Kirk takes a gamble on lottery U-turn

Raymond Duncan and Lynne Robertson report from

the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

THE Church of Scotland last night approved a softening of its hard-line opposition to applying for National Lottery funding.

After a two-hour, passionate debate, its General Assembly approved by only 11 votes the findings of a commission which recommended a relaxation of existing Kirk rules.

The decision was made after the first card vote of this year's assembly which approved, by only 290 votes to 279, the move to allow applications to be made for lottery funding where no other support was available.

The decision will also allow hard-pressed congregations with crumbling churches to make applications for financial assistance.

Presenting the report to the assembly, Mr Colin Campbell QC, the convener of the year-long commission set up to look at the issue, admitted that differences of opinion had emerged in the course of the deliberations.

However, he added: ''I am as confident as I can be that the conclusions are the results of a thorough and comprehensive review of not only church policy but also of the relevant factual background to our remit.''

He said there had been a consensus of opinion on the way forward allowing a softening of the church's current policy, which opposes all lottery applications because of the Kirk's anti-gambling stance.

Mr Campbell warned the church's life and work would suffer if a total veto were imposed: ''The current policy, if continued, would surely inhibit the Church of Scotland's outreach in some areas. It would also prevent the church from at least returning some of that money to those areas where very often the church is one of the few agencies involved in community and bridge-building work.''

The vote taken last night enacts in church law the commission's findings. The call to formalise the findings in church law came from former Moderator the Very Rev Dr James Weatherhead.

The move was opposed by the Rev Gilbert Nisbet, who called for a total ban on applications, while allowing the church's work to continue with other groups who may apply for such funding.

Mr Nisbet, of Largoward with St Monans in Fife, said the move would jeopardise the church's principles. The only way of ensuring a clear signal was to impose a ban.

The assembly's decision is likely to bring it into conflict with the Kirk's board of social responsibility. Board convener Ann Allen and her deputy, the Rev James Cowie, were members of the commission and argued the rules barring acceptance of all funding from the lottery should have stood.

The lottery question was first raised by the Presbytery of Dumbarton after Dumbarton's West Church received a grant of #500,000 towards a #1.2m restoration. The grant has since been accepted and work completed.