Good evening. You're very warmly welcome to this special evening with our brother, Mr. Callum Webster, from the Christian Institute. We've had Callum before, always enjoyed fellowship with him. We appreciate the work that he does, the Christian Institute does, in advocating for issues relating to morality and legal issues and advocating for Christian freedom, Christian rights of conscience. Such an important work. And we thank our brother for that. And he's coming tonight to talk about the RSE. framework which is being imposed upon our schools here and it's an issue that is really grieving us to the heart of our souls and we have an opportunity to respond to the consultation and Callum's going to give us good guidance and good direction on this matter this evening. So let's just have a word of prayer and we'll commit our time to the Lord and we'll ask our brother to come forward and speak. Father in heaven we come into your holy presence in the name of in the name of our savior we thank you for Christ who died and rose again, we thank you for Christ's stewardship over the church, that he is King of kings and Lord of lords. We thank you that he rules and governs, and we thank you that he rules over the kingdoms of this earth as well, and that he is the one in sovereign control, and we know that in all things he must have the preeminence. And we pray that Christ would have the preeminence here tonight in this gathering. We pray, Father, that thou wouldest undertake for our brother Callum. We thank you for the good work that he does and the Christian Institute does in advocating, giving guidance, giving support on these important matters. And as he speaks about RSE tonight and its implications and its impact, the need for us to be salt and light, to speak for God's truth in a wicked world and to speak for the defence of our children and the children in our schools, young people in our schools, pray and to speak on behalf of Christian teachers. All these things are so important. And we pray that you would just give our brother clarity and wisdom as he speaks tonight. And we pray that you would enable us to be better ambassadors for Christ in this wicked world. And we know that you've called us to the kingdom for such a time as this. And we pray that we would not be those servants who are found wanting. And so we pray that you would be with our brother now. Bless him as he addresses us this evening. For Christ's sake, amen. Thank you very much. Well, thank you very much for the invitation. It's a privilege to be with you in the Clocker Valley again, and I'm grateful to the Reverend McIntyre for his warm words of welcome tonight. Just before I start speaking on the presentation, I would point to the end of your pews, and there should be copies of those leaflets there, which give the Christian Institute's outline to the consultation. on RSE, and I will be going through that later on in my presentation. But before we look at the issue facing us today, we want to anchor what is said in the Word of God. So, if you turn in your Bibles to Luke 10, Luke 10, and we'll want to read from verse 25. Luke chapter 10 from verse 25, And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, what is written in the law, how readest thou? And he answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live. but he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, and who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pens and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. Well, may God bless His Word to our hearts, and if you keep your Bibles open, I want to look at this passage for a few moments, because this is a very famous parable. It is a parable you may have heard many non-Christians making reference to, and these well-known verses have picked up a lot of baggage over the years. So we need to be careful not to bring preconceived ideas to this passage, because this parable is often taken out of its context. The context here in verse 25 is a man coming to the Lord Jesus Christ and asking how he can earn his own salvation. He says, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? The man was asking about salvation by works. And when the Lord Jesus Christ pointed this man back to the law, this expert lawyer was able correctly to reel off the summary of that law in the two greatest commandments. This man knew his law, and apparently he thought he had kept his law, so he viewed himself as well on track for eternal life. But this man's view of the two greatest commandments was far too limited. In reality, like me and like you, this man had not kept either of those commandments. And so the Lord Jesus Christ, in response to the man's question, seeking to justify himself, was to puncture his self-righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ makes clear that neighbor was a far wider category than this expert considered. The parable was a reality check. The expert could not earn his own salvation. He had misunderstood and had drastically underestimated the standard he was called upon to meet. And this man had already fallen short. He needed a Savior just as you and I need a Savior. And for us as Christian believers today, these great commandments still apply, not as a means of earning our salvation, for salvation only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but they apply as the standard by which we are called to live as saved men and women. Both our love of God and our love of our neighbor stem from God first loving us. And so, the Savior's crucial point about the breadth of neighbor is still important to understand today. Just like the expert in the law of Moses, we often want to put limits upon who is our neighbor, we often want to justify ourselves. But in this parable, the Lord Jesus Christ shifts the question away from, who is my neighbor, and makes clear the real question we ought to be asking is, who can I be a neighbor to? Who can I treat in a neighborly way? And we learn that in that sense, everyone is our neighbor, not just our immediate circle of friends and family. Christian believers are called to show love to all people, to the unlikeliest of people, and even to people who oppose us. And the requirement to be a neighbor must include the many opportunities that you and I have as citizens to show love to fellow citizens in our nation. So, what is the love that believers are called upon to show? What does that involve apart from ministering to the needs of assault victims we may find in the roadside? Well, being clear and firm on the moral issues of the Word of God is part of love. Of course, loving our neighbor means more than that, but loving our neighbor includes that. And this is underlined for us in Romans chapter 13. If you turn to Romans chapter 13, verses 9 and 10, it explains to us that loving our neighbor is more than just that. It says, For this, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Sadly today, some people, including some people in churches, talk as if love replaces God's law, as if it dispenses with, does away with God's law. But no, love fulfills God's law. Disregarding God's moral law is the definition of being unloving. It is not loving to break your wife's heart or to undermine your children's stability by committing adultery. It is not loving to abort your unborn child because the pregnancy interferes with your career. It is not loving to take something that does not belong to you. We cannot uncouple love from morality, otherwise we're simply left with mere sentimentality. And that is not just true for Christian believers. It is true for all people. As any parent will know, true love involves teaching right from wrong. True love involves protecting people from danger. True love means speaking out against those things that bring heartache and suffering and pain and wreckage in our society. True love means saying these things even when, or perhaps especially when, it may be unpopular to do so. In a society like our own, which celebrates and promotes abortion, unborn babies and vulnerable expectant mothers are in need of our neighborliness. So too are children and teenagers who are constantly being pummeled by and tragically taken in by the dangerous claims of gender ideology. And so too are the weak and the vulnerable, The elderly, the disabled, who would all be at risk if our nation was to legislate assisted suicide. So when we see the heartache, when we see the pain, the sorrow, and the wreckage that comes from those things, how can Christians remain silent? So tonight as we look at this issue challenging us at the present time here in Northern Ireland, let's not do it with academic detachment. This issue matters. These issues matter because they directly affect our neighbors and our children. We must not, we cannot, simply walk by on the other side like the priest or the Levite. Christians are called, we're commanded to love our neighbor, and this includes taking a stand on those issues, including against government legislation and policy that brings harm to our neighbor. Out of compassion for fellow human beings, Christians cannot remain silent when we see policies introduced that bring real harm to real people in real-life situations. If we truly care for others, then we must speak out with wisdom and boldness regarding matters of right and wrong. So with those biblical principles in mind, I do want to look at the general issue of relationships and sexuality education in Northern Ireland schools. There are biblical principles that undergird these matters. Scripture tells us that children are a heritage of the Lord. Psalm 127 reminds us of that. Scripture teaches in many places that parents have a duty to train and to teach their children and to protect them from harm. And the New Testament is very clear that it is a wicked thing to put a stumbling block in the way of a child or to encourage a child to do evil. So, therefore, given those principles, sexually explicit teaching in classrooms or the promotion of false ideology about gender is something that ought to concern Christian believers, particularly Christian parents. Changes to the relationships and sexuality education in Northern Ireland schools are generating controversy. And so, we need to be informed about what is happening to pray and to respond in a wise and a strategic way. So, what are the current arrangements? Well, at the present time, schools in Northern Ireland have liberty to develop their own RSE policies. The law does set out some limited content which must be covered in post-primary schools, but beyond that, schools have liberty to develop their own policy, and that policy must be endorsed by the school board of governors, it should reflect the ethos of the school, and parents should be consulted about what their children are taught in RSE lessons. The current guidelines support the right of parents to have their children educated in accordance with their wishes. Many Northern Irish schools were started by churches, and a hundred years ago were transferred to the state with the understanding that a Christian ethos be respected. But what has happened in June of this year? Well, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, has introduced the Relationships and Sexuality Education Northern Ireland Amendment regulations at Westminster. And sadly, MPs overwhelmingly voted in favour of those regulations by 373 to 28. And the regulations add to the statutory curriculum for the content of RSE in post-primary schools. They require that pupils receive age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion. The regulations also require the Department of Education to set out parents' rights to withdraw their children from this teaching and to issue guidance ensuring that pupils receive this education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, covering contraception and access to abortion, and also that the education received by the pupils is age-appropriate, comprehensive, and scientifically accurate. and the new guidance must be in place by January of next year and it will be mandatory for all state-funded post-primary schools. There is a genuine risk of activists exploiting the new requirements to introduce explicit teaching and materials across post-primary schools. Several state-funded bodies are already campaigning for this. A panel appointed by the Department for Communities at Stormont has publicly criticised the current teaching of RSE, and that panel includes representatives from the Rainbow Project, from Transgender NI, and from Hair NI, which is an organisation advocating on behalf of lesbian rights. And in April of this year, the Education and Training Inspectorate in Northern Ireland called for increased teaching on abortion, gender ideology and LGBTQ plus issues in Northern Irish schools. And in June, the Human Rights Commission here in Northern Ireland published a report calling for all elements of comprehensive RSE to be forced upon schools here. The Human Rights Commission criticized schools for teaching abstinence outside of marriage and faithfulness within marriage, and the Commission questioned whether children should be allowed to express views that disagree with the LGBT agenda. The Commission's report criticized approximately two-thirds of the schools in their study who had referenced pro-life values in their RSE policies. And it's not just government bodies, public bodies here campaigning for this, there are politicians calling for the same things as well. The Alliance Party has publicly welcomed the new RSE requirements, particularly the requirement to teach about accessing abortion in post-primary schools. Alliance MLA Connie Egan had already been preparing a private member's bill at Stormont to introduce a standard RSE curriculum across all Northern Irish schools. And the SDLP similarly have welcomed the RSE changes and made a public statement when the regulations were introduced stating that they have long been advocating for compulsory and comprehensive relationships and sex education to be introduced into our schools. So, although the regulations were voted on at Westminster, there was considerable pressure both from public bodies and from certain politicians to go down this line here as well. Well, the Christian Institute is aware of schools in both Scotland and England where explicit materials have been brought into classrooms under this banner of comprehensive RSE. In some cases, children over the water have been taught that any sexual practices are acceptable so long as they have consent. and contentious gender ideology is being taught as fact, denying the biological reality of male and female. RSE was made compulsory in schools in England in 2020, and now many English schools are inviting outside organizations in to take classes on these topics or to provide teaching materials. Some of those groups are promoting extreme ideologies and resources. Earlier this year, an English MP, Miriam Cates, commissioned a report into RSE in English schools, and her report highlighted evidence of unsuitable material and sexual indoctrination on a widespread scale in English schools. And many of the examples her report highlighted are too graphic for me to describe in a meeting like this. But in response to her report, the head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, warned that children were being taught sex education lessons that have no basis in biological fact. Pupils in some secondary schools in England and Scotland have been taught that there are a hundred different genders. And on the Isle of Man in February of this year, the Manx government suspended all sex education lessons in the schools on the Isle of Man and launched an inquiry after 11-year-old pupils there were being taught that there are 73 different genders. So, they have a slightly narrower definition of gender than Scotland and England, which teaches 100. The Isle of Man was teaching 73, but of course science And the Word of God both confirm that there are two genders. But there is a real risk of this requirement for comprehensive RSE becoming a Trojan horse, being used as a vehicle to introduce anti-Christian ideologies and explicit materials right across post-primary schools. The regulations state that the new elements of RSE teaching must be presented with scientific accuracy. And what is meant by that? Well, in practice, this will be interpreted to mean the presentation of information about those matters outside of a moral or religious or ethical framework. So, they will argue, well, we don't teach this RSE material from a religious perspective, we come at it from a scientific perspective. So, in other words, they're discounting the moral element and religious element to it. But it will be interesting to see whether scientific facts about a baby's development in the womb or scientific facts about the fact that it's impossible to change one's sex, whether those scientific facts will be taught or brushed aside. Helpfully, in answer to a parliamentary question in July, Baroness Barron confirmed that the new regulations allow for pupils to be withdrawn from education on sexual and reproductive health and rights or elements of that education at the request of a parent. The Department of Education has confirmed that it's addressing this issue and indeed it is part of the public consultation. But by way of caution, We need to keep in mind that in England, parents are permitted to withdraw their child from the sex education element of RSE, but not from the relationships element. The department launched its public consultation a couple of weeks ago, and that consultation runs through to the 24th of November. The Christian Institute is keeping those on its mailing list up to date with developments on this, so if you don't get our updates, do fill in one of the cards that are at the end of the pew, and we will keep you posted. as this issue unfolds, but we've also produced this guidance on responding to the consultation that gives all the details you need to submit a response to this on the key issues covered. I'd also call upon you to pray regarding this serious matter. It's vital that we bring this issue before God in prayer with petition. We must pray for a clear and wise response from parents, from teachers, from school governors, and from the public, opposing gender ideology and explicit teaching in schools. We should pray for the protection of children from the promotion of harmful practices. We should pray that the Department of Education will not yield to the extreme demands of activists. And we should pray for God's help and protection for the Christian Institute, for myself and my colleagues, as we work on this very serious issue. So having considered that broad overview, I want now to look at the consultation itself and apologies in advance, some of this is a little bit wordy and a little bit technical but hopefully you can follow me. The consultation has been launched by the Department of Education. It particularly addresses issues connected to the parental right of withdrawal from the new elements of RSC. And you can find that consultation document online. There's the web address www.bit.ly forward slash NIRSE consult 23. And the easiest way to deal with the paper is by answering online, but there is the option of responding by post or by email as well. It's a basic consultation As well as setting out background explanatory material, the consultation contains four key questions and respondents are asked to take agree, disagree or neither agree nor disagree in response to each. And there's an option to add comments in the comments line as well. The first question it addresses is the content of teaching and learning resources for learning for life and work developed by CCEA, that's the Council for Curriculum, Examination and Assessment, should be factual and contain age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion, and these resources should not advocate or oppose a particular view on the moral and ethical considerations of abortion or contraception. Well, this is a difficult question to answer because in some ways the language of scientifically accurate education and not advocating or opposing a particular view may sound appealing. But we need to read between the lines here and recognize that education on reproductive rights without a clear explanation of the moral principles involved will amount to a pro-abortion perspective. It will normalize abortion. You cannot teach about abortion in a moral vacuum. And so, for that reason, we recommend selecting the disagree option for that question. In the comments line, it is important to point out that the moral and ethical considerations must be fully addressed as part of the balanced presentation of opposing views. If teaching in this area is simply covering the legal right to an abortion without also considering the ethical questions raised by the destruction of an unborn child, then effectively that endorses a pro-abortion view. Scientifically accurate education must include the facts that the baby is a genetic individual from conception, that at six weeks old it has a heartbeat and so on, in relation to the other features developed by the unborn child in the womb. The children in schools should at least be told that some people consider abortion to be the taking of a human life, which is a view that is worthy of respect in any democratic society." So, that's question one. Let's move on to the second question. which asks, parents of bleak carers should be informed about the specific nature and content of the age-appropriate, comprehensive, and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion. Well, this is a fairly obvious question to tick the agree box to. It is parents who have primary responsibility for the education of their children, and therefore parents must be fully informed about what their children are being taught. This has to be done well in advance so that parents have the opportunity to respond to it as they see fit, including, if necessary, withdrawing their child from those lessons. It's important that parents are not just given an overview, a description, but that they are allowed to see the materials for themselves and read the lesson plans that will be presented to their children and the schemes of work. If outside organizations are being invited into the school, then parents should be told which organizations these are and be given sight of the materials those organizations will be using. Then the third question, a bit more wordy, I'm sorry, but it's asked, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child includes at Articles 1 to 3 and 12 the rights of the child to express their views, feelings, and wishes in all matters affecting them and to have their views considered and taken seriously, and at Article 5, the rights and responsibilities of parents and carers to provide guidance and direction to their child as they grow up so that they fully enjoy their rights. This must be done in a way that recognizes the child's increasing capacity to make their own choices. The department's guidance when developed should consider in such instances how schools balance the rights of both children and parents or carers in implementing the regulations. Well we suggest taking neither agree nor disagree to this statement and a key point to make in the comments space is that The department's guidance must accurately reflect the law. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is not part of UK domestic law. But what is part of our law is Article 44 of the Education and Libraries Northern Ireland Order 1986, which emphasizes the general principle that pupils shall be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents. This is backed up by human rights law, which have been incorporated into UK law. And if the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is to be cited, then it must not be quoted from selectively. Alongside the articles emphasizing the children's views, the Convention also recognizes that the family, led by parents, is the primary means of safeguarding children's rights. For example, at Article 18, Paragraph 1, it states, parents, or, as the case may be, legal guardians, have primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child. So, any consideration of a child's rights, apart from the rights of their parents, must be by exception only. And the fourth and final question to address in the consultation is, pupils and parents or carers should have access to an overview of their school's RSE policy and planned RSE programme. But we suggest tick the agree box to this statement, but add in the comments space that parents should not simply be given an overview of the RSE policy and programme, They should be shown in detail everything that their children are going to be taught or shown. More than that, parents should be consulted when the RSE policies are being drafted or revised, should be given a meaningful input when the school's plans are still being formulated. Much of RSE is sensitive. There are a wide range of strongly held views and those views should be respected and considered. So, that's a very whistle-stop tour through the consultation. It's all I have time to get from the platform tonight, but in the coming weeks the Christian Institute will be providing more details and keeping those on our mailing list up to date. And just as I close down, I want to leave you with a couple of practical points as to things to do in relation to this and in relation to the challenges we face generally. Those who've heard me speak before have heard some of these points. The first thing we should do in response to this issue and the others that we're facing as a society is to be informed, If we want to be a Christian influence on the issues our society is confronted with, we have to know about those issues. And you can watch debates in Parliament on television, on the radio, on the internet. You can read the newspapers and follow those debates. You can read the minutes of council meetings. in public places, but most of us don't have the time for that level of detail, so there are easier ways. You can be kept informed for free by the Christian Institute. If you don't already, get our updates, and I know many of you already do, but for any who don't, there are little cards like these at the end of the pews. Pop your name and address on the card, leave the card in the gray basket on the literature table in the foyer, and you'll be able to join our mailing list. for any other Scots people here this evening, it's completely free, and those who get the mailings I'm sure will testify. We don't bombard folks with information, but we do write out as the issues arise, we tell you what to pray for, and we tell you what to do in response, and particularly in relation to this consultation, we will be sending out further correspondence in the coming weeks. Second thing to do about those issues is to pray. I've spoken here in Clocher Valley, Free Presbyterian Church from 1 Timothy 2, 1 to 4, where we're called to pray for kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. We're called to pray for those ruling the nation so that we would have the freedom to live in a godly way and so that freedom for the gospel to be proclaimed would be preserved. Those things are being challenged, in our nation. And often we complain about politicians. There are matters worthy of complaint. I know that. But if we were as quick to pray as we are to complain, might we see God move and answer and restraining evil and protection of liberty of conscience and gospel freedom. So, let's be much in prayer, and especially between now and the end of November, let's be much in prayer about the RSE consultation. We should teach, and that's particularly applicable, of course, to those preaching the Word of God from our pool booths, but we may also be leading youth groups or in Bible studies or training up our young people. And it's so important that our young people know what the Bible has to say on those issues, even young people who are in churches. Some of them are not able to explain why we believe what we believe, so it's important we don't just tell them what we believe. but it's important we tell them why we believe it, so they can resist the pressure of the culture around them. And fourthly and finally, we do ask people to write, those who get our mailings know, from time to time we ask them to write to their MLAs or to respond to public consultations, and we do that because we believe that that is the most effective way that Christians can be an influence on that particular issue at that particular point in time. But if Christians don't respond in sufficient numbers, then that influence will not be exerted. And of course, we have this consultation. Many of you are married people. So, don't just submit one response. If you're a husband and wife, submit a response each. Why not as a church? If it's your wish, submit a response as a church as well as individual members of that church. Encourage friends and family members to respond to it. There must be other, if you're Living in a neighborhood and there are families around you, even some non-Christian families who are concerned about those things, encourage them to respond, make use of it. Let's make sure that come the end of November that the Department of Education has many, many responses defending the rights of parents, highlighting the dangers of liberalizing RSC and protecting right standards as far as we are in a position to do so. So thank you so much for allowing me to share. I'll hand back to the Reverend McIntyre. At this stage, I'd like to thank our brother Callum very much. I'd like to thank all those that have joined us through live stream. And we're just going to say farewell to the folks on live stream now. And in a few moments, we're just going to invite if anyone has any questions.