lone protester nails sign to church door, but it’s all smiles after sermon
Gay minister’s first service trouble-free
Published:
A gay minister’s first service at an Aberdeen church to which he was appointed amid international controversy was trouble-free despite a lone protester nailing a placard to the church’s door earlier.
The Rev Scott Rennie, 37, took part in his first Sunday service as the minister of Queen’s Cross yesterday.
The sign which was attached to the door on Saturday night by an evangelist opposed to his appointment read: “God’s house has been turned into a den of iniquity.”
The announcement of Mr Rennie as the new minister at Queen’s Cross led to him becoming the target of a campaign by people opposed to the appointment, which went as far as the US.
The appointment went before the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly, with objectors picketing outside the Edinburgh building.
It caused one of the biggest rifts the Kirk has seen.
At yesterday’s service, Mr Rennie, formerly the minister at Brechin Cathedral, read two passages of scripture to his new congregation.
The service was conducted by the Very Rev James Simpson, who urged the packed-out church to support Mr Rennie, who he described as “a most able, committed and caring parish minister”.
The service was free from the demonstrations seen in Edinburgh earlier this year, but members of Queen’s Cross were at the church early yesterday morning to remove the placard which had been nailed to the door.
The man who erected the board told the Press and Journal that the Church and his faith helped him recover from a drinking problem 20 years ago but that now, with the induction of Mr Rennie, he believed some people would no longer see the church as a haven.
He insisted he was not anti homosexuals but that he did not believe they belonged in the ministry. He said he was uncomfortable with the idea of Mr Rennie’s partner David Smith living with him in the manse. The protester, who works with drug and alcohol addicts, said that Aberdeen Presbytery had “watered the word of God down”.
