CARE for Scotland is now on Facebook

Keep up to date, tell us what you think, have conversations with other CARE for Scotland supporters.
Help build our on-line community by signing-on to ‘like’ our page at http://www.facebook.com/careforscotland.

Open Letter to President Obama

Free Church of Scotland minister David Robertson has written an intriguing and persuasive open letter to President Obama following the President’s recent affirmation of same-sex marriage. Read the letter here.

Resources on Marriage

As the arguments continue about the redefinition of marriage, don’t forget the articles, information and statistics that can be found at www.care.org.uk/marriagescotland.

Scottish Order of Christian Unity

CARE for Scotland is now stocking and selling the books previously published by the Scottish Order of Christian Unity.
Click here for information on all the titles available.

Questions to ask your council candidates

Elections to your local council are being held on 3rd May. Councils  spend over £11 billion each year and employ around 230,000 people.They are responsible for delivering vital services such as education and social work.

If you meet any of your candidates over the next few weeks, here are a few questions you may like to ask them:

• At a time of financial stringency, how can churches help local authorities deliver vital services? What would be expected of churches in such a partnership?
• If marriage is re-defined to include same-sex couples, children would be taught at school that marriage is not only between a man and a woman. Would the candidate be concerned that this would have the effect of undermining the values that many parents want to impart to their children?
• Would the candidate agree that the introduction of same-sex marriage would mean that Christians who are registrars may be forced to conduct same-sex marriages against their will and Christians who are teachers required to teach values they don’t believe in? Is this not an unacceptable imposition on an individual’s freedom of belief?
• If elected, would the candidate be willing to support publicly-funded local schools setting themselves up as trusts to enable them to develop their own particular ethos under local control?

CareConfidential Scottish Conference

CareConfidential runs a network of 150 crisis pregnancy advice centres around the UK.

If you would like to know more about this ministry, perhaps with a view to becoming involved, you can attend the Scottish conference being held in Kilmarnock on Saturday, 12th May.

For full details of the conference, click here and to find out more about CareConfidential, click here.

Don’t forget to:

- Sign the Scotland for Marriage petition online and encourage friends and family to do so too. Over 17,000 people have already signed, but we need many more

- Respond to the consultation by Margo MacDonald MSP on a new bill on assisted suicide. You can advice on how to respond here.

Find out what’s happening

See the Events page on the CARE for Scotland web site to keep up to date with what’s happening around Scotland.

Scots want to keep traditional marriage, says poll

People in Scotland are supportive of the established definition of marriage. This clear message came out of a public poll recently conducted by Scotland for Marriage.

This contradicts oft-repeated assertions to the contrary by those in favour of redefining marriage who believe that public opinion is with them.

In an interesting dilemma for the Scottish Government the poll also showed that for every voter who would be more likely to vote for independence if same-sex marriage were introduced, more than five would be less likely to vote for independence.

The main headlines of the poll can be viewed here.

Things you can do to support marriage in Scotland:

• sign the Scotland for Marriage petition online and encourage friends and family to do so too. Almost 17,000 people have already signed, but we need many more
• ask for printed petition forms to circulate around your church or download a form
• view CARE for Scotland’s new resources on why marriage should be not re-defined

Assisted suicide, second time round

Margo MacDonald MSP recently issued a consultation on her second attempt to introduce a bill to the Scottish Parliament which would legalise assisted suicide in Scotland.

CARE for Scotland’s briefing and guidance on the consultation is now available.

In summary, our advice to anyone responding to the consultation is to  merely say that you do not agree with assisted suicide; we suggest that you do not get involved with the many questions she asks about how the process should be administered.

Please do respond to the consultation, which can be viewed here.

Coming soon

CARE’s bi-annual publications, Catalyst magazine and Challenge, the Scottish newsletter, will be mailed out to supporters later this week. Look out for them dropping through your letterbox within the next few days.

Find out what’s happening

See the Events page on the CARE for Scotland web site to keep up to date with what’s happening around Scotland.

Scotland for Marriage

Thank you if you responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on same-sex marriage. Even if you took part in the consultation, please also sign up to the Scotland for Marriage on-line petition (http://scotlandformarriage.org) so that you can be kept informed about future developments in this on-going campaign. You can also get petition forms from the CARE for Scotland office to gather additional signatures from your church.
Scotland for Marriage has been set up by a number of Christian organisations, including CARE for Scotland, to campaign positively to retain the current definition of marriage.

New Resources from CARE for Scotland

CARE for Scotland is pleased to have taken over the distribution of a selection of books and booklets previously published by the Scottish Order of Christian Unity, an inter-denominational organisation dedicated to maintaining and promoting Christian values in Scottish life. These include publications by Professor Tom Torrance and Howard Taylor and are on issues likely to be of key interest to CARE supporters.

Click here for details.

An Opportunity to Serve

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde – the largest healthcare organisation in Scotland – is looking for two new members to join its board. You need not come from a medical background to apply. The successful applicants will be expected to play a central role in guiding the strategies which address the health priorities and health care needs of the resident population.

Full details available here.

Last Call on Same-Sex Marriage

According to the Equal Marriage campaign, at least 15,000 people have asked the Scottish Government to introduce same-sex marriage.

It has also been reported that, suprisingly, the Government is prepared to consider submissions to its consultation from people who live outside of Scotland.

Even at this late stage it is vital that as many people as possible call on the Government to protect marriage as being between one man and one woman.

The Scotland for Marriage web site makes it easy for you to submit your response. If you haven’t yet responded to the consultation please go to the Scotland for Marriage web site now and record your vote in favour of natural marriage.

Please do forward this e-mail to friends and family with an encouragement to them to make their views known.

Submissions to the consultations need to be made by this Friday, 9th December.

The Scotland for Marriage campaign will be  launched at the Scottish Parliament this morning.

CARE for Scotland, working in partnership with other organisations, is today launching a new campaign to defend marriage. The aim is to oppose the Scottish Government’s plans to redefine marriage to include same-sex relationships.

The Scotland for Marriage campaign has launched a petition calling for the current definition of marriage to be retained. It calls also for a referendum should the Scottish Government decide to push ahead with its proposals to legalise same-sex marriage.

We encourage CARE supporters to support the Scotland for Marriage campaign and sign the petition at www.scotlandformarriage.org.

There are still nine days left to respond to the Scottish Government consultation on same-sex marriage. If you haven’t yet responded please do so now and encourage friends and family to do so too.

Click here to go direct to the Government’s online response form.

For advice on responding to the consultation e-mail cfs@care.org.uk

URGENT! Rally in Support of Marriage – Tomorrow

CARE for Scotland, working in partnership with the Christian Institute, Evangelical Alliance and the Catholic Parliamentary Office, is holding a rally in support of marriage outside the Scottish Parliament tomorrow (Wednesday 30th November) between 10:30am and 11:30am.

We would ask as many people as possible to attend to demonstrate strong support for marriage and our opposition to marriage being redefined to include same-sex relationships.

We are sorry for the short notice. Unfortunately, due to concerns expressed by the police we have not been able to advertise the rally widely until now.

Please do attend if you are free to do so.

Click here for full information.

Important Forthcoming Events:

St Andrew’s Day National Leaders’ Prayer Gathering

If you are in a leadership position in church life, or in another sector of Scottish society, do consider attending the Canongate Kirk on 30th November for a time of unity before God praying for the church in Scotland and for the nation as a whole. The event is supported by a wide range of Christian organisations and agencies.

Click here to read a letter of invitation.

There is less than a month until the False Intimacy day conference which aims to equip church leaders and others involved in pastoral care to reach out to those struggling with internet pornography. If you plan to attend, please book your place now. Or if you think your minister or pastor would be interested in attending, you can direct him or her to the web site here for full information.

Hope Conference for Women

Cumbernauld, next Saturday, 12th November

An imaginative programme has been arranged for this women’s conference – enouraging and motivating teaching with opportunities for relaxing, reflecting and sharing fellowship. Full details at www.hopeconference.org.uk

If any women recipient of this e-mail would like to attend the conference and, in return for having their conference fee (£25) paid, be willing to staff a CARE stall during break periods, please contact Bill Baird on 0141 332 7212 / bill.baird@care.org.uk.

False Intimacy is a conference and training day to equip church leaders and others involved in pastoral care to be able to offer effective support to anyone struggling with a dependence on internet pornography.

Full details here.

Same-Sex Marriage Consultation

You may be aware that the Scottish Government has launched a public consultation on proposals to legalise same-sex marriage and to allow civil partnership ceremonies to be held in churches.
CARE for Scotland believes that these proposals are detrimental to the established definition of marriage and we are encouraging supporters to respond to the consultation.
Briefing and advice will be posted out over the next few days. If you are not on our postal mailing list and would like to receiving the briefing, please e-mail cfs@care.org.uk.

CARE Leadership Programme

Leadership Programme Induction, September 2011

The closing date for the September 2012 entry to the CARE Leadership Programme is very soon – Tuesday 15th November. The Programme offers an unrivalled opportunity to young Christians to experience politics from the inside and to develop an understanding of how their faith is relevant in the public square.

If you know a young person with an interest in public affairs who is just about to graduate or has recently graduated, please do alert them to the Leadership Programme.

Full information on the Programme here.

Deadline for Evidence on Sectarianism Bill Approaches

The deadline to submit evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee on the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill is rapidly approaching. CARE encourages supporters to email the Committee in order to ask the Scottish Parliament to ensure that religious liberty and freedom of speech are protected before the deadline of 26 August.

Further information on the Bill from CARE can be found here and details of how to submit a response can be found here and here.

The Bill seeks to criminalise comments or conduct which are deemed to be likely to cause public disorder if they relate not only to religious issues, but also to a wide range of other protected characteristics including sexual orientation. The Bill proposes also to criminalise all communication (except unrecorded speech) which is deemed to be threatening of violence.

Although CARE supports the aim of the Bill to tackle abusive and threatening behaviour and communications, we have concerns that the Bill may unreasonably restrict freedom of speech and religious liberty, perhaps criminalising the distribution of tracts or street preaching if associated with a football game. We are concerned also that the Bill may make quoting some verses of Scripture a criminal offence.

Prayer: Please pray that this Bill would be effective in stopping sectarian violence in Scotland. Pray too that there would be no curtailment of religious liberty and freedom of speech.