Dr Michael Russon, the Shetland GP suspended after handing out an ‘offensive’ pamphlet, said he simply wanted to inform his patients of his Christian beliefs. He told the Shetland Times that before he made the move to Shetland in 2004 he attended a Pentecostalist church, and that he had been influenced by pre-millennial dispensationalism. Dr Russon worships at the Church of Scotland.
Source: The Herald.

The parents of a young driver killed in a road accident near Arbroath on Thursday yesterday paid tribute to a “caring and compassionate” son who devoted his time to helping others. Greg Parsons (25), lived with his family at the Windmill Christian Centre in Millgate Loan, Arbroath, was a qualified IT technician but had decided to study counselling and theology at the London School of Theology and was back in Arbroath for the Christmas holidays. His parents Doug and Dorothy yesterday paid tribute to their son and the work he did with young people.
Source: Dundee Courier.

Approval has been given by the Church of Scotland to a request from a Fort William church congregation for their place of worship to be put up for sale. It is expected that the MacIntosh Memorial Church will go on the market by the end of January. The move comes as talks between the Kirk sessions of 'The MacIntosh' and Duncansburgh Parish Church continue over the possible union of the two town congregations.
Source: Lochaber News.

Objectors to a plan for houses on Bothwell’s Covenanters field have been dealt a bitter blow. The Scottish Covenanters’ Memorial Association and South Lanarkshire Council have struck a deal which involves the development of the site, which was sold by the trustees of the Battle of Bothwell Brig Commemoration Service Committee to Hamilton District Council in 1987. At that time, the Hamilton authority said the field would be maintained as an open area, and that it would look favourably on any developments that helped to commemorate the battle.
Source: Hamilton Advertiser.

Church volunteer Phil Rooney has been jailed for 13 months at Ayr Sheriff Court after embezzling £31,000 raised by parishioners of Our Lady of Assumption in Troon to help victims of the tsunami disaster and for a Peruvian orphanage. His sentence was reduced after it emerged his mother had paid back all of the cash to the church. But the court heard last week how the church are now taking out a civil action against Rooney to recover the cash they say is still missing.
Source: Ayrshire Post.

Lutheran minister Rev Paul Martinson, who celebrated his 79th birthday on Christmas Eve and has served as interim pastor at 11 churches in the St. Croix Valley and northern Wisconsin since his retirement, is winning plaudits for creating hand-woven garments. In the late 1960s, Mr Martinson with his wife Anne served a Presbyterian church on the Island of Coll in the Hebrides after he completed postgraduate work in theology at the University of Edinburgh.
Source: Hudson Star-Observer, Wisconsin.

A doctor has been suspended by the Shetland Health Board after distributing a religious pamphlet to patients in Northmavine which critics claim is highly offensive to Muslims. Dr Mick Russon, who divides his time as a GP between Lerwick and Hillswick, earlier this month paid over £700 for the 46-page booklet, called Proclamation, to be printed and distributed to over 200 folk in Northmavine, many of whom are registered with the Hillswick surgery. Last week the health board suspended Dr Russon after receiving a letter of complaint from an unnamed member of the public. The case has now been referred to the doctors' professional body, the General Medical Council (GMC). Although the Muslim faith is not explicitly mentioned in the controversial booklet, critics claim that the repeated references to the Babylonian Moon God and Satan are a thinly-veiled code for Allah and that the author is asserting that Islam is Satanic [sic].
Source: Shetland Times.

Hugh MacDonald reports on a retreat at Pluscarden Abbey, near Elgin. "Pluscarden, and places like it, are increasingly seen as an oasis where other values can be nurtured or, indeed, sought. Britain, belligerent in business and on foreign field, seems a nation poised for retreat. This retreat is not a flight from reality but an acceptance that life must be examined and priorities reassessed. It is becoming increasingly popular."
Source: The Herald.

A church minister and his family were about to tuck into turkey on Christmas Day when they were forced to flee their burning house. The Very Rev John Cairns, minister at Aberlady and Gullane parish churches and a former moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, hailed heroic firefighters for saving Bell House, a family-owned property on Roxburghe Park, Dunbar.
Source: East Lothian Courier.

A national petition was launched yesterday in support of a pardon for Britain's last convicted witch. The Prestoungrange Arts Festival in Prestonpans is organising the petition on behalf of Helen Duncan, a Scot who was imprisoned for witchcraft in 1944. Three years ago, the East Lothian village pardoned 81 local men and women killed during the witchcraft trials of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Source: The Herald.

A move by Scotland's Roman Catholic bishops to defend the Church's position over teachers rejected for jobs because they do not practise the religion has been rejected by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. David McNab, a maths teacher at a Glasgow Catholic school, won his religious discrimination claim at an employment tribunal when he complained that he was not considered for a promoted post as he is an atheist. Glasgow City Council has appealed against the ruling. Church representatives applied to join the appeal so that they could put forward the position of the church.
Source: The Scotsman.

A parish priest has hit out at the Scottish Executive and Western Isles Council for taking too long to make safety improvements to a causeway from where five people, including two children, were swept to their deaths two years ago. Father Michael Macdonald, parish priest at Iochdar, South Uist, says the causeway remains a danger to islanders.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

The admission by a 15-year-old Sikh schoolboy that he invented a claim that his hair had been cut off in a racial attack in Edinburgh has led a senior MSP to speak out over a tendency among Scots to think the worst of themselves when it comes to racism. Former Tory leader David McLetchie said: "There is a readiness to think the worst. Scotland is a pretty tolerant society and there are relatively few incidents of racial assaults or racially-motivated incidents. If someone comes along and reports an incident and says he was attacked, we have to take that, in the first instance, at face value and it has to be investigated on that basis." Mr McLetchie praised the city's Sikh community for publicising the fact the claim had been false as soon as the boy admitted he had lied. He said: "It's very commendable that people didn't try to sustain this story. I just hope that the young boy can get himself sorted out and can move on."
Source: The Scotsman.

"Not all footballers are driven mainly by money and have no interest in moral issues. Marvin Andrews is the preacher man whose faith told him to spurn the Premiership and join lowly Raith. He delivers his fire-and-brimstone Christmas message to Nick Harris."
Source: The Independent.

The claim by former Scottish education minister Sam Galbraith that Catholic schools are the root cause of sectarianism was branded as "ignorance and bigotry" by politicians last night as the row over denominational schools re-emerged at a time of religious celebration. Yesterday, the Educational Institute of Scotland union said it would back the abolition of faith schools when the religious organisations themselves support that. However, the Catholic Church said comments such as Mr Galbraith's risked "fanning the flames of religious hatred". Michael McMahon, Labour MSP for Hamilton North and Bellshill, said yesterday the associating faith schools with sectarianism demonstrated a high level of ignorance. Fiona Hyslop, the education spokeswoman for the SNP, said it was wrong to blame the education system for adult problems. However, Robin Harper, a former teacher and co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, said it was not fair that the state funds a particular religion.
Source: The Scotsman.

Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher are conspicuous by their absence in a list of 12 great Britons who created the institutions that shaped the country’s history, compiled by the Conservative Party and eminent historians. However, the list includes Saint Columba, credited with restoring Christianity to Britain, and King James IV of Scotland, for his "wonderful powers of mind, and an astonishing knowledge of everything". The list was compiled from suggestions by Neil McKendrick, Emeritus Reader in History and former Master, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; David Starkey, author of The Monarchy of England; and Michael Burleigh, the historian and author of Earthly Powers: The Conflict Between Religion & Politics. The Conservatives have also invited people who would like to contribute their ideas on how history should be taught, and who they think have shaped Britain’s institutions, through the Party's public services website.
Source: The Times.

Full text of the Christmas sermon delivered by the Right Rev Alan McDonald, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, at last night's Watchnight Service at St Leonard’s Parish Church, St Andrews.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

"Christmas appears to be more cheerful and colourful here in India, than compared to the celebrations in Europe," Diana and Morag, tourists from Scotland, told Star of Mysore last evening. Awestruck at the colourful decorations at St. Philomena's Church, the crib and other arrangements, the ladies said that the people at Mysore appeared warm and cheerful, dressed in colours for the occasion.
Source: Star of Mysore.

"The Episcopalian Bishop of St Andrews, Dunblane and Dunkeld is calling for licensed brothels in Scotland", writes Gillian Bowditch in the Sunday Times. "Bishop David Chillingworth is just the latest in a long line of do-gooders wanting to bring about one of the most far-reaching changes to society on the back of a sensational and highly unusual crime." According to his weblog, what Chillingworth actually said, in response to a journalist's request for a quote, was: "As we learn more about the risks to which the girls in the red light district of Ipswich are exposed, the arguments in favour of the legalisation of prostitution become compelling and compassionate. The girls should be able to have physical protection, proper medical care and the kind of support which might help them to move on to other ways of supporting themselves and their families. But that ‘oldest profession in the world’ way of thinking seems to me to invite us to be blind to the degrading reality of this trade. Unhappy men are buying the services of desperate women, many of whom are selling not by free choice but to feed a drug habit. Legalisation may provide a degree of protection but I cannot feel that in a free society it is ultimately right to protect something which is akin to slavery."
Sources: Sunday Times, Thinking Aloud.

A 15-year-old Sikh boy who claimed he had his hair cut off by racist thugs has admitted he made the attack up. The boy from Edinburgh reported the alleged racist attack in November and the case was widely publicised. The cutting of his hair was an act which was seen as deeply insulting to the Sikh faith. More than 200 Sikhs from around the UK gathered in Edinburgh to hold a two-hour prayer vigil following the boy's claims. However, it emerged later that the teenager had in fact punched himself in the face and cut off his own hair. Lothian and Borders Police confirmed the attack had not taken place and said the boy had expressed remorse. They said no further action would be taken.
Source: BBC Scotland News.

An appeal has been launched for £190,000 to restore a church at one of Scotland's most historic Christian sites. Clachan Church in the village of Applecross in Wester Ross has had to have its windows boarded up for fear that gales might blow its roof off. Although the church is less than 200 years old, it stands on one of Scotland's earliest Christian sites, where a seventh-century preacher from Ireland, St Maelrubha, based himself in his efforts to evangelise the Highlands and Islands. After Iona, Applecross was the second major centre of the Celtic Church in Scotland.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

The challenges which Christ set may be daunting but, in a country where Christianity is on the wane, we need to rise to meet them, writes Richard Holloway, former Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Source: The Observer.

"The 1918 Education (Scotland) Act, which introduced state-funded Catholic schools, was an enlightened piece of legislation," says a Sunday Times leader piece. "Many Catholic schools have achieved formidable results and produced Scots who now occupy their rightful places in this country’s political, economic and cultural elites. Yet time has moved on and the Scottish education system has failed to keep pace with demographic trends. The choice that exists for Catholic parents is denied to Muslims, Jews, Humanists and exceptionally gifted children, too. Such an imbalance gives succour to abolitionists." It concludes: "There may be an excellent case for continuing separate education. But at a time when Britain is asking whether multiculturalism has damaged the ideal of integration, not to discuss the future and value of separate schools is a betrayal of democratic duty. Let debate commence."
Source: Sunday Times.

Legislation that provides separate state schools for Catholic pupils is almost 90 years old. In a substantial, in-depth feature, Kenny Farquharson asks if it needs updating to give parents greater choice.
Source: Sunday Times.

Pluralism is the only way forward for education in Scotland, writes Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office. "As debate rages over how best to tackle the blight of bigotry in our society, some increasingly shrill voices claim the existence of denominational schools are at the root of the problem and go on to suggest that the problems of sectarianism and bigotry can best be tackled by closing Catholic schools. This staggeringly intolerant attitude is symptomatic of a simplistic belief that educating children in a faith-based environment is wrong and will inevitably lead to conflict and strife in society ... Shouldn’t we be working towards plurality in our education system? Towards advancing the arguments for a sector that truly reflects the range of beliefs that exist in society — including the currently fashionable secular humanism — rather than arguing in favour of an unrepresentative system. Many parents who are not Catholic nevertheless choose a Catholic school for their child. It is for those who would deny this choice to explain why they are so keen to destroy one of Scotland’s educational successes."
Source: Sunday Times.

Sam Galbraith, the former Scottish education minister, has ignited a row over denominational education by claiming Catholic schools are the “root cause” of sectarian bigotry in Scotland and should be scrapped. He was supported by Lord Moonie, the former defence minister and Kirkcaldy MP, who said: “Religion has no role in the education of children other than under the auspices of the church. I don’t think it should be taught as anything other than an abstract subject.” Alan McDonald, moderator of the Church of Scotland’s general assembly, who also attended the anti-sectarian summit called by First Minister Jack McConnell earlier this month, said he too supported the view that religious schools may reinforce prejudice and stereotyping. “The system of separate schools was started in a very different context in a different time. It is a different time now. It is a different Scotland,” he said. Sheilagh Kesting, the moderator designate who takes over as moderator next year, said: “The best way of educating people is to do it in an integrated way and bring something of the ethos of the faith schools into ordinary schools.” She added that she “would prefer that there were no faith schools and there were broad-based state schools for everybody”.
Source: Sunday Times.

Profile of Martin Sime, head of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. These groups receive and spend £2.6bn a year, accounting for 2% of Scotland's economy and employing just under 10% of the country's workforce. A further million Scots regularly give some of their time on occasional voluntary projects. "There is a Scottish thing about contributing something to society. In the past it might have been the church or court or trades unions. Now it is often channelled through campaigns or voluntary groups." Not all joint ventures with business make sense, he maintains, and questions the value of deals such as charity Christmas cards sold through shops where 20p out of the £3.50 price might go to a named good cause. "Sometimes you wonder who is taking who for a ride," he says.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

More than 2,000 babies have been 'saved' from abortion by a controversial scheme set up by the late Cardinal Thomas Winning to persuade women to keep their child. The Pro-Life Initiative, which marks its 10th anniversary next March, has revealed that it has dealt with a total of 2,102 mothers, each of whom has received prams, clothes, toys and cots totalling hundreds of pounds in exchange for carrying on with their pregnancy. Mothers as young as 12 and as old as 47 have been assisted, according to organisers of the scheme, who say they have achieved a near 100% success rate with the new mothers, claiming that only two babies have had to go into care. The 2,000 figure is dwarfed by the annual 12,000 abortions which take place in Scotland every year. However, founder of the scheme Sister Roseann Reddy said: "Are there babies alive today who wouldn't be if we weren't here? Absolutely."
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

Parishioners have told of their heartache over the decison to close Motherwell's South Dalziel Parish Church and warned that some will refuse to worship at neighbouring Manse Road Church. The Church of Scotland congregations are being amalgamated following a decision from independent arbiters.
Source: Bellshill Speaker.

A message of Christmas goodwill has been sent to the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church by the Scottish branch of the Muslim Association of Britain. Spokesman Osama Saeed said: "Unfortunately, it's been apparent that some people have been using minority communities such as ours as a reason not to celebrate Christmas. Muslims are not offended by the Christ part of Christmas. We wish Christians all the best for the coming days and hope they enjoy their festival as much as we enjoy ours."
Source: Daily Record.

"This year I have a sense of hope that the Christian message at the heart of Christmas is finally being heard. I am hopeful that the pinnacle of politically correct posturing in recent years has passed."
Source: Independent Catholic News.

More people in Britain think religion causes harm than believe it does good, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. It shows that an overwhelming majority see religion as a cause of division and tension - greatly outnumbering the smaller majority who also believe that it can be a force for good. The poll also reveals that non-believers outnumber believers in Britain by almost two to one. It paints a picture of a sceptical nation with massive doubts about the effect religion has on society: 82% of those questioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people. Only 16% disagree.
Source: The Guardian.

Christians in the Middle East are being put at unprecedented risk by the Government’s “shortsighted” and “ignorant” policy in Iraq, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, says today. In an extraordinary attack, Dr Williams accuses Tony Blair and the US of endangering the lives and futures of many thousands of Christians in the Middle East, who are regarded by their countrymen as supporters of the “crusading West”. Egyptian Copts, Iraqi Chaldeans and the Palestinian Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant communities have faced violence and even death at the hands of their Muslim neighbours. Canon Andrew White, president of the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East, told The Times that the Iraq war had had a dire effect on the lives of Christians in the region, particularly in Iraq, where he is the vicar of St George’s Church in Baghdad. “All my staff at the church have been killed,” he said. “They disappeared about a year ago and we never saw them again.”
Source: The Times.

Christmas reflection from Rev Alan MacDonald, Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly. "The message of Christmas is not a history lesson about events 2,000 years ago. As well as joining in the singing of the carols it is important to listen to our sisters and brothers who actually live in the little town of Bethlehem today."
Source: The Guardian.

A teenager has been arrested in connection with the theft of a baby Jesus figurine from a nativity scene in a Borders village. Residents in Newcastleton were angered by the vandalism to the festive display which had power cables cut.
Source: BBC Scotland News.

Edinburgh MSP Malcolm Chisholm today spoke of his regret at resigning as Communities Minister after voting against Labour's official line on replacing Trident. But he said: "I didn't have any choice." Mr Chisholm was among four Labour MSPs who voted with the SNP against the Westminster government's intention to renew Britain's nuclear deterrent. Defence is a Westminster issue, but First Minister Jack McConnell and the Scottish Labour leadership have backed Tony Blair's line on the issue. Church of Scotland Moderator [sic] the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, a leading opponent of Trident, praised Mr Chisholm's stance and said he hoped it had not been a forced resignation. He said: "I was encouraged to hear he had taken this stand. How parties run their internal affairs is up to them, but what does it say about politics in this country is people are not able to use their consciences as they vote?"
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Divestment campaigns and boycotts targetting Israel and Israelis - including the Church of Scotland's General Assembly asking European authorities and the World Council of Churches to identify products made in the West Bank - was number 10 in the Jewish Anti-Defamation League's top 10 issues affecting Jews in 2006. The League, founded in 1913, is "the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry".
Source: Anti-Defamation League.

The Guardian newspaper probes Christmas past, prompted by quote from an October 2006 news release from the Moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly: "It is of great concern that so many people feel under pressure to present the perfect Christmas," said the Right Rev Alan McDonald. "Stop thinking of presents and start thinking about the present!" Feature-writer James Sturcke picks up the story: 'Concerns over the rampant commercialism of Christmas are almost as old as the festival itself. Back in the late fourth century, St Gregory of Nazianzus was urging Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus "not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world".'
Source: The Guardian.

"Although there seems to be zero chance of a white Christmas this year, holiday seekers can still find tinsel, yuletide spirit and festivities galore around the country." The Jerusalem Post surveys Christmas goings-on in the heart of the Holy Land, including: "As for the feast of the Nativity itself, if you're not in Jerusalem to savor the American Colony's traditional Christmas meal, or in Tiberias enjoying a subsided meal for Israel's Christian communities with the Church of Scotland, Ben Gurion Boulevard in Haifa is the place to eat and see Santa with his reindeer."
Source: Jerusalem Post.

Christmas message from the Rev Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK.
Source: Evangelical Alliance news release.

Christmas message from the President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Graham Carter.
Source: Methodist Church news release.

Christmas message from the Right Rev Alan McDonald, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The mastermind of the Edinburgh Park business development, Colin Glynne-Percy, will take up his post as director of Rosslyn Chapel in the new year. He will manage the £12 million programme of conservation work that is being carried out there.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Rangers FC have suspended the registration of the East Kilbride supporters' club following a missile throwing incident and sectarian singing at Tynecastle. One individual has also been banned from attending all Rangers matches.
Source: BBC Scotland News.

Britain's oldest chain of church bookshops is to remove the Koran from its shelves because it believes it is “inimical” to Christianity. The decision not to stock any non-Christian holy text has been taken by SPCK Bookshops, formerly part of the 308-year-old Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The new policy follows the society’s sale of a majority stake in the chain on November 1 to the St Stephen the Great Charitable Trust, which is tied to the Eastern Orthodox church. Some Anglicans may be uneasy about the chain’s change of direction under the trust. The organisation claims England was an Orthodox country before the Norman invasion in 1066 and plans to take over unused Church of England buildings to promote Orthodoxy in Britain.
Source: Sunday Times.

Obituary of Norman Adamson QC, first parliamentary draftsman for Scotland; born September 29, 1930; died December 9, 2006. "Norman was a committed Christian. He was an elder at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, where he married Patricia Guthrie in 1961 (and remained an honorary elder after his move to London). He represented Canongate Kirk as a commissioner at the General Assembly in 1960 and regarded the then minister, Dr Selby Wright, as one of his mentors. He was also an elder at St Martha-on-the-Hill, Guildford, and worshipped regularly at the Church of Scotland, Pont Street, London."
Source: The Herald.

Friends and family have gathered in Bonnyrigg to celebrate 60 years of a marriage that owes its existence to a lost dog. Harry Reid met German wife-to-be Hilda in post-war Hanover in 1945 when, as a young British military policeman, he levelled a machine gun at a girl searching for her pet dog, Suzie, in the ruined streets of the city. Hilda said: "He demanded to know, 'what are you doing out at this time?' When I told him that I was looking for my dog, he trained the lights from his jeep onto the rubble to look for her. If I had left my dog in the rubble she would have been turned into sausages, but Harry found her and drove us home." In time, said Hilda, Harry gained permission from the British high command in Berlin for the couple to wed. "We were married in a very small church by an old minister," she said. In 1947, they had a blessing at St Matthew's Church in Morningside, Edinburgh. After 60 years of marriage the couple, who are now in their eighties, have five children and 16 grandchildren.
Source: Midlothian Advertiser.

Mark Rhodes, 22, of Kintore, Aberdeenshire, a confidence trickster who swindled Easter Ross church people out of cash has been jailed for five months at Tain Sheriff Court. Earlier, the Rev Andrew McMichael, the Scottish Episcopal rector at Tain and Invergordon, had asked for Rhodes to be blessed during the final blessing at a church service, in an act of Christian forgiveness.
Source: Highland News.

Heartless yobs have destroyed a stained glass window at Mossneuk Parish Church dedicated to the memory of popular Girls’ Brigade leader Pauline Maclean just days after it was unveiled.
Source: East Kilbride News.

A service to celebrate the life of Amjid Ismail filled Maybole Baptist Church and its adjoining hall. And it was a fitting tribute to Amjid that the church could not hold all who arrived — around 400. Rev Dave Whiteman praised the support Maybole was giving to the Ismail family. Amjid, 34, died in hospital after he was found slumped over a till with blood pouring from a neck wound at the family shop in Maybole’s Kirkland Street last month. His funeral was later held in a Glasgow mosque. A 46-year-old man has been charged with Amjid’s murder.
Source: Ayrshire Post.

A Christmas message from the Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Source: Scottish Episcopal Church news release.

In next month's edition of the Church of Scotland's magazine, Stewart J. Brown, professor of ecclesiastical history at the University of Edinburgh. explores the role of the Church of Scotland in the Union of the Scottish and English Parliaments. The leaders of Scotland’s four largest and longest established political parties offer essays on the future of the Union. And in a rare interview the best-selling author Rosamunde Pilcher reveals why she will not be writing another book. Now aged 82, the author of successful novels such as The Shell Seekers and Winter Solstice says: “I would rather finish on a high and I’ve had a good innings.”
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Church of Scotland is looking for a winner in its annual Photographer of the Year competition. The Church’s website editor, Lynsae Tulloch, said: "We are keen to encourage entries which look at the church outside of its buildings, so ideally photographs representing the work and mission of the Church in practice."
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

The Rev Dr Laurence Whitley will become minister of Glasgow Cathedral next February. A son of the manse, Dr Whitley, who was born in Port Glasgow, grew up in Partick, Glasgow where his father Rev Harry Whitley was minister of Partick Old Church, before being called to St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh.
Source: Church of Scotland news release.

Self-styled "prophetess" Mary Israel, 63, of no fixed abode, who is banned from entering all religious buildings in England and Wales, was yesterday sentenced to serve seven days in prison for breaching the peace in two churches in Oban. Israel pled guilty at Oban Sheriff Court to disrupting a Remembrance Day silence being held during a charity Christmas card sale in the town's St John's Cathedral, on November 11, by calling those present "killers" and the women "lesbians". Israel also pled guilty to disrupting a Sunday service at Christ Church, Oban, the next day, by shouting about war and killing.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

Churches in Inverness have joined forces to create their own unique contribution to Highland 2007, Scotland's Year of Highland Culture. They have organised a programme of religious and secular events to complement the efforts of other players in the festival, and to highlight the fundamental part played by religion in shaping Highland culture over the past 1,500 years. Highland Faith, an initiative of the ecumenical Riverside Churches group, will also make a significant contribution to the year's celebrations, by organising concerts, pilgrimage walks and other special events.
Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal.

There is good news for those spreading the religious word in Inverness despite the national picture of a continuing, though slowing decline in churchgoing. Canon Len Black, of St Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, is upbeat both about the present and the future. "Over the last two years I would say there has been an upsurge in church attendance on any given Sunday," he said. Rev David Meredith, minister of the Free Church in Smithton and Culloden, agreed Inverness was clearly out of step with the overall national trend when it comes to church attendance. "Here in Smithton and Culloden we are in a bit of a Bible Belt in that the Free Church, the Barn Church of Scotland, Culloden Baptist Church and the King’s Fellowship are all enjoying significantly higher attendances than many others in other areas," he said. Rev John Chambers, of Ness Bank Church of Scotland, said membership figures in his church had been increasing steadily, while Fr Michael Savage of St Mary’s RC Church, who hails from Glasgow, said he had found in the Highlands that there was a lot more awareness of the place of faith in people’s lives.
Source: Inverness Courier.

Scottish Churches Housing Action has published a new handbook, Make it Happen, a guide to developing much-needed affordable housing from redundant and under-used church property. SCHA has identified 50 examples of church buildings or land that have been developed for affordable housing over recent years, contributing around 350 new affordable homes. Most have been developed in partnership with housing associations. A further 30 are in progress or being considered.
Source: Christian Today.

As Christmas approaches, many Britons are returning to the Church of England’s grand cathedrals and small parish churches in the midst of a growing Muslim population. St Paul’s Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral, among others, have had to turn people away and have added extra services to meet the demand. Social and religious analysts say the event of churchgoing has more to do with a desire for national identity than a religious awakening. “It seems to me that there is in the UK at the moment a higher level of interest in Christianity, prompted by the national debate about multiculturalism and an increased awareness that many of our fellow citizens feel passionately about another religion - Islam,” said Jill Kirby, a policy analyst at the Centre for Policy Studies, a conservative-leaning research group.
Source: Christian Today.

Edinburgh council leader and Kirk minister Ewan Aitken has pledged to defy any church ban on blessing same-sex partnerships. He said he was disappointed a majority of Church of Scotland presbyteries up and down the country had voted against a move to give ministers official permission to conduct services marking civil partnerships. Writing on his online blog, Cllr Aitken was outspoken in his alternative view: "I have conducted two services for gay couples both of which were moving celebrations of love, fidelity and commitment. For me this is not a debate about sexual preference but an issue of justice for one of the most excluded communities in society."
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Churches in Britain are a “toxic cocktail” of bullying and terror, as parish priests struggle to lead congregations dominated by neurotic worshippers who spread havoc with gossip and manipulation, according to a report published by the Church of England, which describes how peace and love are in desperately short supply in the pews of churches this Christmas. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is among the contributors to the report, The Future of the Parish System: Shaping the Church of England for the 21st Century. One author, Sara Savage, a psychology and religion researcher at the University of Cambridge, reports how ministers are being torn by the pressure of having to be nice all the time to everyone, even when confronted with extremes of nastiness.
Source: The Times.

New figures out today show a rise in the number of Pentecostal churches, and with it the practice of speaking in tongues. While sceptics scoff, The Times looks at the evidence.
Source: The Times.

Artur Boruc, the Celtic goalkeeper, is at the centre of fresh controversy after crossing himself in front of Rangers supporters during Sunday's Old Firm game. John Macmillan, the secretary of the Rangers Supporters Association, said: "It should be clamped down upon and it's time the Celtic management advised him not to do this type of thing." A spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police said: "No offence or crime has been committed." A Celtic source said: "The police have said they have no problem with Artur Boruc in this regard and neither does Celtic Football Club." Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church, said: "We're pleased with the reassurances we've had that blessing yourself is not deemed to be offensive in any way."
Source: The Scotsman.

Prostitutes continue to ply their trade on Scotland's streets despite fears that the Suffolk strangler could switch cities. Church worker Anne Wallace runs a drop-in bus service for the street girls in Glasgow. She said: "For many of the girls, it doesn't matter that these killings are so far away. They have already lived through murders and attacks on many of their friends."
Source: Sunday Mail.

A 'traditional Christmas' is just one part of our national identity that's in danger, cry the purists, but what do they mean? As four books suggest, 'Britishness' is about as real as Santa Claus, says Rafael Behr. One title is Believing in Britain: The Spiritual Identity of 'Britishness', by Ian Bradley, a theologian and Church of Scotland minister.
Source: The Observer.

Glasgow filmmaker Derek Yeaman's obsession with John Lennon has unearthed an unlikely friendship between the Beatle and a Free Church of Scotland minister, the Reverend David Paterson. The relationship began when Lennon was hospitalised in 1969 following a car crash near Durness. The "forthright" Paterson insisted on being admitted to Lennon's ward and challenged him on his views and lifestyle.
Source: Scotland on Sunday.

They come to Britain in their hundreds of thousands, the poor of Africa, Asia, South America and eastern Europe, all seeking refuge, asylum or just a better life. And for many, the first port of call is the Catholic Church. Together they form a diverse new flock that is revitalising - and reinventing - the faith.
Source: The Observer.

A specially-constructed cairn has been unveiled in memory of world sidecar champion Jock Taylor, who was just 28 when his bike skidded off a rain-soaked road in Finland 24 years ago and hit a telegraph pole, killing him instantly. He is buried in Pencaitland churchyard and a lectern in the church commemorates his life - but the building is often closed to the public.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Society artist Lady Lucinda Mackay has decided to offer 40 of her works at knock-down prices in aid of Edinburgh's homeless. The artist, who has created portraits for well-known faces such as author Alexander McCall Smith, has donated paintings for a two-week exhibition and sale in aid of the Bethany Christian Trust, with others to be sold in the charity's shop in Morningside.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Profile of swimmer Kirsty Balfour, a strong contender for the title of most successful Scottish sportswoman of the year. "As a Christian, all my talent comes from God and I don't seek the glory for myself or want to make all the headlines or get sponsorship here, there or everywhere," she says. "I just believe that if God wants me to have success I'll have it, even if it's so I get all the media attention. They don't say much in the papers about Christians, so when I can talk about being a Christian it's good. It opens people's eyes to the fact that there are Christians around and young people are becoming Christians too."
Source: The Scotsman.

A church that has been a peaceful sanctuary in Edinburgh's Old Town for more than 300 years has been forced to lock its doors over Christmas after a spate of vandalism. In the latest incident, yobs walked into Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church on Jeffrey Street and smashed up the altar, shattered a statue of the Madonna and Child and broke a window. The historic Anglican church, which stands on the site of the home of the Episcopalian faith in Scotland, has now been forced to close its doors to the hundreds of visitors who drop in each week. Vandals have tried to start fires in the church twice in the past two years, and earlier this year burned one of the altar cloths. The Rector, Canon Ian Paton, said the latest attack in the church's Lady Chapel had caused several thousand pounds worth of damage. Old Saint Paul's is the oldest Episcopal church in the city and a church has stood on the site since 1689, when a breakaway group from the old Cathedral of St Giles led by Bishop Alexander Rose moved into an old wool store in Carrubber's Close. The present building was completed in 1883.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News.

Last week's flooding affected several churches in the west of Scotland. Fire crew pumped water from Quarter Parish Church in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, and the church house of St Margaret's Church in Clydebank, near Glasgow. In Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, sandbags were used to stem floodwater affecting Our Lady and St Mark's Church.
Source: Daily Record.