August 1, 2006 Do the Kirk’s discussions of same-sex relationships and civil partnerships harm inter-church relationships or inter-faith dialogue? THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH Historically, the Church of Scotland’s tradition of openness to a range of theological standpoints and sincerely held but differing biblical perspectives has been a strength and an anchor. The freedom of [...]
Category Archives: Papers
The Secret Message of Jesus
July 30, 2006 Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything Brian D McLaren Book Review One of the key elements of OneKirk that we hope will shape its future, and indeed the Church of Scotland as a whole, is inclusivity: the broad welcome that Christ exhibited to those whom everyone else wanted to ignore. The extraordinary [...]
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A Psychotherapist’s Reflections on Same-Sex Relationships
July 25, 2006 Download Adobe pdf Version As a minister and a psychotherapist, I wish to contribute to the debate about same sex relationships. From the perspective of a scientific study of human nature, development, personality and behaviour I am very conscious of the complexities of the issue. Every person is the product of processes [...]
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Buried Sexuality
July 21, 2006 church church of scotland faith gay homosexuality kirk lesbian sexuality teenagers young people The experience of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people in the Church of Scotland Download Adobe pdf Version Imagine what it must have been like to be a young adult in the Church of Scotland, who is lesbian, gay [...]
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Scotland and the Abolition of Black Slavery, 1756-1838
July 20, 2006 Iain Whyte Next year sees the 200th anniversary of the British abolition of the slave trade. There will be many events to mark this, including a leaflet produced by ACTS (Action of Churches together in Scotland), an ecumenical service, and a document commissioned by the Scottish Executive. It was of course just a [...]
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Determining Right and Wrong from Scripture
July 11, 2006 Considering the Options Download Adobe pdf Version While this article was written to help people in the Uniting Church in Australia as they discuss whether people with an open homosexual orientation should be ordained into the ministry, it nonetheless provides an accessible and helpful introduction to how Scripture can be interpreted. People [...]
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What does the Bible say on Homosexuality?
July 11, 2006 australia bible christianity church church of scotland interpretation scripture uniting church world church What are the issues for us to consider? Download Adobe pdf Version While this article was written to help people in the Uniting Church in Australia as they discuss whether people with an open homosexual orientation should be ordained [...]
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A Biblical Perspective on Civil Partnerships
July 11, 2006 Listening to the Bible and Jesus Those who are opposed to ministers having freedom ever to bless a same-sex union resent, understandably, being branded “homophobic”. Those who perceive in some homosexual relationships qualities of love, nurture and affirmation that they cannot believe are odious to God resent, understandably, being told they have [...]
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What is “Ministers’ Freedom of Conscience”?
July 11, 2006 Exploring the key issue in the Declaratory Act anent Civil Partnerships This was written following the agreement of General Assembly 2006 to put forward a Declaratory Act anent Civil Partnerships which would see no disciplinary proceedings against ministers who decided to seek God’s bless ting on the relationship of two people in [...]
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Personal Thoughts and Reflections to Civil Partnerships
July 11, 2006 These views were collected in 2006 at the time of a large debate about whether or not to allow ministers, according to their conscience, to bless the relationship of couples who had entered into a civil partnership without fear of those ministers being disciplined by their presbytery. Views from the Eldership Marjory [...]
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