Free Church Press Release – 22nd December 2022 –
Free Church Response to the Passing of the GRA Act
To: All editors and journalists.
(Embargoed until after the Act is passed).
The Free Church of Scotland notes the significance of the passing of the Gender Recognition Act in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 22nd December 2022. We agree with Pink News that this is a significant moment in the history of our nation and parliament.
We stand with our feminist sisters, both within and outwith the Church, who recognising the danger that this Act poses to women’s rights, have been so courageous and determined in standing up for those rights. We apologise that we have been so slow to stand with them.
We stand with the people of Scotland who in poll after poll have shown their opposition to the redefinition of humanity that this Act embodies.
We stand with the children of Scotland who are being placed in harm’s way by the passing of this ill – considered Act. The medicalisation of a psychological condition, the removal of parent’s rights, and the indoctrination of children in our schools into this harmful ideology is something we cannot be silent about.
We love and want to help those within our communities who struggle with gender identity disorder, as our fellow human beings made in the image of God. It is precisely because we believe that they are made in the image of God, that we do not think it is good for them to be told that they can remake themselves in their own perceived image.
We call upon the Church of Scotland to repent of its support of this evil Act, and to stand with us and other churches (including the Catholic Church, the Baptists, the FIEC, Independent churches, the African churches and others) to oppose this ideology and to speak up for the truth of Christ.
December the 21st was the darkest day of the year. December the 22nd has turned out to be one of the darkest days in Scotland’s history. As a national church, we love our nation and are distressed at how far we have moved from our Christian foundations. We believe that Scotland’s parliament has voted for legislation which promotes lying, removes women’s rights, and encourages state sponsored child abuse. And yet our politicians are congratulating themselves and glorying in their shame.
We urge all our members to do what they can to oppose this injustice and to shine the light of Christ into the darkness.
As a church we will take the following actions:
We will not recognise birth certificates which lie.
We will not promote lies in our churches and we will discourage our people from endorsing or going along with the collective delusion that seems to have taken hold of so much of Scottish society – anywhere.
We will continue to proclaim and teach that when God created humanity he made us male and female. He made all of us equally in his image. We don’t get to remake that image – at least not without destroying it. Although our politicians may have had worthy motives the reality is that the equality they speak about will not be achieved by this act. In fact this Act will destroy equality. It reminds us of the secular prophet George Orwell’s perceptive observation in Animal Farm – “All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. Like Orwell we believe it is hypocritical for a government to promise equality to all its citizens but give power and privilege to an elite.
In the Church we have a wide variety of political opinions, and are not party political. But there are some political issues which are so important, that we cannot keep silent. Just as we would advise our people not to vote for those who deny the humanity of God in other races, so we now advise our people (and other Christians) not to vote for any politician who has denied the humanity of God in creating two sexes. We urge all Scots to vote out of office any politician who is so arrogant as to think they can re-create humanity in its own ideological image.
We continue to pray for our political leaders – as those who are God’s servants in the civil sphere. We give to Caesar’s what is Caesar’s – but we will not give to Caesar what is God’s.
We call upon the Scottish Parliament to repent of its actions. To seek a better and more caring way to help those who suffer from GID, to ensure that women’s spaces are protected, that children are not indoctrinated into Queer theory and that we will not be prosecuted for saying what God says in his Word.
The Free Church of Scotland.
“Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin condemns any people” (Proverbs 14:34)
Important Note: In case you wondered….. This is NOT the Free Church Press release. As far as I know there wasn’t one. This is the press release I think the Church should have put out. Yesterday….
The Eye of the Storm – The Transgender Backlash and the Timing of the Lord
Thanks David. One of the best pieces you have written.
Thank you David. Having had nothing else to share…and not confident to write myself…I personally shared a statement from “Care” on my facebook 💔
My heart lifted as I read this. At last the church any church is boldly declaring truth against the madness and lies that saturates our society – then I realised it was only what could have been said by the official church and leaves me with a longing for it to be loudly declared from the rooftops by the Body of Christ today ! Thank you please keep speaking out and putting into words so plainly what so many of us don’t .
Well done David. I couldn’t contain my disappointment revealed in your last paragraph…
This should shame not only the Free Church, but every single arm of God’s Church that has simply rolled over and let the devil ride roughshod through the Word of God
This statement is what should be issued by every evangelical church in the nation. I one hundred percent endorse every word you have written.
The people of God need to open their eyes to what is going on in our nation. No compromise!
Ditto. So disappointed that statement had not gone out!
Excellent letter , as you said yesterday when doing Revelation, the Scottish government is definitely heading for a train crash, what they are doing is horrific, much prayer.
Aaw, I’m gutted dear brother……..I got excited there and thought that it actually WAS the Free Church press release!!!!! 🙁
Excellent article. Keeping fighting the good fight bro.
David.., one of the very best letters written on this subject that is not an actual ‘press release ‘ however it should well be..!
David
Absolutely brilliant…..until I read the last paragraph and realised that it wasn’t the official press release! I looked on website and didn’t find one! Disappointing.
I think that what you said was exactly correct and thank you for that. Every blessing
I was so happy while reading this article, to see that at last the Free Church was taking a public stand against this evil ideology of the GRA, but alas I am wrong ! The church remains schtum ! Why hasn’t the church put out petitions to all of their congregations and explaining plainly what this Act will mean to our Nation, it certainly isn’t equality. Also endorsing your words David, “We love and want to help those within our communities who struggle with gender identity disorder, “
Thank you David.
Thank you David. This a a clear and unequivocal statement truth. Very well written.
Wrote to my MSP and received nothing but automated replies . To write to them concerning the direction in which they are leading Scotland goes unheeded . The vehicle is out of control , gathering pace and heading for a terrible crash.
Like others I was excited to read this, then disappointed to find out it was not “official”. Nevertheless I am sharing it widely. One point to note – this legislation was officially supported by the SNP, the Greens, the Lib Dems, and Labour, (with only a few defying the whip.) The Conservatives actually allowed a free vote, but even 3 of their MSPs supported it. So, practically the whole political establishment is for this. Voters will have a very limited choice if they wish to vote for candidates who will not support such dangerous nonsense.
The church is in denial of God’s truth and until they get back on the right track, they cannot lead people to God. Good post but very sad and eye-opening about the path our world is following.
Sorry to sound like a broken record but I must reiterate! During the 2014 independence referendum, many Christians appeared to get caught up in the zeal, fervour and passion of the cause. This lead to a defacto support for the SNP. Prophetic voices warned of the consequences and where all this would lead and sadly, we are being proved right. Does the church realise that we are the salt and the light and when we lose our salt and our light we are good for nothing but to be trampled on by men and that is exactly what the end of all this will be. We fight not against flesh and blood and by Christians in affect, praying in the SNP, we have handed Scotland over to Jezebel and only an Elijah revival will get us out of this mess. It was prophetic that the lights of the parliament went out whilst they were debating this and certainly the lights are going out over Scotland. Assisted suicide will be next and if independence does come, then truly we will slip into a greater darkness but by then it will be too late and some Christians will have to tell their children ” I did that” as harsh as this sounds, I believe it to be the spiritual reality of what the church has allowed and by default has brought upon herself. May the Lord have mercy!
David, I take it you have seen the very weak statement from the Public Engagement Group: https://freechurch.org/public-engagement-group-response-to-the-gender-recognition-reform-scotland-bill/
Many decades ago I was the victim of a medical accident as a small child. The memory of the trauma has faded with time, but some details remain fresh in my mind. A very nervous junior doctor attempted a catheterisation with excess force, while I was pinned to a side room table in the local hospital. They perforated my urethra a little past the external opening. The damage was fixable (by the grace of God) but it might have been a very much more serious situation if the pelvic urethra had been perforated. If the catheter had been inserted further before the urethral damage happened, then it might have been a catastrophic injury. Children, quite understandably, normally have a terrible fear of their private bits being injured or hurt. The idea of pushing children forward for mutilating (and irreversible) genital surgery makes little or no sense to me. I am genuinely perplexed at the direction being taken.
Well said David 👏🏻 As the others, I was astonished and delighted to read such a statement was put out by any church, let alone the Free Church of Scotland then disappointed but not surprised to read the last paragraph. We need the collective voice of the true Church of Jesus Christ to resonate across our land once again, calling our church leaders firstly to repentance. Look how far we’ve fallen 🛐
Very well said.
We can provide support and accommodations to transgender individuals without completing upending western culture. I am 100% against the Pronoun Police of the Extreme Left. I am a non-religious person.
Totally agree Gary. We MUST provide support. The question is about the best way to do so.