A CHURCH of Scotland minister has spoken out against the Church's
decision not to accept National Lottery funding.
The Rev James Duncan, minister of Blair Atholl and Struan Parish in
Perthshire, says he notes with a ''sense of amazement'' that the Church
in general, and the Board of Social Responsibility in particular, have
issued a dictum stating they will not be accepting monies from the
National Lottery Millennium Fund.
In a letter in the new issue of Life and Work, the Kirk's monthly
magazine, Mr Duncan, who is due to retire next year, points out that the
board, of which he is a member, is running at an accumulated loss of
about #2.4m.
He writes: ''Perhaps I am wrong but I have never known anyone to be
corrupted by either buying a lottery ticket or a raffle ticket.
''I am perfectly aware that there are many of my colleagues who allow
raffles to be held during sales of work or fetes. Bottle stalls are one
of the biggest attractions at these events.
''Do we ever ask our congregations where their money comes from that
they so generously put in the offering plate Sunday by Sunday?
''I think it was General Booth of the Salvation Army who once said,
'Let us use the Devil's money so that he can be spited and do God's
Work'.''
Mr Duncan said yesterday the Church was having to dig into its capital
reserves to help maintain homes for the elderly.
''There is a big gap between what we get from the local authorities
and the Government through the DSS towards the cost of our caring
services. Lottery money could certainly help with this and with capital
projects.''
The board's convener, the Rev William Wallace, said last night: ''The
General Assemby has been against the idea of a national lottery for a
number of years. Last year, it re-affirmed its decision without anyone
speaking against that stance.
''The board at that time was asked to consider the position of
applying for money from the Millennium Fund. For some reason, Mr Duncan
was not at the meeting which considered the question but the board
decided the Church should not apply.
''Although there were six abstentions, no-one voted against and that
recommendation will go before the Assembly in May.''
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