An almighty stushie

There is an unholy row going on over in Glasgow at the moment over the ownership of St George's Tron Kirk. Glasgow Presbytery has decided to replace the current vibrant congregation which ministers to the needs of that part of the city centre with another "vibrant congregation ... ministering to the needs of that part of the city centre", the difference being that the current lot don't agree with the Church of Scotland's stance on practising homosexual clergy whereas the proposed replacement bunch would presumably toe the CofS line. Where the new congregation is going to come from, in these days of dwindling church attendance, doesn't seem to figure in the Presbytery's calculations. Nor do they seem to realise that, by grabbing the building and all the congregation's finances, they are sending out a signal to all parishioners everywhere that it's not worth putting money into your local church because it is liable to be appropriated and you could well find yourself out in the cold if you don't agree with the Kirk in all matters, temporal and spiritual. Calton suspects that we will see a lot more old churches being converted into pubs, clubs and carpet warehouses in the next few years as the Church of Scotland self-destructs.