THE Moderator of the Church of Scotland has urged women who feel they have been discriminated against in the Kirk to come forward.
The Right Reverend Lorna Hood, the third female Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, made the intervention following a major speech when she admitted she had been "taken back and saddened" by sexism in the Church.
She said she had seen first-hand evidence of women being denied key roles because of their sex.
Mrs Hood said she was sure women who believed they were being denied recognition and positions of responsibility because of their gender would in the first instance raise this issue with their local Presbytery.
But she added she would be pleased to hear from women who did not feel their case received a fair hearing.
"I have been taken aback and saddened to discover that in some pockets of Scotland there are women dedicated to the Lord and his Church who have experienced real discrimination," she told 2000 female members of the Church's Guild in Dundee.
"I have spent time with women still denied a place on Kirk sessions and local ruling bodies. There are women elders who, having moved from one area to another, find their ordination is called into question.
"Women have approached me in tears because they are marginalised in our Church and are so warmed by the fact that I am a woman and also Moderator. The women experiencing discrimination are very much the minority in our Church, but I am moved by their pain."
Mrs Hood insisted she had only rarely experienced discrimination personally in the Church and pointed out many of those in the Church's most senior positions were women.
She said she had sometimes even had an advantage as a woman.
"As a student studying for the ministry, no lecturer talked down to me, no male classmate treated me differently.
"In the early 80s, if there were any reservations among ministers, it was about young ministers rather than ministers who were specifically female.
"Being a woman was arguably an advantage in my early years, as nominations from people who were young and female seemed to be particularly welcome.
"I suspect that helped me secure, for example, an invitation to attend the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Ottawa."
However, she said she had experienced a rare instance of sexism when at the age of 24 while being considered for a ministry. A couple who did not want a female minister dragged one of their elderly parents out of a nursing home to support their case in a vote.
"Most parishioners were dismayed at this behaviour and chose me as their minister," she added.
"I am fortunate to have had the great privilege of serving my community and becoming first a minister then Moderator.
"There is no doubt that discrimination exists in society, but it should not exist in the Church."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article