Why I am no longer in the Church of Scotland (2)

Why I am no longer in the Church of Scotland (2)

I left the Church of Scotland in 1995 after 19 years service in the ministry of the denomination.  Although specific doctrinal and moral concerns precipitated my going, it was also based on a more fundamental rethink of the doctrine of the church.  I published and privately distributed a short booklet, "Biblical Separation” that gave my reasons for going and contained a survey of NT teaching on heresy, apostasy and biblical church discipline.

Now might be an opportune time to make this booklet available in blog form, especially as a counterbalance to the arguments of those such as the Covenant Fellowship and the Church of Scotland Evangelical Network who are putting forward their case for remaining within an apostate denomination.

1995 (Part 1)

The following booklet was written by Rev Robert M Walker, formerly minister of Gardenstown Church of Scotland.  Mr Walker resigned from the Church of Scotland ministry in September 1995.  The booklet is essentially the document presented to the Kirk Session of Gardenstown Church, containing his views on what the New Testament teaches regarding church fellowship with those who teach false doctrine or encourage immoral conduct.

Although Mr Walker’s views are presented in general form, the specific issue that led to his resignation is the charge that the Church of Scotland permits its ministers to support and encourage homosexual practices, and that the denomination now publicises and thereby promotes these opinions.

Contrary to the Word of God, and to its own previously declared position, the Church of Scotland takes no action against those ministers who teach that homosexual practices are acceptable in the church.  Ministers, Assembly Conveners, Professors and ex-Moderators have all spoken openly and publically in defence of homosexual conduct in the church.  None have ever been disciplined.

This position was openly affirmed as an acceptable alternative in the reports of the Panel on Doctrine and also the Board of Social Responsibility received by the 1994 General Assembly.  Despite 1983 legislation that declared such a position unacceptable, it is now seen as part of the wide theological diversity within the denomination, and accepted that such views should be tolerated.

The 1995 General Assembly went further in commending to congregations Study Guidelines which again set forth as a legitimate alternative view the pro-homosexual conduct viewpoint.  These Guidelines are said to give “a fair and  balanced account of the current diversity within the Church.”

The purpose of these Study Guidelines is to “deepen the Christian reflection and understanding in these areas… this will need a genuine openness to where the Spirit of God is leading us.”  The Guidelines are not designed to enable the church to reaffirm a biblical position, but to proceed to a new openness on this issue.

These facts are being kept from genuine evangelical people within the denomination! Even when they are grudgingly acknowledged, evangelicals are refusing to respond to them.  By ignoring the specific directions of the New Testament on these issues, by refusing to listen to clear biblical testimony, evangelical people are in danger of bringing themselves under God’s judgement.

To have chosen to continue in denominational fellowship with a denomination that permits its office bearers and to teach the legitimacy of homosexual activity, and promotes and publicises these views in official denominational publications is folly.

Quotes from official Church of Scotland resources

Many committed gay and lesbian Christians do not see their disposition as evil; they see it as a positive gift of God – to be enjoyed as part of the fullness of life which homosexuals are entitled to enjoy.

Those who have found their lives enriched by gay relationships argue that it begs to put the initial disposition in a negative light. The way a relationship is handled, and the nurture it offers to each partner, is a truer criterion of its work: and the desire to relate in bodily wholeness to another human being is as positive in the homosexual as in the heterosexual.

Many human partnerships display valued and sought-for qualities, and we must ask whether such relationships, which include the possibility of genital sexuality, are to be denied to those who are of the same sex.

The Board would recognise that in the Church of Scotland there are some who are convinced that in the light of scientific evidence, socio-psychological understanding, critical scholarship and personal integrity, the view that homosexual practices are necessarily sinful can no longer be held with integrity and sincerity.

Of homosexual marriages, conducted by Ministers: It is likely that in future years more requests for ministerial affirmations of some same sex relationships may be made to Ministers if couples learn, (as the Panel hopes they will), that their love dare speak its name inside the Church.  We believe it would be wrong for Church courts  either to prescribe or forbid such affirmations.

The above quotations amply prove that within the Church of Scotland  office-bearers may actively support the legitimacy of homosexual practices, and that denominational reports promote and publicise this position.

Can evangelical people willingly exist in a denomination where such a diversity of moral opinion is recognised and welcomed? Can they, with any loyalty to Christ and his Word, continue in such a denominational connection?

Note 2015:  It is difficult looking back to what I said twenty years ago.  The situation today is rooted in what was happening in the 90s, and all that I predicted has come to pass.  It is hard to see history repeat itself; the current generation of evangelicals within the denomination are weaker theologically than they were in 1995.  I stand by all that I wrote in the past, and take no satisfaction in prophecies now fulfilled.