The Presbyterian Church voted to break ties and loosen its affiliation with the Church of Scotland because of disagreements regarding the approval of same-sex relationships.
Furthermore, the Presbyterian Church of Ireland will no longer extend an invitation to the Head of the Church of Scotland to attend its General Assembly in Belfast.
Voting was conducted at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church on Wednesday; the results were 255 to 171.
Church members also voted to revoke the invitation of the moderator of the United Reformed Church to its General Assembly.
The General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church, Reverend Trevor Gribben, issued a statement regarding the vote, saying that, the results are notable because “it demonstrated that a majority of Assembly members felt that both denominations have drifted far from biblical truth in relation to marriage, and were, in fact, ignoring the authority of Scripture.”
“Both are now moving towards a position where so called same sex marriage can be performed in the context of their worship services. Our Church is very clear that marriage, as defined in God’s Word, is between one man and one woman and significantly it is God’s Word that is authoritative,” he said.
In response, Reverend Susan Brown of the Church of Scotland expressed her disappointment and stated that the decision would drive people away from Christianity.
“To a world which doesn’t understand the nuances of particular theological stances, today’s decision will be yet another reason to stay away from religion and from Christianity in particular,” she said.
However, Reverend Susan Brown is missing the glaring facts presented in Scripture. The God of the Bible does not support same-sex relationships and or the whims of culture.
For a Church to distance itself from God’s Word in such a manner as the Church of Scotland has, it allows for culture to persuade a populace that God’s Word is somehow not authoritative and final, which in particular is one of the explicit messages in the Bible.