bills of up to £600. David Robertson, secretary to the Kirk's general trustees, said its feu duties were worth around £30,000 a year. "The cost of a minister and parish worker," he said.
posted at 7:13 PM

The Scottish Executive has called on churches and other agencies responsible for children in care to open their files to victims of abuse which took place when the child was under the organisation's protection. A Church of Scotland spokesman said: "In principle we would agree to co-operate with any inquiry about past files, where these are still in existence." The Catholic Church said it had never run children's homes in Scotland. A spokesman said they tended to be operated by autonomous orders of nuns or brothers. Quarriers said it had provided files since 1992, subject to protecting third parties named in records, while Barnardo's said no-one was available for comment.
posted at 9:11 AM

The magazine of the Church of Scotland, Life & Work, has won the first award of its 125-year history. The publication - founded in 1879 by the Rev Archibald Charteris - was named Member Magazine of the Year in the Scottish Magazine Awards.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 8:49 PM

The Church of Scotland today praised a 14-year-old Dundee Football Club supporter who reported a fellow fan for racial abuse. Alan Martin was convicted at the sheriff court on Tuesday of making racist comments during a match against Celtic and has been banned for life from Dens Park after a teenager reported the remarks to police during the game. The convener of the Kirk's Church and Nation Committee, Morag Mylne, said: "It's important to recognise this incident not only as an example of young people standing up for what they know to be right, but also as a victory for the values being taught in our schools and churches."
Source: Dundee Evening Telegraph.
posted at 8:41 PM

Sports roundup: Born-again Christian and Rangers defender Marvin Andrews believes dark forces were responsible for the fractious atmosphere and unseemly drama which made the latest Celtic-Rangers derby one of the most controversial in Old Firm history. "I didn't like it or want it to happen," he said. "I spoke about this before, but this is how the Devil operates. He wants to cause havoc in everything he does." Meanwhile, Rangers chairman David Murray, the Rangers chairman, last night launched a thinly-veiled attack on Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager. Murray said it was unacceptable for individuals to try to blacken the name of his club and stereotype Rangers fans as racist bigots. His criticisms came after the Scottish Football Association confirmed O'Neill would not be charged with bringing the game into disrepute for his comments after Saturday's Old Firm clash at Ibrox. O'Neill said Neil Lennon, the Northern Irish Celtic player, had been racially abused at the match. The SFA has invited Celtic to make an official complaint that Lennon was the victim of racial and sectarian abuse. Finally, in the Strathclyde Evangelical Churches Football League: Queen's Park 5 Burnside 2; Kilsyth Church of God 2 King's Park 1.
Sources: Sporting Life, The Herald, Strathclyde Evangelical Churches Football League.
posted at 11:38 AM

The Rev Adrian Glover, a pastor on the Shetland island of Papa Stour with the Bournemouth-based Church of the Apostolic Faith, was yesterday found not guilty at Lerwick Sheriff Court of torturing and terrifying a neighbour's dog. Mr Glover admitted shooting the sheepdog, Ralph, with his 12-bore shotgun, but claimed he had done so in self-defence after he saw the animal attack his wife's Shetland ponies. As the trial ended, it emerged that the minister and his wife, Karen, were flown to hospital in Lerwick on Tuesday with head injuries, with the couple claiming yesterday they had been attacked by fellow islanders.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 11:16 AM

Thousands of homeowners could be landed with compensation bills of up to £450 each from feudal superiors they barely knew existed following the abolition of feudalism in Scotland on Sunday November 28. Land-owning feudal superiors could ask for compensation from homeowners for the loss of feu duties, which stem from Scotland's ancient land ownership laws, under human rights. The Church of Scotland, which owns the majority of active superior entitlements in Scotland, said it would seek compensation for what it called a significant loss of income. David Robertson, secretary to the Church of Scotland's general trustees, said: "It is capital payment for the loss of income. As one of Scotland's largest charities, we are reliant on this income."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 11:09 AM

A defiant Church of Scotland minister arrested at an anti-nuclear protest is facing jail after refusing to pay a £150 fine. The Rev David McLachlan, of Langside Parish Church in Glasgow, was arrested during a blockade at Faslane naval base in February 2001 and convicted of a breach of the peace. David Lunan, clerk of the Presbytery of Glasgow, said: "He is upholding a position which the General Assembly has supported and that is that weapons of mass destruction are illegal."
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 3:49 PM

A fundraising concert for Scottish Opera was cut short last night when a number of instruments were stolen from the Edinburgh venue, St Andrew's and St George's Church in George Street, minutes before the performance was due to begin.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 3:32 PM

Ukranians in Scotland - estimated to number 200 - yesterday expressed fears for families and friends at home as tension rose following the disputed presidential election. Father Lubomyr Pidluskyj, of Our Lady Of Pochayev and St Andrew's Catholic Church in Leith, Edinburgh, said he was praying for people he knew in Ukraine. "I want one Ukraine. At this moment, it is very dangerous," he said.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 3:30 PM

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has described as "appalling" new NHS figures showing a 40 percent increase in cases of chlamydia since 1999, a 63 percent rise in syphilis cases and a 19 percent increase in the number of people with gonorrhoea. "Once again I urge the Scottish Executive to reconsider the sexual health strategies which have created this disastrous situation," he said. "I ask Ministers to accept that improvements in Scotland's sexual health will not come about without promotion of the institution of marriage, the basic building block of our society, and a willingness to pilot abstinence-based approaches on the basis that prevention will always be better than cure."
posted at 4:47 PM

The Evangelical Alliance has published its Advent Prayer Guide for 2004. It focuses on Rebuilding Trust in a Confused World and looks at prayer needs involving conflict, the media, business and the community.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.
posted at 4:44 PM

Glasgow will tomorrow launch its bid to become a Fairtrade city with promotions on products such as tea and coffee which support third world farmers. The city council campaign will start within the City Chambers, where coffee and tea endorsed by the Fairtrade movement will be served.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 4:26 PM

In an unprecedented swipe at the players, directors and fans of football's Old Firm, Jack McConnell said the aggression and sectarianism surrounding last Saturday's derby was "a step back in time - and frankly it needs to stop". Rangers and Celtic face increasing pressure to eradicate the violence and bigotry that infects their rivalry as political leaders condemned the "totally unacceptable" scenes.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 4:25 PM

The Rev Canon Joe Morrow, priest-in-charge of St Ninian's Episcopal Church in Dundee and the economic development convener of Dundee City Council, has been elected to the top post in Freemasonry in Scotland. He will be installed this week has the 108th Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland.
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 4:22 PM

The Times 'Daily Life' column harks back to November 23, 1866, and Queen Victoria's alarm at the creeping menace of Episcopalianism. "She yesterday saw her valued friend Dr Macleod, than whom there is no better, more liberal-minded, or more thoroughly Christian a man, and he told the Queen that he considered this Episcopalian movement in Scotland - countenanced and encouraged, as it was, by the Archbishop of Canterbury - as most serious, and indeed alarming to the safety of the Church of Scotland ... The Queen feels, more strongly than words can express, the duty which is imposed upon her and her family to maintain the true and real principles and spirit of the Protestant religion; and the Queen will not stand the attempts made to destroy the simple and truly Protestant faith of the Church of Scotland."
Source: The Times.
posted at 4:16 PM

The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Most Rev Bruce Cameron, preached at Christchurch Cathedral in Hartford, Connecticut, on the 220th anniversary of the consecration of Samuel Seabury by Scottish bishops, which brought about the beginning of the Episcopal Church (USA).
Source: Scottish Episcopal Church news release.
posted at 10:37 PM

Renewed calls were made yesterday for a clampdown on sectarian violence after a study showed Catholics were twice as likely as Protestants to suffer abuse and a pub packed with Celtic supporters was attacked by scores of football hooligans. Ian Wilson, grand master of the Orange Lodge of Scotland, said he would be surprised if one side was more guilty than another of sectarian abuse. He added: "There is no doubt Scottish society has a degree of sectarian intolerance. However, it is my experience this has lessened in the past 40 years." The Herald says in a leader: "Having a law in place to punish bigots is only part of the solution. It must be supported by education strategies, involving schools, the Scottish Executive and the police that not only explain how the law works but also seek to change attitudes that have been embedded in families and communities for generations."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 11:02 AM

"Godless liberalism, the new opium of the masses, can be just as destructive as god-fearing religion, and - excuse the pun - has none of religion's saving graces," writes Katie Grant. "European liberals, while taking enormous care not to be tainted by even a sniff of Islamophobia - a current taboo - are openly 'Christophobic' - a useful word coined by French MEP Philippe de Villiers. The really worrying thing is that so many powerful people applaud ... It seems to me that just as religions once showed scant tolerance for liberalism, so the boot is now on the other foot, and although liberal intolerance may have a more civilised face, it is just as unacceptable."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 10:57 AM

The woman who introduced 'drive-thru' weddings to Las Vegas wants to bring her multi-million-pound business to a Scottish castle. Charolette Richards has presided over the weddings of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Britney Spears since opening her Little White Wedding Chapel 45 years ago. Hugh Brown, of the Church of Scotland's Board of Social Responsibility, said he was worried that Vegas-style weddings would 'trivialise' marriage.
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 10:48 AM

A leading clergyman, a chaplain to the Queen in Scotland, warned yesterday that plans to merge the Black Watch with other Scottish regiments would destroy the family spirit built up over generations and harm recruitment. The Rev Norman Drummond, a former Black Watch padre, was speaking at a service at St John's Kirk in Perth marking the 50th anniversary of the regiment's kirk session, the first regimental church in the Army to have been formally recognised.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 10:45 AM

The Catholic Church in Scotland has expressed dismay at figures showing that its members were more likely to suffer sectarian abuse. A Crown Office study of prosecutions under new anti-sectarianism legislation found that in 63% of cases the victims were Catholic. This compared with 29% of victims who were Protestants, 1% who were Jews and 1% targeted because they were Muslim. Bishop Joseph Devine said: "These figures unfortunately paint a picture of a country where entrenched hostility towards a religious minority, which many felt had long since disappeared, clearly remains and flourishes." He added: "It is interesting to note that incidents related to marches contribute so significantly to the dismal tally of sectarian abuse." Church spokesman Peter Kearney said: "This analysis comprehensively shatters the age old myths suggesting that sectarianism in Scotland is simply a football-related phenomena as well as laying to rest the old cliché that 'one side is as bad as the other'. Sadly a situation exists in Scotland where constant attacks on Catholic schools by otherwise respectable commentators are given widespread media attention and this has created a climate in which others consider anti-catholicism acceptable."
Source: BBC Scotland News, Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 3:46 PM

For 800 years the bones of two of the Orthodox Church's most famous saints have been held at the Vatican, a symbol of the deepest division in Christianity. Now the remains of St John Chrysostom and St Gregory Nazianzen are to be returned to Istanbul where they were stolen by drunken soldiers attached to the Fourth Crusade who sacked Constantinople in 1204. At a historic reconciliation ceremony at the Vatican next weekend, Pope John Paul II plans to open up a new age of inter-denominational Christian co-operation when he hands back the bones. The head of the Greek Orthodox Community, Archbishop Bartholomew I, praised the Pope for giving him "the sign of brotherly love" by promising to return relics so sacred to Eastern Christianity. Catholic sources said that in the twilight years of his papacy, John Paul has been pressing for a "purification of memory", expressing regret for sins by Catholics against Jews, Protestants and others.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 3:41 PM

A fresh bid to make St Andrew's Day - November 30 - Scotland's national public holiday looks set to be scuppered by First Minister Jack McConnell despite near unanimous backing. In a consultation on the proposals involving more than 100 councils, churches, and public bodies, only five replied that they thought Scots should work on. A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland added: "This move has our complete support in order to recognise our patron saint."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 3:38 PM

The opening ceremony for the new Scottish Parliament should have included a blessing for the building, according to an article in the Church of Scotland's magazine, Life and Work. Assistant editor Muriel Armstrong wrote: "The problem of religion was neatly buried in an opening Gaelic psalm. Lifting one's eyes to the hills to seek inspiration from God was cleverly disguised in a language few understood."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 5:39 PM

The opening ceremony for the new Scottish Parliament should have included a blessing for the building, according to an article in the Church of Scotland's magazine, Life and Work. Assistant editor Muriel Armstrong wrote: "The problem of religion was neatly buried in an opening Gaelic psalm. Lifting one's eyes to the hills to seek inspiration from God was cleverly disguised in a language few understood."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 5:38 PM

Frances Henderson has given up teaching to go into the ministry, and is spending her probationary period with the Rev Rachel Dobie at the Churches of Tweedsmuir, Broughton, Skirling, Stobo and Drumelzier.
Source: Peeblesshire News.
posted at 5:35 PM

The Church of Scotland and the local community in Lochcarron had a "very positive" meeting over the future of the village's historic East Church. A spokeswoman for the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, said: "Interested parties including the Trustees and the Congregational Board are now exploring the possibility of local interested groups leasing the building on a long-term basis."
Source: Ross-shire Journal.
posted at 5:28 PM

A Kirk Session Clerk who was a guest speaker at a fundraising dinner "outraged his audience with racist and sexual remarks". Alan St John, alias Alan Saunderson, the Session Clerk of the Clark Memorial Church in Largs and a BBC broadcaster, was invited to speak at the East Kilbride International Sports Trust's annual gala dinner. Vice-chairman of the Trust Ian Macpherson said: "He really died a death and just misread the whole thing. I know the people who walked out and they are not prudes."
Source: East Kilbride News.
posted at 5:21 PM

Black Watch families and veterans will gather in Perth this weekend to celebrate a landmark in Scottish military and religious history - the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the Kirk of The Black Watch, the first of its kind to be established within the British Army. Under the 1952 Act "anent the Institution of Services Kirk Sessions in Scottish Units of Her Majesty's Forces," The Black Watch became the first to establish its own kirk session which would afford serving soldiers and their families full pastoral care and presbyterial involvement wherever they were in the world. Black Watch Kirk elder Major Ronnie Proctor said: "It's really a mobile parish. It is unique because wherever the battalion goes, the kirk goes.
Source: Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 5:12 PM

Parishioners at St Mary's RC Church in Irvine have opened the doors to their impressive new church hall. The £250,000 building has been purpose built for community use and will cater for local groups.
Source: Irvine Herald.
posted at 5:05 PM

Father Matt McManus is leaving Kilwinning after 17 years in the town. The popular parish priest says Mass for the last time at St Winin's Church on Sunday before moving to St Peter in Chains at Ardrossan to fill the gap left by the death of Fr Michael Lynch, who was killed in a blaze at the parish house earlier this year.
Source: Irvine Herald.
posted at 5:04 PM

The Inverness Singers, who have staged their annual carol concert at the city's St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral since 1984, are switching the performance - on Wednesday 8th December - to the Crown Church. Secretary Kenneth Young said inadequate heating was affecting audience numbers. The move follows the Scottish Ensemble's decision to switch its annual candlelit Christmas concert from the Cathedral after an increase in rental charges. And Highland Chamber Orchestra's performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio was cancelled following allegations that the Cathedral's Master Of Music, Edward Barbieri, was rude to orchestra leader Rachael Snow during the final rehearsal for Bach's St Matthew Passion in June.
Source: Inverness Courier.
posted at 4:58 PM

In a clear reference to the Anglican Church's divisions over homosexuality, the Pope last weekend said that 'new ethical obstacles' had surfaced which blocked progress towards unity. At a vespers service to mark the 40th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council's major document on ecumenism, Pope John Paul II said that commitment to unity should 'infect' ordinary Christians and not just be a matter for experts.
Source: Church of England Newspaper.
posted at 4:53 PM

The Christian Churches face a crisis in ecumenism, says Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster. Before rapprochement with other faiths becomes possible, they must overcome their own differences. He concludes: "The work of ecumenism is not just our work, our efforts, our cooperation, our prayer, but it is God's work, it is his grace, it is his Holy Spirit that urges us on. This is the reason we must continue our search for unity, because that is what Our Lord prayed: May they all be one, Father, as you are in me and I in you so that the world may believe it was you who sent me."
Source: The Tablet.
posted at 4:50 PM

Feature on the United Reformed Church Synod of Scotland's partnership with Presbyterian Reformed Church of Cuba.
Source: United Reformed Church Synod of Scotland.
posted at 4:35 PM

MAYC, the youth section of the Methodist Church, will no longer be known as Methodist Association of Youth Clubs. Instead it will be called "MAYC - Supporting Youth Work in the Methodist Church".
Source: Methodist Church news release.
posted at 4:34 PM

The Christian Medical Fellowship has called on supermarkets to reduce the cost of healthy eating options, such as lean high quality meats and fruit and vegetables, to help tackle Britain's growing obesity epidemic.
Source: Evangelical Alliance Media Consultancy.
posted at 4:32 PM

North Lanarkshire Council and the Diocese of Motherwell have reached agreement on plans to develop five out of seven joint campus primary schools in North Lanarkshire. Bishop Joseph Devine said: "With agreement now on the appropriate use of iconography, on the provision of appropriately designed public entrances, on the provision of staffrooms in each school area, and on the provision of appropriate library resources, I am pleased that the revised designs will allow each school to develop its own ethos within a spirit of mutual respect and partnership." He hoped that continuing discussions about school provision in Bargeddie and Chapelhall would soon reach a positive outcome.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 4:28 PM

The Church of Scotland is celebrating its first ever Guild Week from November 21 to 28. Groups around the country are holding events, special services, and staging exhibitions to show church members and others within the local communities what it means to belong to the organisation. With over 36,000 members, the Guild has a history of social action at home and abroad. Fundraising since 1997 has topped £1.5 million, providing support and resources for those suffering from HIV/AIDS, asylum seekers, prisoners, families of drug addicts, adults with learning difficulties, the poor and those living on the margins of society.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 4:25 PM

The Church of Scotland's Post Natal Depression (PND) project, which has been running for more than 12 years, has extended its Edinburgh facility to include a families counselling room.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 10:41 PM

An Inverurie church is staging Mike Gibb's acclaimed musical about the life of Scottish missionary Mary Slessor and is looking for two pieces of furniture to star on the set. Aberdeen-based Hame Productions will perform the Mother of All the Peoples at Inverurie West Church next week. However, to make the scenes as realistic as possible the church is looking for a large-backed wicker chair and a wooden two-seater bench to use as props. With humour, song and touching honesty, the play traces the missionary's life from her birth in Aberdeen through her childhood in the slums of Dundee, to her work and life in the jungles of Calabar.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 12:06 PM

John Lowrie Morrison, the painter and Church of Scotland lay preacher from Glasgow, has announced he is to set up his own version of the Turner prize, a £30,000 Jolomo Foundation award to encourage students at Scotland's four art schools to embrace landscape painting. One of his most recent works, The Christmas Star Over the Uists, is to appear on the front cover of the December issue of Life and Work, the Church of Scotland's monthly magazine. "I had different ideas about what to paint for the magazine. I had thought of a traditional nativity scene but then I decided on transposing a biblical scene to our time. I see this painting as of Christ in the world, man as God. My faith inspires me. My painting is all part of it. My paintings are religious but I don't think painting needs to be directly biblical to be religious. My own religious works are more to do with my feelings about things."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 11:54 AM

Feature on the ramifications of a planning application submitted by the Archdiocese of Glasgow to Argyll and Bute Council for a development of 29 new properties on the estate surrounding St Peter's seminary in Cardross, "the most important post-war building in Scotland".
Source: The Herald.
posted at 11:52 AM

Contents of the December issue of Life & Work magazine, published by the Church of Scotland, include an interview with one of Scotland's most popular contemporary artists, John Lowrie Morrison (Jolomo), who has produced an exclusive new painting for the Christmas cover of the magazine entitled The Christmas Star Over the Uists. In the final part of the series Faith for Today, Professor Darrell Guder of Princeton Theological Seminary offers a North American perspective. And the Rev Clarence Musgrave, minister of St Andrew's Church in Jerusalem, says the village which was the birthplace of Jesus faces another bleak Christmas.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 7:10 PM

A new Charities Bill has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament with a new definition of 'charity' based on the principle of public benefit.
Source: Scottish Executive news release.
posted at 6:40 PM

A retired Bo'ness minister, the Reverend Jim Marshall, has been named as the next Moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 6:09 PM

Scottish Catholic Bishops have accepted the need to inject new life into chaplaincy services provided to seafarers.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 6:07 PM