FOR the sake of clarity, the Rev David Court joined the Free Church of Scotland and helped set up the Christ Church Edinburgh congregation more than six months ago ("Funds lost as wealthy churches quit in new gay protest", The Herald, April 16).
There is no Machiavellian timing as Allan C Steele (Letters, April 17) suggests.
Mr Steele then goes on to muddy the waters even further by claiming the New Restalrig congregation had a membership of 2000. Again, this is simply not true.
Whilst it is heartening that the majority of Scots in the 2011 census wished to self-identify with Christianity rather than godless secularism, this does not necessarily equate into regular church attendance (similarly identifying as an atheist does not equate with active participation in secularist societies).
Those of us in the Free Church continue to pray that the Church of Scotland will return to its biblical moorings - but if Kirk leaders continue to head in the opposite direction it puts many of their people in a very difficult position.
Gordon Bell,
The Free Church of Scotland,
The Mound, Edinburgh.
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