Witness JULY/AUGUST 2009 ISSUE - Free Church of Scotland ...

Death of Rev Ronald MacKay
We heard with sadness of the
passing of Rev Ronald Mackay
on 6th April after a prolonged illness.
He was just sixty-two. Ordained in
1975, he had been minister successively
in the Free Churches of Golspie, St
Vincent Street and the Free North in
Inverness. He was a diligent pastor, a
good preacher, a caring, devout man,
well thought of by all.
Death of Sir Marcus Loane
The former Archbishop of Sydney,
Sir Marcus Loane, died on 14th April, aged 97. Sir Marcus ministered
among theology students at Moore
Theological College as vice-principal
from 1939 to 1953, and then as
principal from 1954 to 1959. He was
the first Australian-born Archbishop of
Sydney, serving in this role from 1966
to 1982, and was Primate of Australia
from 1978 to 1982. He was knighted
in 1976. Archbishop Peter Jensen has
paid tribute to him as a ‘remarkable
leader who served both church and
nation…. In national life, he offered
leadership which transcended politics.
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Sir Marcus Loane
News
In particular he spoke up for the poor
and helped spark the Henderson
enquiry of the early 1970s. He offered
distinguished service with our troops
in New Guinea during World War
II’. He was a prolific author of many
excellent books, such as Masters of the
English Reformation and his biography
of J C Ryle.
Church of Scotland Assembly
Approves Appointment of
Homosexual Minister
Christian Observer
The Church of Scotland (COS)
General Assembly (GA), on
Saturday 23rd May 2009 by a vote
of 326 to 267 upheld the Presbytery
of Aberdeen's appointment of openly
homosexual minister, the Rev Scott
Rennie, to the pulpit of Queen's
Cross Church in Aberdeen. Forward
Together (FT), which describes itself
as ‘a group for evangelical members
of the COS who share a desire to
serve our Lord Jesus Christ within
the Church of Scotland’, said that
the General Assembly's decision to
uphold Mr Rennie's appointment
had brought ‘great shame’ upon the
Church. FT's acting convener, the Rev
Steven Reid, said, ‘I think there will
be those members who leave on the
grounds of the result alone. I think
there might be some churches and
ministers who will be trying to find
a way of distancing themselves from
that decision. What form that will take
it's difficult to say. For those of us who
hold the Scriptures to be the supreme
rule of faith, the decision seems to fly
in the face of that belief ’. An online
petition calling the COS GA to uphold
Scriptural principles in this matter was
endorsed by a total of 12,555 signatories
including 421 COS Ministers and 33
COS Kirk Sessions and a total of 5318
individuals from the COS. Additional
signatures were received from 2777
individuals representing other Scottish
churches, 2464 from other churches in
the United Kingdom, and 1996 from
other churches worldwide.
This was indeed a sad day for
Scotland . Who could have imagined
a few years ago that a practising
homosexual could be appointed to
a Church of Scotland pulpit! How
low things have sunk! We support
our faithful brethren in the Church
of Scotland at this time and pray
that they might be given wisdom and
courage to react as they should to
this further trampling of God’s law
under foot .
Church of Scotland Sets up
Commission on Ordination of
Homosexuals
Christian Observer
Deflecting a motion by the
Presbytery of Lochcarron and
Skye for an overture that would
prohibit anybody whose relationships
were not faithful and heterosexual
from becoming a minister, the
Church of Scotland (COS) General
Assembly (GA) set up a commission
to study the issue of homosexuals
becoming COS ministers that will
report back to the COS 2011 General
Assembly. A two-year moratorium
on appointing homosexual ministers
was made a condition of the twoyear
study, though the appointment
of the openly homosexual minister
the Rev Scott Rennie to the pulpit of
Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen
JULY/AUGUST 2009 ISSUE