Church of Scotland votes to approve gay ministers in civil partnerships

[afleitch]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30711681

The final nod will be taken at this summers General Assembly but what makes this one interesting are the voting figures! It really could have fitted in a number of boards but I thought it would be interesting to dump on here.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Good for them.

[politicus]

Some are pretty unsurprising:

Ross 5/38
Uist 1/9
Lewis 0/19

for/against

Also:

*Jerusalem no vote

Very symbolic..

[DC Al Fine]

So, any chance of a split or will this quiet down in a few years?

[afleitch]

So, any chance of a split or will this quiet down in a few years?

Probably not. A few of the 'Wee Free Light' congregations will leave as will some of the urban ones that have fallen under 'happy clappy-ism' or have had a recent African influx. But three CoS churches have closed next to where I live in the past two years with one now a theatre. When you can't get more than 100 people once a week through your door you can't really afford (and I do literally mean afford) to be so contrary.

[afleitch]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-32760416

Agreed at the General Assembly. Events have overtaken the church on this one and they are voting on whether to ordain ministers in same sex marriages (now that they are law)

[SNJ1985]

We may very well be witnessing the Great Falling Away in action.

Many, if not most, modern churches seem to think it is more important to make people ''feel good'' as opposed to telling them the truths that they need to hear. In reality, confronting people with the hard truth is infinitely more loving and compassionate than coddling them in their sins with sweet-sounding lies - whether the world perceives it that way or not.

Churches that fail to identify sin as what it is (or, worse yet, embrace and encourage it as far too many are now doing; such as the Church of Scotland in this particular instance) are doing their congregants a massive disservice. It is not the church's job to be popular and well-liked. It is the church's job to uncompromisingly preach the truth, in every circumstance, regardless of whether or not it's what the world wants to hear. It is the church's job to teach people about sin, teach them about Hell, and teach them about the fact that there is only one path to salvation. It's far better to bring just one person to the light of Christ by preaching the true Gospel than it is to bring 50 people into the pews by preaching false doctrines designed to appease the modern, secular world.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Perhaps, but I see very few so-called conservative churches preaching the true Gospel, TNJ.  There's little to none of the social justice elements of the Bible, both old and New Testament, being preached in most evangelical churches, and to the extent that they do preach it, it often focuses upon tithing rather that charity. Got to make certain the pastor gets his cut of the filthy lucre first.

I'll grant that Christians must do more than just the Social Gospel, but churches that neglect it or pay but lip service to it are at least as problematic as those that neglect personal morality. Perhaps even more problematic considering how much the focus in the Bible is on social justice. It's not for nothing that the second sin mentioned in the Bible is the failure of Cain to acknowledge that we all are our brothers' keepers. (Said sin being the necessary prerequisite for Cain's murder of Abel.)

[afleitch]

We may very well be witnessing the Great Falling Away in action.

Many, if not most, modern churches seem to think it is more important to make people ''feel good'' as opposed to telling them the truths that they need to hear. In reality, confronting people with the hard truth is infinitely more loving and compassionate than coddling them in their sins with sweet-sounding lies - whether the world perceives it that way or not.

Churches that fail to identify sin as what it is (or, worse yet, embrace and encourage it as far too many are now doing; such as the Church of Scotland in this particular instance) are doing their congregants a massive disservice. It is not the church's job to be popular and well-liked. It is the church's job to uncompromisingly preach the truth, in every circumstance, regardless of whether or not it's what the world wants to hear. It is the church's job to teach people about sin, teach them about Hell, and teach them about the fact that there is only one path to salvation. It's far better to bring just one person to the light of Christ by preaching the true Gospel than it is to bring 50 people into the pews by preaching false doctrines designed to appease the modern, secular world.

This is why the world hates American Christianity, not necessarily because of what is preached but the general disinterest, dismissal and ignorance of foreign religious contexts.