The Reverend Bill Wallace, a former convenor of the Church of Scotland’s Board of Social Responsibility, has written to the Principal Clerk of the General Assembly, citing “great dismay and perplexity among many traditionalists” at the decision.

The call for a probe follows The Herald’s revelation that 42-year-old Demetrius Ross, who is in a civil partnership, has been put forward for training.

It deepens a bitter dispute which threatens to split the Kirk. If ordained, Mr Ross would be the first openly gay minister to be approved since a two-year moratorium was agreed on gay appointments by this year’s General Assembly of the Kirk. ...