Scotch whisky giants Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker were yesterday accused of cashing in on the sleazy sex trade in Thailand. The global brands are raking in cash from sales in brothels and their brands are even used to advertise the sex clubs. Chivas and Johnnie Walker are the most popular whiskies in Asia and earn their owners - Chivas Brothers and Diageo - tens of millions of pounds profit every year. Chris Beddoe, director of anti-child-prostitution pressure group ECPAT UK, said: "Multinational companies should not be selling their products within bars and saunas where sex is sold." SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon, said: "I would hope neither company is doing anything that could be seen to be condoning or encouraging child prostitution. If so, I am sure they would both want to take action to rectify this situation."
Source: Sunday Mail.
posted at 2:46 PM

John Miller, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, has been nominated for the Burns Award, given to people who have shown outstanding humanitarian conduct. Sir David Steel, chair of the panel of judges, said: "To be given the opportunity to reward a truly humanitarian person who never seeks such a thing is what makes this award stand head and shoulders above other celebrity-led ceremonies." Other nominees are the five sisters and fiancée of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney; Romeo Dallaire, the former head of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda; Pius Ncube, a civil rights leader in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe; and Tom Hunter, the Scottish entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 11:25 AM

Dr Alison Elliot reflects on her year as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. "If the church concentrates on supporting people and being alongside them, it will listen more and let that listening shape its answers. It will see its tradition as a resource for today's needs rather than something to be preserved for its own sake. It will venture outside the walls of its buildings and its internal concerns and smell the fresh challenges of new needs and opportunities. It will meet people aware of the spiritual values in life who are exploring them in other ways and it will learn from the encounter. I don't know what kind of church will emerge in the years ahead, but it won't be a slimmed-down version of its supposed glory days of 50 years ago."
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 11:18 AM

Kirk ministers have shunned the ultimate in luxury parishes. Just two ministers from Scotland have applied to minister to a congregation in the Bahamas, part of the Church of Scotland, out of about 80 applicants. The post, at Lacaya Presbyterian Kirk in Freeport in Grand Bahama, was advertised as being just 70 miles from Florida and having a tropical climate. Dugie McNab, the Clerk of the Kirk Session in Freeport said: "Most of the applications have been from either the US or Canada, with just two applications from Scotland."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 11:15 AM

Kenyan-born former East London gangster Climate Irungu Mwangi has been consecrated Bishop of the World Conquerors Christian Centre, which has more than 10,000 faithful in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Edinburgh, Scotland and London. Mwangi, 34, is the youngest Pentecostal church bishop in the UK following his consecration last Saturday. He was ordained by Bishop J.P. Hackman of the umbrella Trans-Atlantic and Pacific Alliance of Churches (Tapac). Tapac has 45 bishops.
Source: All Africa.com/East African Standard.
posted at 6:42 PM

The Vatican yesterday surprised Anglican leaders by announcing it was ready to resume talks on unity despite the formidable barriers now separating the Church of England from Roman Catholicism. A statement by the Vatican office that deals with other Christian faiths offered the first real evidence that Pope Benedict XVI is as keen as he has insisted to relaunch moves towards Christian reunification. Praising the way Anglican leadersdealt with the crisis over gay clergy, the Vatican said: "They have offered new hope that our dialogue can continue to make progress toward the full communion."
Source: The Guardian.
posted at 8:05 PM

Concern is growing for a 93-year-old Benedictine monk, Father Maurus, who has gone missing from Pluscarden Abbey near Elgin.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 8:04 PM

This month's general election was "marked by attempts to treat immigration and asylum as matters for political point scoring, rather than as serious and important topics," said Rev Will Morrey, President of the Methodist Conference. "Too many other topics, including global development, were hardly discussed at all. This was against a background of increasing social division in Britain. Too many people are still excluded from playing a full part in the country's social, political and economic life and Britain needs to play its full part in ending global poverty. We hope that all the political parties will take more responsible, measured positions in the new parliament."
Source: Methodist Church news release.
posted at 8:03 PM

Members of the Strathspey Branch of the Royal British Legion commemorated the 60th anniversary of V.E. Day by presenting a new Union Flag to Grantown's Inverallan Church.
Source: Strathspey & Badenoch Herald.
posted at 8:02 PM

A senior health official has confirmed that concerned worshippers will be prevented from addressing a crunch meeting to discuss the provision of dedicated Christian facilities at Perth Royal Infirmary. Instead, NHS Tayside's spiritual care committee chairperson Elizabeth Forsyth said residents would be asked for their views in advance.
Source: Perthshire Advertiser.
posted at 7:50 PM

Church members should concentrate on helping communities rather than preserving buildings, according to the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Dr Alison Elliot was speaking during a nine-day visit to the Borders' three presbyteries - Melrose & Peebles, Duns and Jedburgh.
Source: Border Telegraph.
posted at 7:43 PM

The future of St Peter's Catholic primary school in Aberdeen has been thrown into doubt because of falling rolls.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 7:23 PM

Obituary of the Very Rev Romeo Canon Coia; born 28 November, 1912, in Glasgow; died 22 April, 2005, in Dundee, aged 92.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 7:12 PM

The Church of Scotland's Housing and Loan Fund will report to the General Assembly on the support it has given to retired ministers and their widows, widowers and former spouses who needed help with their housing during 2004.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 6:59 PM

Leading international religious academics will join forces with Aberdeen's religious leaders for an ecumenical conference at Aberdeen University later this month. Organised by Francesca Murphy, reader in divinity and religious studies at Aberdeen University, and two Aberdeen postgraduates, Eric Puosi and Chris Asprey, the conference aims to explore commitment to ecumenism and discuss theological reflections on the encyclical written by the late Pope John Paul II in 1995. Participants include the university's Anglican chaplain, Douglas Heddle; the Roman Catholic Bishop of Aberdeen, Peter Moran; Professor Charles Morerod, from the Angelicum University in Rome; David B Hart, from Virginia University: Professor Donald McLeod, from the Free Church College in Edinburgh; Peter Donald representing the Church of Scotland; Professor Vigen Guroian, of Loyola University, Baltimore; Susan Frank Parsons, of Nottingham University; Professor John Webster, who holds the chair in systematic theology at Aberdeen, and Nick Thompson, lecturer in divinity and religious studies.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:30 PM

Jim Wallace, who has announced his decision to give up the Scottish Lib Dem leadership, is "the genuine article", writes Ron Ferguson. "When I was minister of St Magnus Cathedral, Jim was an elder. In kirk session discussions he never once pulled rank. Despite his busy political life, he visited his elder's district assiduously. He is one of the most unassuming, committed and decent people I've ever met. Wallace's political ideals are deeply rooted in his Christian faith. He's never been a man to make political capital out of his beliefs, but his values were forged in his upbringing at home and in the Kirk. His passion for justice is straight out of the biblical prophetic tradition."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 10:15 PM

Scottish Executive ministers were warned yesterday that their plans to introduce so-called "quickie divorces" would weaken the institution of marriage and undermine family life. Representatives from the Catholic Church made it clear that they were totally opposed to key parts of the Executive's Family Law Bill which they warned would lead to more marriage break-ups. Dr Alison Elliot, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly, backed shorter time periods for no-fault divorce, saying: "I don't think it's a question, maybe, of time that leads to reconciliation, but it's getting back to the question of encouraging mediation."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 10:12 PM

The Church of Scotland is to strengthen its commitment to the safety of children with whom it works by adopting a detailed child protection strategy.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 10:08 PM

The General Assembly is to be asked to approve a long-term strategic approach to the Church of Scotlands property resources, strengthening the presbytery planning process to include for the first time an assessment of the future of each building in each charge.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 10:08 PM

The Church of Scotland needs to make use of the talents of those outside its full-time ministry, the General Assembly will hear in a report on the work of auxiliary ministers and readers.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 10:06 PM

The Church of Scotland's Council of Assembly has highlighted budgetary issues likely to be faced by the Kirk. Congregational offerings have increased by 2.7 per cent over the 2003 figure but have been erratic over the past five years.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 9:53 PM

Lensa Gudina, joint head of the Gudina Tumsa Foundation in Addis Ababa, is visiting Strathaven as a guest of Avendale and Drumclog parish church, which has been involved in improvement projects in Ethiopia. The main purpose of Ms Gudina's 10-day visit is to look at a tree-planting machine which has been developed by a Strathaven company.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 9:50 PM

The Evangelical Alliance's head of public affairs, Don Horrocks, has urged Christians not to cease their participation in the democratic process now that the nation has voted and there is a new government. He suggested that Christians consider putting together post-election strategies for working more closely with their communities and recently elected politicians.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.
posted at 9:45 PM

The RC Bishops' Conference of Scotland have re-elected Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop Mario Conti and Bishop Ian Murray to the posts of Conference President, Vice President and Episcopal Secretary respectively.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 9:43 PM

Scotland's top freemason has said he has nothing to hide or fear from a petition calling on the Scottish Executive to ban clergymen of the Scottish Episcopal Church from belonging to the organisation. The Rev Joe Morrow, grand master of the grand lodge of Scotland and an episcopal minister, as well as a Dundee City councillor, was reacting to a petition lodged in the Scottish Parliament by the Movement for a Register of Freemasons. He said: "I would not approve of any freemason using their membership to benefit them in any way or in a way that affects their impartiality in any role they play."
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 3:48 PM

Cut-price holidays will be offered to Church of Scotland ministers in an attempt to ensure the long-term survival of the Kirk's £9.3m Tiberias resort development by the Sea of Galilee.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 2:20 PM

Planned reform of family law is a serious error which will undermine the critical role of marriage in family life, MSPs are to be told. It comes as Holyrood's justice 1 committee takes evidence on the Family Law Bill from both the Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland. A joint submission declares: "Although both churches have different viewpoints on some matters, including reducing time limits for divorce and legal rights for cohabitees, both agree that information and education about family issues, marriage preparation and maintenance all require greater resources. Additionally, greater support should be directed towards marriage reconciliation services."
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 2:17 PM

The Church of Scotland's Board of National Mission has decided not to take forward the concept of flexible tenure at this time. Proposals approved by the General Assembly of 2004 would have given local presbyteries a greater strategic role in the deployment of ministers within their area. The Board will commend the Church of England report Mission-Shaped Church to the General Assembly for further study in consideration of its appropriateness to a Scottish context. This report highlights the importance of complementing the traditional parish system with "fresh expressions of church" and encourages the development of "the new alongside the old."
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 2:15 PM

First Minister Jack McConnell joined veterans and civic and academic guests for a service in St Andrew's Cathedral, Dundee, to mark the 60th anniversary of VE Day. The guests were welcomed to the cathedral by Bishop Vincent Logan of Dunkeld, who led the Drumhead Service along with the Rev Bob Wightman, chaplain to the City of Dundee Ex-Services Association. Also taking part was the Moderator of Dundee Presbytery, the Rev James Wilson.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 2:09 PM

A defiant minister has escaped a jail sentence for refusing to pay a £150 fine dished out to him after a Faslane protest. Reverend David McLachlan, of Langside Parish Church, Glasgow, was instead given a 30-hour supervised attendance order. But the 49-year-old father-of-two immediately vowed not to comply with the order and insisted he was still prepared to be jailed.
Source: Evening Times, Glasgow.
posted at 5:10 PM

Staff at a private Muslim school have been given three months to bring teaching up to standard. The Imam Muhammad Zakariya school in Dundee was warned more than a year ago that it would face closure unless improvements were made. Inspectors said it had still not done enough to tackle the problems.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 5:06 PM

A petition has been lodged with the Scottish Parliament calling for MSPs to urge the Executive to introduce legislation requiring the Scottish Episcopal Church to bar all its clergy from membership of the Freemasons or any other society having a secret oath-bound membership. Dundee Episcopalian minister and city councillor Joe Morrow is singled out in the petition, following his election last year as 108th Most Worshipful Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland. The petitioner, Hugh Sinclair, on behalf of the Movement for a Register of Freemasons, cites reservations about Freemasonry and the Church expressed by Anglican clergy.
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 4:58 PM

The African Children's Choir will be in Scotland at the beginning of June. The choir, which is recruited afresh each year from the seven- to 12-year-olds among the orphaned children of the Nkomazi region of South Africa, was founded in 1984. Its international fundraising for those affected by the Aids epidemic has built schools across the continent, as well as in South Africa. You can help with that work by attending their concerts. First Scottish concert is at St Phillip's Church, Joppa, Edinburgh, on Saturday, June 4. The following weekend, the choir is at Newlands South Church, Glasgow (Friday 10), and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (Saturday 11), with performances following at Houston and Killellan Kirk in Renfrewshire (Wednesday 15) and Ayr's St Columba's Church (Saturday 18). More dates follow in Edinburgh, Dundee, Elie, Glasgow and Stranraer in September.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 4:47 PM

The first anniversary of the ICL/Stocklin factory explosion in Glasgow which claimed nine lives is to be marked by a Mass at St Columba's RC Church, yards from the blast site, at 10am, one year to the hour after the tragedy. The local dean, Canon Robert Hill, will preside at the service, when a candle will be lit for each of those killed. In the evening, a memorial service will take place at the Maryhill Community Centre, where anxious relatives gathered to await news of their loved ones last year.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 4:45 PM

Lemonade Productions claim the Frenzy music festival at Ingliston on June 11 will be "the most ambitious and exciting Scottish Christian event in living memory". Joint headline acts are Delirious? and Third Day, with support from the Dave Crowder Band, Rock and Roll Worship Circus, Cathy Burton, Paul Oakley, Johnny Parks and Montecassino. Around 12,000 are expected to attend.
Source: PR Scotland.
posted at 4:43 PM

The number of child protection trainers in the Church of Scotland has more than doubled since 1998, enabling the Kirk's Child Protection Unit to maintain best practice in safeguarding the young and vulnerable.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 4:38 PM

The Panel on Review and Reform will submit the results of a wide-ranging survey of congregations to this year's General Assembly. The survey asked Scotland's kirks to provide a self-assessment of the impact of the Church without Walls ethos on their congregations.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 4:36 PM

The Church of Scotland's Board of Communication is to ask the General Assembly to approve in principle their proposal to seek "appropriate sponsorship" for the Kirk's website. "The board reports that usage figures for the website continue to rise and it is expected that these will be heading on for two million individual page impressions over the course of 2005." The Kirk's editorially independent magazine, Life & Work, won the Member Magazine of the Year title in the Scottish Magazine Awards of 2004. The Board's publishing house, Saint Andrew Press, is to merge with Scottish Christian Press, their counterpart at the Board of Parish Education. The combined operation will trade under the name Saint Andrew Press, and will subsume publishing aimed at both the marketplace and the church. An in-principle decision has been taken to close Pathway Media, the Church of Scotland's in-house multimedia production unit.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 4:35 PM

A 'praise cruise' aboard the paddle steamer Waverley has been organised by the Church of Scotland's Argyll Presbytery for Tuesday 17 May.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 5:35 PM

The Church of Scotland's restructured Board of Social Responsibility is to be known as CrossReach.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 5:34 PM

The Church of Scotland's Parish Development Fund has awarded over £1 million to community projects since 2003.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 5:30 PM

Communications regulator Ofcom has failed to uphold a complaint made against the BBC by the Scottish Catholic Media Office. A presenter on Radio Scotland's Off The Ball programme read out an email message from a listener suggesting that Tommy Burns, the former Celtic football club manager and current assistant manager of the national squad, should be pelted with communion wafers. "This is a profane and disrespectful reference to the Eucharist, a sacrament at the heart of Catholic religious belief," said Media Office director Peter Kearney. "The offence caused was compounded by the fact that the comment was not in the form of a live phone in remark but instead was 'filtered' and chosen from a variety of responses. I believed BBC Scotland breached their own producer's guidelines on religious sensibilities and caused serious offence." Mr Kearney added: "I am deeply concerned that Ofcom has not upheld this complaint despite the fact that the BBC have admitted that the e-mail 'should not have been selected for broadcast' and that 'editorial supervision had not been as stringent as usual'." Ofcom's decision (download pdf) stated: "This was an unfortunate choice of email, particularly in a context where emotions are known to run high. Neither presenter's reaction at the time fully challenged what had been aired. As the Code states, "although these [comedy] programmes have a special freedom, this does not give them unlimited licence.." However, the BBC have recognised this, addressed the matter with staff and taken steps to ensure such material is treated with greater care in future. We consider that the matter is now resolved."
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 5:28 PM

James Tulloch, a freelance journalist from Broughton, is to walk the West Highland Way to raise funds for Edinburgh charity Scottish Love in Action's work supporting 'Dalit' (untouchable) children in Tuni, a small town in the South-East Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Mr Tulloch was told twenty years ago that he might never walk again after breaking his back in a skiing accident. The money he raises will help 14-year-old Salmon Raj, who has never been able to walk or stand after being struck by polio when he was a baby.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 5:11 PM

The BBC will today face renewed criticism from its own board of governors for continuing to cut the amount of religious programming on BBC1 and failing to find new ways to engage viewers. Research to be published by the BBC governance unit ahead of a day-long debate on the topic to be headed by chairman Michael Grade on Friday, will give further ammunition to those who accuse the channel of sidelining religion. A review of the impact of a previous edict from the governors in 2002 to beef up "high quality, wide impact" religious shows on BBC1 will say that the corporation has comprehensively failed to do so. Far from increasing the amount of religious programming on BBC1 as demanded by the governors, it finds that the channel has cut back on the number of shows. A second paper, based on the findings of an independent panel and viewer focus groups, will examine religious impartiality across all the BBC's output, including news and current affairs. It found significant shortcomings in the knowledge of programme makers, who, the panel suggests, require more training. It also says the BBC should do more to depict the reality of religion as lived by ordinary people, including more examples of religious characters in drama, and schedule programmes better.
Source: The Guardian.
posted at 4:56 PM

Report from Banda Aceh in Indonesia by Victor Spence, general secretary of the Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association and a member of Edinburgh City Council's Tsunami Taskforce. "The resilience of these people is unbelievable, and Mercy Corps is making a unique contribution to their amazing recovery."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 4:52 PM

The challenge of leadership in the Catholic school in the 21st century: full text of last week's address by Cardinal Keith O'Brien to the annual conference of the Catholic Headteachers' Association.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 11:57 AM

More than 16 million American listeners tuned in to National Public Radio last week to hear a group of Gaelic psalm singers from Back Free Church in Lewis perform with Baptist congregations from Kentucky and Alabama. The Gaels are in the US to take part in a conference on line singing at Yale University. Yale's professor Willie Ruff says "precenting the line" - the traditional unaccompanied singing of psalms in Gaelic in the Presbyterian churches in the Hebrides - is one of the predecessors of 'lining out', still practised in black churches in the South.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 10:01 PM

They may all be singing from the same hymnbook, but they had better get used to sharing. The Church of Scotland is expecting editions of its first new hymnbook in more than 30 years to be bought by fewer than one in 10 of the Kirk's 600,000 members and has ordered just 40,000 copies of the Church Hymnary Fourth Edition to be printed.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 9:57 PM

Feature on Living Waters, the Christian charity that believes it can help gay people lead heterosexual lives. So great is the demand for its services that the charity - which has 'helped' 5,000 adults since its UK launch in 1990 - is preparing to offer its theological and psychological services to confused teenagers. Central to the charity's philosophy is a belief that God can fulfil the father-figure role that Guinness claims is absent in most gay lives. 'The huge thing we focus on is God being our father - because most people are fatherless. With guys with a homosexual struggle, a lot of it is an eroticised need for a father, to be kind of covered and blessed."
Source: The Observer.
posted at 9:53 PM

"George Steven, who has died aged 75, was a dedicated worker for his community through his role as a Labour councillor, for the Salvation Army and for the thousands of young people who benefited from his care ... George was a man whose public and private demeanours matched each other perfectly. Everything he did was motivated by concern for those around him. Both his Christianity and his socialism expressed themselves in straightforward integrity and unremitting efforts to improve the lot of others, particularly the young people who required care and support."
Source: The Herald.
posted at 9:29 AM

As voters in the Western Isles went to the polls, a bitter row emerged between Labour's Calum MacDonald and the Operation Christian Vote (OCV) candidate, Rev George Hargreaves. Regarding his voting record, Mr MacDonald claimed that Mr Hargreaves' comments in the OCV election newsletter were incorrect. And Mr Hargreaves said his lawyers would be considering whether there were legal grounds for suing Mr MacDonald.
Source: Stornoway Gazette.
posted at 8:53 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dr Alison Elliot, spent a busy weekend in Berwick and Berwickshire which included a trip on a lifeboat. The visit to Duns Presbytery brought to an end an exciting and historic year in office for Dr Elliot, the first woman and the first elder to hold the prestigious role.
Source: Berwickshire News.
posted at 8:30 PM

Rev Roy Searle, one of the founder leaders of the Northumbria Community, was inducted as president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain last week. He is very much looking forward to hosting the Baptist World Centenary Congress in Birmingham in July, when over 12,000 delegates are expected from over 120 nations.
Source: Berwick Advertiser.
posted at 8:29 PM

Lapsed Catholics are sorely disappointed that the 265th Pope of Rome, Benedict XVI, is - shock, horror - a strict Roman Catholic, writes Brendan O'Neill. "The 20 million lapsed Catholics in America had hoped, according to an Ohio-based newspaper, that the Church would become a 'friendlier place' after the demise of John Paul II, and coax 'hurt, angry and lapsed Catholics' like themselves back into the pews. Lapsed Catholics in Britain also prayed for a new happy-clappy era under a less dogmatic Pope, who might, a friend of mine hoped, 'bend some of the old rules'. Perhaps they wanted the Dalai Lama in the top job, or Oprah Winfrey - isn't it time we had a black woman for Pope? Instead we got Papa Ratzi, and the lapsed have gone into a sulk."
Source: The Spectator.
posted at 8:17 PM

The Church of Scotland lost another 17,000 worshippers last year, taking its membership levels to a new low. Last year's drop of more than 3 per cent contributes to an overall fall of nearly 60 per cent since 1960. Membership in 2004 stood at 535,834, compared with 1.34 million in the 1960s. The number of parents who baptise their children has also reached a record low, with only 7,500 babies christened in 2004 - 500 fewer than in the previous year. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Scotland has reported a drop in attendance at Mass: 250,000 people went to Mass in 1994, but the figure was down to 194,728 by 2003.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 1:18 PM

Gordon Brown, who is expected to remain as Chancellor and is tipped to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister, was yesterday elected to the newly-formed constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. Referring to Kirkcaldy, he said: "'To represent,in addition, the town in which I grew up, where I went to school, where I can count many childhood friends, and to be declared MP only a stone's throw from the church in which my father was a minister for all the formative years of my life, is indeed a humbling experience."
Source: Daily Record.
posted at 1:10 PM

The Investors Trust provides investment services to the Church of Scotland and to bodies and trusts within or connected to the Church. The total funds invested through the Church of Scotland Investors Trust increased from £276.4 million at 31 December 2003 to £295.6 million at 31 December 2004, as a result of the improved value of equity markets.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 1:01 PM

A man who admitted a nine-month crime spree involving £20,000 of property stolen in 16 break-ins, was jailed for two years and eight months yesterday. Tain Sheriff Court heard that Stephen Peter Bird, 30, even targeted Roskeen Free Church, Invergordon, and stole a silver cup, two clocks and a quantity of religious books in December 2003.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 10:20 PM

Kirk glebes, a feature of Scottish life since the Reformation, are facing an uncertain future because of legislative changes. The Church of Scotland will consider a new policy of selling off glebeland because of high running costs. The use of glebes to generate clerical income was enshrined in the Second Book of Discipline of 1578, one of the founding documents of the reformed Church. Many rural charges retain glebes which are rented out for agricultural use, with the income contributing towards the minister's stipend. The Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act 2003 places new burdens on the Church as glebe owners.
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 10:04 PM

A Perth politician fears Perth Royal Infirmary's under-threat chapel will be lost to political correctness, as the worth of a "public" meeting on its future was called into question. Councillor Alexander Stewart, whose ward includes PRI, believes the process of determining the chapel's future is now "dragging its feet" and may in fact be a fait accompli.
Source: Dundee Courier.
posted at 10:01 PM

Obituary of Dr Margaret Winifred Anderson, a missionary doctor who helped pioneer medical work among women in north India and Nepal. Born in Glasgow in April 1904, Win died, aged 100, on 26 March 2005. "Win went out to India in 1932 to work with the Zenana and Bible and Medical Mission, whose president in the early days was the Duchess of Teck, the mother of Queen Mary ... In 1950 Nepal, which until then had been a closed country, requested international help in development. Win went to work in Kathmandu in the mid-1950s with the United Mission to Nepal ... After 'retiring' in 1971, Win helped with medical relief with the Christian relief and development charity TEARFund in Bangladesh for two or three years after the devastating cyclone and civil war in 1970-1. She also went out to work in Pakistan on two occasions in the late 1970s. There were two further visits to Nepal and on one occasion in the 1980s Win trekked over four passes in one day, with a combined ascent up to 10,000 feet. She was invested with the Insignia of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in 1940."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 9:58 PM

The leader of Scotland's Catholics will today reignite the debate over sex education in schools by accusing some health boards and councils of "pushing an agenda" that runs contrary to Christian teaching. Cardinal Keith O'Brien will also warn the annual conference of the Catholic Headteachers' Association that the Church must "remain vigilant" over the way the Scottish Executive's guidelines on sex education are implemented.
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 9:50 PM

A group of five British church leaders have written to The Guardian newspaper pointing out that the new UK government will have an important role to play in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty talks that recently started in New York. Signatories included Rev David Coffey, General Secretary of the Baptist Union; Rev Will Morrey, President of the Methodist Church; Rev Sheila Maxey, Moderator of the United Reformed Church; and Dr Alison Elliot, Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly.
Source: Methodist Church news release.
posted at 9:48 PM

The Church of Scotland should give its backing to the Make Poverty History Campaign, the General Assembly will be told later this month. The Kirk's Board of World Mission, together with the Church and Nation Committee, have jointly called on the Church to add its voice to those already involved with trade justice ahead of the G8 Summit.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 9:44 PM

Rev David Ogston has been presented with a specially commissioned icon crafted by local artist Reseda Muir to mark his 25 years at St John's Kirk in Perth.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 7:25 PM

About 200 skeletons dating as far back as 1200 years have been unearthed by Historic Scotland near Tantallon Castle, by North Berwick. Some of the graves found during ploughing at Auldhame farm are believed to be medieval, but others could date from the time of St Baldred, who lived in the eighth century. The saint founded a monastery at nearby Tyninghame and lived as a hermit on Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth before his death in 756AD.
Source: The Herald.
posted at 7:04 PM

Cemeteries across Edinburgh are set to run out of space for new graves, raising fears that grieving families will struggle to find suitable burial plots within the city. The most pressing problem is at Mortonhall, which opened in 1960 and was supposed to last 50 years, but space is quickly running out. Space for new graves is expected to run out within a year for Catholic burials and two years for non-Catholic ones.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 10:08 PM

Obituary of Major-General the Reverend Ian Durie CBE, born 21 August, 1944; died 21 April, 2005. "Ian Durie, who was killed in a road accident in Romania while taking part in a bible conference for Romanian army cadets, was a man who, having pursued a distinguished army career, had become an Anglican minister with a deep concern for the ethics of war and an awareness of the importance of a strong Christian ethic in armed forces across the world."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 10:01 PM

A variety of buildings will be used as polling stations in Thursday's general election. One of the Scotland's smallest is Kingairloch Church in Camasnacroise, near Fort William, which has an electorate of just 21.
Source: BBC Scotland News.
posted at 7:40 PM

Iain D Campbell of Back Free Church on Lewis spoke on John MacDonald of Ferintosh (1779-1849) at the Banner of Truth Conference in Leicester. "MacDonald ... left a legacy of Gaelic verse which often used to be read on a Sabbath afternoon in Highland and island homes. In this he popularised deep theology especially in describing the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer."
Source: Banner of Truth Trust.
posted at 7:36 PM

Helensburgh Baptist church is to close for extensive renovation which will change the 19th century chapel in a multi purpose building.
Source: Baptist Union of Scotland news.
posted at 7:30 PM

Princess Anne will visit the Lodging House Mission in Glasgow, a project for the homeless run by the Church of Scotland, on May 10.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 7:28 PM

A report from the Council of Assembly to this month's General Assembly reveals the new councils which will replace the Church of Scotland's existing boards and committees on 1 June.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.
posted at 7:27 PM

The Catholic Church must "build on the renewed interest in our faith" following death of Pope John Paul II and harness the mass media in doing so, says Bishop Joseph Devine, president of the Church's National Communications Commission in a pastoral letter to be read out in Scotland's 500 Catholic parishes on World Communications Day, Sunday 8 May 2005.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release.
posted at 7:24 PM

Hardy churchgoers and others will mark the 60th anniversary of Christian Aid in the Highlands with a service on top of 4,084ft Cairn Gorm, Britain's fifth highest peak. The ceremony is being organised by Rev Jim MacEwan, the minister at Abernethy and Cromdale and Advie Churches of Scotland.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.
posted at 12:48 PM

The Scottish Bible Society is backing the breaking up of old Bibles so that they can be woven into a new form as an art installation. The Church of Scotland hopes the project, called Weaving the Word, will encourage people to think creatively about the ways in which they apply the teachings of the Bible to their everyday lives.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 12:35 PM

As many as 200,000 protesters will dress in white and form a "human wristband" around Edinburgh on July 2 during a massive demonstration to coincide with the G8 summit. Make Poverty History coalition campaigners today revealed details of their plans to protest when the world's most powerful leaders meet in Gleneagles. Among the 400 organisations represented will be the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, Christian Aid, the Salvation Army and Jubilee Scotland.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.
posted at 12:33 PM

Profile of singer Ricky Ross. He grew up in Dundee in a strict brethren family where pop music was frowned upon - but music was not. "My parents would have lots of young people from the church back to the house to gather round the piano and sing. There was a lot of music, and the notion of making your own music was quite a strong idea." ... On leaving school, he did a teaching degree and worked as a church youth worker in Dundee city centre. "It was an amazing time in my life, probably the most formative and exciting time in my life."
Source: The Scotsman.
posted at 12:27 PM

A law that liberalised civil weddings has been blasted for creating "religious discrimination" after it emerged that couples are being charged up to £1000 for ceremonies performed by registrars while church ministers conduct services at the same locations for free. Local authorities have been accused of "profiteering" from the Scottish parliament's Marriage Act (Scotland) 2002, which sees some people on low incomes opt for a Christian ceremony on cost grounds when it might not be what they had intended.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 6:50 PM

Scottish parliament bosses have banned ministers and priests from addressing MSPs unless they refrain from attacking homosexuals and other minorities. The new guidelines, which were a response to Cardinal Keith O'Brien's recent speech at Time For Reflection, Holyrood's four-minute prayer slot, have prompted the Catholic Church to call for the fixture to be scrapped. "Discrimination is in the ear of the beholder," the Church's spokesman said. "If MSPs don't want to be questioned or challenged, it calls into question the whole purpose of the slot. Maybe they should consider scrapping it altogether if they are not willing to entertain freedom of expression." MSPs voted in May 1999 to start each week's parliamentary business with Time For Reflection, although First Minister Jack McConnell, his deputy Cathy Jamieson and parliament minister Margaret Curran did not back it. Since its establishment, MSPs have listened to contributions from Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, Mormons and other faiths.
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 6:45 PM

A report from the Board of World Mission to be presented at this month's General Assembly of the Church of Scotland shows that, by the end of this year, the £13 million Tiberias resort development by the Sea of Galilee will drain the Kirk of a further £555,000, depriving other overseas aid projects of funds. The board's convener, the Rev Alan Greig, said: "The Tiberias project has not even been opened for a full year, so we have to give it a chance."
Source: Sunday Herald.
posted at 6:41 PM

In just five years, Peter Howson has journeyed from an existential hell to the heart of the Catholic Church. Scotland on Sunday can reveal that the celebrated artist is in talks with Vatican officials about producing a series of paintings for one of the most visited shrines in the world. Howson, who once seemed bent on self-destruction as a result of alcohol and drug abuse, plans to paint several Christ-like figures for the tomb of Padre Pio in the church of San Giovanni Rotondo in Foggia, south-eastern Italy. Howson said: "I am dead excited about it and this is a Protestant talking. I might even convert ... It feels right. The image that they are interested in is a big Christ-like figure, like Ecce Homo that was hung in St Paul's Cathedral." Scotland on Sunday art critic Iain Gale said Howson was following in the great tradition of Titian and Michelangelo. "There is a history within Catholic iconography of fairly ... brutal didactic imagery. It exaggerates, and that is what the Catholic Church wants. It is very graphic and accessible to everyone. I think it might work." A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland said: "It is well known that following his time in Bosnia, Howson became very interested in the Christian message. It is an honour for a Scottish artist to be involved in what is a very popular global shrine. There are still many Scottish Catholics who have a close affinity with Padre Pio, so it would be fitting to have his art on show in Italy."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.
posted at 6:39 PM

About 100 Presbyterians from "wee kirks" throughout the upper midwest United States will gather in Sioux Falls next week for the first Great Plains Wee Kirk Conference. The conference is designed for Presbyterian churches in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska's eastern two-thirds, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, northern Kansas and northern Minnesota. In addition, it includes clergy and laity within the Dakota Presbytery, the nongeographic area for Presbyterians who are Lakota.
Source: Argus Leader, Sioux Falls.
posted at 6:33 PM