Church of Scotland passes law allowing same-sex marriages
The new law was carried by 345 votes to 170
By Steve Brown
The Church of Scotland has passed a new law allowing same-sex marriages.
The General Assembly debated the new law on Saturday (May 19) and the motion was finally carried by 345 votes to 170 after it was amended to allow the law to provide necessary safeguards, according to The National Scotland.
Reverend Bryan Kerr, minister of Greyfriars Parish Church in Lanark, said: “I am pleased we have reached this point and I have already had reaction from parents of people in same-sex relationships who are overwhelmed that the church accepts that God loves them.”
However, the motion wasn’t praised by everyone with Reverend Mark Malcolm, minister of Chryston Parish Church in Glasgow and a member of evangelical Kirk group, Covenant Fellowship Scotland, claiming the decision will have implications for peace and unity.
He said: “This has not been a happy or peaceful process and people are largely weary and tired of this debate.
“They just want to get on with what it means to be the church and proclaim the Gospel.”
Another clergyman, Tom Gordon, revealed one of his daughters is in a same-sex marriage.
He said: “When my older daughter got married she had a choice – to ask me to conduct her service as a minister or for me to walk her down the aisle as her dad.
“But when my younger daughter got married, she had no such choice.”