Reports to the General Assembly of United Free Church of Scotland

United Free Church of Scotland

2004 Reports Index

REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON ETHICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2004

INTRODUCTION

The report from the Ethics and Current Affairs Committee will only address three of the many issues that were considered by the committee in the last year.
Unfortunately we lost the Rev .I. F.R. Lloyd by retiral from the Committee but we have been joined this year by the Revs. R. Thomson and A. Ritchie. I personally would like to thank the previous Convener of this committee, Mr. Andrew Scott, for ensuring that the change of convenorship in this committee occurred so smoothly.
National Lottery
The National Lottery, unfortunately, has become part of our national life since its introduction nine years ago. The lottery is of course a form of gambling, and our United Free Church, along with a large part of the Christian Church, has consistently condemned gambling as an activity which appeals to our selfish natures. Those who claim ‘it’s only a game’ fail to see the sinister side of this ‘game’ when it becomes a compulsive addiction often affecting those sectors of the community who are already impoverished and desperate to escape their situation.
General Assembly re-affirmed its position on gambling in 1995 and extended this concern to the National Lottery and made further statements in 1996 and 1997. The last of these urged all Christians not to participate in the lottery themselves and to encourage others not to do so.
With this background the Committee felt that now was an appropriate time to review our position, and has spent time in doing this. The results of the study are as indicated below.
Although gambling as we know it and understand it in our modern society is not mentioned in the Scriptures, nevertheless, the teaching of Scripture clearly exhorts us to live our lives in such a way that gambling in any of its forms would be inconsistent with living our lives the way God expects us. What is it about gambling and in particular the lottery that the teaching of the Scriptures is so opposed to? Participating in the lottery is about playing a game of chance with the chance of winning vast amounts of prize money. It is the fact that the lottery appeals to the selfish and greedy part of our nature that the Scriptures are so diametrically opposed to.
The Scriptures teach us:
1. That to covet what is not ours is forbidden in the Tenth Commandment. Deuteronomy 5 v 21.
2. Jesus warned us not to be greedy. Luke 12 v 15.
3. Jesus calls us as Christians to glorify God and to depend on Him for all our needs. Luke 12 v 22-34.
4. Paul tells us that being greedy is inconsistent with being a member of God’s family. Ephesians 5 v 5.
5. Paul also tells us that love of money can turn us away and separate us from God. 1st Timothy 6 v 6-10.
As Christians we have to go further than this, in that as followers of Jesus we must be willing to deny ourselves, show love to our neighbour in distress, Luke 10 v 25-37; be the salt of the earth and the light of the world Mathew 5 v 13-16.
All of this clearly shows that on a personal basis the committed Christian should not take part in any gambling activity and should not play the National Lottery; but we must go still further. It is our duty to set a good example, that is why it is important, even vital, that the United Free Church as a body should make its views known.
The organizers of the lottery have cleverly attempted to make this form of gambling more acceptable by setting aside a portion of the stake money for good causes that will benefit the recipients. This has led to pressure on the opponents of the Lottery to soften their stance and permit acceptance of this ‘good cause’ money. For our Denomination today the question is: Is it permissible for a Denomination, or a Congregation, or a Christian charity, to make application for a grant from the ‘Good Causes’ Fund of the lottery? Or to put it another way, does the use of money for good purposes somehow compensate for the fact that its origins were bad?
Before making application for Lottery money there are a number of questions we should ask, and if the answers to any are in the affirmative we should not proceed.
1. Would our acceptance of such money cause a Christian brother to stumble? Romans 14 v 21.
2. Would our acceptance of such money undermine our witness to the world? 1st Corinthians 10 v 31.
3. Would our acceptance of such money cause us to break the injunction to keep ourselves from becoming polluted by the world? James 1 v 27.
4. Would our acceptance of such money hinder us from helping to create the sort of society that is God’s will for the earth? Romans 14 v 17.
The Committee on Ethics and Current Affairs Committee believes that we should reaffirm our present position that members be urged not to take part in the National Lottery and that in addition the denomination or an individual congregation should not apply a grant from the Lottery.
The convener acknowledges the significant contributions of Mr. Fergus Henderson and the Rev. R. Thomson to this part of the report.
SCOTTISH CHURCHES HOUSING AGENCY
The Rev. Tom Ireland continues to represent our Denomination on the Agency. Subsequent to the Homelessness Bill the Agency is conducting a campaign this year with three objectives.
First, it is asking the Scottish Executive that for the next three years it should aim to provide 10,000 new homes at an affordable rent. The Agency recognizes that affordable houses for rent remains a scarce resource and unless there is an increase in the supply of such housing the potential for the new laws to deal adequately with homelessness will become unachievable. Second, the Agency invites all Denominations and their Congregations that when Church property is being disposed off consideration should be given to its possible use as rented accommodation. Third, the Agency is in its 10th anniversary year and is surprised that many Churches are unaware of the work that they do. To encourage Churches to be more aware of their work, they are producing a book and holding an exhibition this year.
DRUG ABUSE
The use of drugs in our society is a problem that is increasing each year. Nowadays it is not just the abuse of hard drugs like heroin but there is now a culture within our young people who expect to use drugs like ecstasy for entertainment purposes every weekend. Society is never sympathetic to the hardened drug abuser and regards them as the modern leper- people to be shunned. Yet behind every drug abuser is a very human story; insurmountable problems in their lives, fractured human relations and the only way they can find solace in their situation is to resort to drugs.
On the Thursday evening of last years General Assembly we were all touched by the graciousness of Mrs. Maxie Richards as she described her drug rehabilitation work with young people. The two young people that Mrs. Richards brought with her deeply moved us as they described the terrible struggles they endured to rid themselves of their habit. The committee feels that this drug rehabilitation work has touched the hearts of our people and that we would wish to be involved in this work.
DENOMINATIONAL APPEAL
For some time the Committee has been considering the possibility of launching another denominational appeal. The response of our congregations to the two previous appeals 'Hope for Cambodia' and 'Jambo Kenya' was quite outstanding. The committee believes that a change of emphasis might be helpful so that we are proposing there should be a new denominational appeal to support the work of Maxie Richards.
Her latest initiative is to launch an appeal to purchase accommodation to set up a hostel for young women, similar to the King's Court. The committee believes this to be a very worthwhile project for us to support as a denomination which would be well supported by many in our congregations. Indeed the Committee is delighted that the Women's Home and Overseas Committee has already agreed their Special Gift in 2005 should be to support the work of Maxie Richards in setting up this new hostel. The Committee is proposing that a denominational appeal be launched which would run for two years. The committee intends to proceed with this appeal following the conclusion of the Merriweather Memorial Appeal and it is not, therefore, possible at present to identify a date on which the appeal would be launched. Leaflets and posters will be prepared to raise awareness and to give information about the work.
CONCLUSION
The Convener would like to express his gratitude to both Vice-Conveners and each member of the committee for their hard work, enthusiasm and making the proceedings of the committee so enjoyable. This committee could not function without the enormous amount of work that the General Secretary and his staff undertake for us and we are deeply grateful to them.

In the name of the Committee
DONALD MACDONALD Convener
ROBERT O OWENS Vice-Convener
IAN SMITH Vice-Convener
JOHN O FULTON Secretary

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