In the Scottish Episcopal Church, we\u2019re thinking about our response to the Scottish Government\u2019s consultation on same-sex marriage and other related issues. The definition of marriage set out in our Canons is that, \u201cmarriage is a physical, spiritual and mystical union of one man and one woman\u201d\u009d. That is the position of our church. It\u2019s a difficult issue for us \u201d\u201c as it is for all churches and faith groups. We have among our membership people who feel passionately that change is needed \u201d\u201c and those who feel equally strongly that we should resist any attempt to broaden society\u2019s understanding of marriage. The consultation period is very short. Among the things we shall say will be that if \u201d\u201c and it\u2019s a big \u201cif\u201d\u009d \u201d\u201c we were to consider changing our canonical definition of marriage, that would require a two-year process in our General Synod, the outcome of which could not be predicted with any certainty.<\/p>\n
We haven\u2019t got involved in public debate about this. We\u2019ve been asked for our view and we shall give it in a considered manner \u201d\u201c believing that the time for public debate comes later. However, it seems to me that some of the points being made \u201d\u201c particularly comments from our ecumenical partners in the Catholic Church \u201d\u201c raise significant issues about how we understand the relationship between church and state. They also raise important questions about the nature of the church itself.<\/p>\n