The Church of Scotland's first female minister to be elected as Moderator to the General Assembly has preached on the importance of unity in her first sermon at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh on Sunday.

The Rt Rev Sheilagh Kesting, 53, took up the post of Moderator at the opening of the General Assembly on Saturday, becoming the second woman to hold the honorary role after Church elder Dr Alison Elliot who was appointed three years.

Rev Kesting, from Stornoway on the isle of Lewis, succeeds the Rev Alan McDonald who was also at the General Assembly where they formally exchanged greetings and positions.

Present at the ceremony were Scotland's new First Minister Alex Salmond, the Queen's representative, the Lord High Commissioner the Duke of York, and the Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini QC.

Rev Kesting said prior to the ceremony that her appointment would be "tremendously inspirational for women in many churches around the world who are longing to be able to be ministers in the church but it is not yet possible".

She based Sunday's sermon on John 17:20 and the prayer of Jesus 'that they may be one', as she challenged the congregation to build a unity characterised by glory and love and "the premise that no one is outside the loving embrace of God and that living this requires a sharing of that love in a way that values people simply for being people".

She called on Christians to not only talk the Gospel of peace but also live it out in their lives.
"If we live as though God had not torn down the barriers that divide people of different backgrounds and cultures, if we cannot ourselves work for the healing of the tensions that are so disabling and can find no way of respecting difference as the sign of a healthy community, we will fail to be convincing.

"We will have turned the spotlight onto ourselves and our divisions, as so often in our history, and away from Jesus, who is the only focus of our unity," said Rev Kesting, a keen gardener and singer who was educated at the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway and Edinburgh University.

Last week, Rev Kesting praised the efforts of her predecessors, including Rev McDonald, to tackle "Scotland's sectarian shame".

"I certainly would want to continue that work with the Cardinal [Keith O'Brien]."

The agenda at the weeklong assembly includes debates on sexuality and whether the Church should accept sex offenders into its fold. Lighter issues include proposals to set up a children's General Assembly and expand the Church's work with developing countries.