Scottish Christian

Plans have been finalised for the first Corpus Christi procession to take place in Glasgow in generations, as Catholics from the city’s West End Deanery prepare to process from St Patrick’s, Anderston, to St Paul’s, Whiteinch. The procession, which will take place on Sunday June 2, will see the Blessed Sacrament processed from St Patrick’s [...]

An EU decision, reported late yesterday, that European multinationals will be required to report the profits made and taxes paid in every country where they operate,  would, if enshrined in law, be an ‘historic breakthrough’ in battling tax evasion, Christian Aid said today. The organisation estimates that developing countries lose an estimated US$160bn in tax [...]

New research identifies five types of churches which are bucking the trend in reaching and discipling the ‘missing generation’ of people in their 20s and 30s. Beth Keith, a tutor at Church Army in Sheffield, conducted the qualitative research project on behalf of Church Army and Fresh Expressions. Her report, Authentic faith: fresh expressions of [...]

The Church of Scotland has agreed to investigate the increasing costs of holding funerals. Speaking during the debate at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Rev Sarah Ross (Minister of Forth St Paul’s Parish Church in South Lanarkshire) gave an impassioned plea for the Church and Society Council to investigate the issue of [...]

Charities today demanded council bosses scrap crippling rent rises. Their umbrella body said it had serious concerns about plans by City Property to charge full market rents for offices and warehouses occupied by voluntary organisations. Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS) and the Third Sector Forum – which represent hundreds of groups – said [...]

It’s a five-letter word which dates back centuries and has survived countless changes in cultural and linguistic fashion. But now the Church of Scotland has outraged Scots language experts by banishing “anent” – meaning about or concerning – from its legal documents and deciding to go back through hundreds of pieces of old church legislation [...]

The debate on Scottish independence is focused on “political point-scoring” that is “turning people off”, the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council said today. The Church of Scotland plans to hold meetings around the country to discuss issues relating to the constitutional debate ahead of next year’s referendum. The General Assembly today overwhelmingly backed [...]

The following speech was given at tonight’s Free Church of Scotland General Assembly by Rev Dr Iain D Campbell, convener of the Ecumenical Relations Committee. We are not your enemies, we are your brothers My main concern is presenting this report tonight is to address the question of the Church of Scotland and the ramifications [...]

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland heard an impassioned speech about the harmful effects of smoking, from James Stuart, near namesake of James Stewart – James VI of Scotland and I of England. Over 400 years ago the king wrote a famous work: “A Counterblaste to Tobacco”. At 92 Mr Stewart is believed [...]

The Church of Scotland has urged that people should not be evicted from their homes because of the new changes to benefit regulations, the so-called ‘bedroom tax’. The Church and Society Council today agreed to lobby the Scottish Government to introduce legislation to prevent evictions because of the new rules which have recently been imposed [...]

Speaking at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Rev Sally Foster-Fulton, Convener of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, highlighted the urgent need to tackle climate change. The Church’s work in this area is unique, running the Responding to Climate Change Project, which is focused on developing ways to [...]

A revised version of a Church of Scotland report criticising Israel’s treatment of Palestinians has been approved. The original version of the paper, titled The Inheritance of Abraham, was condemned as “hurtful” by Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub, for the way it questioned the Biblical justification for the Jewish claim to the Holy [...]

The Church of Scotland is totally switched on [sic] and committed to tackling the digital divide [sic]. The digital divide is the gap between those in society who have access to and the resources to regularly use new technology including the internet, social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and those who are unable to. [...]

A priest who served communities for 55 years died as he prepared for morning Mass. Canon Michael MacNamee, 79, known as Father Mac, died at St Leonard’s Church, East Kilbride, with his rosary beads in his hands. He has been described as a “rock of the community” whose death will leave “an enormous void”. Canon [...]

A study by the Marriage Foundation calculates that cohabiting couples who have children are more than twice as likely to split up as those who had tied the knot beforehand. But of those who do not then go on to get married after having children, only a handful will still be together by the time [...]

One of Scotland’s leading theologians has blamed a drop in evangelical students training for the ministry on the Church of Scotland’s battle over gay clergy. The Reverend Professor David Fergusson, principal of the New College, Edinburgh University’s divinity school, said the Kirk must stop squabbling over sexuality or risk alienating more young people. He appealed [...]

The Church of Scotland needs to take “real risks” and create “radical models” of training if it is to persuade more young people to become ministers, the General Assembly heard yesterday. The call for change came as ministers were told that only 25 people had applied for full-time ministry in 2012, and of the 16 [...]

Speaking to the General Assembly this afternoon, the Moderator of the National Youth Assembly, Euan Patterson, urged all male delegates to support the White Ribbon Campaign against domestic violence. The National Youth Assembly brings together a diverse group of young people and aims to give them a voice within the church. In August 2012, they [...]

Church of Scotland chaplains have continued to provide pastoral care and support for the servicemen and women in Afghanistan and other parts of the world as well as their families back home. Their work is recognised tomorrow in a Report of the Committee on Chaplains to Her Majesty’s Forces at the General Assembly of the [...]

The Church of Scotland is to introduce a plan to ensure the continued professional development of its Ministers. The aim is to ensure it has the right people in the right places delivering the right kind of worship to congregations. Reporting to the General Assembly today, Wednesday May 22, Convener of the Special Commission on [...]