GAY rights supporters have called for a rethink by the Church of Scotland over its controversial voting policy plans for allowing homosexual clergy.
It is claimed that a move intended to promote greater acceptance of gay clergy could instead end up making their appointment tougher.
The Herald understands the majority of traditionalists within the Kirk have backed a system that would see parishes voting on the principle of allowing gay ministers twice and having to get a two-thirds majority both times before the congregation votes separately for any preferred candidate on a simple majority. Currently a prospective candidate is chosen after one congregational vote in which he or she has to gain 51%.
The online Pink News publication said it believed any congregation should be able to vote in a simple majority just once and a two-tier system was not needed.
Joseph Patrick McCormick, deputy editor of Pink News.co.uk, said: "Requiring a larger majority, or an extra vote, in order to allow the principle of an openly gay minister to be appointed is simply wrong.
"The Kirk and any congregation could choose not to select a gay minister using the standard majority vote, but it should not be more difficult for a gay minister to be elected than a straight one." The first draft document to set out how parishes who wish to appoint a gay minister would do so has been praised and criticised within the Kirk.
A "hardline minority" could make a protest over the plans, but a proposal to make it a two-thirds majority is based on the view that a congregation could be more unsettled and divided after a vote if success were founded on a narrow margin, such as 16 votes to 15.
The Church is unable to comment on the document while it is under consultation but the depth and quality of the debate has been described as "positive, open and encouraging".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article