The minister of Loudoun parish church, David Randall, was opening mail in his study in Newmilns, East Ayrshire last Friday morning. There was his copy of Life and Work, the Church of Scotland’s monthly magazine. He ripped off the plastic bag without a thought, expecting the usual mixture of obituaries, book reviews and interviews with prominent churchmen. But he had barely got past the inside cover when it was thrown aside in disgust.

Editor Muriel Armstrong’s page one column, calling for the church to show “leadership” over the appointment of openly gay minister Scott Rennie to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen, and suggesting celebrating “diversity while remaining true to the gospel”, has horrified conservative elements within the kirk.

Randall is not the only reader to be appalled: Rennie’s ministry has become the most divisive issue facing the Church of Scotland since 1843, when 450 ministers stormed out of the general assembly to form the Free Church in a row over patronage.

“Ministers get a complimentary copy of the magazine before it goes out to subscribers. This was very much an abuse of the position that Life and Work holds,” said Randall.

“It is stated clearly that it is editorially independent, but it also has a responsibility to fairly represent the different viewpoints that there are within the church, and it has departed from that completely.”

Randall has done more than splutter into his fair-trade coffee and throw his magazine straight into the recycling bin. He is one of a growing group of conservative ministers who are seeing Rennie’s ministry as a deal-breaker.

“This is an issue of authority of scripture,” said Randall. “What the Bible teaches on sexuality is perfectly clear and the church has always taught that homosexual activity is sinful. It is just not the case, as proponents of homosexual clergy are trying to suggest, that those against such a lifestyle are a small, fundamentalist minor-ity. It is, and has always been, central Christian doctrine.

“Only two years ago, the presbyteries of the kirk overwhelmingly rejected proposals to give ministers freedom to bless civil partnerships. The church’s will is known.”

His father, also David, who has been a minister in Macduff for 38 years, holds the same views. “I have ministered and sought to serve the Church of Scotland for my entire working life. I have been involved in its life and work, I have defended it against its detractors, I have two sons now in the ministry, and it is heartbreaking to see all I have worked for being threatened by people who will not abide by biblical teaching and who seem determined to divide the church,” he said.

Randall has submitted a formal complaint about Armstrong’s article to the Church of Scotland’s Mission and Discipleship Council and, if the issue is not resolved to his liking, he is considering turning his back on the church altogether. “Leaving would have to be considered a possibility,” he said.

So who is this troublesome priest who has caused such a schism within the Church of Scotland? Scott Rennie is a 37-year-old divorced father of one. He is an active Liberal Democrat who stood as a prospective MSP for the Angus constituency at the last Holyrood elections. He makes no secret of his sexuality and lives with his partner David, a teacher of religious education.

When the popular minister at Queen’s Cross retired last year Rennie, who had been a well-liked assistant minister at the church, applied for the job. In case anyone didn’t already know he was gay, he sent every member of the congregation a leaflet outlining his decision to divorce his wife and come out. More than 80% voted for him.

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