The Church of Scotland is facing a major staffing crisis in the western Highlands after two ministers quit over the ongoing gay clergy row and other issues.
The departures of the Rev David Macleod, of the Lochcarron, Applecross and Torridon parish, and the Rev Roddy MacRae, who leads congregations in Glenelg and Kintail, means the Kirk now only has one full-time minister in the region.
The two men decided to quit over what they described as the church’s continuing drift from the teachings of the Bible.
They have taken issue with include a move towards allowing congregations to appoint a minister in a same-sex relationship and a Kirk partnership with the Humanist Society of Scotland to lobby for religious observance in schools to be replaced with a “time for reflection”.
It is understood the men also feel increasingly uncomfortable about growing support for assisted suicide in the church.
They have both applied to join the Free Church of Scotland, which means Portree minister the Rev Sandor Fazakas is now the only serving full-time Kirk minister within the Presbytery of Lochcarron and Skye.
The church has no full-time minister in Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Wester Ross and part of Sutherland.
It is currently advertising 16 vacant posts in these areas.
Mr Macleod, 40, said: “Over the past few years I have found myself to be theologically less and less aligned with the Church of Scotland.
“I find myself now to have more in common with other denominations.
“I say this with a heavy heart and with much grief but I do not believe that I can continue in the context in which I find myself.”
Phil Picking, an elder at Applecross, Lochcarron and Torridon Church of Scotland, said the kirk session was “very sad” Mr Macleod felt he could not carry on in “good conscience and with integrity”.
Mr MacRae, 44, said: “I have been wrestling with this in prayer for quite some time now, and although I have a heavy heart, it makes sense to join a denomination with like-minded people where I can be fully supported.”
In a statement, the Glenelg and Kintail kirk session said: “We are deeply saddened by the demission of Mr MacRae.”
The two men will formally leave the Kirk at the end of September.
Church of Scotland acting principal clerk George Whyte said: “It is always a matter of regret when a minister decides to leave and we understand this is not a spur of the moment decision.”
Mr Whyte said the Kirk had almost 800 ministers serving nearly 1,400 congregations and was “working hard” to find replacements for vacant charges.
The Kirk said the trend in recruitment was going up, and 14 new ministers started this year.
The gay clergy debate came to the fore in 2009 when the Rev Scott Rennie was appointed to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen in 2009.
If accepted into the Free Church, Mr Macleod and Mr MacRae will bring the total number of former Kirk ministers who have joined the denomination to 10.