What has the Church of Scotland said?

The Church of Scotland has responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation: ‘Scottish Government consultation on Registration of Civil partnerships same-sex marriage’, and the response can be read in full here

If you don’t have much time, you can read the abbreviated version on the Church of Scotland website here

The Church of Scotland’s response to the Scottish Government’s consultation is a thoughtful, serious and considered response.

The Church of Scotland has received much criticism in recent weeks, and a good bit of friendly fire, because its response has taken longer than those of other Christian groups. The Government’s consultation is the first step towards the introduction of major changes to our national and cultural life. The consultation’s questions have major implications. The Legal Questions Committee of the Church of Scotland has taken the time it has needed. It has had a lot to think about, and the result is a weighty and honest one. It is clear and it is to be welcomed.

We are grateful for the work of the Legal Questions Committee of the Church of Scotland in this regard.

There will be those in the Church of Scotland who will be deeply unhappy with the response, just as many of us were deeply unhappy with the outcome of the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly this past May, in Edinburgh. They will have wanted the Kirk’s response to embrace Alex Salmond’s proposals and aspirations for Scotland.

We all know what disappointment and hurt feels like. There is no room for any to feel a sense of triumphalism. It should be sobering to all Christian evangelicals and conservatives in the Kirk to notice what the Church of Scotland has said in its response. The Church of Scotland has said ‘no’ to same-sex marriage and to the religious registration of civil partnerships in Scotland. That is true, but it has only said so for the present moment.

Let that point be taken on board, because the response hints very loudly that things may change in 2013/14. The Kirk’s position may not always be what it is at this moment in time, though it is providential in terms of the national consultation that the response has had to be conservative and biblical, and could be nothing else as a consequence of the way in which the Church of Scotland makes its decisions and expresses its opinions.

It would be hugely premature to take this as a sign, however, as some seem to be doing, that some sort of change is coming over the Church of Scotland, which has been drifting away from Christian orthodoxy at gathering speed recently, to the great dismay of many.

The Church of Scotland has made its response through its Legal Questions Committee. It begins by affirming the Church of Scotland’s compassion towards all who feel same-sex attraction. It assures of its determination not to discriminate. It says that the Church of Scotland feels a pastoral responsibility to the whole of Scotland and presents its response as a statement of what the Church of Scotland believes the will of God to be at this moment.

For the most part, the response offers a traditional, Christian understanding of marriage. I say for the most part because, in the midst of a detailed, traditional response, the Church of Scotland also said that it did not object to the continuation of civil partnerships, on fiscal grounds amongst others.

Furthermore, in what I think is an untimely jubilation, it seems to have slipped past many that the response says it ‘offers the possibility that the Church will move from its current position’. The response is therefore a ‘freeze frame image’ of the Church of Scotland’s point of view ‘as at December 2011’. It is ‘captured from the Church’s developing (my italics) response to the real, live issues involved’. The Church of Scotland is not then signaling, in its response, a return to Christian orthodoxy with regard to sexual morality. The Church of Scotland has a ‘developing’ response, which could develop in any direction, one assumes.

This is made clear when the response reminds the consultation that the recent General Assembly indicated it may depart from the traditional Christian understanding of same-sex relationships.

The Church of Scotland says in its response it cannot agree that legislation should be changed so that civil partnerships could be registered through religious ceremonies. One of its main concerns is that ministers and religious celebrants are not guaranteed protection in law should they feel unable, in all conscience, to perform same-sex marriage or offer religious registration of civil partnerships. That has been a widespread worry. The Church of Scotland has also said that the religious registration of civil partnerships goes against the original intention of civil partnerships.

The Church of Scotland’s response makes it clear that as things currently stand, the Church cannot agree to the religious registration of civil partnerships. This is, in part, because the General Assembly has debated (2006/7) the matter of ministers offering services of blessing for civil partnerships and has not agreed, in a rather muddled way at the time, that its ministers can take part in such blessings.

The speed with which the Scottish Government is moving on this issue also causes the Church of Scotland some anxiety. The Church of Scotland feels that the matter is being rushed without full and proper consideration having been given to the implications of such an elemental change in national life. The Church of Scotland believes that other faith communities in Scotland are similarly uncomfortable.

The Church of Scotland also makes the point that the law of the Church of Scotland does not make provision for its premises to be used for civil ceremonies, and believes that religious and civil ceremonies should be kept separate so that the two don’t become synonymous and confused with one another.

In a section of its response that deals with freedom of religion in Scotland, the Legal Questions Committee felt the need to remind the Scottish Government of the Church of Scotland Act 1921, and respectfully cautions the Government that state intrusion into the inner life of the Church would be unwarranted and unwanted.

Article 4 of the Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland in Matters Spiritual recognizes the Church’s ‘right and power subject to no civil authority to legislate, and to adjudicate finally, in all matters of doctrine, worship, government and discipline in the Church.’

The Church of Scotland goes on to welcome the Government’s assurance that no minister will have to do anything against his or her will, but notes that no draft legislation has been seen to that effect.

In answer to the question: ‘Do you agree that the law in Scotland should be changed to allow same-sex marriage?’ the Church of Scotland answered, unequivocally, ‘no’.

In the substantive section that follows in the response, it goes on to say: ‘The Church cannot agree that the law in Scotland should be changed to allow same-sex marriage.’ It argues that the Scottish Government is proposing to make fundamental changes to the way in which marriage is regarded in Scotland, where it is seen to be the relationship of a man and a woman.

It is worth quoting directly the response at this point. The reason for doing so is to show that whilst the response holds up the colours of ecumenical Christian orthodoxy, it only does so pro tem. In then mentioning the Barrier Act procedure of the Church of Scotland in the same section, it signals the possibility of laying those colours down in the not-too-distant future:

 ‘If the Church were to agree that marriage be redefined to include same-sex marriage this would involve a fundamental change in its understanding of marriage. In common with the historic position of the Christian Church, the Church of Scotland has always viewed marriage as being between one man and one woman. Despite recent discussions on the status of same-sex and other relationships, and of civil partnerships, the General Assembly has at no point been invited to consider any such redefinition of marriage.  Indeed, a recent consultation among elders and ministers indicated only limited support for same-sex marriage (Report to General Assembly 2011 of Special Commission on Same Sex Relationships and the Ministry).

The Church has only ever taught that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. Scriptural references to marriage, whether literal or metaphorical, all operate under this understanding. Furthermore the point is established within the Reformed tradition of the Church, not least in its subordinate standards.  The Church sees itself as part of the catholic or universal Church within which there is agreement, across confessional divides, that marriage is between one man and one woman. Most recent work under the auspices of the General Assembly, in particular the work conducted by the Joint Commission on Doctrine (with the Roman Catholic Church) through the 1980s and 1990s, and the specific report on marriage from the Panel on Doctrine in 1994, have likewise upheld what can only be called the conventional or regular understanding of marriage.

If the Church were to change its position on marriage to include same-sex marriage, such a change would only be enacted into the law of the Church with the agreement of two successive General Assemblies and, in the intervening 12 months, a majority of presbyteries. (See the Church’s Barrier Act 1697.)

The Legal Questions Committee of the Church of Scotland has done as much as it could. It has stated the position of the Church of Scotland, as it is at the present, a traditional and orthodox position, even if the recent General Assembly has shown that the Kirk wants to move away from that position.

The bottom line is that there are grounds for gratitude. A strong affirmation of heterosexual marriage has been offered to the Scottish Government by the Church of Scotland. It has based its argument and its response on scripture, on the Confession of Faith, and on the tradition of the Church ecumenical. But it has also winked at the Scottish Government – is that unfair? – and hinted that the Church of Scotland’s view may not always be thus.

It is a difficult response to read, having, as it does, a curious sense of make-believe about it. Whilst written in convincingly orthodox terms, we all know that the General Assemblies of 2013/14 could overthrow the whole of it and toss it out, in favour of revisionist ambitions. I hope that the Kirk’s response lends weight to those opposing the Scottish Government’s proposals.

For those of us in the Church of Scotland, this response, welcome as it is, is just one station in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land. The journey is far from over, and many disappointments and travails are probably ahead.

Sorry I can’t be more chipper.

Soli Deo Gloria

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