The legal test case will set the scene for what could be one of the largest land and property wrangles in Scotland, as evangelical congregations prepare to challenge the Church of Scotland’s stance on gay ordination at the next General Assembly.

Legal proceedings have been started by the Church of Scotland against Rev Dr William Philip to seize back the landmark St George’s Tron Church in Glasgow.

The action, sparked after the minister and his flock left the Kirk over its stance on allowing homosexual clergy, includes the manse in the south side of the city.

The 500-strong congregation that seceded from the Kirk in June with plans to join a more strict denomination believe the church buildings belong to them, while the Church of Scotland is to go to court for the 17th-century structure off Buchanan Street.

Also in contention is the building in the city’s Drumbreck area, where Mr Philip, who has been the minister there for seven years, lives with his wife.

Richard Henry, the St George’s Tron’s session clerk who helps administer the parish, is included in the legal action, along with the treasurer. Mr Henry said in a letter to Glasgow presbytery members: “Our minister and his wife received a letter at home stating that he and his family now had no right to remain in the manse, even though the manse clearly belongs to the congregation, not the denomination, and Dr Philip remains the minister of the congregation.

“More recently, court proceedings have now also been launched personally against our minister, our treasurer and myself by the new ‘Interim Moderator’ and ‘Kirk Session of St George’s Tron Church of Scotland’. The Summons we received claims that the action is raised with ‘the full concurrence of the Presbytery of Glasgow’.  All these things have been very stressful, as you can imagine, and also very disappointing, since we have sought to make clear at every stage that we hoped our situation could be resolved amicably, away from public dispute in the courts.”

The legal test case will set the scene for what could be one of the largest land and property wrangles in Scotland, as evangelical congregations prepare to challenge the Kirk’s stance on gay ordination at the next General Assembly.

The court battle over St George’s Tron is the first one in response to the Kirk’s stance in allowing the Rev Scott Rennie, who is openly gay, to take up a post in Aberdeen.

The Kirk’s General Assembly voted to accept gay clergy provided they had declared their sexuality and were ordained before 2009, and next year it will outline how it will implement that decision on a wider basis.

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