| The Rev Scott Rennie is currently minister at Brechin Cathedral but is poised to take over a position at Queen’s Cross church in the granite city, recently vacated by the Rev Bob Brown, brother of former Scotland football manager Craig Brown.
The city’s presbytery voted 60-24 in favour of the appointment. However, critics within the congregation who do not approve of Mr Rennie’s lifestyle, are expected to lodge an appeal to block the move within the next 10 days.
The Church of Scotland General Assembly, which is divided over civil partnerships, would then make the final decision.
Mr Rennie, who stood in the Angus constituence for the Lib Dems in the 2005 general election, is separated from his wife, with whom he has a young daughter. He shares the manse at Brechin with another man.
The Church of Scotland said Mr Rennie was recognised as an enthusiastic and gifted preacher.
On the issue of same sex relationships, a spokesman said, “The church promotes and is supportive of marriage, not least because its ministry includes weddings. It would be up to the local presbytery to decide whether a minister within its bounds had behaved in a way that could constitute a disciplinary offence in church law.
“If a single minister has a relationship with someone of the opposite sex, marriage is available to them.
“The church never does services that would constitute a civil partnership — they are not a marriage — so a minister with a same sex partner does not have the option of marriage, and the presbytery is inevitably making a different kind of judgment.
He said, “I understand Mr Rennie is not the first openly gay minister in the church. However, ministers are not required to indicate to us what their relationship status is for any public statistical purposes, so we would treat such information as private.”
Mr Rennie was referring all inquiries to the Church of Scotland head office in Edinburgh. |
