THERE WAS ringing endorsement from Brechin Cathedral yesterday for the support from the Kirk at large for their now openly gay minister Scott Rennie.

But Mr Rennie’s troubles may not be over as a complaint about him has been made to Angus Presbytery.

After a bitter row that threatened to split the Church of Scotland, its highest court the General Assembly has given a vote of confidence in Mr Rennie’s ability to continue as a parish minister.

However the decision to approve his appointment to Queen’s Cross Church in Aberdeen still leaves the matter of the complaint to the Angus Presbytery to be dealt with.

Newly confirmed clerk to the Presbytery, Michael Goss, revealed a complaint had been received when he spoke during the debate on Mr Rennie’s future at the General Assembly.

He said it was only this year that the matter of Mr Rennie’s sexuality had come to the attention of the Presbytery.

In confirming a complaint had been received, he said, the matter had been cisted (shelved) pending the outcome of the General Assembly debate.

The nature of the complaint has not been revealed, and yesterday, Angus Presbytery moderator Malcolm Rooney said he could shed no light on it because he had not been present at the meeting when it was lodged.

He understood the Presbytery would now require to take advice from the Kirk’s law department on whether the complaint was still pertinent. A spokeswoman for the Church of Scotland last night was unable to clarify the position.

She said, “I think it will be for members of the Angus Presbytery to hold a meeting and decide how they are going to take this forward.”

Meanwhile Mr Rennie is due to take his last service at Brechin Cathedral on Sunday, June 28.

“We will miss him very much, But we are pleased for him at the outcome,” said William Low, session clerk of Brechin Cathedral and Stracathro.

“He has overwhelming support in Brechin. We are terribly disappointed that he is going. But we knew we wouldn’t keep someone of his calibre forever.

Mr Low is Mr Rennie’s neighbour in Church Street and said the minister had always been “utterly discreet.”

He said that until the recent publicity he doubted that very many people in Brechin had been aware of Mr Rennie’s lifestyle.