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Church to be 'Place of Healing and Reconciliation'

Wednesday February 5 2014

The Church of Scotland has said it wants to be 'a place for healing and reconciliation for all' in the wake of the Scottish Parliament's approval of same sex marriage.

The Parliament passed the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill by a wide margin last night.

Alan Hamilton, Convener of the Church's Legal Questions Committee, said: “The Church of Scotland holds to the mainstream Christian belief that marriage is properly between a man and a woman.

“Although there are a range of views on this issue within the Church, this will remain our view unless changed by our General Assembly, the supreme decision-making body in the Church, which meets each year in May.

“Opinion is also divided within Scotland about same sex marriage. Some people will be delighted that same sex marriage is now a possibility. Other will be saddened. As a national Church we want to be a place of healing and reconciliation for all.

“The Church of Scotland loves and cares for all people, straight and gay. In this, we are following Jesus.

“We are privileged to marry thousands of couples every year. We hope that continues. However, we are concerned that the statutory scheme set up by the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill is vulnerable to legal challenge.

“This might force out of the present legal framework for marriage faith communities who do not support same sex marriage. We do not expect that our ministers would ever be forced to carry out same sex marriages.

“We are also concerned that public servants, particularly registrars and teachers, who do not support same sex marriage, may find themselves disadvantaged in the workplace.

“We continue to call upon the Scottish Government and Parliament to provide meaningful assurances that their freedom of conscience will be respected.”

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