One of the first Catholics to sign for Rangers FC has died in Dundee, aged 76. Laurie Blyth signed for the club in 1951 and played for their reserve side. He was released after a year when the club learned of his religion.
Source: Dundee Courier. posted at 2:33 PM

Cardinal Keith O'Brien will call on the Scottish Executive to "give unequivocal support to marriage" in a New Year's Day homily to be preached in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday 1 January. He will criticise recent changes in society which have "promoted alternative lifestyles whilst undermining values which for generations have been treasured". His comments follow the introduction of recent legislation to allow same sex civil partnerships and the vote by the Scottish Parliament to dramatically reduce the waiting periods for divorce.
Source: Scottish Catholic Media Office news release. posted at 2:31 PM

The new Letham St Mark's Church in Perth has been held up as a major achievement for the Church of Scotland and the community.
Source: Dundee Courier. posted at 2:10 PM

The Catholic Church yesterday warned that calls to allow the use of stem cell therapy on terminally-ill patients was creating "hype-filled hope".
Source: The Herald. posted at 2:05 PM

More than 100 people took part in the first of three annual walks through neighbouring north-east fishing villages yesterday. Led by a 50-strong flute band, whole families paraded through the streets of Inverallochy, Cairnbulg and St Combs to keep alive a tradition dating back more than 150 years. The parades are based on the temperance walks of the 19th century, when villagers took to the streets over the Christmas period to protest against drinking to excess - a major problem in the north-east's coastal communities.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 10:07 PM

Bob Holman profiles John Kerr, a Blackhill-born street fighter who learned discipline. Influenced by Bert Mullen, a working-class Christian who insisted life should be about community co-operation, not individual selfishness, John launched the Cranhill Credit Union from his flat to make low-interest loans to neighbours in contrast to the huge ones levied by legal and illegal loan sharks. Having lived all his life in deprived areas, John is critical of "the poverty industry": the quangos, think tanks, national voluntary societies, and massive regeneration agencies whose leaders make decisions about the poor from outside. He argues that the billions poured into them have built the organisations and their staff's careers but have not secured a good return for people in poverty. He dislikes being seen as "a holy willy" but worships regularly and regards Jesus as "a kind of communist with a message about loving your neighbour, especially the poor and excluded".
Source: The Herald. posted at 10:02 PM

The Salvation Army is among beneficiaries named in the will of the late Wilhelmina Robertson, 81, of Anniesland in Glasgow, a retired insurance manager who lived modestly but amassed a personal fortune of £1,224,869.
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 5:16 PM

The Salvation Army is among beneficiaries named in the will of the late Wilhelmina Robertson, 81, of Anniesland in Glasgow.
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 5:14 PM

The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has described his Christmas message as "very non-PC". The Right Reverend David Lacy was addressing the congregation at his Kilmarnock Henderson Church. He warned against diluting the meaning of Christmas and said all faiths in Scotland were happy for Christians to celebrate "our festivals".
Source: BBC Scotland News. posted at 2:44 PM

Thieves scaled a 20ft wall and wrecked a rooftop crib before fleeing with 2ft-high ceramic Nativity figures at St Quivox Church in Prestwick, Ayrshire. Father Patrick McSorley said: "The nativity scene has been on the church for 45 years and to think that someone would target it at this time of year is very saddening indeed."
Source: Daily Record. posted at 11:18 AM

Details of Christmas services have for the first time been placed on to the Presbytery of Lochaber website on behalf of all the local Church of Scotland congregations.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 11:07 AM

Children in a small Aberdeenshire village will stage a Nativity pilgrimage this Christmas Eve, carrying a tiny Christ-child figure from door to door before arriving at a candlelit church service. Staging the procession will be young churchgoers at Chapel of Garioch, near Inverurie. American-born Chapel of Garioch and Blairdaff parish minister the Rev Kim Cran, who has memories of the Las Posadas tradition from Spanish-speaking areas of the US and Mexico, will lead the service.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 11:06 AM

The Free Church Continuing (FCC) could be facing a legal bill of up to £180,000 following a ruling this week by Lady Paton awarding the expenses of the FCC Court of Session action over church property to the Free Church of Scotland. Lady Paton said that because the Free Church had been wholly successful in defending the action, she was proceeding on the basis of the normal rule that expenses followed success. She also awarded the expenses of an additional fee to the Free Church because of the complicated nature of the case. An FCC appeal against her judgement is due to be heard on May 2 next year.
Source: Stornoway Gazette. posted at 6:54 PM

Comhairle nan Eilean Siar's current Sunday Policy is to be reviewed to take account of changes in social activities, the continued population decline and the urgent need to encourage economic development. Last month Western Isles Council rejected a motion to permit Sunday work on a contract for a new care home in Daliburgh which had fallen behind because of weather conditions.
Source: Stornoway Gazette. posted at 6:51 PM

Popular priest the Very Reverend Andrew Canon Reid has died peacefully at his home in Greenock following a lifetime of service in Paisley Diocese.
Source: Paisley Daily Express. posted at 6:41 PM

Thieves have stolen Christmas nativity figures from the roof of St Teresa's Church in Dumfries.
Source: Dumfries & Galloway Standard. posted at 6:32 PM

Churches in St Andrews have been taking part in a special survey commissioned by Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS). Researcher Mairi Munro's findings will be used to find out how people can work to become a ''church beyond the boundaries of church buildings.''
Source: Fife Now - St Andrews Citizen. posted at 6:27 PM

The Evangelical Alliance has issued a robust response to those who would dismiss the Christmas story as a myth or seek to sideline Christian words and symbols in a misguided attempt not to cause offence. Rev Dr David Hilborn, Head of Theology at the Alliance, offers a summary of recent historical, archaeological and scientific research.
Source: Evangelical Alliance Media Consultancy. posted at 6:16 PM

Christmas Message from the Most Rev Bruce Cameron, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Source: Scottish Episcopal Church news release. posted at 6:14 PM

A priest who was a close friend of the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has departed from his parish. Father Roddy MacNeil had helped Frances Shand Kydd through the loss of her daughter, went on holiday with her, and took part in her funeral service last year. Parishioners in Castlebay, on Barra, were told that Father MacNeil had "taken time out to reflect on the future of his priestly vocation".
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 6:11 PM

Margaret Stewart, a devoted member of the Church of Scotland in Carlisle, has been presented with a bouquet of flowers and a festive hamper by her local newspaper. Mrs Stewart, who underwent a hip operation this week, was nominated by church members for her untiring work for charity.
Source: Carlisle News & Star. posted at 6:09 PM

A medieval brass eagle lectern, which was a prize possession of St Stephen's Church in St Albans for hundreds of years, is to remain in the National Museum of Scotland. A Church of England court, known as a consistory court, has ruled that the Dunkeld Lectern, which dates from the 1490s, can be loaned to the museum for an initial three-year period. The lectern was plundered from Holyrood Abbey and taken to St Alban's by Henry VIII's military engineer, Sir Richard Lee. It has since disappeared and been recovered three times. In 1991, the church of St Margaret's in Barnhill, Dundee, offered St Stephen's a Victorian replica of the Dunkeld Lectern which is still in use at the church.
Source: Hertfordshire Advertiser. posted at 5:26 PM

Scots-born neuroscientist John Paul Meenan has been appointed executive director of a new Roman Catholic college, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, in Barry's Bay, Ontario.
Source: Western Catholic Reporter. posted at 5:18 PM

Tom Leonard writes to the Herald to complain about the paper's coverage earlier this week of his statements regarding the Roman Catholic Church and an incident in his boyhood when he was raped. He does confirm, however: "In my Conscience article I also said that the Church's attitude to the sexuality of the universal human is unhealthy. I would say further that its attitude in Scotland to sexual education is a disgrace - repressive and regressive, publicly and regularly opposing every mooted advance in the healthy sexual education of the young."
Source: The Herald. posted at 5:13 PM

Two men made history on December 21 when they became the first couple to exchange vows in a gay wedding in mainland Britain. John Maguire and Laurence Scott-Mackay tied the knot in a civil partnership ceremony at the India Buildings register office in Edinburgh. The Scottish Catholic Church have refused to acknowledge the new laws and the Church of Scotland sees marriage as a contract between a man and a woman. However, the pair had the support of Richard Holloway, the former primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and current chairman of the Scottish Arts Council, who donned his dog collar again to bless the couple in St Margaret's Chapel at Edinburgh Castle. He said: "This is a wrong righted, it's an injustice corrected. There's no reason why same-sex people shouldn't have the same opportunities for love. Same-sex couples can now have the same protection in their relationship as the rest of us, and that is to be applauded."
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 5:07 PM

Obituary of the Very Rev Professor John McIntyre, theologian and churchman; born May 20, 1916, died December 15, 2005. Professor John McIntyre was Moderator of the General Assembly in 1982, and so on behalf of the Church of Scotland welcomed Pope John Paul II to the Assembly Hall. He had been professor of divinity in the University of Edinburgh since 1956, and had an immensely varied career as professional theologian, university administrator, distinguished churchman and royal confidant.
Source: The Herald. posted at 8:20 PM

Poet and essayist Tom Leonard has attacked what he calls a "cult of virginity" in the Roman Catholic Church, a mindset he claims prevents the church from providing solace to survivors of child abuse. Writing in an American Catholic Journal, Conscience, Mr Leonard, 61, tells how he was raped by a stranger in a field on the outskirts of Glasgow at the age of 12. He blames the Church in which he was brought up for his ignorance of matters sexual at the time of the assault, claims that the church's attitudes regarding sexuality is unhealthy and questions the canonisation of women who have been murdered after resisting rape. Simon Dames, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, expressed empathy with the poet's attack: "There is a lot of pain in Mr Leonard's words. I hope with his questions, in time he can find the answers." But he added: "The church does not mix up maintaining purity with resistance to rape. Rape is not consensual, therefore the victim is in no way culpable."
Source: The Herald. posted at 8:17 PM

The January 2006 edition of the Church of Scotland magazine Life & Work profiles Dr Mona Siddiqui, head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Glasgow University. And Rev Lezley Kennedy, a minister from Dundee, reflects on her recent volunteer trip to Sierra Leone to help build a hostel extension to a clinic.
Source: Church of Scotland news release. posted at 7:42 PM

A carol service heralded a new era for Clova Kirk in the Angus glens yesterday. It marked the completion of the first phase of renovation work at Clova Kirk following a community-led effort to save the deteriorating building for the community and keep intact the history of the area, where a church has stood for nearly 1000 years. It is hoped that Clova will become a venue for services of all denominations.
Source: Dundee Courier. posted at 7:26 PM

A former bank manager who runs the finances of a Roman Catholic diocese has been honoured by the Pope. The Knighthood of St Gregory the Great - the highest award the Catholic Church can bestow on a layman - was presented to Roy Maxwell by the Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Ian Murray, at a ceremony in Oban.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 7:18 PM

Profile of Paisley-born actor David Tennant, the new Dr Who. Tennant's father, the Very Rev Sandy McDonald, was a minister and then the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in the late 1990s. 'When I ask Tennant whether he is still a Christian, there is a long, long pause. "I'd say that's an ongoing question for me," he eventually replies.'
Source: The Herald. posted at 7:04 PM

Former Scottish lawyer Rev John Munro has been named senior pastor of one of the Carolinas' best-known churches, Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Source: Charlotte Observer. posted at 7:01 PM

The Grand Master of the Orange Order in Scotland, Ian Wilson is to write a column for the Scottish Catholic Observer newspaper. The paper's editor, Harry Conroy, invited Wilson to contribute the piece after reading that he was determined to modernise the Orange Order, revise its anti-Catholic language, pay more attention to public sensitivities over marches and give women full membership status. Mr Wilson said he quite happily adopted a position of being against the religious teachings of the Catholic church while not being anti-Catholic.
Source: Sunday Times. posted at 8:20 PM

Wife-beating minister Alan Blackwood has been banned from the pulpit by the Church of Scotland for five years after a hearing by the Kirk's disciplinary tribunal on Thursday. Blackwood, 45, headbutted his wife Sandi, in the manse at Burnhead Parish Church, Uddingston, where she served as minister. Sandi, 44, needed stitches to her nose after the attack. Mr Blackwood was sentenced to probation for 18 months.
Source: Sunday Mail. posted at 8:17 PM

Western Isles Council's Policy and Finance Committee has voted to make the islands the only part of the country to outlaw so-called gay "wedding ceremonies", which are to be held across Britain starting on Tuesday. It followed complaints by the council's registrars, who said they would be unwilling to carry them out. Consequently, any gay couples on the island will have to make do with legal registration in terms of the UK-wide Civil Partnerships Act. The Rev Tim McGlynn, of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) in Scalpay, said: "To try and force them [the registrars] to do something they think is immoral would be unjust. But that is what is being advanced by people who are what I call bigoted secularists."
Source: Scotland on Sunday. posted at 8:13 PM

Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) emailed its members informing them of its new address and phone numbers, but the assistant general secretary of the organisation, Rev Lindsey Sanderson, signed off the note by writing "wishing you festive greetings from all the ACTS staff". Peter Kearney, the spokesman for the Scottish Bishops' Conference, said: "I cringed when I read that because it smacks of the sort of bland political correctness we are fighting to avoid. If the churches can't get their act together we may as well send out glittery Xmas cards with robins and holly on them and a greeting inside along the lines of 'Happy Winterval'." Rev Lindsey Sanderson said: "I agree with Peter that we should wish each other 'Merry Christmas' and send religious cards. I'm sorry if I upset him and any other Christians."
Source: The Universe/Total Catholic. posted at 7:05 PM

Closed circuit television cameras are being installed by Dalneigh Church in Inverness in an attempt to deter vandals and skateboarders.
Source: Inverness Courier. posted at 8:42 PM

Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell has urged parents to lobby MSPs in a bid to overturn legislation which allows their children to have secret abortions.
Source: Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser. posted at 8:36 PM

Talks between the Vatican and the Anglican Communion have resumed after a year-long break sparked by the election of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire.
Source: Church of England Newspaper. posted at 8:20 PM

Some of the largest churches in the United States will be closed for worship on Christmas Day, having cancelled Sunday worship. The decision by Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois and other so-called "megachurches" in Michigan, Kentucky, Atlanta, South Carolina, and Georgia has reinforced accusations of "theology lite". Willow Creek, which attracts a Sunday congregation of about 20,000, will instead be hosting eight identical services before Christmas Day, for which 53,000 seats have been reserved so far. "Instead of creating an additional service for Christmas morning, we've used these resources to create a DVD, which we will distribute as a gift to everyone who attends our Christmas services," said Cally Parkinson, Willow Creek's communications director. The fall in numbers to ten per cent of the normal attendance at Christmas 1994, the last time Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, had been a significant factor in creating the DVD alternative, said Ms Parkinson. She acknowledged that "some liturgical Churches, like the Episcopal or Catholic Churches, are tied closely to the church calendar. So if they departed from this tradition, it would be a big change." Many Evangelical churches in the US do not hold services for Christmas Day when it falls during the week.
Source: Church Times. posted at 8:17 PM

The weekly Christian Herald newspaper is to close after over 130 years of publishing.
Source: Christian Herald. posted at 8:12 PM

'Last of the true believers' ... John Lloyd asks: 'The deeper question about faith in Britain is this: has its moderation, reasonableness, resolute refusal to be too obviously spiritual and the relegation of the Church to blessing births, deaths, marriages and national occasions led it to a position where the two main "national" Churches - the Church of England and the Church of Scotland - as well as many of the non-conformists, and even the mighty Roman Catholic Church, have run out of road?'
Source: Financial Times. posted at 8:07 PM

The opening scenes of French movie Merry Christmas, which premieres in London tonight, were filmed at the 16th-century Cille Chorill church - the church of St Cairill - which sits on a hill close to the Lochaber village of Roy Bridge. A £3,000 fee from the producers will keep worshippers warm by helping pay heating bills.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal. posted at 3:47 PM

Glasgow employment solicitor Julie Sabba explains why the House of Lords yesterday overturned two previous rulings by an employment tribunal and the Court of Session in Edinburgh and decided that Church of Scotland minister Helen Percy should be allowed to take her sex discrimination claim against the Church to another employment tribunal. It is eight years since Ms Percy claimed she was forced out of her job after being accused of having an affair with a married church elder in her rural parish. She launched a sex discrimination claim but lost after being told she was an office holder - in effect employed by God - rather than an employee of the Church. The Lords' ruling was welcomed by the trade union Amicus, whose National Officer for the Non Profit Sector, Rachael Maskell, said: "Discrimination is discrimination whether you work as a minister for the church, or in a factory or office ... We believe that this ruling furthers the case that ministers should be employees when dealing with employment issues."
Source: The Scotsman, PR Newswire. posted at 3:14 PM

Scottish Executive ministers were accused last night of "dismantling marriage" after moves to make divorce easier and quicker were passed by the Scottish Parliament. Proposals for "quickie divorces" were included in the Family Law Bill, which completed its passage through parliament. They will cut the time needed for an uncontested divorce from two years to one, and for a contested divorce from five years to two. John Deighan, for the Catholic Church, said: "This is another incremental step in dismantling marriage. It seems that the Executive is consistently and systematically attacking the family. It is a concern that the Executive chose to ignore the justice committee's compromise amendment. Furthermore, it is a concern that the Executive chose to ignore its own consultation, which discovered that 74 per cent of those who responded were against the original proposal." The Church of Scotland has not taken a strong stance against the divorce proposals, arguing that cutting the time for divorce appeared "reasonable" and would help to protect children in acrimonious cases.
Source: The Scotsman. posted at 3:10 PM