One of the most controversial issues to face the Church of Scotland is due to be debated today at its General Assembly.
A gay minister was appointed to an Aberdeen church in 2009, a move which threatened to split the Kirk.
The BBC reports that – Commissioners are being asked whether to continue an indefinite ban on the ordination of gay ministers until a report next year.
Another option is to lift the ban but await a separate report which would be published in two years.
For two years, since it confirmed the Reverend Scott Rennie’s appointment to Queen’s Cross Church, the Kirk has been consulting widely with its officials and congregations on the issue of the ordination of gay ministers.
One in five members of Kirk sessions have said they would leave if it is agreed that gay ministers can be ordained, while one in 10 have said they would leave if the Kirk rules they can not be ordained.
Dr Bill Naphy, from Aberdeen University, warned that it was a “very divisive issue” but said he believed the Church of Scotland faced losing whole congregations if it approved the ordinations.
The subject hit the headlines two years ago as traditionalist members attempted to block Mr Rennie’s appointment.
Following a lengthy debate, the Assembly ultimately voted in support of the Aberdeen-based minister but called for a commission to study the general issue “for the sake of the peace and unity of the Church”.
The debate will focus on the commission’s report.
‘Cautious approach’
Dr Naphy, an expert in both the history of sexuality and Calvinism told the BBC’s Politics Show: “I think the Kirk is likely to take a very cautious approach.
“I think if they allow the ordination of gay ministers there will probably be whole congregations that leave.
“I think it’s less likely that whole congregations will leave if it goes the other way. It is more likely that individuals will walk away.
“Either way the vote goes there will be people and congregations who are likely to leave.”
He added: “The very fact that the Kirk has spent two years debating an issue that relates to handful of verses in the Bible must seem a very peculiar thing for the Kirk to spend its time on.
“In actual fact the Bible doesn’t say a great deal about sexuality at all.”