The Rev Dr Donald MacEwan highlights a conference to examine the Westminister Confession of Faith.

ORDINATIONS and inductions of new ministers are high points in a church’s life. Over the years they have changed to reflect modern church life – more informal, more participation from children, more laughter.

But one aspect has not changed for generations – the candidate must say I do to the following question: Do you believe the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith contained in the Confession of Faith of this Church?

But what Confession of Faith is this?

In 1643 a number of ministers and others gathered in Westminster to discuss a new Confession of Faith. The English Parliament required a document which would give a basis for the beliefs of the Church of England, and its relation to the state. Their aim was for the English and Scottish Churches to be alike in doctrine and similar in their system of government. Although Scotland had its own Parliament, Scottish ministers were invited to observe and advise their English colleagues. The resulting document, the Westminster Confession of Faith, alongside associated resources, emerged from these deliberations. It turned out that it never became authoritative south of the border. But Scotland was a different matter. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland received it gladly, adopted it in 1647, and in time it became the touchstone for orthodoxy for its ministers and elders.

It is still the principal subordinate standard of belief in the Church of Scotland, and ministers and elders continue to subscribe to it when ordained and, for ministers, when inducted to a charge. Nevertheless there have been reservations about its status for many years. In particular, some have questioned its approach to secular authority, or its insistence on its particular account of predestination. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has given ministers and elders liberty of opinion on such points of doctrine in the Confession as do not enter into the substance of the faith. Furthermore, the Church officially distanced itself in 1986 from the explicit anti-Roman Catholic statements of the Confession.

From the late 1960s to the early 1990s a series of attempts were made to make further changes, removing references to a subordinate standard, adding other guiding creeds and confessions, providing a set of doctrines defining the substance of the faith, and offering a series of more modern statements of Christian belief. In the end, while the General Assembly authorised in 1992 a new Statement of Christian Faith which is printed in the Book of Common Order, it did not ultimately agree to any change in the status of the Westminster Confession.

At the General Assembly of 2018, there was an Overture from the Presbytery of Melrose and Peebles, asking the Theological Forum to look again at these issues. After substantial debate, the Assembly accepted the Overture

”We are conscious that we need to hear as many voices as possible.

Since then the Forum has begun to explore the questions. We have discussed the Confession, reviewed Assembly reports about it, and looked at how sister churches across the world approach creeds and confessions.

But we are conscious that we need to hear as many voices as possible. And so we have organised a day-conference on Wednesday May 8 at New College, University of Edinburgh, to explore different aspects of the theology and status of the Westminster Confession, with speakers from Scotland and elsewhere.

All are welcome – this is a conference for the wider church, rather than having a narrowly academic focus. We hope that anyone with an interest in these questions will feel welcome to attend.

For details of registering for the conference check www.epay.ed.ac.uk/conferences-andevents/college-of-humanities-and-socialscience/school-of-divinity

The Rev Dr Donald MacEwan is Convener of the Theological Forum.