Scotland should look forward to a better world and a united church when it celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation in 50 years’ time, the new moderator of the Church of Scotland, Rev. John Christie has said.
“If you think this is dreaming an impossible dream then let me say this, the Scottish Reformation began with John Knox in Perth and it circled the globe,” said Christie. He spoke at a service in Edinburgh in May attended by more than 1,200 people to mark the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation in 1560.
Knox was one of the 16th century founders of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland having worked alongside Reformation leader Jean Calvin in Geneva.
He noted, “The world of 2010 does not need or want a divided church; divided within itself it cannot stand. It is time for the 21st century church to affirm that which unites us.” Christie referred to the “blinkered eye of tradition or the earplugs of sectarianism” which prevented Christians from being one.
The May 23 service came three days before the end of the 2010 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. — ENI
