Church of Scotland minister to step down after gay vote

The Rev Andrew Coghill has ministered at Leurbost Church in Lochs, Lewis, for nearly 20 years.

He was outspoken about his opposition to gay clergy during the General Assembly debate last week. The six-and-a-half-hour debate ended with a vote in favour of the establishment of a theological commission to prepare the way for gay ordinations.

Mr Coghill announced his intention to step down from his post at Leurbost on Sunday, telling the congregation that his decision had been made with the “utmost sorrow and heartfelt grief”.

“The Cross is not simply to be preached, it is to be lived,” he was quoted as saying by the Scotsman.

Mr Coghill said he was not encouraging others to follow suit as he is uncertain about his own future beyond the Church of Scotland.

“I do not know the direction of my own future,” he said.

“I know only that whilst many good, godly and devout Christian men and women will continue within the fold of the Church of Scotland, I personally cannot continue to serve a Church which as an institution, has chosen its own gods, and departed from the God of the Bible, whatever words may be used to contrary.

“I have taken you as far as the Lord has allowed me to do.”

He follows the Rev Roddy MacRae, minister of Glenelg and Kintail, who last week announced his intention to leave the Church of Scotland following the vote.

Homosexuality became an issue of contention in the Church after the appointment of the openly gay minister, Scott Rennie, to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen two years ago.

The Church of Scotland has allowed gay priests ordained before 2009 to preach in its churches, but it will be another two years before the Church debates the ordination of gay ministers.