The Church of Scotland is set to lose another minister following its decision to permit openly homosexual clergy last week.
Revd Andrew Coghill had previously warned the Kirk’s governing body that ordaining homosexual ministers would destroy the church.
Now he has announced his resignation saying that he cannot remain in the church following its departure from Biblical teachings.
Lived
Revd Coghill, who has served his church in the Outer Hebrides for nearly 20 years, told his congregation: “The Cross is not simply to be preached, it is to be lived.”
He added: “I do not expect, encourage or require that any of you should follow me out of the Church of Scotland, for I have nowhere to lead you, and I do not know the direction of my own future.
“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, and receive the stipend, of 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.”
Vote
Revd Coghill will leave his post at the end of August.
Following last week’s vote homosexual ministers in same-sex relationships can freely preach in the Church of Scotland if they were ordained before 2009.
The future ordination and training of gay and lesbian clergy will be decided in 2013 when a theological commission publishes a report on the matter.
Resign
Last week Revd Roddy MacRae became the first minister to announce his intention to leave the Kirk because of its vote to allow homosexual clergy.
Responding to the Kirk’s governing body’s decision he said: “It’s a sad day for Scotland. It affects every church and we really need to think through where we go from here as an evangelical body, for the glory of God and for the sake of the people of Scotland.”