The Tron on General Assembly

St George's Tron Church in Glasgow is one of the leading evangelical churches in the Church of Scotland, and the base of Cornhill Scotland. Their minister, Willie Philip made a statement on the decision of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to uphold the appointment of a minister living with his male partner.

The disappointment is evident, and yet he makes some great points as the Tron looks to the future. He acknowledges that fellowship in the Kirk is damaged, but affirms fellowship, partnership in the gospel with those who hold to God's word. To that end, the elders decided not to hold an offering at the service, as most of the offering goes to central Church Funds, and they won't be sending money into the central funds. Instead, they will fund gospel work, both within the Scottish churches, and elsewhere. And finally, they will not be moving from their building in the very heart of Glasgow city centre - it's a great mission base, so why leave and abandon it for others to come in to preach a false gospel and a false Jesus?

He also makes the key point that all of us struggle with sin, and especially sexual sin, but we are not to condone it. Rather, the church's reaction should be to encourage each other to struggle with sin, to fight against it, not give in and sanctify it.

At the heart of all that he says, is the assertion that the denomination is NOT the church. The denomination, whether the Church of Scotland, the Church of Ireland, the Baptist Union or whatever, is just a grouping of local churches, a grouping of congregations. The important church unit is the congregation, not the denomination.

Interesting times.