CONGREGATIONS will not let the ordination of gay ministers trigger the biggest split in the Church of Scotland in almost 200 years because they have too much to lose, senior Kirk sources have said.
Their claims follow reports at the weekend that as many as 50 congregations are on the cusp of leaving the Kirk if the General Assembly votes next month to allow the ordination of openly gay clergy.
It is claimed discussions have taken place with the Free Kirk over a move.
The Church of Scotland has more than 1400 congregations. The departure of 50 would be the biggest split in its ranks since the 19th-century schism which led to the Free Kirk's formation.
But with congregations having to give up churches and manses and ministers forsaking the highest stipend of any faith in Scotland, talks of a wholesale split have been played down.
The Church of Scotland also claimed the figures were attempts by the Free Kirk to recruit its members and said the claims were exaggerated.
Since the debate was sparked by the Rev Scott Rennie, an openly gay minister appointed to Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen in 2009, just two congregations have left the Kirk.
The decision by the congregation of St George's Tron in Glasgow to leave the Kirk in December sparked anguish and legal battles others will be mindful to avoid, sources claim.
In February, Gilcomston South Church in Aberdeen also left over the issue.
One leading Kirk source said: "The Church of Scotland is a very broad church and those who don't like what the vote may bring can simply attend another church which is less liberal.
"There's far too much to lose and even with some gay ministers there's more that will unite them with the Kirk than the Free Church, where music isn't even played.
"You may get a handful of departures but nothing on the scale discussed. It seems the Free Kirk are at it a bit with this.
"And those who have left were always at the fringes. You would need to believe pretty strongly that you're making the right move to leave."
A Church of Scotland spokesman said: "Since 2011 there have been all of six [departures]. That's six out of over 1400 congregations. And out of the 1400 congregations, only two have left the Church of Scotland over this issue.
"An anonymous figure in the Free Church of Scotland openly seeking to recruit people away from the Church of Scotland claims he has spoken to individual parishioners, ministers and elders and so on in 'some 50' congregations. That seems to be a far way from providing evidence that 50 entire congregations are getting ready to vote en masse to break away."
Two years ago the General Assembly put off a formal decision on the issue of gay ministers by setting up a Theological Commission. The seven-strong commission, drawn from both traditionalist and revisionist sides of the debate, reported last week, but declined to put forward a recommendation.
Instead it offered contrasting interpretations by both sides and guidelines depending on how the General Assembly might vote.
In 2011, the results of the first secret ballot in its history revealed nearly one in five Church of Scotland leaders will leave the Kirk if gay ministers are allowed.
A Free Church of Scotland spokesman said: "It is our hope and prayer - if there are those brothers and sisters who feel they cannot stay in the Church of Scotland that, rather than form yet another Presbyterian church in Scotland, they will join with those of us who have every sympathy with them and support their stance. A working group from the Free Church has spoken to a range of parties."
A Church of Scotland spokesman added: "We regret and are saddened that any ministers or individuals feel they are obliged to, or feel the need to, leave over this issue."
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