On June 11th 2012 the congregation of St George’s Tron Church, commonly known as The Tron, seceded from the Church of Scotland.
The Rev Dr William Philip, minister of the 500 strong congregation based in Buchanan St, Glasgow, said: “Our decision to separate from the Church of Scotland is the culmination of careful thought, sincere discussion and prayer for over 12 months.
“Last year, despite having had the clear opportunity, the General Assembly failed to reverse the stance taken in 2009 approving the appointment of ordained ministers in same-sex relationships. Instead, it clearly and deliberately chose to set an opposite trajectory towards normalising such relationships. In doing so the highest court of the Kirk has marginalised the Bible, the written Word of God. We believe the Church of Scotland is choosing to walk away from the biblical gospel, and to walk apart from the faith of the worldwide Christian Church. This year, the General Assembly refused to affirm that its churches be marked out as for the unique and exclusive worship of Jesus Christ. We are saddened that the Church of Scotland has departed so dramatically and decisively from its moorings in the historic, reformed and biblical faith.
“We believe the Bible is the supreme rule for what God wants us to believe and how God wants us to live. We are unashamed to retain a clear conviction about what the Bible teaches. The Scriptures of both Old and New Testament speak with unequivocal voice; we have no liberty to ignore or twist the gospel. Jesus teaches that God loves us as we are, but that his love will not leave us where we are. God’s love for us is not the same as God’s approval of all our actions, even of things that may seem natural to us. ‘Repent and believe the gospel’ was the consistent call of Jesus and of the apostles. Whoever we are, and whatever we are, the gospel calls us to turn and follow Christ, in trusting submission to his apostles’ teaching. This is the Christian faith. We cannot depart from the historic foundations of our Church, and will not separate from communion with orthodox Christian believers globally. Consequently, we intend to realign with a church grouping which remains clearly and publicly committed to orthodox Christianity.
“Our ongoing work remains our priority. We are a diverse, growing Christian family made up of people from all walks of life, of all ages, from many nations. We are passionate about the life of our church in Glasgow City Centre, serving the city seven days a week. Our earnest desire is that we can continue our wide-ranging service to the people of Glasgow uninterrupted. To this end, although we are no longer part of the Church of Scotland, the leaders of our congregation remain in positive and constructive engagement with the denomination. Our goal is to ensure that all issues around this separation are dealt with reasonably and peaceably, and for the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Related: Video of Ministers and Elders Meeting, June 2011 (esp. #3).
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