What is important to note here is that this fund was set up in the time of Sinclair Ferguson with the approval of the Glasgow Presbytery. If I were a member of the Tron I would not have given to the congregation unless I had been assured that my money would not be used to fund works that I regarded as unbiblical

The Free Kirk, the Wee Kirk,
The Kirk without the Steeple,
The Auld Kirk, the Cauld Kirk
The Kirk without the People

(A popular rhyme at the time of 1843 Disruption)

The Tron situation has moved on. And we need to move on too. But because of the importance of what has happened in recent days and what it reveals about the state of the Church in Scotland today, I want to continue to examine what has been going on. I do so with a great deal of trepidation not least because of my own inabilities, lack of knowledge and sin.

There are many reasons for not going here again but I simply feel constrained to do this because there is so much gossip and misinformation that I believe it is now essential to set out the situation as it now is. Again I am very open to new information, correction and rebuke. I do not intend to write on this situation again but if there are any corrections that need to be made, or anything I write that is wrong let me know and I will make sure they are corrected. The following is based upon press reports, press releases from the Church of Scotland and the Tron, and personal correspondence from a number of people.

Background

For those who are not yet aware, one of the main evangelical congregations in the Church of Scotland, St Georges Tron, decided to leave the Church of Scotland after the denomination had agreed to accept ministers who were in same sex relationships. In October the Glasgow presbytery voted to remove the congregation from the Tron building that had recently been refurbished at a cost of £3.1 million. They also voted to evict the minister, Dr William Phillip from the church manse. The congregation were preparing to leave the building on December the 9th when things took a somewhat nasty, if not surprising turn. The Wednesday before this the prayer meeting of the congregation attended by 100 people was interrupted by Messengers at Arms who on the instruction of the Church of Scotland, removed the minister from addressing the meeting, and served him with a citation demanding that various items such as the organ, hymn books etc. be handed over to 121 George Street. The following day the same citation was again served on the minister and his wife at their home. On Sunday December the 9th the congregation held their last meeting in a packed church and that evening held their first service (again packed) in the Bath Street Halls. Since then both sides have given their point of view.

The ‘Official View

The Church of Scotland released a couple of press releases including background for journalists who might not know the relevant facts. It is pretty damning stuff. The Church of Scotland only engaged in this reaction reluctantly. It only acted the way it did because it was clear that property belonging to the church was illegally being removed from the building. In addition to this the Church felt compelled to write to the Charities regulator OSCR, raising a number of concerns about the action of various persons whilst they were still trustees of St Georges Tron; in particular the charge that many assets of the congregation, including a large sum of money, ‘may’ have been transferred from the congregation to a separate trust called the Epaphras Trust. The Church was especially disappointed because it is still owed £1 million by the Tron.

In addition to these charges the press release asserted that they had only taken action because of the lack of co-operation from the Tron. And that they were set on establishing a new evangelical congregation in the Tron building. The background notes helpfully pointed out that the Church of Scotland has taken no legal action against the Tron; that they are willing to negotiate about the occupation of the Manse (but not to hand it over to the Tron); that the Messengers at Arms did not ‘storm’ (the word used by the Tron) the prayer meeting but had a amiable discussion outwith the meeting; and repeats the claim that the Tron owe £1 million and that the Church of Scotland has gone the extra mile.

There it is. Theft, fraud, failure to pay debts and intransigence. Little wonder that the Church of Scotland had to act. Except, as we keep being reminded, there are two sides to every story. So I decided to investigate both.

The Tron’s View

The Tron denies all of these charges and whilst not necessarily endorsing every action or decision taken by the Tron (I always find it amazing that, because of the personalisation of everything, people think that you either agree with everything or nothing), I have to say that the truth is quite shocking. It is not just that there has been enough spin to make Alastair Campbell dizzy, but that there has been a great deal of what in parliamentary language is called ‘being economical with the truth’ and what if the Tron were so inclined, could be called libel. In fact the Church of Scotland communications department has clearly developed ecumenical press relationships with Pravda! Lets just go through the main facts:

1) The £1 million owed. This consists of £500,000 of a building loan and an alleged similar sum in unpaid contributions. As regards the charge is that the congregation owed the money because of the percentage ‘tax’ system operated by the central funds. The only trouble with this allegation is that it is false. The congregation more than paid their way (they were in the top 25% of givers for the whole Church of Scotland). The ‘unpaid’ contributions is not money the Tron had, that was given for central funds, it is what ‘121’ (the administrative centre) wanted. The Tron could not give what they did not have. They did set up a separate fund called the Epaphras fund that was used to fund local workers and city outreach. There was nothing illegal or wrong with this. In fact it was a wise move designed to enable the multi-ministries of the congregation to continue. What is important to note here is that this fund was set up in the time of Sinclair Ferguson with the approval of the Glasgow Presbytery. If I were a member of the Tron I would not have given to the congregation unless I had been assured that my money would not be used to fund works that I regarded as unbiblical. There would be a concern if money which people had given for the Church of Scotland was then transferred without their knowledge or support to another organisation (incidentally in St Peters we quite often give money to other organisations which share our aims – otherwise there would be no missionary support and goodbye to donations to Tear Fund, SU, Bethany and UCCF!), but I have been assured by the minister that this did not happen and that he in fact welcomes OSCR looking into the finances so that some of the rumours can be dealt with. It says a great deal when a Christian minister would prefer to be investigated by a government department, rather than the church!

The second charge is even more astonishing. The refurbishment of the building cost £3.1 million. The Tron took a loan of £750,000 from the Trustees and paid the rest themselves. They had paid back £250,000 of this, and were on track to pay back the remaining £500,000 by the agreed date of 2015. To now claim that they are guilty of not paying back £500,000 and imply that somehow they are guilty of fraud is about as illogical and Alice-in-Wonderland as you can get. It’s like having the bank foreclose on your mortgage, take back the property and then accuse you of theft because you no longer continue to pay the mortgage for a property you no longer own! If the Church of Scotland wanted to have the £500,000 back then all they had to do was sell the building to the Tron. To take back the building and insist that the congregation should have continued to pay for it, is really beyond parody. To issue a press release saying that the congregation owe £1 million is just simply a lie. In fact if the Church of Scotland really believes what it says about the need for retaining the building, they would do the honourable and just thing and give the congregation that has left, the £2.6 million they have spent on the building. Instead they not only take the building, refuse to compensate the congregation for what they have spent, but have the nerve to claim that the congregation owe them £1 million!

2) Refusal to negotiate – The Tron deny this. Willie Philip writes

“We had hoped for a peaceful and amicable exit, like other denominations offer in similar circumstances, and we made numerous attempts to engage constructively so that all outstanding issues relating to the building and finance could be resolved. Regrettably all we have faced is contempt and hostility throughout every step of this process whether that be freezing our bank accounts so we can’t use our own money, or launching civil court actions against individual members of the congregation.”

In fact the Tron were prepared to pay the £500,000 they still owed the Trustees and to pay an additional sum to buy the building. The C of S did not want to do that – and it cannot have been for financial reasons. In refusing the Tron’s offer it has cost and will cost the denomination millions. As well as taking on the £500,000 loan and refusing a large sum to buy the building – they have now advertised for a £39,000 per year minister who they want to support with a ‘team’. What all members of the C of S should be asking is why the denomination is planning to close 30 churches in Glasgow because of falling numbers and finance and yet spend a couple of million seeking to establish a new congregation in the Tron building, when the old one could have continued, albeit outwith the Church of Scotland? Does this better serve the Gospel and the Kingdom? Or is it not the truth that this is a case of denominational politics seeking to serve as a warning to any others who might be contemplating the same thing? And how frustrating is it for the Kingdom that money and time is being wasted in this way? Imagine you are in a Church of Scotland in a Glasgow housing estate (a work by the way that the Church of Scotland has often done very well) and you have been told that your church has to close (along with many others) because the denomination can no longer afford it. And then you hear that the denomination is prepared to spend a couple of million to try and fill a building which already had a good congregation doing a good work! What would you feel?

There really are no winners in this. The Tron have lost £2.6 million of their own money (much of it given sacrificially), the Church of Scotland because of its intransigence has lost £1 million (the £500,000 loan that the new non-existent congregation now has to take on plus the money that the Tron would have paid – taking their total investment up to £3.6 million) and is going to lose a lot more. The rhyme at the start of this article seems so appropriate.

Again from Willie Phillip –

“The Church of Scotland has chosen confrontation over compromise and persecution over peace. Our lawyers have told us that they have never in all their career come across such aggressive and unreasonable dealings in any dispute, and that whatever such behaviour is, it is anything but Christian. Hearing that I felt utterly ashamed for the Church of Scotland, and the many decent people in the pews who would be shocked at what is being done in their name.”

Indeed.

3) Lets talk about the storming. Of course the language used is hyperbolic. It does not mean that the storm troopers of the Messengers at Arms abseiled down the steeple and burst in through the doors with their machine guns at the ready! But to have Messengers at Arms appear at your prayer meeting, without warning and demand that you come out of the meeting to face them is not exactly pleasant – Perhaps again Mr. Philip describes it best.

“It is shameful. Having law officers disrupt a church meeting and intimidate a church is something we associate with China or former Soviet dictatorships but is the last thing we expected from the so-called national church. My family is now living in fear that the Manse will be stormed in the same way to force us out of our home onto the street before Christmas. It is horrible.”

This is the nub of the case. The Church of Scotland sent law officers to disrupt a prayer meeting. It was not as their press release states ‘an amicable meeting’. Again amazing how they can send out a press release when there was no one from the Church of Scotland there. Instead lets hear the witness from a couple who were and wrote this account to the Herald newspaper –

“As we arrived at the meeting we saw two men who were clearly not there for the meeting, who were asking to speak to a number of people, and handing over some papers. One member of the congregation, who was helping an elderly and frail lady negotiate the ice and snow outside to get into the building, was stopped from proceeding into the meeting so that this member could be spoken to and given papers.

About 15 minutes into the meeting, our minister was forced to leave the meeting to also receive papers from these two men. We then became aware that the Church of Scotland had instructed these men (Messengers-at-Arms) to serve a court action on a number of individuals, and must have told them to do so at the time of the church prayer meeting. It would have been possible for the Church of Scotland to serve this action at a different time, but our view they intended – and succeeded in – intimidating the members of the congregation, some of whom are frail and vulnerable. Our minister was visibly shaken.

The whole meeting was aware of the disruption and, when told what it was about, felt shocked and intimidated; some of more vulnerable members were frightened. Our Iranian members who were there were particularly troubled, having fled Iran to avoid this type of intimidation and persecution. It was utterly disgraceful.

We understand the purpose of the papers was to prevent us from removing items from our church building when we are evicted – items we have bought over the past few years with our own money – chairs to sit on, the organ, our Bibles and so on. The Church of Scotland is currently closing 30 churches in Glasgow, and already has 17 churches for sale. It has ample supplies of the very items it is seeking to snatch from us. Why would it want to prevent us from having chairs, Bibles and hymnbooks? The Kirk is already taking our building, with £2.6 million of investment which we have paid for.

We can only conclude that the Church of Scotland hierarchy is using every method at its disposal to destroy the work of St George’s Tron, and damage both the health, and the reputations, of its leaders. Shame on them.”

From these and other accounts I have pieced together the series of unfortunate events. After receiving a series of anonymous letters (notice how the pattern of anonymous letters keeps repeating itself) accusing the Tron of being about to trash the place, 121 decided to send in the law to make sure that hymn books and other things were not being removed. The fact that the law officers turned up at exactly the time of the prayer meeting is to say the least very suspicious (unless they make a habit of attending prayer meetings). The minister continued the prayer meeting and left others to deal with the law officers, but because they threatened to go to his house and wait there until he returned he had to leave the meeting and deal with them. What is also intriguing is that the Tron had received a number of calls from journalists for several days beforehand asking about the ‘new legal action’ being raised against them. Who tipped them off?

The legal action itself was to prevent anything being moved from the building – none of which was paid for by the denomination, and much of which was owed by the Epaphras Trust – the independent trust that is used to pay the evangelists and city workers who have been doing such an effective work with the Tron. The whole thing comes across as intimidating and petty.

This was repeated the following day. Rebecca the ministers wife had the horrible experience of the Messengers at Arms turning up at the Manse to serve exactly the same papers as had been served the night before. I know how bad this was for Willie because when he phoned me afterwards he was still shaking. The whole thing had got to him. Matters were made worse when during the phone call he had to rush off because a photographer and journalist had come into his garden. And yet the C of S communications department say that it was all ‘amicable’.

For other accounts and the BBC news clip have a look at the following:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/out-of-tune-with-the-kirk-a-defiant-departure-hymn.19636771

http://www.scotsman.com/news/tears-as-tron-congregation-leave-church-for-last-time-1-2683146

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i5moaq5bfplvgig/BBC%20News%20re%20Tron.MP4

4) Whilst the press release from the Church of Scotland is less than careful in its accusations about the Tron and its language, they are very careful in justifying their own actions stating that ‘no legal action has been taken to force the former congregation out of the St Georges Tron building’. That is sophistry of the worst sort and certainly did not fool the press. Of course formal legal action had not been taken, but it had been threatened. The congregation was actually preparing to move without that action – although 121 were not to know this they were planning to move on December the 9th anyway. But it is sadly typical of the ‘newspeak’ that the press department uses when they issue a statement like this (even more so when you realize that in this statement they are also accusing the Tron of financial dishonesty!).

Let me add one more thing about the Tron’s view. Although it has clearly been tough (especially for the leadership) I hear very little bitterness in their responses (both public and private) instead the overwhelming emotions seem to be ones of sorrow and hope. They are now free to get on with what God has called them to do and be. I hope that the desire for self-justification and revenge will not result in a continuing campaign of vilification, innuendo and court action against them.

Let me also say in conclusion that this is not just a simple case of evangelical v’s non-evangelical. Some non-evangelicals I know have been appalled at the way this has been handled considering both unchristian and incompetent. To send in the bailiffs on the basis of anonymous letters when the congregation were about to slip quietly away anyway, thus resulting in headline news and a plethora of bad publicity, was to say the least incompetent. To then put out a press release that came across as petty, threatening and vindictive was even worse. In PR terms it has been a disaster for the Church of Scotland and one entirely of their own making. And some evangelicals have not exactly covered themselves in glory either – amazing how anonymous letters and absurd justifications have come from some in this group as well (see the appendix). And let us not forget that it was an evangelicals name on the court order, and an evangelical who signed the notorious press release.

All in all it is a mess. And one sadly that has been coming for a long time. I would however like to end on a positive note. I said earlier that there were no winners in this. Maybe that is wrong. Maybe the winners in this will be those who hear and believe the Gospel because they hear it from a revitalised and renewed church – one set free from the shackles of church politics and press releases, and released to get on with the work that God has called us too. I believe that God is shaking up his church in Scotland and that this is part of it. This shaking is not for our destruction but rather for our up building. I believe that the Tron will flourish and grow under the blessing of God. And it may be that a new church in the old building might also flourish and grow with biblical preaching (it was interesting that when I asked Willie about this he said his attitude was that of Paul in Philippians – that he would rejoice wherever Christ was preached, even if the motives were to cause him harm!). Doubtless there are faults and wrongs on all sides (although in saying this please note that I am not advocating the new doctrine of equality in which people piously state that we are all ‘equally sinners and because we are all to blame then in effect no-one is to blame’) , but the stance that the Tron has taken in an increasingly militant and fundamentalist secularist hostility towards the Gospel, is one that all of us one day will have to take. We too need to hear the cry to stand, and do no other. Whatever the denomination (or non-denomination) we belong to, let us all seek to stand together for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Appendix: Evangelical Excuses.

I have heard a number of justifications from evangelicals that to my mind just completely muddy the water. Others have of course used them but what astounds me is the extent to which some evangelicals seem prepared to join in the attack. Of course others have acted in a more honourable manner – take as an example this excellent blog by Louis Kinsey – http://coffeewithlouis.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/an-independent-inquiry-is-needed-over-the-matter-of-the-presbytery-of-glasgow-and-the-tron-church/

1. There are two sides to the story – well as Homer would say ‘duh’! Of course that is true. Although I suspect that there are a lot more than two. Just as there are two sides to any story – but that does not excuse inaction or silence when faced with injustice. This is usually said by people who then imply that there is a dark side to come out with regard to the Tron (‘I know people who have left who were not happy with the way things were done’ – so do I but I still cannot stand by and watch this injustice).

2. The Church of Scotland has made no decision on the issue of practising homosexuals being in ministry therefore the Tron were precipitous in leaving – Maybe the Tron should have waited, but no one who has read the decisions of the two assemblies concerned can with any degree of honesty say that ‘no decision has been made’. After the last one when the evangelicals walked the debate but lost the vote by a large majority to the most liberal of the motions, I know of no one at the time who thought that anything other than a decision had been made. It was only when the spin doctors got hold of it that yet another couple of years ‘wait and see, no decision has been made’ suddenly became the ‘understanding’ of what had happened.

3. The Tron Church has split and so the ‘continuing’ congregation have the right to remain – Again this sounds credible until you realise that there is no continuing congregation. There is no group of people who want to stay with the Church of Scotland in the building. There is a presbytery which has decided to start a new congregation and is prepared to pay a considerable amount of money to do so. But it is not to service an already existing parish congregation.

4. Charities Law means that the Church of Scotland is obliged to ensure that the buildings, money and even hymnbooks remain with the Church of Scotland. – This is one of the neatest and worst tricks in the book. And again it is nonsense. The Trustees of any charity are required to ensure that they act in the best interests of the charity and continue to pursue its aims. The Church of Scotland’s prime aim is not to make money and to develop property, but rather the spread and communication of the Gospel. Yes – the Church of Scotland could legally demand everything but that does not mean that it is obliged to do so, nor that it should do so. It would be perfectly reasonable for the Church of Scotland to sell the building, lease it or rent it. As for the hymnbooks – one would have imagined that closing 30 churches would leave a surfeit of hymnbooks and letting them go with the Tron would not exactly be a hardship!

5. The Church of Scotland is obliged by law to retain the ‘sanctuary’ to hold Church of Scotland worship for the Parish – this is one of the strangest arguments but there are people who seriously make it. The Church of Scotland has had no difficulty in closing parishes, selling buildings, ceasing services of worship in many areas. In fact in Glasgow, despite this alleged legal obligation, the Church of Scotland is planning to close 30 churches. Furthermore if you really want to talk about obligations then one would have thought that the Church of Scotland was obliged to teach the Christian Gospel. One minister of the Glasgow Presbytery told how, at a recent meeting in the context of the Ecumenical and inter-faith committee of they debated the meaning of Trinitarian, eventually voting 83-80 that it does indeed mean, one true God, Father Son and Holy Spirit and then later in the same report refused to affirm Jesus as the only way of Salvation. In what sense can people be called ‘Christian’ if they cannot even accept the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity? And in what sense can they be accused of teaching the Gospel if they deny that Jesus is the only Saviour? What puzzles me is why some evangelicals seem to be doing their utmost to attack the Tron and yet keep silent on this? Even if the Tron were guilty of everything they have been accused of, is there not a sense of disproportion here? As indeed there seems to be on the homosexual issue. Perhaps the real problem in all of this is that there is real confusion about what the Gospel actually is?
6. The Shssh…argument. Keep quiet. All this writing, stuff in the press, talking on the Internet. It’s not doing any good. We need to just get our heads down and get on with the work. It’s not loving to mention these things. It’s complicated. Don’t put your head above the parapet – you will just get shot at. I parody but I have heard these arguments many times. And to some extent they are right. However I think it is time for us to lift our heads up. It’s time for us to see what is happening and to realise that the Tron situation is only exposing the weakness shot through the Church in Scotland and sadly, especially the rottenness at the core of evangelicalism. Gresham Machen in his wonderful book Christianity and Liberalism pointed out that these are two different religions, with two different Gods. The trouble with evangelicalism in Scotland is that we seem to have forgotten this and think we are just a different aspect of the same religion. No. We believe in different Gods. The God of the Bible is our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is just dumb idolatry. And we should not shssh about that.

David Robertson is a minister in the Free Church of Scotland.  He is currently serving as the pastor of St. Peter’s Church, Dundee (a pulpit once filled by Robert Murray M’Cheyne.  He serves as editor for the Free Church of Scotland Monthly magazine, as well as being chaplain for the University of Dundee.  This article first appeared on his blog and is reprinted with his permission. [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]