I’m an elder, not a theologically trained minister. I attended this year’s General Assembly as a commissioner. Naturally I was disturbed by the advance press coverage of what was headlined as “the big challenge to the Kirk”. Some claimed that the issue of blessing same-sex couples in a civil partnership was threatening a schism in Scotland’s national church.

On the right to mark civil partnerships, we were told by Ann Inglis, the Convenor of the Legal Questions Committee, that:

there has always existed a freedom of pastoral conscience, which allows ministers to act in this and, indeed, other ways.

The UK government’s decision to establish civil partnerships means that the Kirk had to give its ministers clear guidance. The DTI will find it unacceptable if there were a situation where ministers were unclear whether they could be disciplined for a particular course of action. This is exactly the kind of situation which could result in increased state regulation in an area of discipline.

During a measured and respectful debate, the Rev Tom Gordon, a chaplain for a Marie Curie Hospice, said he had blessed a lesbian couple, one of whom was dying of cancer, and would not be deterred if the assembly voted against the Act:

I blessed that couple because I believed it was right to do. I will do so again in extremis or in other proper pastoral circumstances because, in compassion and healing in my ministry, I could do no other.

Recently a minister I know announced from the pulpit that no civil partnerships would be blessed in her church. While I accept that minister’s right to decide according to conscience, I expect that freedom of conscience to be available to all ministers and deacons to act pastorally in accordance with their beliefs. I find it sad that those wishing to deny this freedom of conscience for all emphasise a few Jewish legalities in the Old Testament laws and a few verses from Paul’s letters, and make no mention of the love and compassion of Christ. Surely those who are seeking a Christian blessing on a civil partnership are making a commitment to love each other, beyond the legal vows? And 1st John 4:7b tells us, “Everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God”.

Marjory J B Williamson

My partner and I decided to have a civil partnership to mark and celebrate our love for one another and our commitment to one another. I believe that God is a God of love and a God who cares about justice. It is inconceivable to me that such a God could condemn a relationship based on love and faithfulness.

Monica Stewart

I have conducted a service of blessing for a gay couple, and will do so again. I use the word “blessing” because I believe God is at the centre of the union and celebration: that God delights in the love that brings the couple together.

Gay people who seek out a blessing do so because there is a spiritual side to their lives. Why would they come looking for a religious ceremony if not because they believe that to be an important part of their relationship with each other?

Now that civil partnership is here, I would anticipate that gay Christian couples, as a matter of integrity of faith and life, will seek a blessing. Having a blessing ceremony is as integral to the happy day as the legal obligation and the following celebration. For a significant number of gay couples, the blessing is the pinnacle of the day not an add-on extra.

In my ministry, I believe God calls me to offer a positive pastoral response to those people who come to seek a blessing of their relationship. I do not believe I have the right to withhold the grace and blessing of God from anyone.

Rev Elisabeth G B Spence

I have recently in Dundee conducted a blessing service for a same–sex couple who had just entered into a Civil Partnership... As I discussed my intention to bless this partnership with people in my church, I was struck how many of them spoke of homosexual persons in their own families or amongst their friends. They were quietly supportive of what I was doing. I think it’s time the Church did justice to a very significant proportion of our brothers and sisters.

Rev Mike V A Mair

We all know that a significant number of people in society are gay. If this is their God-given orientation are we to say that God wishes them to be gay but not to express their sexuality in a gay relationship? What kind of God would that be?... Where two gay people enter into a loving, committed, faithful relationship as they do a civil partnership, is it unreasonable to believe that they enjoy the blessing of the God of loving faithfulness in the same way heterosexuals making a similar commitment do?

Rev Bob F Brown