The URC National Synod of Scotland

Assisted dying can be viewed as a loving act and is consistent with God’s nature being essentially loving, according to the Synod’s Church & Society committee.
In its response to the Scottish Parliament‘s consultation on the End of Life Assistant (Scotland) Bill, introduced by Margo MacDonald MSP, the committee said it had no “in principle” objections to the Bill, although it was concerned to make adequate safeguards.
Church & Society’s acceptance of the Bill comes in contrast to the joint consultation submission made by the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church in Scotland and the Salvation Army.
The Synod’s response was submitted following the formation of a working group to consider the issue.
While endorsing the ecumenical vision of the United Reformed Church (URC), the working group asserted that “the church’s public stances should be able to accommodate a variety of Christian opinion rather than insisting on one voice”.
In its submission, the committee noted that the working group’s conclusions had been accepted by the committee but not discussed at a Synod-level.
The committee also noted that the overall position of the URC had last been stated in resolution 51 of the 2007 URC General Assembly, which oppossed assisted dying.
Frank Kantor, the URC’s Church & Society Secretary, has written to the committee thanking its members for their contribution to the debate surround end of life issues.
You can read the committee’s full submission to the consultation here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 at 14:54 and is filed under Church & Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.