The report explained Rev. Dr. David Bruce was opening the 2022 General Assembly in Belfast, the first time representatives of the 500 congregations have meet in person since the pandemic.
He promised to engage graciously with critics, but “the church would not be changing its stance on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage or transgenderism – based on its reading of the Bible and the Westminster Confession of Faith,” the report said.
TRENDING: Christians aren't grafted into a dead tree
“We have found ourselves in recent times under harsh scrutiny as a people. Some have struggled to understand what we mean when we say we are a confessional church, with standards to which we physically subscribe as elders at the moment of our ordination. Our critics, alighting on a number of social policy issues such as the provision of abortion, end of life care, the redefinition of marriage, a changed understanding of human identity, among others consider our views to be incomprehensible, or even dangerous.”