THE Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland has failed in its attempt to use the Church of Scotland's Assembly Hall in Edinburgh for a service next year to commemorate 200 years of Orangeism in Scotland.
On Saturday, at the opening of its week long annual meeting in the Assembly Hall - which is also let out for secular functions - the Church of Scotland's General Assembly refused by an overwhelming majority to receive a petition from Orange Lodge members headed by the Grand Master, Ian Wilson, an elder of the Kirk.
The petition asked it to review the decision of the Board of Practice and Procedure to refuse permission for the lodge.
The assembly felt that even to consider the petition would open the door to every decision by the board about letting the hall being open to review by the assembly.
But it also meant that the assembly neatly sidestepped any examination of the somewhat ambiguous relations between the Orange Lodge and the Kirk.
Originally the Orange Lodge had wanted to hold its service on May 3rd last. But the board turned down this application for fear of creating an impression that the Kirk was endorsing what it saw as the Orange Lodge's sectarianism and divisiveness.
Explaining the decision, the board's convenor, Mrs Ann McCarter, said they felt that to allow the Assembly Hall to be used in this way would offer a "divisive message" and would "give out the wrong vibes".
For his part Mr Wilson told the assembly that they felt an injustice had been done.