A Deeside kirk has held its last service before work starts on a major refurbishment project. Members of Aboyne-Dinnet Church yesterday bade a temporary farewell to their building, which is being vacated while its 150-year-old interior is remodelled. Minister the Rev Douglas Campbell said the project would involve a complete makeover to make it suitable for their "eclectic" mix of worshipping styles.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 6:58 PM

Obituary of Ian Gordon Manson, born December 25, 1956, died October 18, 2005; director of social work for the Church of Scotland from 2002.
Source: The Herald. posted at 6:40 PM

Profile of the Very Rev Professor Alan Main, the 69-year-old former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who has come out of retirement for the fourth time to lead the Boys' Brigade.
Source: The Herald. posted at 6:38 PM

The Church of Scotland has backed proposals to allow unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt, although its church and society council said some within the Kirk felt the Scottish Executive reform undermined marriage. "While we do not believe that the status of the relationship between adult potential adopters should be an absolute bar to them adopting jointly, we would hope that there would be explicit recognition that no 'right to adopt' is created by the bill," said the church.
Source: BBC Scotland News. posted at 6:35 PM

Conservative Party leadership contender David Davies reveals that his half-Scottish wife Doreen (née Morton) who was born in Irvine, has two Church of Scotland ministers for uncles. "One of them married us at a United Reform Church in Hertfordshire, which is about as near as you can get to a Church of Scotland in the south of England," Davis said.
Source: Scotland on Sunday. posted at 6:15 PM

Residents of a Scottish town have been left bemused after Christmas decorations appeared in a shopping precinct 62 days before 25 December. The colourful 6ft tall Christmas trees were put up in Coatbridge by North Lanarkshire Council on Tuesday. Council bosses said they were forced to put up the decorations early to be ready for Christmas because they have so many towns in their area to cover. Last night Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: "In spite of its increasing commercialisation, Christmas is still a Christian festival and traditionally the build-up to it has been started around the time of Advent. Can we now expect to see Easter eggs being sold on Boxing Day?"
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 4:11 PM

Cardinal Keith O'Brien was in the Borders last week, when he was presented with a shepherd's crook at Bedrule church, which came in handy when he went on to bless a flock of sheep on a nearby farm (story includes photograph).
Source: Southern Reporter. posted at 8:14 PM

Members of Cambuslang Old Parish Church and nearby St Andrew's Parish Church have voted in favour of amalgamation.
Source: Rutherglen Reformer. posted at 8:09 PM

A priest has spoken of his shock after he awoke to find his car ablaze outside his chapel home. Father Joe Brannigan, of St Brigid's Church in Newmains, was badly shaken after the silver BMW was petrol bombed in the early hours of last Thursday morning. Father Brannigan said in his Parish Bulletin on Sunday: "I want to stress that there is absolutely nothing to suggest any sectarian motive to this attack."
Source: Wishaw Press. posted at 8:07 PM

Ambitious plans were unveiled this week for a new church to replace the 19th century building that was ravaged by fire on its prominent hilltop site overlooking Bankfoot in Perthshire more than 18 months ago. It is also proposed to restore the landmark tower, and construct a small, traditional building behind it, at a total cost of around £2 million. The Rev Iain McFadzean, minister of Auchtergaven and Moneydie Parish Church, stressed that they were only at the planning stage. A greenfield site off Tulliebelton Road has been earmarked for the new building, incorporating a day-care centre for the elderly, a youth cafe, a sports hall with changing facilities, a cafe with soft play area for toddlers, offices and meeting rooms. The building would be able to seat around 250, with the ability to expand to a 450-capacity theatre and concert venue.
Source: Perthshire Advertiser. posted at 8:03 PM

The Queen's new minister on Deeside took up his charge last night. The Rev Ken MacKenzie swapped a preaching post in Hungary for Braemar and Crathie. His arrival completes the unification of the parishes, which have an additional link to Glen Muick church at Ballater.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 7:48 PM

Leading Scottish churchmen have called on the UK Government to do more to help servicemen and women who became seriously ill after the 1991 Gulf War. The unexplained illnesses have become known as "Gulf War Syndrome". Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dr David Lacy, and Catholic Cardinal Keith O'Brien have written to the prime minister, Scottish MPs and MSPs urging them to "bring closure" to this "unhappy state of affairs".
Source: BBC Scotland News. posted at 7:45 PM

Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) has launched its Christmas appeal by producing a fundraising advent calendar that gives a global perspective. The calendar tells the story of new mother Wassa Traoré, who travelled hours across Mali because she wanted to give birth at a health centre so her child could have all the care and medical attention necessary. At the end of her exhausting journey, Wassa was able to rejoice in the birth of her baby girl, Safiatou. Kirsty Smith, Director of MRDF said. "Advent is a time of hope. Wassa can now celebrate the safe delivery of a healthy baby at the Kadiana health centre, which is equipped and supported by an MRDF partner organisation."
Source: Methodist Church news release. posted at 11:12 PM

Why Scotland body-swerved a new law on religious hate: because, when the Scottish Executive was considering how to tackle sectarian hatred, it decided to leave well alone. A spokesman for the executive explained: "Scottish ministers have agreed that an incitement to religious hatred offence should not be created in Scotland. The working group advised against an incitement to religious hatred offence for Scotland, and the executive still accepts this advice." He added: "Scots common law already covers many of the situations in which an incitement to religious hatred offence might be used in Scotland." On Tuesday, the House of Lords delivered a mighty blow to the government over its plan to introduce the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill south of the border.
Source: The Herald. posted at 9:35 PM

Rousing traditional hymns continue to dominate the list of the nation's favourites, but several modern hymns have sneaked into the top 10, according to a survey carried out among tens of thousands of viewers of BBC1's Songs of Praise. But there are several surprise entries, reflecting the rise of evangelical churches. One hymn was written only three years ago. That list in full:
1. How great Thou art
2. Dear Lord and Father of mankind (tune: Repton)
3. The day Thou gavest (tune: St Clement)
4. Be Thou my vision (tune: Slane)
5. Love divine, all loves excelling (tune: Blaenwern)
6. Be still, for the presence of the Lord (tune: Be Still)
7. Make me a channel
8. Guide me, O thou great redeemer (tune: Cwm Rhondda)
9. In Christ alone
10. Shine, Jesus, shine
Source: Daily Telegraph. posted at 9:32 PM

The Moderator of the General Assembly, the Right Rev David Lacy, is to spend two weeks in the Holy Land next month. He will visit the Holocaust memorial at Yad Vashem, meet leading figures from the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Episcopal and Lutheran churches, and spend time at the Church of Scotland School at Tabeetha and the Kirk's Galilee centre at Tiberias.
Source: Church of Scotland news release. posted at 9:45 PM

First Minister Jack McConnell has instructed Scottish Executive officials to "ensure that funding can be made available" to Christian charity Scottish International Relief, whose Mary's Meals project was denied International Development Fund backing despite their providing meals for up to 45,000 children a day.
Source: Daily Record. posted at 9:38 PM

An evangelical preacher who told a court that his mission was to help members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who were troubled about the system of beliefs in their faith and to educate the general public concerning the "sinister, anti-social and anti-Christian nature of the Mormon cult" was yesterday found not guilty of committing a religiously prejudicial breach of the peace. Andrew Robert Price (43), of Weston Road, Chiswick, denied committing a breach by shouting religious slogans, attempting to force religious tracts into people's hands, and pinning religiously prejudicial posters on trees outside the Mormon Church in Bingham Terrace, Dundee. At Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday Sheriff (no first name reported) Miller said: "In this case there was no swearing, offensive language, threats or anything to suggest Mr Price was acting aggressively or being disorderly. His actions, therefore, did not exceed acceptable and lawful conduct and I therefore find him not guilty."
Source: Dundee Courier. posted at 9:22 PM

The Rev Alan McDonald, named yesterday as the new moderator-designate of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, said there were a number of "impressive and influential" women waiting to become the Church's second female moderator. Mr McDonald "will make an outstanding Moderator", writes Ron Ferguson.
Source: The Herald. posted at 9:06 PM

The Rev Alan McDonald, who was was yesterday nominated as the next moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, pledged to improve the Kirk's accessibility. "I'll look at the idea of theology being presented with a Bible in one hand and a daily newspaper in the other," he said. "That's the way we do theology best. I've always thought it is important when asked to speak about political matters that we make sure people hear the message that we have.
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 9:03 PM

Biography of the Rev Alan D McDonald, minister of the parishes of Cameron and St Leonards in St Andrews, who was today nominated as Moderator Designate of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Source: Church of Scotland news release. posted at 6:50 PM

Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow, founder of the charity Mary's Meals, tells how it has grown into an international success story supporting around 45,000 impoverished children worldwide. However, despite being hailed by first minister Jack McConnell as an example of "Scots doing brilliant work out there ... feeding thousands of Malawian children", the charity has learned its application to the Scottish Executive's £3m International Development Fund has been rejected. Duncan Bannatyne, the Clydebank entrepreneur who has donated more than £200,000 to the charity's parent organisation, Scottish International Relief, said: "The Scottish Executive is absolutely and totally wrong. I have travelled to Malawi and I have seen Mary's Meals work in situ. It's a fantastic and effective organisation, which has definitely got the capacity to run projects of size and scale." Mr Bannatyne added: "The fact that they don't have a head office full of people driving expensive cars and commanding large salaries is what makes it so effective." Philanthropist Sir Tom Farmer also reacted with disbelief. "What I was surprised about, first of all, was that the application was turned down without even an interview - it was rejected right away."
Source: The Herald. posted at 11:49 AM

A former minister of Dornoch Cathedral has penned a collection of humorous stories in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. The Very Rev Dr James Simpson launched his latest book, A Funny Way of Being Serious, yesterday. He has raised over £45,000 so far for the charity through writing and after-dinner speaking, and hopes his latest book will help him reach his £50,000. Mr Simpson, who spent 21 years at Dornoch Cathedral, became chaplain to the Queen in Scotland in 1992, and was moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1994.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 11:23 AM

Profile of Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow and the charity he formed, Scottish International Relief. "It is tough at times, but MacFarlane-Barrow says his Christian faith is a major motivation, as is the continued generosity of the Scottish people."
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 11:13 AM

A former Church of Scotland clergywoman, suspended after being accused of having sex with a married elder, yesterday challenged a legal ruling that she was effectively employed by God. Helen Percy, 39, who worked in six rural parishes in Angus, went to the House of Lords to try to overturn a Court of Session ruling that her duties as a minister were "essentially spiritual" and therefore not subject to protection in employment law. Yesterday, Ms Percy's counsel, Susan O'Brien, QC, argued that a person who performs spiritual duties should also have rights and protections under civil law. She argued Ms Percy was an employee because the Church had offered her a job and conditions of employment. She said: "The essence of the applicant's case is that a person discriminated against a woman on grounds less favourable than they would have treated a man. That claim is a matter of civil nature." She said previous tribunals and appeals had "failed to implement the European directive which provides that men and women must be treated equally at work." She said a special commission set up by the Church of Scotland was a "complete farce because they decided the law does not apply to them". The five Law Lords will have to decide how the 1921 Church of Scotland Act - which determines the presumption that appointments to a ministry do not create obligations enforceable in civil law - interacts with the European Union's Equal Treatment Directive of 1976, ensuring that men and women are treated equally at work.
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 11:07 AM

A former Church of Scotland minister who says she was forced out of her job is asking five Law Lords to overturn a ruling that she has no contract on which to base a compensation claim - effectively because her employer was God. Helen Percy was suspended by the Presbytery of Angus in 1997 after being accused of having sex with a married elder. She later resigned and took her sex discrimination case to an employment tribunal, arguing that the Kirk did not take similar action against male ministers over extra-marital affairs. But the tribunal held it had no jurisdiction to hear her complaint because her employment was essentially spiritual and not covered by civil law. An appeal tribunal and the Court of Session in Edinburgh also upheld the Kirk's exclusive jurisdiction over its own affairs and said Ms Percy was not an "employee".
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 3:19 PM

Bethany Christian Trust is to sell Christmas trees this winter to raise cash for its work of providing shelter and food for people who would otherwise be sleeping rough on the streets of Edinburgh. Edinburgh City Council has already placed a £1200 order.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News. posted at 3:15 PM

Two Scots historians, both Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, are exploding the myths about Rosslyn Chapel contained in Dan Brown's bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. After 10 years of research, Mark Oxbrow and Ian Robertson have penned the chapel's story in their new book, Rosslyn and the Grail. Ian said: "We don't want to take away any of the mystery of Rosslyn because it's a wonderful, mysterious place without all the nonsense that has been written about it recently. The Da Vinci Code is a great book but it doesn't tell the truth."
Source: Sunday Mail. posted at 9:24 PM

Rev Bill Ingley, formerly in the Salvation Army and latterly a member of a Baptist Church in New Zealand, is the new minister of Bunessan Baptist Church on Mull. He is living in the caravan next to the church.
Source: Baptist Union of Scotland news. posted at 9:09 PM

Two Cambuslang churches have set the ball rolling on an amalgamation of the two congregations. Members of Cambuslang Old Parish Church and St Andrew's Parish Church voted in favour of the move on Sunday October 2. The history of a parish church in Cambuslang dates back to the sixth century, with the present church on Cairns Road carrying on the work of churches dating from the 12th, 17th and 18th centuries. St Andrew's was built as part of the new town centre between 1964 and 1966 and replaced the former joint congregation of the Rosebank and West Churches.
Source: Rutherglen Reformer. posted at 7:53 PM

A new church group is about to set up in one of Kilmarnock's busiest pubs. The Destiny Church Community Group will hold its first meeting in Wetherspoons' Wheatsheaf Inn in the town's Portland Street next Wednesday. The Destiny Church has groups in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Oban, but this will be its first venture into Ayrshire. Area pastor Loren Bradley said that the group wouldn't be holding church services as such in the pub. He explained: "All we'll be doing there is meeting together, talking to one another and engaging in some Bible study. We go about things differently and cover all age groups, and I don't think it's unusual that we're meeting in licensed premises."
Source: Kilmarnock Standard. posted at 7:06 PM

The five-year saga over the union of Jedburgh's two Church of Scotland churches - Trinity and the Old Parish - was finally resolved last week. An arbitrator has determined that the Old Parish will be retained and that both ministers, John Riddell (Trinity) and Bruce McNicol, will demit at the end of 2006 in the interests of union. It means that from the end of next year all Kirk worship in the town will take place under a new minister at the Old Parish. The B-listed Trinity, along with its hall and large manse, will become surplus to requirements. Local councillor Hugh Wight is hopeful that a health centre, offering in-patient and respite beds as well as GP facilities, could be created on the Trinity site.
Source: Southern Reporter. posted at 7:01 PM

Cardinal Keith O'Brien visited Kilsyth last week. He was formerly a curate at St Patrick's Church in the town.
Source: Cumbernauld News & Kilsyth Chronicle. posted at 6:33 PM

The Salvation Army and The Methodist Church have won the 2005 Third Sector Excellence Award for Public Relations Strategy for their joint Gambling Bill campaign.
Source: Methodist Church news release. posted at 7:04 PM

Gideons Bibles are set to be removed from Edinburgh University halls of residence following protests from students that leaving them in their bedrooms is discriminatory. Ruth Cameron, president of the Edinburgh University Students Association, said: "This is not about attacking Christianity, it's about respecting diversity." University officials have yet to approve the ban. However, similar calls from students in the past - including one to have prayers removed from graduation ceremonies two years ago - have been agreed without protest.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News. posted at 6:56 PM

The Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, is profiled in the November issue of the Church of Scotland's magazine, Life & Work. Talking about the aftermath of the London bombings, he says the response to terrorism is to take a stand against the fundamentalism of hate with a counter-attack from the fundamentalism of love.
Source: Church of Scotland news release. posted at 6:48 PM

Tributes poured in yesterday to popular Perth man Ian Manson, who died this week following a short illness. He was 48. Mr Manson served with Perth and Kinross council for 11 years from 1991 to 2002, during which time he was director of housing and social work and the general manager of Care Together. He left the council to take up his post as director of social work with the Board of Responsibility for the Church of Scotland, in which capacity he served until his death. His service with the church also included his role as session clerk with the North Church in Perth and as a member of the church choir.
Source: Dundee Courier. posted at 6:45 PM

Children as young as nine should be taught that there is a positive and "spiritual" side to sex as well as a purely biological one, according to the education spokesman for Scotland's local authorities. The Rev Ewan Aitken, who speaks for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) on education and is a Church of Scotland minister, will tell a conference in Dundee today that education is focused too heavily on physical aspects of sex. "Our sexuality is a godly thing, a gift ... unless we understand that and treat it with the preciousness and the nurture that we should, then it becomes just a physical act. We need to understand and celebrate what it gives us," he said. "There are dangers for me in bringing a theological perspective to a political thing but that's what I think I have to do here." He said the approach was not about abstinence, and admitted there was a risk in discussing the "celebratory" aspect of sex, because it could encourage young people to experiment. A Scottish spokesman for the Catholic Church said the strategy appeared "intrinsically flawed and doomed to failure".
Source: The Herald. posted at 12:18 PM

The jilted boyfriend of a woman who is set to become Edinburgh's first saint kept a lock of her hair until his dying day, his daughter revealed today. Patrick Peter Lynch lost his first love to the church after Venerable Margaret Sinclair decided to become a nun. Margaret, who died in 1925, is now on her way to being canonised by the Catholic Church, which would make her Scotland's second saint.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News. posted at 9:53 PM

Obituary of the Rev Duncan McLachlan, who worked as a Church of Scotland minister for all his adult life and is perhaps best remembered as minister at Sherwood Church in Paisley, where he served for more than a quarter of a century.
Source: The Herald. posted at 9:32 AM

Technical fixes may not solve embryo stem cell ethical problems ... the director of the Church of Scotland's Society, Religion and Technology Project gives his reaction to the news that research groups claim to have found methods which could overcome the basic objection to human embryonic stem cell research..
Source: Church of Scotland news release. posted at 10:33 PM

Archaeologists have discovered the site of a monastery at Portmahomack, Easter Ross, which they believe was founded by St Columba at about the same time as Iona. Professor Martin Carver of York University said it had once been a centre of great learning, but had never fully recovered from ninth-century Viking onslaughts.
Source: The Herald. posted at 3:06 PM

A 19-year-old Rwandan has had his application for asylum rejected by the Home Office, despite surviving the massacre of his parents, sister and wider family. Eric Manze, a member of Knighswood Parish Church in Glasgow. The Rev Ian McInnes, with whom Mr Manze stayed earlier this year after he was attacked in the street, said: "When he came here, Eric was keen to study and keen to get on. He had obviously left a lot of trauma and sorrow behind him and has shown a lot of courage by building a new life here. He's become part of the church family; I find it hard to imagine him not being here."
Source: The Herald. posted at 3:02 PM

Senior Church of Scotland members have called for a shake-up in the election of moderators, claiming the leadership was guilty of "cronyism" and "sexism". The accusations follow last week's announcement of the two nominees for moderator - the Rev John Chalmers and the Rev Alan McDonald. The Rev George Grubb, former moderator of the Edinburgh Presbytery, has attacked the lack of female candidates, claiming that the appointment of Dr Allison Elliot to the position two years ago had been a reaction to criticism rather than a result of progressive thinking. The Rev John Munro, of Fairmilehead church, Edinburgh, said: "The people who are sponsoring these people to be nominees are their mates." But Dr Marjory MacLean, secretary of the Committee to Nominate the Moderator, said: "The committee is almost entirely chosen by the presbyteries and therefore reflects the geographical spread and breadth of the church."
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 2:59 PM

Professor John Hume, convenor of the Church of Scotland's committee on artistic matters, says that modern makeovers are robbing many old kirks - some of which date back to the 12th century - of their heritage.
Source: Sunday Times. posted at 5:55 PM

The Catholic Church is recruiting priests from abroad because the number training for a Scottish post has fallen by almost 80% in the past 20 years. The declining number of Scottish seminarians was raised with Scotland's Catholic leader, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, in an interview with The Tablet earlier this month. He said: "I am happy to accept priests from abroad who want to spend some time here, but not to go over to relying upon foreign clergy. After 1600 years of Catholicism, Scotland should be able to provide its own priests." Ronnie Convery, communication director for the Archdiocese of Glasgow, said the fall in numbers should not cause alarm. He said: "Compared with other countries we are quite well off as we have 833 Catholics per priest compared with the world average of 2677 per priest." Professor Owen Dudley Edwards, a historian at Edinburgh University, said that the vow of celibacy was the greatest deterrent to becoming a priest. "It's obvious Cardinal O'Brien is doing all he can but it is for the Vatican to relax this rule."
Source: Sunday Herald. posted at 5:42 PM