Following an impassioned debate lasting almost six hours, its General Assembly voted to affirm its “current doctrine and practice in relation to human sexuality”, which stops gay people becoming ministers.

However, under a compromise hammered out during the debate, liberal congregations will be able to opt out of that and appoint gay clergy if they wish.

Over the course of the next year, a legal framework will be developed to accommodate the proposals, which will then be ratified by presbyteries, before finally being rubber-stamped by the General Assembly in 2015.

Read the news article.

Rev. David Robertson, Minister of St. Peter’s Free Church in Dundee, Scotland, Director of the Solas Center for Public Christianity, and a member of the World Reformed Felllowship, has posted his response to the action on the WRF website entitled, “The Church of Scotland – RIP? Reflections on a Sea Change in the Church of Scotland.” To read his article, click here.