Welcome to Covenant Fellowship Scotland
 
Covenant Fellowship Scotland was launched on 18th December 2014 in Glasgow.
At the launch, a representative group of members, elders, and ministers of the Church of Scotland signed the Declaration.
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Consider Supporting CFS

As a charity, we rely on the generosity of our supporters.

If you feel able to contribute to the running costs of Covenant Fellowship Scotland then please email the Director and we will provide details of how to do so, and, where appropriate, a Gift Aid form.

Thank you.

CFS Trustees

Covenant Fellowship Scotland is registered with OSCR as
Scottish Charity SC043628.

Trustees of the charity are:

Rev Professor Andrew McGowan 
(Chairman)
Rev Richard Buckley
Rev Ian Murdo Macdonald
Mr Kenneth Mackenzie
Rev Mark Malcolm
Rev Ann McCool
Rev Hector Morrison
Rev Colin Strong

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Blog Articles...

9th April "Diverse Gender Identities And Pastoral Care - Where The Recent Church of Scotland Booklet Needs To Be Challenged - 1) "In The Beginning"  - ( article below )

9th April "Transgender - Some Background Information on the Topic Before Exploring Further" - ( article below )

19th March "Diverse Gender Identities And Pastoral Care" - ( article below )

To see the full list, visit the blog page. 

 

News Items...

21st November "CFS Detailed Response to the Theological Forum Report to the 2017 General Assembly" - ( item  below )

To see the full list, visit the news page.

In a previous blog article, we indicated that our Church’s recent booklet Diverse Gender Identities and Pastoral Care should certainly help many of our elders (and members) to become aware of some of the basic issues experienced by the small percentage of the population who suffer from gender dysphoria, or who self-identify as gender-non-conforming people.

However, we also highlighted the fact that the booklet is insufficient on its own. This is the case, not least because a significant number of statements are made – some of them by those who have studied theology formally – that need to be challenged in terms of what the Bible itself teaches and what orthodox theology has taught across denominations and across the world for the past two millennia. In a further series of articles, we would hope to highlight some of our concerns. We start today ‘in the beginning’ with some of the teaching of Genesis 1 that is challenged in this booklet.

What Genesis 1:27 teaches.

One of the more significant concerns that CFS has with the recent booklet, Diverse Gender Identities and Pastoral Care, produced by the Mission & Discipleship Council of the Church of Scotland, is that, in three of the stories related there, specific, positive reference is made to queer theology without any definition or analysis of that term being given, or any alternative assessment being made of it, and, in particular, how it relates to orthodox Christian teaching.

It is clear that if this booklet is to be discussed by Kirk Sessions they will need to be informed as to what queer theology is, where it came from and what its intentions are. Queer theology takes its name from queer theory which was first developed in the early 1990s.

In a brief (2-minute) video clip which can be found on the Forum of Christian Leaders (FOCL) European Leadership Forum website, Dr Peter Saunders, CEO of Christian Medical Fellowship, helps us to understand in lay language what lies at the very heart of queer theory. The website contains other helpful material on this and related issues:

We hope that these resources will help inform Christians of the background to the subject of transgender and bring some helpful clarity to a complex area as we move on to give further responses.

Some of you may be aware of a recently published booklet from the Church of Scotland, entitled Diverse Gender Identities and Pastoral Care. For information on how to obtain copies and how to download the booklet free of charge see https://www.resourcingmission.org.uk/shop/diverse-gender-identities-and-pastoral-care

As the booklet explains in its opening page, it is the official response of the Mission and Discipleship Council of the Church of Scotland, ‘working with the Church and Society Council and others where appropriate,’ to a deliverance proposed from the floor of the General Assembly of 2016 and approved by that Assembly. The deliverance instructed the above Councils to ‘promote congregational learning and awareness of the issues that transgender and gender-non-conforming people experience in order to better facilitate pastoral care to and the inclusion of transgender and gender non-conforming people at a local level.’ 

Having given time for thought and prayer, Covenant Fellowship Scotland has prepared a detailed response to the Report from the Theological Forum to the 2017 General Assembly, with particular reference to the Appendix to the report: "An Approach to the Theology of Same-Sex Marriage (2017)"

Two versions of the response are available as PDF files - a short (six-page) version and a longer (sixteen-page) version for those wishing to engage in greater detail with the theological sources and arguments presented.

We hope and pray that this work will be helpful to Ministers, Elders and members who find themselves engaged in discussion and debate in Presbytery, in their local congregations or with others who may wish to consider this topic thoughtfully.

Attachments:
Download this file (CFS Brief response to TF Report post Assembly.pdf)CFS response to TF Report[Brief]421 kB
Download this file (CFS Full Response to TF Report post Assembly.pdf)CFS response to TF Report[Full]1001 kB

signing covenant declaration

I believe that the Church of Scotland is moving away from its roots in Scripture and the Westminster Confession of Faith.  I believe that the time has come for the creation of a ‘Covenant Fellowship’ within the Church.  This Covenant Fellowship will draw together those who believe that the Scriptures, in their entirety, are the Word of God and must provide the basis for everything we believe and do.  This vision is nothing less than the reformation and renewal of the Church of Scotland, in accordance with the Word of God and by the empowering of his life-giving Spirit.

Show your support:
If you would like to show your support for the above statement, then please use the form on our Contact page here or print off and sign a copy for posting back to us by going here.