ROSNEATH: On the last Sunday before Scotland votes on independence, minister urged Scots from the pulpit to work for reconciliation and avoid recrimination after the referendum.
They offered no guidance, heavenly or otherwise, on which way to vote. But they said it was important that Scots did not shirk from casting a ballot and shaping their future.
"It will be hard, because I'm one of those people who has spent a lifetime trying to see both sides of every argument, trying to work out complicated 'middle ways' that keep as many people as possible content," the moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly, Reverend John Chalmers, said in a morning sermon at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Edinburgh.
"On this issue, like the people of Israel standing before Elijah, I need to come off the fence," he said in a sermon broadcast live across Scotland.
The referendum on Thursday will decide if Scotland becomes independent and ends its 307-year-old union with England or remains part of the United Kingdom.
Polls show the two sides are running neck-and-neck. A fervent debate has gripped Scotland for months, with a host of issues for people to weigh up from economic and financial matters to where political power should lie and who it should serve.
St. Modan's Church in Rosneath stands on the shores of the Gare Loch in Argyll region and in the middle of one of the referendum's biggest topics nuclear weapons.
Rosneath is part of a community of villages located near Faslane naval base, home to Britain's nuclear-armed submarines, and the armaments depot at Coulport.
The pro-independence Scottish National Party has said it will get rid of the Trident nuclear weapons NATO member Britain's only nuclear deterrent.
Many people in the area feel compelled to vote "No", fearing that independence could lead to job losses throughout a community that relies heavily on the base for employment.
In her sermon at St. Modan's, Reverend Christine Murdoch stayed neutral. But she lamented the bitterness of the campaigns, with people "trying to shout louder than one another".
"No matter what we vote, will we ever be able to recover from all the slings and arrows that have been thrown?" she asked.
The 50 or so people in the congregation nodded silently as she spoke, keeping their opinions to themselves but agreeing with what she had to say about the aftermath of Scotland's biggest-ever decision.
The Protestant church, known as "The Kirk", has played a prominent role in Scotland's history, not least in politics. It also had a powerful influence over social mores, although its voice has faded in recent decades and church attendance is dwindling.
Churchmen are traditionally highly respected members of the community. Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's father was a minister in Fife and Brown now a leader in the "No" campaign has often cited his influence.
In Edinburgh, the 8 a.m. sermon in the magnificent St. Mary's Cathedral was broadcast live by the BBC across Scotland, although the pews were far from packed.
Reverend Chalmers said he hoped the energetic engagement in civic life created by the referendum would carry on after Thursday.
"And all of those who will vote 'Yes' and all of those who will vote 'No', we need to remember that we belong together in the same Scotland.
"When we wake up on the 19th of September we need to be ready to work on the same side to work for the future of Scotland and work with our near neighbours in England, Wales and Northern Ireland whatever the outcome," he said.
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