A MODERATOR of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has addressed the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC) for the first time.
Last Friday, the Primus introduced the Rt Revd Sally Foster-Fulton, who became Moderator last month (News, 26 May). It was “an historic day”, he said. “This is a day when are not simply being ourselves in this hall; we have the leader of one of the other Churches we work with — the Church of Scotland, the national Church of Scotland.”
He said that there had been “great rejoicing” when Ms Foster-Fulton was announced as the next Moderator, as many in the SEC had experience of working with her at Christian Aid Scotland.
She said that she was “honoured and thrilled” to be there, and spoke of working with other denominations and other faiths. “When we choose to expand our embrace, open our hearts and minds, widen our perspective and step out in faith with those from other faiths who share a vision for love and equity and peace, we are never diluted but enriched and enriching.”
Co-operation was more important than ever as the world faced the challenges of climate change, she said, and she paid tribute to the SEC’s activism. “I will never forget the COP26 march in Glasgow, where a sodden and fully robed Primus walked in rain-soaked solidarity with sisters and brothers who know the depth of this climate catastrophe. The Scottish Episcopal Church made a statement that day, and you have continued to be a beacon for the Church in Scotland.”
Ms Foster-Fulton said that the written ecumenical policies of the two Churches were “about as far from the dry-as-toast, formulaic documents we might have cynically expected, as they could be, in my humble opinion.
“If we truly embrace the vision they offer, we can — no, we will — truly serve God and our communities. I love how they celebrate our unique gifts and traditions, while at the very same time they are blowing wide open the possibilities to serve Scotland and the world together today.”
AFTER warm applause, and a break for coffee, members found themselves in disagreement over proposed amendments to the canons governing the limits of what a non-SEC minister was allowed to do in a Scottish Episcopal charge, before problems with the electronic voting system led to further disagreements.
The convener of the Inter-Church Relations Committee, Canon Charlotte Methuen, had introduced the proposed changes to the canons by saying that they would merely give legal force to ecumenical arrangements that had already been agreed.
The Primus said that such exchanges, in which clergy officiated in churches of different denominations, occurred frequently in the Highlands. “Clearly, in my position, I’d rather this was in the canonical provision than continually breaking the canon.”
After ecumenical guests from the Methodist Church and the Church of Scotland had risen to welcome the move, Dr Euan Grant (St Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane) urged members to vote against the canons.
“Are we not, by this canon, severing, in some limited sense, the unity of episcopacy and eucharist?” he asked. He said that, although the answer might, perhaps, be to accept these changes, the SEC had taken the question “culpably lightly”, at which point he was cut off for exceeding the time limit for speakers.
The Revd Dr Stephen Holmes (Edinburgh) also asked members to reject the changes, saying that they “seem fine”, but that it “contradicts Canon 1 [‘Of preserving the episcopal succession and the threefold ministry’] in spirit and in form if not in matter, and I think it’s just the wrong time to do it”.
Canon Methuen emphasised that the St Andrew Declaration did not amount to being in “full communion” with the Church of Scotland and some other Churches, but was an arrangement of “limited exchange”.
“We’ve made a theological decision to say: ‘Actually, we can share the eucharist, even if we’re still discussing order’,” she said, and that the proposed changes merely put this into practice.
Canon Vittoria Hancock (Aberdeen & Orkney) said that, during Holy Week and Easter this year, she had been off sick. The nearest retired SEC cleric lived an hour-and-a-half’s drive away, but there was a retired Church of Scotland minister in the area who could, and did, cover the services.
“I recognise that there are theological problems . . . but, as a priest working on the ground in a rural area, where I trust my colleagues, where everyone knows who everyone is, so there is no deception around, [I believe that] this is what we need.”
The Bishop of Argyll & The Isles, Dr Keith Riglin, said, however, that “with a heavy heart” he could not support the changes: “I simply do not believe that the eucharist should be used as a means for unity, when it is, in fact, an expression of unity.”
Another member expressed concern that the changes might affect unity in the Anglican Communion; but Canon Meuthen countered that “our sister Churches in the British Isles” had all incorporated the same provisions as were being proposed.
There was drama when it came to a vote: the results suggested that the motion had been carried comfortably, but also that seven votes had been cast in the House of Bishops, despite only six bishops being in attendance. (The Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney is suspended pending the outcome of a disciplinary process).
After an audit, it was proposed that the vote should be rerun. Neil MacLennan, from Sanctus Media, which operates the voting system, explained that the code had been updated that morning, which was why members had been asked to refresh their devices. “Perhaps someone was in the toilet when that happened, and didn’t hear that instruction,” he said.
Dr Beth Routledge (Glasgow & Galloway) expressed “concerns about the integrity of how the system is working”, and suggested that a show of hands would be more reliable. There was audible dissent from the floor.
After further clarity on the nature of the problem had been requested and provided, the vote was rerun. The figures were the same for the Clergy and Laity, but this time the voting was 4-2 in the Bishops.
A second motion was also carried, again the correct number of bishops voting.