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Ten years, hundreds of hours of debate and the Kirk finally decides on homosexuality: 'It's up to you!'

A long-awaited Church of Scotland report on the Kirk's attitude towards gay relationships has been criticised for lacking any clear moral stance or guidance on the issue.

The report on human sexuality, entitled A Challenge to Unity, which addresses the various viewpoints on homosexuality within the Church, has been awaited for ten years - and has been two years in the writing.

Published yesterday by the Mission and Discipleship Council, it has already split opinion, with conservative evangelicals describing it as "anodyne", while the liberal wing of the Kirk welcomed it as making a positive contribution to the debate.

The report affirms the value of gay people in the Kirk, while acknowledging that the issue of homosexuality still has potential to divide the church. It also accepts that the church had shown a "historic intolerance" toward gay people.

In its conclusion, the committee, comprising both liberal and conservative evangelical members, warned of the consequences of either side failing to listen to the other: "There is little to be gained, and rather much to be lost, by one set of views being stampeded over and against the conscience of others."

The convener of the committee, the Rev Peter Donald, said: "We're now saying it absolutely clearly: there are no grounds whatsoever for homosexual tendencies being characterised as anything other than fully loved by God, fully loved by the Christian community."

The study follows a dispute within the Kirk over allowing ministers to mark civil partnerships without fear of being disciplined. During the General Assembly last year, it was decided to allow this, but ultimately the local presbyteries rejected the move by a margin of 36 to nine.

Yesterday's report was criticised by the Rev Ian Watson, secretary for the evangelical group Forward Together.

He said: "They haven't grasped the nettle; it does nothing to persuade people on either side of the merits of the other's views." He added: "At best, there will be disappointment, but I think people are quite angry at how quite anodyne the report is.

"People were looking for some guidance during the civil partnership [debate] in presbyteries, and a lot of people voted our way because they said that the legal questions hadn't given them the theological guidance they needed."

However, the Rev Peter Johnston, spokesman for the liberal One Kirk group, welcomed the report: "There's no surprise that it came out saying that yes, there are different viewpoints on this issue."

Full story at The Scotsman.