Presbyterian cleric voted to loosen ties with his Scots colleagues '˜with heavy heart'

Rev John Faris, who for almost 29 years served as minister of Cork and Aghada Presbyterian Churches in Co Cork, said he supported the controversial step “with a heavy heart”.

He studied theology for three years in Glasgow in the 1970s, his mother is Scottish and having retired to Carnlea, Bangor, he now sees the Scottish coast “every day”.

“I did vote to end the ceremonial link with a heavy heart, but it was with a commitment that we would seek to collaborate in terms of any way our two churches can,” he said.

“We have big differences, but on other issues, such as global missions, we need to work together and get on with it.”

The vote, passed by 255 to 171, means moderators from the two churches will no longer attend each other’s events.

Asked how the Presbyterian Church in Ireland explains its traditional definition of marriage in the 21st century, Rev Faris replies that “truth does not go by majority”.

“I travelled in India recently and I note that in common with Africa and Asia, they take a very conservative view on sexuality.

“We might be out of step with western Europe but we are very much in tune with the flourishing church in other parts of the world.”

Theologically, Rev Faris feels that “the claim of love” is the main argument used to justify same-sex marriage.

“However, I must say that to define love we must go back to the Bible as the basis of belief, which states that marriage is between a man and a woman.

“Jesus calls us to speak the truth in love and I don’t think I can abandon my conviction – the whole sweep of the Bible is that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

On Wednesday, his church also voted for the Presbyterian moderator to meet the Pope in Dublin this summer, which he described as “a very positive step” which the media missed.

Rev Faris hopes for continued strong links with the Scottish church although it remains to be seen how that works on a day-to-day basis.

“You can be invited to a big ceremony but if there is a big issue in the background how authentic is the relationship?

“The dust is still to settle. On both sides people are saddened and some are hurt and angry,” he says of those who took part in the vote.

“It was a traumatic debate, you could see it on the faces of people after the vote. The moderator and principal clerk of the Church of Scotland felt it necessary to leave. They may have felt ‘what are we doing here?’”

The moderator of the English United Reformed Church also asked should he leave but was asked not to, Rev Faris said.

The media missed that the resolution applied equally to the Church of Scotland and the United Reform Church on the same issue, he added.