Dismay over John Knox successor

Evangelicals in Scotland have expressed disappointment following the Church of Scotland’s (CofS) “tragic” appointment of Scott Rennie as the minister of St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Rennie, who is married to a man, will now preach from Scotland’s most famous pulpit, once occupied by John Knox, who spearheaded the Scottish Reformation.

Rennie was the national church’s first openly homosexual minister and his appointment as the minister of Queen’s Cross Church, Aberdeen in 2009 kickstarted the church’s debate and eventual change of doctrinal position on gay marriage, with churches formally allowed to call homosexual ministers from 2013 and conduct same-sex marriages from 2022.

‘Discernment of God’s will’ claim

When asked about evangelical disappointment regarding the appointment, Alexander Forsyth, CofS Moderator of the Presbytery of Edinburgh and West Lothian, pointed out that the Kirk Session of St Giles voted to depart from the church’s traditional position on same-sex relationships, and even claimed that Rennie was nominated through the “discernment of God’s will through the Holy Spirit”.

He told en that it was a “pleasure and privilege” to lead Rennie’s induction service and that the Presbytery is delighted to welcome “a gifted and dedicated minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ”.

‘Symptomatic of decline’

David Randall Snr., a former CofS minister of 39 years and author of A Sad Departure, which documented why evangelicals left the Kirk, said of the appointment: “It is all symptomatic of the decline of the denomination, which has been closing down congregations all over the country.”

Campbell Campbell-Jack, who ministered to several CofS congregations, also expressed his dismay: “I was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Edinburgh in St Giles. It mattered a great deal to me that this was the church where John Knox preached Biblical truth. St Giles has previously known ministers of Biblical power such as Robert Bruce. Today with the induction of Scott Rennie it has decisively turned its back on the Bible.”