THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND - Priestfield Parish Church

The Church 

of Scotland 

2010 General Assembly 

Scottish Reformation 

450th anniversary

Published in 2010 by 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND ASSEMBLY ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE 

121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN 

© The Church of Scotland Assembly Arrangements Committee 2010 

ISBN 978-0-86153-611-5 

British Library Catalogue in Publication Data 

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 

All copy keyed by the Church of Scotland 

Designed and produced by APS Group, 

7-9 North St David Street, Edinburgh EH2 1AW 

Indexer Peter B Gunn 

Embargoed until 21 April 2010 

Authorised for official use 

within the Church of Scotland only, 

and not for publication until 21 April 2010

Council of Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1/1 

Church and Society Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2/1 

Ministries Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3/1 

Mission and Discipleship Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4/1 

Social Care Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5/1 

Assembly Arrangements Committee . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1/1 

Central Services Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2/1 

Committee on Ecumenical Relations . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3/1 

Legal Questions Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4/1 

Safeguarding Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5/1 

World Mission Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7/1 

HIV/Aids Project Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1/1 

Chaplains to Her Majesty’s Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8/1 

The Church of Scotland Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/1 

Church Hymnary Trustees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10/1 

Church Without Walls Planning Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11/1 

Delegation of The General Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12/1 

General Trustees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13/1 

Church of Scotland Guild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14/1 

CONTENTS 

Housing and Loan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15/1 

Church of Scotland Investors Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16/1 

Iona Community Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17/1 

Nomination Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18/1 

Panel on Review and Reform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19/1 

Committee on The Parish Development Fund . . . . . . 20/1 

The Church of Scotland Pension Trustees . . . . . . . . . . 21/1 

Returns to Overtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22/1 

National Youth Assembly 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23/1 

Special Committee on the 

Review of Charity Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24/1 

Special Commission Anent the Third Article 

Declaratory of the Constitution of the 

Church of Scotland in Matters Spiritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25/1 

Joint Report of the Mission and Discipleship and 

Ministries Council on the Emerging Church . . . . . . . . 26/1 

Minutes of the Commission of the 

General Assembly, November 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27/1 

Minutes of the Judicial Commission 

May 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28/1 

Index

1. Governance 

1.1 The Council’s Monitoring, Co-ordinating and 

Evaluating Role 

1.1.1 The Council meets monthly except in January, 

May and July and each meeting’s agenda includes 

reports from Councils and Committees which come 

within the monitoring, evaluating and co-ordinating 

remit of the Council. Through a rota system Councils 

make substantial presentations twice a year, though the 

COUNCIL OF ASSEMBLY 

May 2010 

PROPOSED DELIVERANCE 

The General Assembly 

1. Receive the Report. 

2. Agree the proposals set out in the Report for continuing the work of the Parish Development Fund. (Section 1.2) 

3. Agree to disband the Support and Services Council with immediate effect. (Section 1.3) 

4. Agree that the Ecumenical Relations Committee should sit within the Department of the General Assembly and 

that the Ecumenical Officer should be in attendance at meetings of the Council of Assembly. (Section 1.4) 

5. Approve the proposals set out in the Report for continuing the work of the HIV/AIDS Project as the “Church of 

Scotland HIV Programme”. (Section 1.5) 

6. Appoint the Rev John Chalmers as Principal Clerk of the General Assembly with effect from 1 July 2010 and as 

Associate Principal Clerk from the commencement of the General Assembly. (Section 2.4) 

7. Appoint Mrs Pauline Weibye as Secretary to the Council of Assembly with effect from 1 July 2010 and as 

Associate Secretary with immediate effect. (Section 2.5) 

8. Agree that the Secretary to the Council of Assembly should be a corresponding member of the General 

Assembly in terms of Standing Order 32 (2). (Section 2.6) 

9. Receive the 2009 Report and Accounts of the Unincorporated Councils and Committees of the General 

Assembly. (Section 5.5.1) 

10. Agree that the review of the arrangement that the Convener of the Panel of Review and Reform is a member 

of the Council of Assembly be deferred until the completion of the Panel’s work on a new Presbytery structure. 

(Section 7) 

11. Agree that the Council in terms of section 22 of its remit should be the body to deal with issues arising in relation 

to trust bodies to which the Church of Scotland appoints members. (Section 9) 

REPORT 

opportunity is provided at every meeting for bringing 

matters before the Council. More detailed scrutiny of 

budgets and requests for replacement or additional 

staffing are first undertaken by the Finance or Staffing 

Group as appropriate. 

1.1.2 It may be of interest to commissioners to see the 

basis of discussion used by the Council in its engagement 

with the other Councils and Committees. This is set out 

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in the following series of requests/questions to which 

written answers are provided in advance: 

(i) Please give details of current areas of work and/or 

reports received at your last Executive or Committee 

meeting. 

(ii) Please highlight current priorities. 

(iii) Please indicate any other areas which you would 

draw to the attention of the Council of Assembly. 

(iv) What are the possible effects of your work on other 

Councils or Committees? 

(v) Please identify any issues which concern you as 

charity trustees. 

(vi) Do you anticipate working within your annual 

budget? In particular, are there any issues arising 

from the most recent set of management accounts? 

(vii) Please advise on progress towards achieving a break 

even budget. 

(viii) Have you any staffing issues? 

(ix) Have you had or do you anticipate any significant 

changes in the membership of your Committee? What 

succession plans do you have in place to deal with 

changes eg in the convenership/vice-convenership? 

(x) Risk Register: Please indicate any change to your 

Committee’s Risk Register and indicate when the 

Register was last reviewed. 

(xi) What are the particular needs or opportunities of 

your Committee that you would wish to highlight to 

the Council of Assembly? 

1.1.3 Through discussion of the above areas, with follow 

up as required, the Council takes the opportunity to ask 

the questions which the Assembly itself has neither the 

time nor the detailed information to ask during the annual 

presentation of reports. 

1.2 Parish Development Fund 

1.2.1 Last year’s General Assembly instructed the 

Council to consult the Fund Committee with a view to its 

continuation with its present structure after 2010 and to 

report to the General Assembly of 2010. 


1.2.2 The Fund was set up in 2002 as a five year project 

and received initial funding of £3 million (£1 million in year 

one and £0.5 million in each of the next four years) from the 

reserves of the Mission and Renewal Fund. In addition the 

Fund received a proportion of a levy on the sale of church 

properties from the General Trustees. In 2006 the General 

Assembly agreed to continue the Fund until 2010. 

1.2.3 In anticipation of this cut off date, a joint report 

from the Council of Assembly, the Fund Committee and 

the Mission and Discipleship Council was presented to last 

year’s Assembly. This recommended that the Fund should 

continue within the Mission and Discipleship Council. 

However, the General Assembly referred the matter back 

to the Council of Assembly in the terms noted above. 

1.2.4 What lay behind last year’s proposal was a 

concern by the Council of Assembly to control central 

costs. Clearly the Fund could not be supported 

indefinitely from the reserves of the Mission and Renewal 

Fund. Indeed, over the past three years this core funding 

has been at a level of £250k per annum compared with 

the original £1 million in its first year and £0.5 million 

in each of the four succeeding years. The Council was 

also concerned, at a time when budgets are under 

pressure, to ensure that all areas of work were included 

within the prioritisation exercise in which Councils are 

regularly engaged. The Council is also charged in its 

remit “to keep under review the central administration 

of the Church, with particular regard to resolving issues 

of duplication of resources.” 

1.2.5 Against this background the Council has 

engaged in continuing consultation with the Fund with 

a view to securing its future. During the course of these 

consultations the Ministries Council, having regard to its 

work on Priority Areas Staffing and Emerging Ministries as 

well as its engagement with Faith in Community Scotland, 

offered to host the Parish Development Fund with a view 

to streamlining the administration of these Funds. These 

Funds will together total around £1million and have the

potential to attract significant grants from trusts and other 

funding agencies. 

1.2.6 Under this arrangement the sum of £300K, including 

the General Trustees levy, will be “ring fenced” for the work 

of the Parish Development Fund for each of the years 2011 

and 2012. The Fund Committee will continue to oversee 

the distribution of funds but will do so as a Consultative 

Forum within the Support and Development Area of the 

Ministries Council. The Convener will become a member ex 

officio of that Council, and the Fund staff will become part 

of the Ministries Council staff team. On the expiry of the two 

year “ring-fenced” funding the Fund will become part of the 

prioritisation process of the Ministries Council. 

1.2.7 In commending these arrangements to the 

General Assembly the Council is pleased to do so with the 

concurrence of the Parish Development Fund Committee 

and the Ministries Council. 

1.3 Support and Services Council 

The 2005 re-structuring of the central agencies of 

the Church brought a number of former boards and 

committees into five new Councils, namely Church and 

Society, Ministries, Mission and Discipleship, Social Care 

and World Mission. A small number of Committees whose 

work did not fit into any of these Councils continued to 

report direct to the Assembly and were grouped into 

a “Support and Services Council”. This was essentially a 

mechanism for enabling the officials of these committees 

to meet from time to time and to appoint one of their 

conveners to the Council of Assembly. The Support and 

Services Council had no governance role in relation to its 

member committees and its value has been called into 

question. Meetings are poorly attended and over the 

past year none of the conveners has felt able to devote 

the time required to serve on the Council of Assembly. 

The five committees – Assembly Arrangements, Central 

Services, Ecumenical Relations, Legal Questions and 

Safeguarding – report to the Council of Assembly and 

four of them have ex officio members on the Council 

COUNCIL OF ASSEMBLY 1/3 

through the General Treasurer, Principal Clerk and 

Solicitor. This provides a mechanism for a two way flow 

of information. In addition the Council has agreed to 

co-opt an Assembly appointed member of the Legal 

Questions Committee, nominated by that Committee, 

to its Governance Group. The one body which is not so 

represented is the Ecumenical Relations Committee but 

the arrangements detailed below address this situation. 

The Council of Assembly will continue to invite the 

Conveners and Secretaries of these Committees to attend 

the Council on a rota basis each year, and Conveners will 

be able to raise matters of concern with the Council at 

any time. In light of these considerations and following 

consultation with the various committees, the Council 

of Assembly now recommends that the Support and 

Services Council be disbanded. 

1.4 Ecumenical Relations Committee 

1.4.1 Following consultation with the Ecumenical 

Relations Committee the Council brings forward the 

following two proposals. 

1.4.2 Firstly, the Council proposes that the Ecumenical 

Relations Committee should come within the new 

Department of the General Assembly which it has been 

agreed will bring together the Secretary to the Council 

of Assembly and the Principal Clerk, along with the 

main bodies which they support, namely the Council of 

Assembly, the Assembly Arrangements and Legal Questions 

Committees, the Committee to Nominate the Moderator 

and the Nomination Committee. The placing of the 

Ecumenical Relations Committee here will bring into one 

department the support of the General Assembly and the 

Moderator, the supervision of the agencies of the General 

Assembly, the maintaining and development of church 

law, practice and procedure and the management of the 

Church of Scotland’s relationships with other churches. 

The Council, while recognising the distinct and specialised 

roles of Council Secretary, Ecumenical Officer and Principal 

Clerk, believes that value will be added to the work they 

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do through the regular contact that flows from working 

within the one Department of the General Assembly. 

1.4.3 Secondly, it is recommended that the Ecumenical 

Officer should be in attendance at meetings of the Council 

of Assembly to assist the Council in fulfilling its remit “to 

encourage all Agencies of the General Assembly to work 

ecumenically wherever possible and to have regard to 

the international, evangelical and catholic nature of the 

Church”. 

1.5 HIV/AIDS Project 

1.5.1 The Project was established by the General 

Assembly of 2002 with funding of £50K per annum 

until November 2007 through the then Board of World 

Mission. In 2006 the General Assembly approved the 

recommendation of the Council of Assembly that the 

Project be continued for a further three years beyond 

November 2007 with an annual budget of £50K 

contributed principally by the World Mission Council, but 

with additional support from the Ministries, Mission and 

Discipleship and Social Care Councils. The Project Group 

would continue to operate within the aegis of the World 

Mission Council though reporting direct to the General 

Assembly. 

1.5.2 Over the past year discussions have taken place 

regarding the future of the Project beyond the end 

of 2010. It became apparent that, due to budgetary 

pressures, the Councils which had given additional 

funding support would not be in a position to continue 

to do so. In light of this the World Mission Council has 

agreed in principle to resourcing the project, in the first 

instance from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2013, from 

within its core funding. The Project will be re-named 

“The Church of Scotland HIV Programme” and will be 

supported by a level of management and administration 

which is agreeable and affordable to the World Mission 

Council and consistent with the need for that Council to 

achieve an overall balanced budget. As the World Mission 

Council has no mandate to fund projects within the UK, 


grants made in the future will be limited to support our 

Partner Church projects furth of the UK. 

1.5.3 In all the circumstances the Council of Assembly 

welcomes this commitment and has confirmed that the 

World Mission Council may engage in external fund raising 

with a view to awarding grants through the “Church of 

Scotland HIV Programme”. 

1.6 Declarations of Interest 

As a matter of good practice the Council agenda and 

those of its committees contain “Declarations of Interest” 

as a standing item. The Council commends this practice to 

all Church courts, councils and committees and, in terms 

of Standing Order 125, has asked the Legal Questions 

Committee to bring forward a new Assembly Standing 

Order in the following terms: “Members shall make relevant 

declarations of interest where the topic of debate makes it 

appropriate to do so.” 

2. Appointments of Principal Clerk and 

Secretary to the Council 

2.1 The General Assembly of 2008, on the Report of the 

Special Commission on Structure and Change, determined 

that the position of Secretary to the Council of Assembly, 

upon the retirement of the present Principal Clerk, should 

become (i) a separate role from that of Principal Clerk, and 

(ii) a full time position, and last year’s General Assembly 

approved the remits and job descriptions for the two posts. 

2.2 The Special Commission summed up the “principal 

functions” of the Principal Clerk as being “to act as Clerk 

to the General Assembly and, both during the Assembly 

and throughout the year, to give advice and guidance on 

matters of procedure and church law to those who may 

require it”. The Commission also referred to the Principal 

Clerk’s role as that of an “independent and authoritative 

legal adviser.” 

2.3 Of the Council Secretary post the Special Commission 

advised: “We would see the Secretary of the Council’s

esponsibility as one of leading change, motivating 

people and undertaking the task in accordance with the 

principles of good governance. It may be appropriate for 

an appointment to be made of someone with relevant 

experience gained in the private or public sector, that 

experience including experience in the management of 

change.” 

2.4 In accordance with these criteria the Council is 

pleased to ask the General Assembly to appoint the Rev 

John Chalmers BD, CPS as Principal Clerk with effect from 

1 July 2010 (the date of Dr Macdonald’s retirement) and 

as Associate Principal Clerk from the commencement 

of the General Assembly. Mr Chalmers has considerable 

experience of the life of the Church and of the working of 

its courts, councils and committees. From 1982 to 1986 he 

was Clerk to the Presbytery of Dumbarton and has exercised 

ministries in Renton and at Palmerston Place in Edinburgh. 

Since 1995 he has been on the staff of the Ministries Council 

(formerly the Board of Ministry) where he has had particular 

responsibility for pastoral support of ministers. 

2.5 Again, following the criteria set out by the Special 

Commission and adopted by the General Assembly, the 

Council is pleased to ask the Assembly to appoint Mrs 

Pauline Weibye MA, DPA, Chartered FCIPD as Secretary 

to the Council of Assembly with effect from 1 July and as 

Associate Secretary with immediate effect. Mrs Weibye, 

Session Clerk at Craigmillar Park Church, Edinburgh, has 

spent her working life in the public sector in a variety 

of management roles, joining local government soon 

after graduating from the University of Edinburgh. She is 

currently Head of Human Resources at the National Library 

of Scotland. Mrs Weibye has been a member of the Central 

Services Committee of the Church of Scotland since 2005 

and Vice Convener (Human Resources) since 2006. 

2.6 The Council proposes that, like the Secretaries of the 

other Councils, its Secretary should be a corresponding 

member of the General Assembly under Standing Order 

32(2). 


2.7 Under these new arrangements the post of Depute 

Clerk to the General Assembly ceases to be full-time and 

reverts to an honorarium based position. The Council will 

bring a name to the General Assembly for appointment 

on this basis with effect from 1 July 2010. 

3. Communication 

3.1 Head of Media and Communication 

3.1.1 In January, following the retirement of Mrs Pat 

Holdgate, Mr Stuart Wilson took up his appointment 

as Head of Media and Communication. An elder at 

Kilmacolm: Old Kirk, Mr Wilson was previously Head of 

Corporate Communication with Inverclyde Council. The 

Council is pleased to welcome him as Head of the team 

which has responsibility for media relations, the editing 

and development of the Church’s website, design services 

and the Church’s internal and external communication. 

3.1.2 In recognition of the key strategic role of this post 

and of the whole area of communication it has been agreed 

that Mr Wilson should attend and report to the Council of 

Assembly, rather than to the Central Services Committee 

and that he will be line managed by the Council Secretary. 

This ensures that communication is clearly on the agenda 

of the Council’s monthly meeting which brings together 

the elected members, Council conveners and secretaries 

and the Assembly appointed officials. 

3.1.3 The Council sees this appointment and its placing 

within the Church’s central organisation as fulfilling the 

instruction of the General Assembly “to develop further a 

strategic approach to directing external communication, 

including the possibility of establishing a post for a Director 

of Strategic Communication”. However, the Council 

preferred the job title “Head of Media and Communication” 

considering that this more accurately reflected the non 

“top down” structure of the Church. That said, the Media 

and Communication Department is available to assist 

Presbyteries and congregations and keen to relate to local 

and regional communication networks. 

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3.2 Website 

A major ongoing piece of work is the re-development of 

the Church of Scotland website. The first phase involves 

building the structure of the new site and transferring 

content from the old site. The new website will have 

improved navigation and search facilities and much more 

functionality than the current website. This will help church 

users to find the information they need much more easily 

and improve the website’s function as a communication 

tool for the Church. 

3.3 Presbytery Training 

Media and communication staff have provided media 

training sessions for Presbytery Clerks over the year. 

Around half of the Clerks took part in the training which 

included how to deal with local media and how to devise 

a communication strategy for Presbytery. 

3.4 Annual Review 

The Church’s third Annual Review will be themed to mark 

the 450 th anniversary of the Reformation in Scotland. The 

second Annual Review in 2009 was again well received by 

congregations and was also distributed to MSPs and local 

authority chief executives. 

4. Staffing 

4.1 The Staffing Group has continued to meet 

regularly to ensure that there is strong and effective 

governance in relation to recruitment of staff employed 

by the various Councils and departments in the central 

administration. 

4.2 Whereas the Council had established a protocol which 

gave powers to the Staffing Group to progress requests for 

straight replacement posts by e-mail and without recourse 

to the Council of Assembly, a more rigorous approach has 

been introduced over the past year. This reflects pressure 

on budgets and requires statements to be provided as to 

the reason for the vacancy, the need for filling it and the 

assurance that funding is in place to cover the costs. 


5. Finance 

5.1 Budgets 

5.1.1 As is customary, due to the necessities of printing 

deadlines, the detailed budget proposals for 2011 will be 

presented in a Supplementary Report. 

5.1.2 The Council has been following a medium term plan 

aimed at balancing the Church’s income and expenditure 

at a national level in a measured way. It recognised that 

financial management information controls required to 

be updated. There were some significant pressures on 

local congregational budgets and severe pressures on the 

budgets of Councils which will take some time to rectify. 

Financial reporting to Councils has improved significantly 

giving more regular and timely information. This, along 

with the necessary use of reserves held by Councils, has 

allowed the Council of Assembly to maintain for 2010 its 

policy of recent years to increase the proportion of total 

resources available to congregations. Total contributions 

for 2010 of £43,670,000 are still £300,000 below the 2006 

figure. Early indications are that congregational income in 

2009 was very slightly down on 2008, but, in the light of 

the current global economic situation and in comparison 

with other charities, the offerings of Church members 

appear to have been encouragingly resilient, and for that 

we give thanks. 

5.1.3 The Council, through its Finance Group, has 

continued to monitor closely the financial performance 

of all Councils by reviewing monthly management 

accounts and by regular dialogue with elected members 

and senior staff. The highlighting of the level of 

operating deficits budgeted for 2010 in Appendix II of 

the Council’s 2009 Supplementary Report has resulted in 

major reviews of spending in several Councils and it is 

anticipated that the budgeted deficits for 2011 will show 

a clear improvement representing significant first steps 

on the path to financial sustainability. This has only been 

possible as a result of robust prioritisation by Councils 

and painful pruning in many areas of work, but if and

when the financial position improves again it should 

allow for more vibrant growth. 

5.1.4 The Finance Group has also encouraged Councils 

to prepare budgets for more than one year ahead and 

there is evidence that better financial management 

and greater accountability are becoming the norm 

among Councils as they strive to ensure that necessarily 

limited resources are used in the best ways possible. The 

Stewardship and Finance Department now offers training 

to budget holders in how to interpret and use the financial 

information available. 

5.1.5 After the sharp losses in the capital value of the 

investments held in reserves by Councils in 2008, there 

was a modest recovery in 2009. The Council continues to 

monitor the reserves held by individual Councils in order 

to ensure that these are maintained at appropriate levels 

in relation to the various sources of income available and 

the types and patterns of expenditure necessary to carry 

out Councils’ remits. 

5.2 Stewardship 

5.2.1 Stewardship programmes continue to work for 

many congregations. Results point to increases in the 

giving of money which are many times the national average 

increase for the Church as a whole, and increased numbers 

of Gift Aid Declarations and bank standing orders as a 

committed way of giving. Where programmes have been 

concerned with the giving of time, talent and money, there 

have also been indications of greater involvement in the life 

of congregations. These programmes involve a considerable 

amount of time and effort on the part of planning groups, 

and a considerable number of meetings for the Stewardship 

Consultants, who provide guidance and support on behalf 

of the Stewardship and Finance Department. 

5.2.2 As reported by the Stewardship and Finance 

Committee to the General Assembly of 2009, some 

congregations still believe that their financial problems can 

be solved without talking to members and adherents about 


the giving of money. This is not the case. The hard work of 

a stewardship programme is urgently required in many 

congregations which have hitherto avoided this challenge. 

5.2.3 There was particular awareness of this problem 

when all congregations in a number of Presbyteries 

were urged to undertake the pilot programme ‘Together 

we make a difference’ and many were unwilling to do 

so. The Stewardship and Finance Department can offer 

guidance and support to congregations but cannot 

compel congregations to embark on stewardship 

programmes. The support of Presbyteries is vital, and the 

firm support of the Presbytery of Ardrossan was greatly 

appreciated. In moving away from the pilot programme 

approach, the Stewardship and Finance Department is 

still endeavouring to promote stewardship programmes 

in particular Presbyteries through holding Presbytery 

Stewardship Conferences, which inform representatives 

of congregations about the ‘Gifts for God’ programme and 

remind them that giving enables the sharing of the gospel 

through the worship, mission and service of the Church. 

5.2.4 The Head of Stewardship and the Stewardship 

Consultants have addressed the issue of continuing 

stewardship in congregations. While stewardship 

programmes which involve five months’ planning for a 

major event in the life of a congregation are essential when 

nothing has been done for some time, there is a need for 

something different to maintain the momentum created 

by such a stewardship programme. Materials have been 

produced to encourage the development of an annual 

stewardship season in the life of congregations. This will 

help congregations to look at the giving of time, the giving 

of talent and the giving of money as separate stewardship 

issues over a three year period, and will mean that each of 

these aspects of Christian stewardship is addressed every 

three years. 

5.3 Legacies 

5.3.1 Legacies received by councils and agencies of the 

General Assembly, including unrestricted legacies to the 

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Church of Scotland, amounted to £3.77 million in 2009. 

This is a large increase on the total of £2.15 million in 2008, 

but a similar total to the amounts received in years prior to 

2008. In addition to these legacies, many congregations 

have received gifts in the Wills of their members and 

adherents. While figures for 2009 are not available at the 

time of writing this report, the total in 2008 amounted to 

£4.75 million. These legacies were received by less than half 

of our congregations. Some congregations seem to receive 

legacies regularly, while others seldom receive any. 

5.3.2 The work of congregations and the work of 

councils and agencies of the General Assembly have 

benefited greatly from the gifts in Wills of members and 

adherents. A considerable amount of the Church’s mission 

and service – local, national and global – would not have 

happened without these gifts. 

5.3.3 The Council is indebted to the Church of Scotland 

Guild for carrying out a survey about legacy-giving among 

those who attended their national theme and topic days 

in 2009. An analysis of 101 returns shows that 80% would 

consider a gift in their Will to a charity; that most of this 

80% would regard a gift to the Church at a high or medium 

level in their list of good causes; that a clear majority would 

give to their local congregation if making such a gift, but 

some would prefer to give to a Council or the Guild. Some 

of those who responded indicated that they had already 

included such a gift in their Wills. There was a general 

feeling that any money given must be used, and used to 

meet a need, rather than fund anything which might be 

seen as an extravagance. Any sense of misuse or waste 

of money would deter people from making a gift to the 

Church. It was also clear from the responses that people 

do not wish to be hassled in any way where legacies 

are concerned and that publicity should be restricted to 

material being available in congregations for those who 

wished further information. 

5.3.4 To ensure that information is available in 

congregations the Stewardship and Finance Department 


has produced a more attractive leaflet, together with 

guidelines for its use, which will be sent to all Congregational 

Treasurers after this General Assembly. The Church will 

continue to advertise in The Scots Law Times and Charity 

Choice to bring its work to the attention of solicitors. 

5.4 Ministries and Mission Contributions 

5.4.1 By 31 December 2009 congregations had remitted 

£41,515,638 as Ministries and Mission Contributions for 

2009. This was 98.1% of the total required. Late payments 

for 2008 and previous years, which were made during 

2009, amounted to £757,973. The Council wishes to 

record its thanks to all congregations which made their 

2009 Ministries and Mission Contributions monthly by 

standing order and to all congregations which made these 

contributions in full by 31 December 2009. 

5.4.2 Comparative returns for recent years are as follows: 

Total to be 

Contributed 

Total 

received 

by 31 

December 

Year 

£ £ % 

2006 43,588,762 42,836,513 98.3 

2007 43,713,751 42,997,314 98.4 

2008 42,158,156 41,259,161 97.9 

2009 42,306,451 41,515,638 98.1 

5.4.3 The Stewardship and Finance Department 

continues to produce an annual leaflet about Ministries 

and Mission Contributions. The 2010 leaflet is entitled 

Funding our Faith and has been sent to congregations and 

circulated to commissioners. In addition to this general 

information, the Head of Stewardship has repeated last 

year’s exercise of writing to each Session Clerk, giving 

details of his/her congregation’s Ministries and Mission 

Contribution, how it is used, and whether it meets the full 

cost of ministry in the parish or not. As a result of these

letters being sent in 2009, some congregations realised 

for the first time that they were not meeting the full cost 

of their own ministry and made additional contributions 

during 2009. These additional contributions amounted to 

£57,217. 

5.4.4 The General Assembly of 2009, in revising the 

Regulations for Ministries and Mission Contributions 

from Congregations, introduced provision for a 

Giving Agreement between a Presbytery and one of 

its congregations (Regulations I, 2009, section 15). 

These Giving Agreements are designed to increase the 

Ministries and Mission Contributions from congregations 

which are below the appropriate scale amount and 

from congregations which, in the opinion of Presbytery, 

are capable of giving more generously. While some 

Presbyteries have indicated an interest in using this 

permissive legislation, the negotiation of individual Giving 

Agreements was not possible before determining the 

2010 Ministries and Mission Contributions. 

5.5 Accounting Matters 

5.5.1 Central Accounts for 2009 

As in previous years, separate sets of Accounts for 2009 

have been produced for each of the following: 

• The Church of Scotland Investors Trust 

• The Church of Scotland General Trustees 

• The Church of Scotland Trust 

• The Church of Scotland Pension Trustees 

• The Unincorporated Councils and Committees. 

The first three of the above bodies are statutory 

corporations and the Pension Trustees are an 

unincorporated body constituted by the General Assembly. 

These four bodies are responsible for producing and 

approving their own Accounts. The Council of Assembly 

is responsible, on behalf of the General Assembly, for 

preparing and approving the Report and Accounts of 

the Unincorporated Councils and Committees, which 

comprise Ministries Funds, Mission and Renewal Funds, 

Social Care and Miscellaneous Funds. 


5.5.2 Attestation of Presbytery Accounts 

After the Accounts have been approved by Presbyteries at 

the end of each financial year, they have to be submitted for 

attestation to the Stewardship and Finance Department, 

which then has to report to the General Assembly through 

the Council of Assembly. This fulfils the supervisory 

function required by the Church’s Designated Religious 

Charity status, which is incorporated in the Regulations 

for Presbytery Finance (Regulations III, 2008, section D). 

The department has attested the 2008 Accounts of 42 

Presbyteries. At the time of completing this report the 

2008 Accounts of the Presbyteries of Duns and Moray had 

not been submitted. 

5.5.3 Presbytery Attestation of Congregational 

Accounts 

Presbyteries are required to attest the Accounts of 

congregations within their bounds and to report to the 

Stewardship and Finance Department that they have 

completed this attestation and details of their findings. This 

fulfils the supervisory function required by the Church’s 

Designated Religious Charity status, which is incorporated 

in the Regulations for Congregational Finance (Regulations 

II, 2008, section D). Reports from 40 Presbyteries on the 

inspection of Congregational Accounts for 2008 and the 

analysis undertaken within the Stewardship and Finance 

Department indicated that the vast majority were found 

to be compliant with the Regulations for Congregational 

Finance. At the time of completing this report the 

department had not received reports on the Attestation 

of 2008 Congregational Accounts from the Presbyteries of 

Duns, Annandale and Eskdale, Orkney and England. 

6. Audit Committee 

6.1 Following the decision of the 2009 General Assembly 

to merge the work of the Stewardship and Finance 

Committee with that of the Council of Assembly, a single 

Audit Committee was established to take on the roles 

of the Internal Audit Committee of the Council and the 

External Audit Committee which reported to Stewardship 

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and Finance. As a result, a more coordinated approach to 

the oversight of the financial controls, reporting processes 

and overall risk management has begun to develop which 

will benefit all areas of the Church’s work. 

6.2 During the year the internal auditors Scott-Moncrieff 

(Chartered Accountants) carried out reviews of Budgeting 

and Planning and Human Resources Management. As 2009 

was the final year of the three year programme of evaluating 

internal controls, a position paper on Risk Management 

was also prepared. These reports made a number of 

recommendations to improve procedures and controls, but 

no serious weaknesses were identified. Recommendations 

made in previous reports were also followed up and most 

had been implemented or were under review. 

6.3 In his Annual Report to the Council, the partner in 

Scott-Moncrieff stated that “in my opinion the Church of 

Scotland has a sound framework of control which provides 

reasonable assurance regarding the effective and efficient 

achievement of its objectives. In order to consolidate and 

build on the current control environment the Church 

needs to reinvigorate its risk management arrangements 

and continue to promote the role of effective risk 

management in all Councils.” 

6.4 In the spring of 2009 a tender exercise was 

conducted for the provision of external audit services and 

PricewaterhouseCoopers were appointed to audit the 

four main sets of Church accounts for five years from 2009. 

Early in 2010 a similar exercise was conducted for internal 

audit services and Deloitte was appointed for a three 

year period from 2010. Deloitte intends to review the risk 

management process before preparing a programme of 

work which will look beyond the required assurances on 

financial policies and controls to broader issues of value 

for money and organisational improvement. 

7. Panel on Review and Reform 

The General Assembly of 2008 resolved that the Convener 

of the Panel on Review and Reform should become 


a member of the Council of Assembly and that this 

arrangement should be reviewed after two years. Over 

the past two years the Panel has had a major remit to 

bring forward a revised presbytery structure and it has 

been mutually beneficial during this period to have the 

Panel convener on the Council. Noting that the Panel will 

be asking for an extension of time to complete this task 

the Council considers that the review should await the 

completion of the task and asks the General Assembly to 

agree with this recommendation. 

8. Co-opted Members 

The Council reports that Mr Martin Sinclair is a co-opted 

member of the Finance and Governance Groups; Mr Findlay 

Turner (Chairman of the General Trustees) also serves on 

the Governance Group; and the Rev Peter Johnston is a 

co-opted member of the Communication Committee. 

9. Appointments to Trustee Bodies 

9.1 The Council reports that, acting under section 22 of 

its remit which authorises it to deal with urgent matters 

arising between General Assemblies, it has appointed the 

Rev Charles Robertson as a member of the Esdaile Trust. 

9.2 The Council draws the Assembly’s attention to the 

fact that there are a number of trustee bodies on which 

the Church of Scotland is represented, either by holders of 

specified offices or by appointed individuals. In the absence 

of any clear mechanism for dealing with matters such as the 

reorganisation of such trusts and the appointment of new 

trustees (the Nomination Committee deals only with General 

Assembly Councils and Committees) it seems to the Council 

that it is the body best placed to take the necessary action 

and report such action to the next General Assembly. 

In the name of the Council 

ALAN GREIG, Convener 

PETER BRAND, Vice-Convener 

FINLAY MACDONALD, Secretary

ADDENDUM 

Retirement of the Principal Clerk and 

Secretary to the Council of Assembly, The Very 

Rev Finlay A J Macdonald MA BD PhD DD 

When the Council of Assembly was established in 2004 

the General Assembly endorsed the recommendation of 

the then Assembly Council that the Principal Clerk should 

be its first secretary. For the past six years Finlay Macdonald 

has undertaken this additional heavy responsibility with 

great enthusiasm and with a deep belief that the General 

Assembly has given the Council a crucial role in the 

ongoing reforming and coordinating of the administration 

of the Church. In the early years of the new Council’s life 

there were many meetings as the task of restructuring 

the Boards and Committees was undertaken. Since Finlay 

attended the vast majority of these the workload was 

particularly heavy with long hours in the office and further 

work undertaken at home. Throughout this process the 

Council benefited from his wide-ranging knowledge and 


understanding of the Kirk. Finlay has a way with words 

which can helpfully encapsulate the agreed outcomes 

of discussions. Moreover, he has an openness to new 

ideas and new ways of thinking which is stimulating and 

refreshing for all involved. Finlay’s friendly caring manner 

and approachability have been greatly appreciated by 

staff and Council members. 

With Finlay’s impending retirement the Council would 

wish to put on record its sincere thanks to him for his 

unstinting commitment to its work for the past six years. 

We wish him and his wife, Elma, a long, healthy and happy 

retirement with plenty of quality time to spend with their 

much-loved grandchildren. 


ALAN GREIG, Convener 

PETER BRAND, Vice-Convener 

1



CHURCH AND SOCIETY COUNCIL 

May 2010 


Parish Action 

Resource Development (Section 4.3 of the Church and Society report) 

2. Instruct the Church and Society Council to work with other partners to develop worship and discussion resources, 

where appropriate using real life experiences and reflections of the issues, to support congregations to engage in 

and act on the questions and challenges explored in its reports. 

Congregational Representatives (Section 4.3 of the Church and Society report) 

3. Instruct Presbyteries to ensure that each congregation has a Church and Society contact person and to provide an 

email address to which information can be sent and from which information can be received. 

Science and Ethics 

40th Anniversary (Section 7.1 of the Church and Society report) 

4. Commend and congratulate the Society, Religion and Technology Project (SRTP) for its huge contribution to public 

debate on issues around science, religion and ethics over the last 40 years. 

Economics Commission (Section 7.2 of the Church and Society report) 

5. Welcome the preparatory work with respect to the proposed Economics Commission. 

Mental Health (Section 7.4 of the Church and Society report) 

6. Instruct the Church and Society Council and the National Youth Assembly to continue to work together to develop 

a better understanding of the issues of mental health in young people. 

Suicide Amongst Young Men (Section 7.5 of the Church and Society report) 

7. Instruct the Church and Society Council to develop the work begun on suicide amongst young men and to report 

to the 2011 Assembly. 

Microcredits (Section 7.6 of the Church and Society report) 

8. Instruct the Church and Society Council to continue in its discussions on the issue of microcredits and to report to 

the 2011 Assembly. 

Synthetic Biology (Section 7.7 of the Church and Society report) 

9. Instruct the Church and Society Council to create opportunities for congregations to engage with the issues raised 

by the report on Synthetic Biology. 

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10. Instruct the Church and Society Council to encourage further debate within civil society on the issues raised by the 

report on Synthetic Biology. 

11. Encourage HM Government and European Union to develop a regulatory framework for Synthetic Biology that 

includes a code of ethics. 

Caring for the Earth 

Campaigning (Section 8.3 of the Church and Society report) 

12. Endorse the leading role that the Church plays in responding to climate change and instruct the Church and 

Society Council to work with UK and Scottish Government and others to meet the national targets in the Climate 

Change (Scotland) Act. 

Congregational Actions (Section 8.5 of the Church and Society report) 

13. Note the success of those presbyteries that have put into effect the instruction of the General Assembly 2009 to 

prepare a plan to enable congregations to measure their carbon footprint and ask the Church and Society Council 

to work with General Trustees and others to ensure all presbyteries share successfully in this work. 

Eco-Congregation Scotland (Section 8.7 of the Church and Society report) 

14. Welcome the incorporation of Eco-Congregation Scotland as a charitable company and encourage all ecocongregations 

to consider how they might fundraise to allow them to make a financial donation each year to 

enable the charity to grow and flourish. 

Societal Issues 

Practical, Congregational Responses to Poverty (Section 9.1 of the Church and Society report) 

15. Commend all congregations involved in practical projects with people who are experiencing poverty, and especially 

those featured in the report. 

16. Encourage all congregations to conduct a community audit to identify how debt and unemployment affect their 

parish; and take positive action in response to their findings. 

17. Commend to all members and congregations, the importance of welcome and hospitality and encourage Kirk 

Sessions to reflect on their practice in this area. 

18. Urge the Council of Assembly to keep the Gospel priority for the poorest and most marginalised at the forefront of 

its considerations. 

19. Call on Scottish and UK Governments to recognise the destructive impact of inequality on the wellbeing of all, the 

disproportionate impact of cuts in services on the poorest, and therefore to poverty proof all budget decisions. 

20. Encourage the Church and Society Council in partnership with the Priority Areas Committee and others to continue 

to engage with the issues involved in benefits and routes out of poverty. 

Priority Areas Action Plan (Section 9.2 of the Church and Society report) 

21. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, Section) and commit the Council, in partnership with 

others, to its effective delivery over the next seven years.

CHURCH AND SOCIETY COUNCIL 2/3 

Travellers (Section 9.3 of the Church and Society report) 

22. Note that the Church and Society Council is working with the Scottish Churches Racial Justice Group to bring 

forward a report on the attitudes of the Churches in Scotland to Travellers. 

Politics and Government 

Working Ecumenically (Section 10.1 of the Church and Society report) 

23. Welcome the continued ecumenical work of the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office and the capacity it gives 

for the Churches in Scotland to influence the framing of legislation and public debate. 

Scotland’s Constitutional Future (Section 10.4 of the Church and Society report) 

24. Instruct the Church and Society Council in partnership with other denominations to provide materials for discussion 

and reflection on the issues raised by the debate on Scotland’s constitutional future and to report to the 2011 

Assembly. 

Living Wage (Section 10.7 of the Church and Society report) 

25. Welcome the announcement on the level of a Scottish Living Wage, and instruct the Church and Society Council 

to work with presbyteries to help congregations become Living Wage employers. 

Human Rights (Section 10.8 of the Church and Society report) 

26. Instruct the Church and Society Council to seek to establish an ecumenical working group to reflect theologically 

on human rights law, the practical applications of rights based policy and their implications for society. 

Peacemaking 

Working with Military Chaplains (Section 11.1 of the Church and Society report) 

27. Welcome the discussions between Church and Society staff and military chaplains on common work and encourage 

further dialogue. 

Ethics of Campaigning (Section 11.2 of the Church and Society report) 

28. Affirm that there are times when non violent direct action, involving potential or actual civil disobedience in the 

form of deliberate lawbreaking, may be regarded as a legitimate approach to expressing the Gospel. 

Education 

Religious Observance (Section 12.1 of the Church and Society report) 

29. Commend the development of a Master’s Module in Religious Observance and encourage school chaplains to 

attend the course with school staff where possible. 

RME resources (Section 12.2 of the Church and Society report) 

30. Welcome the proposed developments of Religious and Moral Education resources in partnership with the Religious 

Education Movement Scotland. 

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International Affairs 

Afghanistan (Section 14.1 of the Church and Society report) 

31. Instruct the Church and Society Council to progress work on this issue including meeting with the Foreign and 

Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence to express the concerns of the Church about the long term 

consequences on global stability from this conflict. 

International Development and the Financial Crisis (Section 14.3 of the Church and Society report) 

32. Recognise the importance of taxation in developing countries for ensuring sustainable development finance and 

building accountability between state and citizen. 

33. Instruct the Church and Society Council to raise with HM Government the concern regarding the negative impacts 

of tax evasion and avoidance which are estimated to cost developing countries $160bn each year. 

34. Welcome the commitment from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, supported by 

the UK Government, to include a country by country reporting standard in their Guidelines for Multinational 

Corporations by the end of 2010 and seek to see this extended to an international binding standard for all 

multinational companies. 

Thanks and Distribution 

35. Thank all those who assisted the Council in the preparation of the Report and instruct the Council to send copies 

of the Report with the Deliverance to appropriate Scottish and UK Government Ministers, Members of the Scottish 

Parliament, Members of Parliament representing Scottish constituencies, Members of the European Parliament 

representing Scotland, and others involved in the issues addressed by the Report. 

1. Introduction 

1.1 The task of the Church and Society Council is 

often seen or even heard in public debate and political 

engagement. In that public square, the Council is called 

to be the voice of the Church. But that voice is only 

authentic if it is reflected and rooted in the experience of 

the living Christian Community in city, village, street and 

island. The true witness to God’s love, care and justice is 

perhaps best demonstrated, and experienced, face to face 

with our neighbour. That is why we begin this report as 

we do every year with a report on our work to increase 

local involvement in national societal issues. Resourcing 

that local voice is our primary task as it is the primary 

task of many other Councils of the Church. An authentic 

voice rooted in real lives and dynamic living communities 

REPORT 

gives us a significant edge when the Council is called to 

be the voice of the Church at national tables; be that in 

politics, education, science and technology, moral and 

social matters or international issues. With this partnership 

of Council members, staff and the local church, it is the 

Council’s aim to offer wider society a distinctive Christian 

perspective in the public square. 

1.2 The Council’s remit is broad and for every issue it 

takes up there is a queue of others waiting to be dealt 

with. This year’s agenda runs from Kabul to Dundee, 

from Assisted Dying to Climate change, from Religious 

Observance to Synthetic Biology, Travelling Communities 

to Digital Communications, Alcohol to Trident and much 

more. In each case the Council’s work is to help the voice 

of the Church be heard and the voice of the congregation

e informed. Because of the breadth of its agenda, the 

Council constantly has to make choices about what to do 

and what to put to one side. To aid this judgement, the 

Council uses a specific set of criteria when deciding how 

to allocate its scarce resources. Why this issue? Why this 

issue now? What real difference will be seen because we 

pursued this concern? What is the insight from the Gospel 

that the church can bring to bear on study and action in this 

area? The Council has to combine this reflective thinking 

with the ongoing work to which it is already committed 

and to decide whether or not to take up opportunities that 

come its way beyond that formed by deliverances to the 

General Assembly, critically important though these are. 

Participation in the so called Robin Hood Tax Campaign 

(see Church and Society website for details) is one such 

example. Whatever conclusions the Council reaches, all 

that it does is rooted in the desire to communicate the 

Gospel that is needed in every part of Scotland. 

2. Executive Summary 

2.1 Grid Reviewing the Action on Previous Deliverances 

2.1.1 The Table at section 3 of the report, reviewing 

action on previous deliverances, not included elsewhere, 

is a very brief review of what happened following the 

2009 Assembly. The Council had 53 deliverances to act 

on, some required very little, others involved a great deal 

of work. This Table gives some indication of that range or 

responses with cross referencing to those areas that are 

referred to in the main report. The Council hopes that 

this Table will give commissioners a flavour of its activity 

outside the Assembly but also will be seen as the Council 

being pro-active in being accountable to the Assembly. 

2.2 Parish Action 

2.2.1 The Council’s work is grounded in its interaction 

with local congregations. It is hoped that this year the 

Council can begin to achieve having a representative in 

every congregation, ideally some-one other than the 

minister as that both shares the load and speaks of the 

whole people of God. 


2.3 Media and Communications 

2.3.1 The Council has significantly increased its use of 

digital media which has allowed it to be more accessible, 

more effective in its communications and more able to 

speak with an authentic, 21st century voice. 

2.4 Science and Ethics 

2.4.1 Economics Commission 

2.4.1.1 If ever there was a time for a fundamental look 

at what and who our economics is for it is now. Following 

last year’s report, the Council held three conferences with 

some very high profile speakers and some challenging 

workshops. A supplementary report will lay out the 

proposed remit for a two year commission that will provide 

a unique space in Scottish Civic life for a fundamental 

discussion about what we need our economic system to 

do for everyone, not just those who know how to make it 

work for them 

2.4.2 Assisted Suicide 

2.4.2.1 With a Bill coming before Parliament which 

would allow assisted suicide, the Council has been at the 

forefront of the political debate on this issue based on the 

2009 report entitled End of Life Issues. A supplementary 

report will give an up to date account of what’s happening 

on this issue and what we can all do about it. 

2.4.3 Synthetic Biology 

2.4.3.1 Synthetic Biology is the cutting edge of scientific 

research, so cutting edge that in some ways it is difficult to 

define and has a whole new language! That’s why we have 

a glossary and why it is a difficult subject to comment 

on. But comment we must as it raises age old questions 

about what we mean by progress, how we add an ethical 

dimension to debates about risks in scientific investigations 

and whether knowing how to do something means we 

should go ahead and do it. 

2.4.4 Society, Religion and Technology Project 40th 

Anniversary events – reports on events to celebrate this 

significant milestone in the life of a project that adds 

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a great deal to our life as a church and our capacity to 

comment on some tough issues in society. 

2.4.5 The report also includes a commitment to continue 

to work on Mental Health issues and Micro Credits. 

2.5 Caring for the Earth 

2.5.1 Responding to Climate Change Project 

2.5.1.1 This section reports on the work of the Climate 

Change project and its not inconsiderable achievement in 

putting the Church at the heart of this issue in Scotland. 

In particular, the amendment to the Scottish Parliament’s 

Climate Change Scotland Act which now puts a statutory 

duty on Scottish Ministers to publish a public engagement 

strategy. The report covers the Assembly’s 2009 instruction 

to Presbyteries to produce plans to reduce carbon 

emissions by 5% which is now being put into effect. The 

report also records the success of Eco-Congregation 

Scotland and its successful progress towards becoming a 

charitable company. 

2.6 Societal Issues 

2.6.1 Congregational Responses to Poverty and Debt 

report 

2.6.1.1 The credit crunch has thrown the effects of 

poverty and debt into sharp relief and congregations 

across the country are looking for ways to respond. 

Congregations cannot change global economics but can 

help their own communities. Through real examples and 

theological reflection, this report helps give the direction 

that might well make the difference in other congregations 

taking that leap in faith and making that difference. 

2.6.2 Travellers 

2.6.2.1 Travellers’ communities have been excluded 

and discriminated against for too long. At times the 

institutional church has been part of that exclusion and 

discrimination. The Council is committed to working 

ecumenically towards a common response to a difficult 

part of our history as a church. 


2.7 Politics and Government 

2.7.1 Parliamentary office 

2.7.1.1 The Council hosts and manages the 

Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office on behalf of 11 

denominations. It is a key component of the Council’s 

ecumenical work. The monthly update on parliamentary 

activity is highly regarded by more than simply the Church 

community. This report also covers work on the General 

Election, constitutional issues, the campaign on alcohol 

pricing and the living wage, Parliamentary visits and 

indicates the bills that the SCPO was asked to do specific 

work on by one or more denominations as well as giving 

an index of responses made to consultations. 

2.8 Peacemaking 

2.8.1 Following the debates at the 2009 Assembly, 

the Council agreed to produce a paper on Christian 

campaigning and whether in particular it was ethical to 

break the law in an act of civil disobedience as part of 

that campaigning. This paper outlines the arguments for 

and against and concludes that it is acceptable but only 

in specific situations and after careful thought, prayer 

and reflection. It also includes a commitment to continue 

dialogue with Military Chaplains. 

2.9 Education 

2.9.1 This section gives details of a new Master’s module 

in Religious Observance created and delivered by the 

Council in partnership with Glasgow University and the 

Scripture Union. There are 26 students on the first course. 

It also outlines new work on resourcing religious and moral 

education, the Stevenson Prize and support for School 

Chaplains. 

2.10 Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs 

2.10.1 The European ecumenical dimension of the 

Council’s work no longer involves supporting a paid 

staff member but it is still very relevant to its agenda. In 

particular the rise of the far right in Europe is a cause of 

considerable concern and one that the Council continues 

to monitor closely.

2.10.2 The report also gives three examples of the 

Council operating ecumenically in the delivery of its core 

activities: Racial Justice, FE Chaplains and Travellers. 

2.10.3 The work of the Joint Faiths Advisory Board 

on Criminal Justice continues to be very practical and 

influential. 

2.11 International Issues 

2.11.1 Afghanistan 

2.11.1.1 This report asks four questions about the 

conflict. 

• What are the benchmarks now being used to define 

success given that the war in Afghanistan is now 8 years 

old? 

• What are the indications that the present elected 

structures have brought any sense of stability to 

Afghanistan? 

• Is this yet another sign that any commitment by nations 

to the UN does not include relinquishing the right 

to attack another country without reference to the 

collective international view? 

• What role has the Church in encouraging and even 

facilitating alternative approaches like the traditional 

Afghan method of bringing as many leaders as possible 

from the ranks of opposing forces into a general 

assembly or Loya Jirga in order to actively take part in 

conflict resolution and the negotiation of a cease-fire? 


2.11.1.2 It commits the Council to lobbying for political 

answers and working with others to develop a position 

on a conflict that is in danger of seriously affecting global 

stability. 

2.11.2 China 

2.11.2.1 This section explains why, after some careful 

reflection and ecumenical conversation, it was felt that 

the time was not right to bring a full report on China to 

the Assembly. 

2.11.3 International Development and the Financial 

Crisis. 

2.11.3.1 If ever there was a time to reach out to the 

poor of the world, it’s at a time when the rich world is itself 

struggling. Global unemployment will reach 241 million, 

another 120 million will be reduced to living on less 

than $2 a day. With some key changes to the global tax 

regime which stop multi national companies avoiding tax 

in developing countries, those countries could begin to 

recover. Arguably there has never been a more opportune 

time to establish systems to support sustainable sources 

of revenue for developing countries. If international 

policymakers take the right measures now, not only could 

they reduce the chances and severity of another crisis, 

but they could also kick away a major structural cause of 

poverty. 

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3. Grid reviewing action on previous deliverances not included elsewhere 

2009 Deliverance Outcome 

2. Instruct the Church and Society 

Council to work with other partners 

to develop worship and discussion 

resources, where appropriate using 

real life experiences and refl ections of 

the issues, to support congregations 

to engage in and act on the 

questions and challenges explored in 

its reports 

3+4. Welcome the work of 

the Mission and Discipleship 

Council in producing material for 

congregations to work towards 

becoming a child friendly church 

and urge congregations to engage 

with the material and process. 

Instruct the Church and Society 

Council to work with other Councils 

to introduce a Child Friendly Church 

initiative based on URC model. 

5. Urge Scottish and UK Governments 

to evidence as a matter of course 

how young people’s voices are heard 

in the development of legislation 

and policy. 


Council and the Mission and 

Discipleship Council, together with 

Presbyteries and other Councils of 

the Church, to bring to the General 

Assembly of 2010 a report on the 

ways in which each is enabling the 

voices of young people to be heard 

in their decision-making processes 

New discussion leafl ets produced on Credit Crunch, End of life issues and 

the McLeish Report along with a more general one on the work of the 

Church and Society Council. Leafl ets on the SRT Project, on embryos and on 

stem cells have been produced. The Church and Society YouTube channel 

now has 10 videos and 3 thematic Convener’s Blogs and a blog have been 

launched (see section 5.4 for links). A monthly themed e-newsletter with 

links to worship material is now produced. To sign up for this please email 

icrosthwaite@cofscotland.org.uk 

Link on web to Mission and Discipleship Council 

Included in Education promotional materials 

Promoted in e-news letter 

Letters written to Scottish and UK Government Ministers 

Meetings held with Children’s Commissioner and agreement to include 

church groups in Children’s Commissioners “big blether” 

Presbytery of Melrose and Peebles and Presbytery of Argyll have informed 

the Church and Society Council about how they have responded to this 

deliverance 

Church and Society Council successfully advertised for Council members at 

National Youth Assembly (NYA) and made 2 appointments 

Members of NYA involved in “Internet and Society” working group 

Further work with other Councils ongoing


Council to lobby Scottish and UK 

Governments to invest further in 

support for parenting and to work 

together to ensure a consistent policy 

approach to supporting families 

8. Encourage Church members and 

congregations to engage in and 

support those involved in fostering, 

adoption and befriending. 


Council to work with representatives 

of the National Youth Assembly to 

develop awareness of models of 

support in congregations on the 

issues involved in mental illness 

among young people. 


Council to work with other Councils 

to facilitate dialogue between young 

people and the media to develop a 

more positive portrayal of children 

and young people. 

11. Urge Scottish and UK 

Governments to end child poverty 

by 2020 and ensure that policies 

and adequate resources are in place 

to achieve that aim. 


Letters written to Scottish and UK Government Ministers 

Web links to information on fostering and adoption created on Church and 

Society website 

Workshop held at Youth Assembly 

Section 7.4 of Report outlines next steps 

Agreement reached with Children’s Commissioner on joint hosting of event 

later in 2010 along with other stakeholders. 

Letters written to UK and Scottish Ministers 

Hustings programme for General Election on issue 

Information on SCPO website for churches who want to hold hustings on 

issue 

Meetings held as part of ECP group with Alex Neil MSP, minister for 

communities to discuss the implementation of the Child Poverty Action 

group 

2

2/10 

12. Urge the Scottish Government 

to ensure that resources, including 

partnerships with Churches and 

others, are in place to deliver 

the ambitions of the Early Years 

Framework 

13. Demand that HM Government 

uphold, respect and protect the 

rights of children who are asylum 

seekers or who are traffi cked into 

our country. 

15. Commend the development of a 

major partnership delivering training 

for Religious Observance in schools 

and instruct the Church and Society 

Council to report to the General 

Assembly on progress toward 

implementation 

16. Instruct the Council to consult 

with a wide range of organisations 

with a view to setting up a panel of 

trained RME teachers, educationalists 

and early years offi cers drawn from 

all the main Christian denominations 

to explore the preparation of 

material for publication in print and 

other media to aid the teaching of 

RME as part of the Curriculum for 

Excellence. 




Moderator raised issue with Prime Minister 

Issue raised with MPs on Westminster visit by Church and Society Council 

delegation (see Church and Society website for more information on visit) 

Articles written in Moderator’s name in several newspapers and on 

Convener’s Blog 

Campaign highlighted in December enews 

Course received university accreditation and launched in January with 26 

participants. See section 12.1 of Church and Society report for full details 

Conference held with Scottish Joint Committee on Religious and Moral 

Education for RME teachers with Christianity in Scotland as main topic. 

Application to be made with Religious Education Movement Scotland to 

fund web based project. See section 12.2 of Church and Society report.

17. Commend to congregations 

the Action of Churches Together in 

Scotland publication “A Christian 

Vision of Education” and encourage 

them to discuss the implications for 

their own circumstances. 

18. Commend the increased work in 

supporting school and FE chaplains. 

19. Instruct the Council to discuss 

with the Scottish Catholic Education 

Service the adaptation of their “Called 

to Love” materials with a view to 

producing faith-based sexual health 

materials for non-denominational 

secondary schools. 

20. Instruct Presbyteries, in 

association with the Church and 

Society Council, to produce a plan for 

each congregation in their bounds, 

setting out how they will measure 

energy consumption in their church 

buildings, ascertain their carbon 

footprint and achieve a year-onyear 

reduction of 5% of their carbon 

footprint using the Eco-Congregation 

Scotland carbon footprint module; 

and instruct the Church and Society 

Council, in consultation with the 

General Trustees, to report to the 

General Assembly of 2010 


Copy of publication sent to every parish 

Action of Churches Together in Scotland Education Network has taken on 

FE work 

2 Conferences (Edinburgh and Aberdeen) delivered on defi ning the role 

of the chaplain by developing a template job description (see Church and 

Society Website) to be shared with local authorities. Future conferences 

planned for September (Edinburgh) and March 2011 (venue yet to be 

agreed) 

Web based network for school chaplains created 

Work ongoing to understand opportunities this off ers 

Signifi cant progress made by several presbyteries 

See section 8.5 of Church and Society report 

2

2/12 

21. Welcome the proposed 

incorporation of Eco-Congregation 

Scotland as a Charitable Company 

and continue to support the work of 

eco-congregations 

22. Affi rm the current commitment 

of the Church and Society Council to 

the ‘Responding to Climate Change 

Project’ and instruct the Church and 

Society Council, in partnership with 

other Councils, to complete the 

review of this project with a view to 

its development. 

23. Instruct the Church and 

Society Council to meet with HM 

Government ministers in the Foreign 

and Commonwealth Offi ce and the 

Ministry of Defence to urge that they 

carry out a fundamental review of HM 

Government’s foreign and defence 

policies with the view of taking the 

lead in better supporting the UNO in 

its peacekeeping/ making roles. 

24. Affi rm that the use of torture or 

‘enhanced interrogation’ is to be 

deplored under any circumstance. 

25. Continue to oppose the presence 

of nuclear weapons within the UK 

defence strategy, and urge HM 

Government to have the courage 

and leadership to repudiate them to 

help facilitate international nuclear 

disarmament 


Task Completed 


Funding for posts secured and 3 year work plan in place 


Letter written and reply received. Meeting agreed as part of Westminster 

visit by Church and Society Delegation (see website for more information 

on visit) 

Letter written to UK minister 

Press release and Convener’s Blog entry 

Moderator raised issue with Prime Minister on Westminster visit 

Letter written and meetings arranged 

Articles in newspapers 

Speeches by Conveners at several events

26. Urge congregations to participate 

in non-violent campaign activities 

against the renewal of Trident and 

in particular, to meet with or write 

to their MP to urge them to vote 

against its renewal. 

27. Remember before God the 

commitment of all members of the 

armed services and their families, 

especially all those who daily face 

danger in the course of their duty 

and those who continue to suff er or 

who have paid the ultimate sacrifi ce 

in the service of others. 

28. Commend the re-examination of 

the Military Covenant in the recent 

Government initiative and urge HM 

Government to ensure that it is both 

fully implemented and resourced. 

29. Note the 15th anniversary of the 

Chinook helicopter crash on the 

Mull of Kintyre, renew the call to HM 

Govt to reconsider the judgement of 

“gross negligence” on Fl Lts Jonathan 

Tapper and Richard Cook, and reiterate 

the pastoral concern of the 

Church for victims families 

30. Strongly encourage HM 

Government urgently to seek 

a political settlement in Sri 

Lanka which would be fair to all 

communities within the island and 

which recognises the legitimate 

concerns of the Tamil people. 


Campaign launched in February in partnerships with several denominations 

with postcards and information for parishes for worship, discussion and 

campaigning. 

Specifi c materials included in holding hustings information for General 

Election (see section 10.3 of Church and Society report) 

Army chaplains’ resources for remembrance on web 

Letter written and reply received (Available on the Church and Society 

pages of website) 

Discussion begun with Chaplains’ committee about further joint work on 

this issue 

Meeting held with MOD as part of Westminster visit of Church and Society 

Council Delegation 

Letter written in name of Moderator and reply received. Further letters and 

articles in press and on Convener’s Blog following more recent information, 

(see Church and Society website for letters and links to press articles) 

Letter written to appropriate UK Minister 

2

2/14 

31. Express deep regret at the loss of 

lives in Sri Lanka following the civil 

war between the government and 

the LTTE 

32. Recognising the diffi culties and 

dangers facing Sri Lankan Christians 

in being a prophetic voice, urge 

Church members to remember them 

and their plight in their prayers. 

33. Encourage the Church, at all 

levels, to support the work of 

agencies working with internally 

displaced people within Sri Lanka, 

in calling for their safe return to their 

homes. 

34. Express deep regret at the loss of 

lives in Gaza and Israel following the 

recent incursion by Israel into Gaza. 

35. Strongly urge HM Government 

to continue to engage fully in the 

peace process and the two state 

solution for Israel/Palestine. 

36. Whilst recognising that the 

responsible use of alcohol has a place 

within today’s society, encourage all 

Church members to re-examine our 

attitudes to alcohol in the light of its 

potentially addictive nature and the 

damaging consequences of its use. 

37. Commend those congregations 

which make premises available to 

groups and agencies which support 

those suff ering from addiction and 

encourage other congregations to 

do the same as appropriate. 


Prayer requests on website 

Web link to Christian Aid for access to resources 



Addictions Blog launched (http://www.addictedlifestyles,blogspot.com)

38. Encourage congregations and 

Presbyteries to support Crossreach 

and other care projects concerned 

with addictions in their local area. 

39. Commend the Scottish Govt on 

the recent Scottish Government 

reports on drugs and alcohol; 

“Changing Scotland’s relationship 

with alcohol”, and “The Road to 

Recovery”, and welcome the 

emphasis on recovery within its 

approach to drugs. 

40. In the light of changing cultural 

attitudes, instruct the Church and 

Society Council and the Worship 

and Doctrine Committee of the 

Mission and Discipleship Council 

to prepare material to encourage 

debate in churches and Presbyteries 

on the issues raised in the ‘End of Life 

Issues’ report. 

41. Commend the work undertaken 

by both the health care and 

voluntary sectors in providing care 

and comfort to all those approaching 

the end of their lives; encourage local 

congregations, the government and 

the wider community to affi rm the 

intrinsic dignity and worth of all 

people and recognise the pastoral 

needs of families, friends and the 

professionals involved in end of life 

issues. 


Church and Society Website now has links to Crossreach, Alcoholics 

Anonymous and the programme ‘How to Drugproof Your Kids’ 

Letter written to Scottish Ministers 

Campaign on alcohol pricing begun (see section 10.5 of Church and Society 

report) 

Minimum pricing campaign on agenda of Moderator’s visit to Holyrood 

End of life discussion starters available via Church and Society Website. 

Letters written to MSPs (http://www.churchofscotland.org). Articles in 

newspapers, on End of Life and Convener’s Blog and in Life and Work. 

Worship materials produced. This is a live political issue. More details in 

supplementary report 

Life and Work article published and Starters for Discussion leafl et produced 

2

2/16 

42. Commend the report “Living and 

Dying Well: A National Action Plan 

for Palliative and End of Life Care in 

Scotland”, recognise the need for 

increased resources in many aspects 

of palliative care and instruct the 

Church and Society Council to 

raise this matter with the Scottish 

Government recognising the priority 

of improved co-operation, education 

and co-ordination among relevant 

agencies and service providers, 

individuals and families.’ 


Council to examine further the issues 

surrounding suicide in Scotland, 

especially amongst young men. 

44. Encourage Church members to 

make blood donations regularly, to 

join the Organ Donor register and 

to make their wishes known to their 

family; and honour the families who 

have agreed to donation of their 

loved ones’ organs after death. . 


Council to prepare a remit for a 

Commission which would consult 

widely and refl ect theologically 

and which would aim to contribute 

to changing perspectives on how 

values and ethics should inform the 

operation of economic systems at a 

global, local and personal level and 

report to the General Assembly of 

2010. 


Report link on web and Starters for Discussion leafl et produced 

Letter written to appropriate UK and Scottish Ministers 

Facilitated ecumenical response through working group on wider discussion 

on issues of death, dying and bereavement. 

See section 7.5 of report 

Web link created on Church and Society pages of website 

Remit created through a programme of conferences. See section 7.2 of 

Church and Society report. Commission on agenda for Moderator’s Visit to 

Holyrood.

46. Encourage the Church and 

Society Council to explore the issues 

involved in the provision of micro 

credit and fi nd ways in which the 

Church may consider supporting or 

enabling the use of micro credits as 

a means of contributing to ending 

poverty in Scotland, and to consult 

with other Councils and bring 

proposals to the General Assembly 

of 2010. 

47. Note with concern the impact of 

the collapse of Presbyterian Mutual, 

and urge the UK Government and 

devolved executive in Northern 

Ireland to take urgent action to 

resolve the situation. 


Council to meet with business 

organisations to discuss the Cadbury 

Code of Conduct, asking how it 

might be updated so that the culture 

within the fi nancial services sector 

refl ects greater social responsibility 

and justice. 

49. Urge congregations to assess 

local community needs in light of 

the credit crisis and identify areas 

where resources can be found to 

help meet those needs. 

50. Commend to congregations 

the Joint Faiths Advisory Board on 

Criminal Justice publication, “What 

Can I Do?” and encourage them 

to respond to the suggestions 

contained in the document. 


Discussions held with Glasgow Caledonian University to research the best 

methods of delivering this 

Letters written to NI and UK Ministers 

Meetings arranged with CBI Scotland and Scottish Council for Development 

and Industry. Reports of those meetings on the Church and Society 

website 

Discussion starters available on Church and Society Website 

Copy of the publication was sent to every parish. A working group is doing 

an audit of churches and groups involved in family support in order to 

coordinate their work and encourage more involvement across Scotland 

2

2/18 

51. Commend to Presbyteries 

and Kirk Sessions for study the 

Report of the Prisons Commission 

entitled “Scotland’s Choice” 

(http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ 

Publications/2008/06/30162955/0), 

which seeks to tackle overcrowding in 

Scotland’s prisons by recommending 

an end to sentences of less than six 

months with a strengthening of 

community sentences and services, 

and encourage Presbyteries and Kirk 

Sessions to express their views to 

the Scottish Government 

52. Instruct the Council to consider 

the question of how the Travelling 

People have been treated in the past 

and how they might be properly 

recognised by the Church and the 

state in the future 

53. Thank all those who assisted the 

Council in the preparation of the 

Report, and instruct the Council to 

send copies of the Report with the 

Deliverance to appropriate Scottish 

and UK Government Ministers, 

Members of the Scottish Parliament, 

Members of Parliament representing 

Scottish constituencies, Members 

of the European Parliament 

representing Scotland, and others 

involved in the issues addressed by 

the Report 

Deliverances from other Councils 

Ministries Council 


Leafl et completed and available via website 

Discussed at ACTS Rural Network and Scottish Churches Racial Justice Group. 

Proposal for next steps at section 9.3 of the Church and Society report 

Letters written to PM, First Minister and Scottish, Ministers, all MPs and MSPs 

and others as indicated. Some acknowledgements of interest and follow-up 

requests for information were received as a result of distributing the report 

to all MPs and MSPs.

21. Instruct the Ministries Council, 

in partnership with the Church and 

Society Council, to bring forward 

to the General Assembly of 2010 

a template for use by all Parish 

Ministers and employees in creating 

a ‘Green Travel Plan’, and to set up a 

Reference Group to assist in this task 

4. Parish Action 

4.1 Visiting Presbyteries 

4.1.1 Staff from the Church and Society Council have 

been invited to full presbytery meetings, committee 

meetings and events organised by presbyteries for church 

members. These have all been valuable opportunities 

to raise awareness of the issues covered by this report. 

The most sought after topic this year has been ‘Climate 

Change’, but the ‘Credit Crunch’ and ‘End of Life Issues’ 

have also been high on the agenda. We hope that 

more church members will be inspired to take action in 

their communities to share the hope of the Gospel. We 

encourage presbyteries to plan local events and make use 

of the Church and Society Council to provide resources 

and speakers. 

4.2 Annual Conference 

4.2.1 This took place in Aviemore in September and was 

well supported by people from Abernethy Presbytery and 

beyond. The main theme was the ‘Credit Crunch’ but a 

wide range of workshops was offered including valuable 

input from the Parish Development Fund. Summaries, 

presentations and film clips of the event are available on 

our web pages. The 2010 conference will take place in the 

Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling, on Saturday 11 September. It 

would help the Council’s ability to be most effective in its 

support for congregations if each presbytery could ensure 

that they are represented at that conference. 

4.3 Resources 

4.3.1 The Council would encourage congregations to 


Plan in draft stage. Details in the Ministries report 

make use of its resources. They include news, campaign 

materials, discussion starters and information about a wide 

range of issues. They are available to download freely from 

the website or can be posted directly to congregations. 

There is still a limited awareness of the Council’s work in 

supporting congregations. The aim is to have an email 

contact in each congregation who will receive our news 

and keep their own members updated with information. 

Recent campaigns on issues such as the ‘minimum pricing 

of alcohol’ and ‘assisted suicide’ could be even more 

effective if we could reach more church members. Send a 

contact address to icrosthwaite@cofscotland.org.uk. More 

than ever we need a Christian voice to be heard in our 

increasingly secular society… and 600,000 Christian voices 

would be even better. 

5. Media and Communications 

5.1 The Council has continued to play its role as the 

voice of the church in civic debate using both traditional 

and new media. As noted elsewhere the Convener has 

developed a significant media profile. He has given over 

200 interviews often having to take quick advice and make 

rapid judgements whether or not to make comment. 

Details of the coverage in printed press can be found on 

the Church and Society website. New media have meant 

that the Church’s voice is being heard, and commented 

on, world wide which is what might be best described as 

a mixed blessing. The Council is pleased to take part in the 

wider review of communications that is being undertaken 

within the Church. 

2

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5.2 The Council has developed diverse information 

products that address the variety of its audiences. Some of 

the products are specifically paper-based (leaflets, reports, 

booklets) and others are digital. The Council has developed 

a number of topical leaflets addressing bio-ethical issues, 

end of life issues and poverty and economic issues. Some 

include discussion starters so they can be used within the 

context of study groups. Generic leaflets on the work of the 

Council and the work of Society Religion and Technology 

(SRT) project have also been produced. These resources 

are available during presentations to congregations and 

at events. 

5.3 The three main digital products used by the Council 

are the Church and Society web section within the Church 

of Scotland website, an electronic newsletter and the 


blogs. The web-pages are updated regularly with news 

and events, and allow readers to consult, download and 

print required sections. The purpose of the blogs is to keep 

the audience updated on current information, events and 

news relating to the life and the work of the church. They 

are instruments to voice opinion and develop allegiance. 

5.4 The Council’s blogs were developed gradually 

throughout 2009 to reflect the areas of interest of the 

Council, namely climate change, end of life issues, and 

addictive behaviours. The fourth blog presents the views 

of the Convener on a variety of issues relating to the work 

of the Council, and his life as a parish minister. http:// 

churchsociety.blogspot.com/. Council members and staff, 

as well as specialists, have contributed set pieces for the 

blogs. To date, their visibility is presented in Table 1. 

Name of Blog URL Readership Geographic Spread 

Eco-Congregation 

Scotland 

End of Life Issues 

and Debate 

http://www.ecocongregationscotland.blogspot.com 1402 hits 

from March 

2009 - Feb 

2010 

http://www.endofl ifeissues.blogspot.com 593 hits 

from April 

2009 to Feb 

2010 

70% UK 

18% USA 

3% Canada 

53 diff erent countries 

have visited 

42% UK 

37% USA 

5% Canada 

5% Brazil 


have visited

The Convener’s 

Blog 

5.5 The electronic newsletter contains commissioned 

articles written by Council members or specialists in specific 

fields. The articles and news items reflect themes relating 

to the work of the Council. Links to Starters for Sunday 

and other prayer resources relate the work of the Council 

to its spiritual perspective and have addressed topics 

such as climate change, end of life, poverty, economics 

and justice, and peacemaking. The newsletter is a prime 

mechanism to generate support for specific campaigns as 

it is delivered to over 4,000 people by email. You can sign 

up to receive this e-news on the church’s website or by 

emailing churchandsociety@cofscotland.org.uk 

5.6 YouTube. The Council has developed two channels 

in YouTube as well as a presence on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Church and Society Council’s channel is available at 

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ChurchandSociet 

y#g/u. Currently this channel has 10 films ranging from an 

overview of the Council’s annual conference, to excerpts 

of conferences by experts in economics and banking. 

Collectively the channel has received over 450 visits, 

averaging slightly over 40 views per film. 

5.6.1 The second channel was established for Eco- 

Congregation Scotland and is available at http://www. 

youtube.com/user/EcoCongregationScot#g/a. This channel 


http://www.convenersblog.blogspot.com 581 hits 

from 

October 

2009 to Feb 

2010 

Addicted Lifestyles http://www.addictedlifestyles.blogspot.com 117 hits 

from July 

2009 to Feb 

2010 

90%UK 

6% USA 


have visited 

73% UK 

20% USA 


have visited 

currently has 3 films with an average number of 20 visits per 

film. It is expected that as the range and variety of films 

increase, the channels will develop a steady following. 

5.7 Twitter is currently used to disseminate news about 

recent postings in the blogs and the YouTube channels. 

There are currently 190 subscribers to our tweets. 

5.8 Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/group. 

php?gid=45318197008 The Council has maintained its 

presence on Facebook continually updating its “wall” 

with news of information resources, activities and 

events organised by the Council. There are currently 165 

subscribers. 

5.9 In addition, the Council experimented with the 

use of video conferencing facilities at “121” and hosted 

a conference on the impact of virtualisation on Scottish 

society. The main speakers were distinguished academics 

from the Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Melbourne 

and Texas A&M. The latter two delivered their presentation 

and handled questions from the audience entirely 

through the use of Skype. It is expected that this type 

of communication will increase as the Council strives 

to achieve more cost effective use of communication 

media. 

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6. Convener’s Report 

6.1 The tasks required of the Council Convener have grown 

over recent years to include a great deal of representational 

work on behalf of the Church and to be one of the public 

faces of the Church in the media. This year the Convener 

has spoken at many events as diverse as conferences 

on housing and homelessness to a rally about the G20 

meeting in St Andrews. He has spent some significant time 

working with the Muslim community on issues of aid and 

support for countries under environmental threat and in 

support of them as they face racist attacks from others. The 

task is to communicate our values to public debate and be 

present when those debates are happening. 

6.2 The Convener has represented the Church on 

and been involved in discussions with: The Scottish 

Government’s group Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons, 

the steering group for the proposed Scotland Mandela 

Centre, the Faith Communities, the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual 

and Transexual group and the Scottish Government’s 

Equalities Unit. He has also attended several one-off events 

on behalf of the Council. 

7. Science and Ethics 

7.1 Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) Project 40 

years on 

7.1.1 In 2010, the SRT project celebrates its 40th 

anniversary, with events including sponsored lectures 

at both the European Society for the Study of Science 

and Theology (ESSAT) and the Edinburgh International 

Science Festival. A conference was also held on May 1st in 

Edinburgh City Chambers. 

7.1.2 For those 40 years, the SRT project has engaged with 

a huge variety of issues: GM foods, climate change, embryo 

research, nuclear weapons, the internet, nanotechnology 

and synthetic biology. Science and technology have had 

an enormous impact on all aspects of human life, in many 

cases changing the way we think of ourselves and society. 

Most of these impacts have been positive; some have had 


unforeseen consequences. Many have raised ethical and 

moral questions as to how and where technology can 

and should be applied to benefit the largest number of 

people. 

7.1.3 The Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) project 

was initiated by the Church of Scotland in 1970, to help 

the church to engage constructively with the scientific 

community in Scotland and beyond. For almost 40 years, 

the SRT project has been involved in informed debate with 

many interested parties: government, regulators, industry, 

scientists, the church and the general public. The variety 

of publications which has resulted from the work of the 

SRT project stand as eloquent testimony to the dedicated 

work of many people over the years, and many individuals 

have been stimulated to think and to act through the work 

of the project. 

7.1.4 The Church has something to say… 

7.1.4.1 The Church in Scotland comprises people with 

professional expertise in many areas. Some of these may 

be considered by some people as controversial. As the 

national Church, the Church of Scotland can call on a this 

wide range of expertise and experience from within and 

to be able to harness even a fraction of this strength in 

depth, and to then apply the resulting wisdom, is of great 

benefit to all. The SRT project seeks to assist the Church 

in being faithful to Jesus’ call to his followers to be “salt 

and light” in the world, including the arena of science and 

technology. 

7.1.5 Honest Disagreement 

7.1.5.1 Within the Church, there is a variety of views on 

almost any subject. The ability to honestly engage in 

dialogue with those who don’t necessarily agree is one 

of the strengths of scientific investigation. While this may 

not result in the “black and white” answers that many seek, 

faithful honesty before each other is healthy and useful; 

progress on breaking down prejudice and misinformation 

(the false “science versus faith” dichotomy, for example) 

is contingent upon informed debate and discussion.

Dialogue with the scientific community demands that 

we maintain integrity and respect, while engaging in 

constructive debate. 

7.1.6 Current and Future Interests 

7.1.6.1 Current areas of interest for the SRTP include 

economic matters, end of life issues and synthetic biology. 

A number of other issues remain on the horizon, for 

future consideration: areas such as nanotechnology, 

risk, neuroethics, sustainable agriculture and genetic 

enhancement are likely to be among these. 

7.2 Economics Commission 

7.2.1 Economics Committee - This committee was 

established following a deliverance of the General 

Assembly of 2009. It was charged with preparing a report 

for this General Assembly that would include a remit 

for a Special Commission on the Economy. The Church 

and Society Council sought the authority of the General 

Assembly for this project. It believed that it is important 

for the Church to speak to the great uncertainty caused 

by the recent financial crisis, which has led to the partial 

nationalisation of two of Scotland’s largest companies: 

• to make the case for the widespread adoption of the 

exemplary standards of economic virtue that have for 

centuries been an integral component of Christian 

teaching; 

• to continue to provide a voice for those people excluded 

by a market oriented economic structure. 

7.2.2 While the immediate responses to the current crisis 

will be in place by the time the proposed Commission 

on Economics reports, it is important for the Church to 

understand the nature of the institutional fragility that has 

been demonstrated in the past two years and to prepare 

itself to engage in a public ministry appropriate to the 

presumably difficult conditions of a long, slow recovery. 

7.2.3 To fulfill the General Assembly’s charge, the 

committee has consulted widely both within and beyond 

the Church, to determine the nature of questions that the 


Special Commission might best address. The main part of 

this consultation has been a series of three agenda setting 

conferences, each of which brought together about 50 

well-informed participants, bringing a wide range of 

perspectives on economic matters, broadly defined, and 

so the conferences formed a high level consultation across 

many elements of Scottish society. The committee sought 

to bring together participants with a varying experience in 

order to enable profound debate about the nature of the 

economy rather than achieving a cosy and unchallenging 

consensus. Participants were also repeatedly reminded that 

the meetings were not designed to answer questions, but 

instead to provoke them. Given that purpose, the format 

of high level consultation was very successful. Full reports 

of each meeting are included in appendices (accessible 

through the Church and Society webpages). 

“What is the international economy for?”: Keynote 

speaker: Rt. Hon. Douglas Alexander, MP, Secretary 

of State for International Development. 

Against the backdrop of increasing globalisation and 

the sudden emergence of fragility in international 

finance, this conference brought together people 

with an understanding of economic development, 

from churches, the third sector and formal institutions. 

Substantial debate revolved around the capacity of 

market oriented institutions to engender equitable 

growth and the achievement of social goals. The 

key question for the Commission might be, “What 

constraints does an understanding of development 

based on the achievement of human flourishing 

(within the context of the creation narrative) place on 

the design of international economic institutions?” 

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“What is the market economy for?”: Keynote speaker: 

John Swinney, MSP, Finance Secretary in the Scottish 

government 

Informed by the consequences of the bank 

nationalisations required to avoid the complete 

collapse of the payments system in the UK in late 

2008, this conference was attended by representatives 

of the financial services industry, business and wider 

civil society. While there was consensus that a return 

to ‘business as usual’ is undesirable and impossible, 

once again, there were substantial disagreements 

about the nature of the interventions in economic 

activity that best serve the needs of society, perhaps 

reflecting disagreement on the value of measures of 

economic activity as measures of social well-being. 

The Commission may wish to consider questions 

such as, “How should economic activity be structured 

in a society in which market-oriented institutions 

predominate in order to achieve Kingdom values?” 

“What is the social economy for?”: Keynote speaker: 

Julia Unwin, CBE, Chief Executive, Joseph Rowntree 

Foundation 

To some extent, there was greater consensus among 

the participants of this conference. The nature of the 

social economy, in which charitable institutions and 

other organisations with not-for-profit objectives have 

an important role, is perhaps broadly consistent with 

much of the Church’s recent thinking on social matters. 

The consensus seemed to be based on an awareness 

of the differences between an informal, relational 

economy, in which the parties to any transaction are 

fully aware of each others’ needs, and a formalised 

market economy, in which a veil of anonymity prevents 

such identification of needs. For the Commission, it may 


be a priority to answer questions such as, “There is a 

place at the Lord’s Supper for everyone; how might we 

ensure that the economy is a social institution serving 

those in greatest need?” 

7.2.4 The Committee has considered how the Special 

Commission might best be designed. The working group 

on Justice and Markets recommended the model of the 

Baillie Commission of 1940 – 1945 1 as a previous occasion 

on which the Church of Scotland systematically considered 

large social questions. While the social dislocation caused 

by the recent financial crisis is relatively mild compared 

with the descent of Europe into total war, it is possible 

to conclude that one reason for success of the Baillie 

Commission was the failure of the Church throughout the 

1930s to respond imaginatively to the Great Depression, 

and in particular its failure to represent the needs of the 

unemployed and dispossessed. It might be considered 

that the Baillie Commission provided a theological 

justification for social measures, such as the creation of the 

welfare state, the National Health Service and widened 

access to educational opportunity immediately after the 

Second World War. In doing so, it spoke of the needs of 

its own time, providing a model of Christian compassion, 

sympathy and imagination that strengthened the Church’s 

witness. 

7.2.5 Adopting the Baillie Commission model, this 

Special Commission on the Economy would undertake its 

investigations over a period of two years, reporting to the 

General Assembly in 2012. 

7.2.6 These considerations suggest that the model of 

the Baillie Commission requires substantial amendment 

1 Church of Scotland. Commission for the Interpretation of God’s Will in 

the Present Crisis. 1942 God’s will in our time : being the report presented 

to the General assembly of the Church of Scotland in May 1942 / by 

the Commission for the interpretation of God’s will in the present crisis 

Student Christian Movement Press, London

efore being applied in this case. The extent to which this 

might be necessary emerged quite late in the committee’s 

deliberations. As a result, this report contains only the 

principles recommended to guide the work of the 

proposed Special Commission. Detailed recommendations 

will be included in a supplementary report. 

7.2.7 The Committee believes that the main role of the 

Special Commission should be to support the Church’s 

universal ministry. The remit of the Special Commission 

might include consideration of: 

1) What is the Church’s role in providing global society 

with a new vision of what might be achievable? 

2) How might we link community values (such as justice) 

to economic measures of success? 

3) What changes in people’s attitudes and beliefs towards 

the economy might be desirable? 

7.2. 8 The Committee recommends that the Special 

Commission should be given the duty of listening to 

the experience of the people of Scotland, working with 

Presbyteries to arrange meetings that continue and widen 

the conversation. 

7.2.9 The Commission will receive support from the 

Church and Society Council, but to succeed, it will 

be necessary to build a network of external support. 

Discussions have begun with Heriot-Watt University 

intended to lead to the formation of a Knowledge Transfer 

Partnership. This would be an agreement between the 

Church and the University, where the University would 

make available technical skills to enable the Church to 

develop activities that would not otherwise be possible. 

The Partnership would be part funded by the Church 

and Heriot-Watt University, but it would also receive 

grant funding from the Technology Strategy Board of 

the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. The 

cost would be approximately £30,000 per year, and the 

partnership would provide for the appointment of a full 

time Knowledge Transfer Associate with the skills to drive 

forward the Commission’s activities, and evaluate the 


strengths and weaknesses of existing work relevant to the 

Commission’s investigation. The Committee has begun 

the process of seeking funding from other sources, such 

as the Joseph Rowntree and Templeton Foundations. 

7.2.10 The Commission would report to the General 

Assembly of 2012. However, one reason for establishing 

the Commission is so that the Church might speak 

authoritatively on matters of current concern therefore 

the Commission should feel free to issue discussion 

papers and other publications separately from the cycle of 

reporting to the General Assembly. 

7.3 Assisted Suicide 

7.3.1 The Council has continued to be active in a number of 

fora with regard to the public debate on assisted dying. This 

has included the publication of a number of articles and letters 

in the press, as well as submissions to official consultations 

and engagement in political and social debate. 

7.3.2 A number of important issues are encompassed 

within this debate from good access to palliative care 

(in the widest sense, caring not just for the physical but 

also the emotional and spiritual needs of people coming 

towards the end of their lives), to the notion of autonomy 

and the effects which our actions have on those around 

us. Fundamental to the entire debate, however, is the 

recognition that a boundary exists within society which 

prohibits the deliberate ending of the life of another human 

being. All forms of assisted dying, by definition, remove that 

boundary. The key question, which is often ignored in the 

debate around assisted suicide, is what impact the proposed 

removal of that taboo will have on society as a whole not just 

on the small numbers of individuals whose lives are likely to 

be directly impacted (at least in the first instance). 

7.3.4 The presentation in January of the End of Life 

Assistance (Scotland) Bill 2 to the Scottish Parliament has 

allowed the Church and Society Council to, once again, 

2 http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/38-EndLifeAssist/index.htm 

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be actively engaged in this debate. Given the potential 

effect of this legislation on the most vulnerable in 

society, the Church is concerned that it is not enacted. A 

supplementary report will be submitted to the General 

Assembly which will take account of the progress of this 

legislation. 

7.4 Mental Health 

7.4.1 A consultation on mental health with the 2009 

National Youth Assembly was facilitated by Church and 

Society Council member Rev John McMahon on Saturday 

5 September. 

7.4.2 A group discussion took place on mental health 

awareness. Points arising from discussion included noting 

that everyone has a mental health status of some sort; 

25% of people live with a mental health issue, and there is 

a major stigma attached to mental health issues. 

7.4.3 Churches in general are not seen as being good at 

addressing mental health issues. There is often a perception 

of Christianity that perpetuates a pressure to appear “fine”: 

a sense that if you reveal mental health issues, your faith 

is judged, because as Christians we should be relying on 

God. 

Mental health impacts on all aspects of life including 

social and employment status. While there are benefits to 

therapeutic relationships, one of the best ways of dealing 

with mental health issues is having someone to listen in a 

healthy relationship. 

7.4.4 One participant shared a little of their personal 

experience with having a mental health issue – fully 

expecting the church environment to be the worst place 

to reveal the issues they were facing, they held off for a 

long period of time, choosing to conceal this aspect of 

life. When they had enough courage to finally confide in 

someone at church, they found the church community 

to be incredibly supportive and loving, but it had taken a 

long time for them to feel able to do this. 


7.4.5 Suggested ways of improving mental health 

included diary-writing, emptying thoughts out of your 

head onto paper, exercise, allowing yourself to express 

emotion and being part of a group. Also recommended 

were Ignatian / awareness prayer: trying to discern where 

God is in situations in your life, identifying aspects of the 

day that were good, and aspects that were bad, and trying 

to spot God in them. 

7.4.6 Among the issues that participants would like to 

see addressed by the Church in relation to mental health 

is a more open and honest approach to mental health 

issues, including clarity from the pulpit: fostering the idea 

that sometimes it is OK and normal not to feel great; and 

that sometimes life can feel awful. 

7.5 Suicide Amongst Young Men 

7.5.1 Following debate at the 2009 General Assembly, 

the Assembly instructed the Church and Society Council 

to “examine further the issues surrounding suicide in 

Scotland, especially amongst young men.” 

7.5.2 To this end, a working group has been set up 

under the chairmanship of Dr W Sinclair Scott. The group 

comprises a number of people from different churches 

with expertise in areas related to this issue. It is anticipated 

that a significant and useful outcome will emerge from 

this piece of work not only in helping local churches to 

actively engage with the issues and consequences around 

youth suicide, but also to make a contribution to the wider 

debate. The Church has much to offer, and also much to 

learn. 

7.6 Microcredits 

7.6.1 The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland of 

2009 endorsed a report entitled “Justice and Markets”. This 

report reflected on the current economic situation, and 

sought to bring an ethical perspective to economic activity. 

The report highlighted the role that individuals within the 

Church (eg Rev Henry Duncan, widely recognised as the 

founder of the savings bank movement) as well as the

church as an institution has played in economic issues in 

the past. 

7.6.2 It was also noted that the Church has a responsibility 

to care for those who have fewer monetary resources, who 

will be at the front line of many of the effects of the current 

recession; the report sought to explore ways in which the 

Church might be able to contribute to the alleviation of 

difficulties encountered by people within the Church and 

in the communities the Church serves. 

7.6.3 Among the areas to be explored is that of 

microcredit. The Church has opportunity and capacity 

to invest deliberately, but also has a responsibility to see 

that resources invested show some return even if this 

was over a long period, eg over 10 years. In addition, it 

is recognised that the Church, other than in partnership, 

does not necessarily have the right expertise or 

infrastructure to make the best use of its capacity to 

provide microcredit. 

7.6.4 There have been discussions around a number 

of options about how to take forward this opportunity. 

These have looked at a number of possible models, 

identifying strengths and weaknesses and potential 

impact against investment risks for the Church. 

It is proposed that a small piece of research be 

commissioned, to investigate possible ways of moving 

forward with this in order to ensure that the maximum 

benefit is gained both by the Church and the potential 

beneficiaries. Models which may be looked at might be 

for the Church to: 

• Make a commitment to another organisation being 

developed in this area (eg Grameen Glasgow) that the 

Church would promise to invest a significant sum to be 

used as loan capital once that organisation is set up. 

• reach an agreement with organisations already in 

existence (eg credit unions, Scotcash, grand central 

savings, etc.) that they could administer microcredit 

loans locally using cash the church invested in them 

• Work with structures within the Church of Scotland 


(Faith in Scotland Community Action Fund and/or 

Parish Development Fund) to encourage them to move 

towards including a loans method of supporting new 

developments in their work. 

• support the development of a new, dedicated 

microcredits organisation for Scotland (effectively a 

Church of Scotland microcredit company). 

7.6.5 All these models need to be set in the context of the 

need for an agreement with the Department of Work and 

Pensions about how loans and early income from micro 

businesses would affect benefits and to take into account 

at the changing political scene at a UK and Scottish level. 

7.7 Synthetic Biology 

7.7.1 Introduction 

7.7.1.1 This report has been produced under the 

auspices of the Society, Religion and Technology (SRT) 

Project of the Church of Scotland, and sets out to examine 

some of the ethical, theological, moral and social issues 

around the field of synthetic biology. This field of research, 

which has been styled as ‘creating life’ and ‘Life, version 2.0’, 

holds out much promise, but also raises many questions. A 

glossary of some of the technical terms used is provided at 

the end of this report; in addition a longer, more technically 

detailed version of this report is available on the pages of 

the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland 

website (www.churchofscotland.org.uk). 

7.7.1.2 Synthetic biology is a new field of scientific 

endeavour that has strong parallels with the development 

of the synthetic chemistry revolution of the 19th and 20th 

century which resulted in many of the great industries of 

the 20th century 3 . In the 19th century chemists learned 

how to synthesise compounds that had previously only 

3 Kitney, R.: An engineer’s view of applications. People and 

Science, Sept 2009, p. 18. http://www.britishscienceassociation. 

org/NR/rdonlyres/FC99C5C7-C79A-400D-8C3F-4762954DD981/0/ 

PeopleandScienceSept09.pdf 

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existed in nature 4 . In 1828 Friedrich Wohler was the first 

person to synthesise an organic compound – urea – from 

purely inorganic components. This sent shock waves 

through the scientific community of the time because 

it was thought that there was something special and 

irreducible about living things 5 . This was followed in 1858 

by the production of synthetic quinine from benzene 

leading to the production of a new synthetic purple dye 

named mauve, and in 1897 the Bayer Company in Germany 

produced the synthetic drug Aspirin 6 . Synthetic chemistry 

made possible the development of the pharmaceutical 

industry as well as much of the food industry, detergents 

and plastics. Many observers believe that the field of 

synthetic biology has the potential to create in the 21st 

century a technological revolution as great as, or even 

greater than that generated by synthetic chemistry 7 . 

7.7.2 Historical Emergence of Synthetic Biology 

7.7.2.1 Major developments over the last sixty years in 

the fields of biology, physical sciences and engineering 

were the precursors to the recent emergence of 

synthetic biology. Increasing understanding of biological 

mechanisms and an ability to deploy computing power 

to analyse large amounts of information have contributed 

to the development of synthetic biology. Perhaps the 

most significant relevant breakthrough in biology was the 

discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 

1953 which triggered the molecular biology revolution. The 

development of DNA sequencing led to the international 

4 Johnson, B.: Scientific community leads on societal response. People 

and Science, Sept 2009, p. 22. http://www.britishscienceassociation. 



5 Calvert, J.: Tensions between biology and engineering. People 

and Science, Sept 2009, p. 19. http://www.britishscienceassociation. 



6 The Royal Academy of Engineering: Synthetic Biology: scope, 

applications and implications (2009). http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/ 

publications/list/reports/Synthetic_biology.pdf 

7 The Royal Academy of Engineering: ibid 


effort to sequence the entire human genome, a 10 year 

project completed in 2001. Work by Claude Shannon 

in 1948 established the basis for the information and 

communication technology (ICT) revolution that led to 

the high speed telecommunication networks and high 

performance computers which have been essential to the 

development of synthetic biology 8 . 

7.7.2.2 A number of reports which include details of the 

technical development of synthetic biology have been 

produced; interested readers are particularly referred for 

further information to the reports of the Royal Academy of 

Engineering and the Royal Society 9 . 

7.7.3 What is Synthetic Biology? 

7.7.3.1 Synthetic biology, as the term implies, is concerned 

with artificial or unnatural 10 living organisms or life. Life is a 

difficult concept, especially as we tend to think in terms of 

human or sentient life. However, in the present applications 

of synthetic biology, life is considered in biochemical terms 

and is mostly concerned with some of the simplest forms 

of known life, such as bacteria and viruses. It is important 

to grasp that all life forms are composed of molecules (eg 

proteins, sugars, DNA, RNA, lipids), which are in themselves 

non-living. These molecules are sometimes referred 

to in synthetic biology as ‘bioparts’. The biochemical 

definition of life is that of such bioparts assembled within 

a physical container (ie the bacterial cell wall) which are 

able to continually regenerate, replicate and evolve 11 . 


9 Please see: http://www.raeng.org.uk/news/publications/list/reports/ 

Synthetic_biology.pdf 

and http://royalsociety.org/Synthetic-biology-scientific-discussionmeeting-summary/ 

10 Cole-Turner, R.: Synthetic Biology: Theological Questions about Biological 

Engineering (p. 136) in “Without Nature? A New Condition for Theology” 

(Albertson, D and King, C (Eds), Cabell. Fordham University Press (2009) 

11 The Royal Academy of Engineering: ibid

7.7.3.2 Synthetic biology brings together the two 

disciplines of biology and engineering and is essentially 

about the redesigning and reassembly of biological 

systems, in other words redesigning life 12 . It is about the 

modifying of present life forms or the creating of new life 

forms. The biologist wants to understand living systems 

better, and the engineer wants to create new things 13 . 

The biologist identifies the individual bioparts of the living 

organism, the engineer then standardises the bioparts (eg 

DNA BioBricks TM as is being undertaken by the BioBricks 

foundation 14 ). The analogy which is sometimes used is 

that of car manufacture, where the different bioparts are 

then fitted onto a common ‘chassis’, usually a bacterium 

such as E. coli, where they perform the desired function. 

7.7.4 Why undertake Synthetic Biology? 

7.7.4.1 The reasons for developing synthetic biology 

have much in common with other areas of scientifi c 

research, and fall roughly into three classes: utilitarian, 

curiosity-driven, and wealth-creation. 

12 Royal Society: Synthetic Biology. Policy Document 16/08 (2008), p. 2. 

http://royalsociety.org/Synthetic-biology-scientific-discussion-meetingsummary/ 

13 Calvert, J: ibid 

14 The BioBricks Foundation (BBF) (http://bbf.openwetware.org/) is 

a not-for-profit organization founded by engineers and scientists from 

MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Harvard University, and the 

University of California. BBF encourages the development and responsible 

use of technologies based on BioBrick standard DNA parts that encode 

basic biological functions. Using BioBrick standard biological parts, 

a synthetic biologist or biological engineer can programme living 

organisms in the same way a computer scientist can program a computer. 

The DNA sequence information and other characteristics of BioBrick 

standard biological parts are made available to the public free of charge 

currently via MIT’s Registry of Standard Biological Parts. Any individual 

or organization can design, improve, and contribute BioBrick standard 

biological parts to the Registry. BioBrick standard biological parts are 

used as part of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) 

competition. 

The BBF supports an open technical standards setting process that is 

used to define BioBrick standard biological parts, and other technical 

matters relevant to synthetic biology research and applications. 


7.7.4.2 The utilitarian motivation imagines that 

technologies enabling improvements in human 

functioning and well-being can be brought about by 

synthetic biology research: for example, better functional 

materials, food, drugs or energy sources; environmental 

remediation (clean-up) and computation. 15,16,17,18,19,20. The 

interest shown in synthetic biology research by some 

parts of the military-industrial complex also suggests that 

the utilitarian motivation for some might include a drive to 

enhanced and novel weapons systems 21 . 

7.7.4.3 The second kind of motivation is curiositydriven 

and attempts to answer the question of ‘what is 

life?’ or to test the evolution paradigm 22, 23 . There is a natural 

human desire to test the limits of what can be done. The 

de novo construction of such systems offers: 

“valuable quantitative insight into naturally 

occurring information processing activities.” 24 

15 McDaniel, R. and R. Weiss: Advances in synthetic biology: on the path 

from prototypes to applications. Curr. Opin. Biotech. 16: 476–483. (2005) 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2005.07.002 

16 European Commission NEST Pathfinder: SYNBIOSAFE: Safety and 

ethics of synthetic life. (2007) http://www.synbiosafe.eu/ 

17 Kaznessis, Y. N.: Models for synthetic biology. BMC Systems Biology 1: 

47. (2007) http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-0509-1-47 

18 van Est, R., H. de Vriend, and B. Walhout: Constructing Life: The World of 

Synthetic Biology. Rathenau Instituut. (2007) http://www.rathenau.nl/ 

19 Schmidt, M. et al.: SYNBIOSAFE e-conference: online community discussion 

on the societal aspects of synthetic biology. Syst Synth Biol. 2: 7-17 (2008) 

http://www.springerlink.com/content/rtt71124tn6096kh/fulltext.pdf 

20 Haseloff, J. and J. Ajioka: Synthetic biology: history, challenges 

and prospects. J. R. Soc. Interface. (2009) http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/ 

rsif.2009.0176.focus 

21 Synthetic Biology. The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 

January 2008 Number 298. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/ 

upload/postpn298.pdf 

22 Benner, S.A., and A. M. Sismour: Synthetic Biology. Nature Reviews 

Genetics 6: 533–543. (2005) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nrg1637 

23 Harvey, M.: Synthetic Biology: scientific discussion meeting summary. 

Royal Society (London). (2008) http://royalsociety.org/syntheticbiology 

24 McDaniel, R. and R. Weiss: ibid 

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7.7.4.4 The exercise of freedom in rational thinking 

goes one notch deeper in its philosophical motivation. 

Synthetic biology has thus been heralded as introducing 

‘Life, version 2.0’ 25 . 

7.7.4.5 The third major category of motivation could 

be defined as wealth generation. The fostering of new 

wealth creating industries and technologies through 

synthetic biology is a stated objective of the UK and 

other governments 26 . Just as synthetic chemistry led 

to the establishment of some of the major industrial 

companies of the 19th and 20th centuries, synthetic 

biology is advocated by many (including governments 

and regulators) as a source of jobs, manufacturing and 

wealth generation. 

7.7.5 Why is the Church interested in Synthetic 

Biology? 

7.7.5.1 What is the right relationship between humanity 

and nature? Does God give us authority to unpick and 

reconstruct nature in the fundamental way which seems 

to be at the core of synthetic biology? While many focus on 

the call early in Scripture for humanity to ‘subdue’ creation 27 , 

our relationship with our environment as Scripture unfolds 

is of course much richer and more complex than simply 

one of master and servant. As Hodson and Hodson explore 

in “Cherishing the Earth” 28 , for example, the spiritual element 

must be held in concert with the more familiar emotional 

and physical aspects of a Christian’s stewardship of Earth’s 

resources. The spiritual, while perhaps less tangible, is 

always important to the people of God. 

7.7.5.2 How far is far enough, and to what extent should 

our God-given ability to be creative be hemmed in by 

moral and ethical considerations? In seeking to speak 

25 Gibbs, W.W.: Synthetic life. Scientific American 290: 74-81. (2004) 


27 Gen. 1:28 

28 Hodson, M.J. and M.R. Hodson: “Cherishing the Earth: How to Care for 

God’s Creation” Lion (2008) 


prophetically, the church must always be careful that it 

actually listens and understands before it speaks. If we 

wish to discern the mind of God, then we surely have a 

responsibility to listen to and understand what God says 

to us. 

7.7.5.3 A number of important issues are raised by the 

field of synthetic biology. These include issues such as: 

7.7.5.4 Reductive approach to life. In treating biological 

organisms as little more than sophisticated machines, 

synthetic biology seems to reinforce a reductive approach 

to life and challenges different world-views which do not 

agree with this particular understanding of life. 

7.7.5.5 ‘Playing God’. In trying to create new life-forms, 

synthetic biology raises the question of whether humans 

have elevated themselves to the status of gods, in their 

ability to create. Some might argue that science has thus 

transgressed its proper boundaries and acts hubristically 

against nature and/or God. 

7.7.6 Current Activities and Applications of 

Synthetic Biology 

7.7.6.1 There has been much research activity in the 

areas of health, energy, the environment and agriculture. 

For example, some parts of the production of the antimalaria 

drug Artemisinin have already been developed 

applying synthetic biology techniques in the University of 

Berkeley. The low cost full scale industrial production of 

this naturally occurring plant product is presently being 

studied and it has been claimed that, if successful, this 

could potentially save 1 million lives each year. 

7.7.6.2 The development of advanced biosensors for 

detection of urinary tract infections can also be adapted to 

detect the hospital superbug MRSA (Methycillin resistant 

Staphylococcus aureus). A similar biosensor can detect 

arsenic in drinking water – a major problem in Bangladesh. 

As up to 90% of the biomass from crops such as sugar 

cane and palm oil is wasted using current processes, more

efficient biofuels are being developed which may alleviate 

problems with land use competition between energy and 

food crops. 

7.7.6.3 An example of synthetic biology based 

biomaterials is a synthetic version of spider silk. Because of 

its strength and light weight it can be used in a wide range 

of applications 29 . Some other areas where the application 

of synthetic biology could be of potential benefit are 

described in boxes 1- 4. 

Box 1: Expanding the chemistry of life 

Synthetic biology may allow the creation of organisms 

containing proteins that are comprised of non-natural 

amino acids or that contain genetic material composed 

of non-natural nucleic acids. Expanding the chemistry of 

life in this way could have wide-ranging consequences 

for medicine and biotechnology. 

Expanding the genetic alphabet: One way to expand 

the chemistry of life is by extending the genetic alphabet 

so that it contains more than four characters (A, T, G, 

and C). This could allow new types of information to be 

genetically encoded. 

Nucleic acids: Nucleic acid drugs hold therapeutic 

promise but currently suff er from shortcomings inherent 

in natural DNA/RNA chemistry. Modifi ed nucleic acids 

may be easier to transport across membranes. 

29 Widmaier, D.M., Tullman-Ercek D., Mirsky E.A., Hill R., Govindarajan S., 

Minshull J. and C.A. Voigt: Engineering the Salmonella type III secretion 

system to export spider silk monomers. Mol Syst Biol. 5: 309 (2009). http:// 

www.nature.com/msb/journal/v5/n1/pdf/msb200962.pdf 


Proteins: Organisms with an expanded genetic code 

may allow the manufacture of protein drugs with novel 

or enhanced properties – for example, enhanced halflife. 

Examples of such non-natural protein drugs are 

already making their way into industrial application (for 

instance, a modifi ed human growth hormone). 

Novel imaging & targeting methods: Introducing 

novel chemistry may enable the design of biomolecular 

sensors that operate independently from natural protein 

networks and pathways. These might then be used 

to sense, for example, cancer cells, allowing sensitive 

detection and therapeutic targeting. 

7.7.7 Potential Social and Ethical issues in Synthetic 

Biology 

7.7.7.1 Biosafety is a more difficult area in synthetic biology 

than in traditional genetic engineering, as components 

may be introduced which do not exist in nature. Artificially 

synthesized organisms could have unpredictable and 

potentially damaging effects when released into the 

environment either intentionally or accidentally. Although 

researchers are trying to come up with ‘safety locks’ which 

could prevent an environmental hazard, it is very difficult to 

predict the effect of these organisms on nature once they 

leave the protected environment of a science laboratory 

or test site. In addition, the build–up of novel biological 

elements in the food–chain is unpredictable and may 

have unexpected effects. 

7.7.7.2 Bioweaponry and bioterrorism. Biosecurity 

awareness has been studied in a SYNBIOSAFE project 30 . 

This focused on developments mostly in the US and 

revealed an overall low level of awareness. The potential 

for development of bioweapons is real. Synthetic biology 

30 Kelle A.: Synthetic Biology & Biosecurity Awareness In Europe. Bradford 

Science and Technology Report No. 9 (2007). 

http://www.synbiosafe.eu/uploads///pdf/Synbiosafe-Biosecurity_ 

awareness_in_Europe_Kelle.pdf 

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could be used to create new biological weapons or to 

recreate extant viruses, as has already occurred with the 

Spanish Flu virus or the polio virus 31 . In addition to the risk 

of a terrorist client obtaining the necessary materials from 

a DNA synthesis company, however, there is the possibly 

greater risk of ‘state bio-warfare’ as part of a weapons 

programme to be considered. 

7.7.7.3 International justice. Synthetic biology holds out 

the promise of the creation of new drugs and therapeutics. 

However, the questions of fair distribution of resources, 

availability of new drugs and therapeutics to all people 

still remain. Furthermore, patenting synthetic biology 

developments could lead to an increased dependence 

of poor people and countries on rich countries and 

companies. For example, the previously mentioned antimalarial 

drug Artemisinin was originally derived from 

a plant native to China. Some have argued that the 

manufacture of such medicinal and other commercially 

important chemicals through synthetic biology deprives 

a poorer country of a potential source of income. 

7.7.7.4 Patenting and creation of monopolies. In order 

to allow the interchange of parts of an organism which 

is fundamental to synthetic biology, a certain amount 

of ‘standardisation’ of biological molecules is necessary. 

Much of the oversight of this work, as has been noted, is 

undertaken by a small number of academic institutions 

in the United States through the BioBricks Foundation. 

This has raised concerns for some about the creation of 

de facto monopolies, for example potentially ‘locking 

out’ some developing countries from the technology. 

31 Tumpey, T.M., et al: Characterization of the Reconstructed 1918 Spanish 

Influenza Pandemic Virus. Science 310: 77-807 (2005) http://www. 

sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/310/5745/77. Cello, J., Paul, A.V., 

and E. Wimmer: Chemical synthesis of poliovirus cDNA: generation of 

infectious virus in the absence of natural template. Science 297: 1016–8 

(2002). 


Box 2: Complex molecular devices 

Tissue repair/regeneration: synthetic biology could 

aid the development of small assemblies which could 

sense damage in blood vessels and repair them. 

Vectors for therapy: the design of viruses to deliver 

healthy genes to the target tissue in an effi cient way, 

or viruses which may be able to recognize specifi c cells 

and target them for destruction. 

Personalized medicine: Synthesis of personalized 

drugs, adapted in their mode of action, formulation, 

dosage, and release kinetics to the specifi c requirements 

of the patient. 

Cells with new properties that improve human 

health: We may be able to modify human cells to 

achieve new functions and to introduce them back into 

the donor - for example, cells could be programmed to 

target specifi c viruses in a more effi cient way. It may be 

possible to reprogramme cells in order to regenerate 

organs. 

Environmentally friendly production of chemicals: 

As the world’s fossil fuel reserves are coming to an end, 

chemistry needs a new raw materials base. 

Pharmaceuticals: more eff ective discovery of new 

drugs, through new screening and design strategies for 

anticancer and antituberculosis compounds. Synthetic 

biology tools may provide avenues to discover small 

antimicrobial molecules or design new drugs. 

Improved drug production: The production process 

for a number of drugs (for example, artemisinin for 

malaria and taxol for cancer) has been made signifi cantly 

more effi cient by genetic engineering of yeast and 

bacterial cells to undertake some of the steps involved 

in their synthesis.

7.7.7.5 Another potential issue of concern is patenting. 

While much of the work going on in the field of synthetic 

biology is conducted under ‘open source’ agreements, and 

is therefore not currently under patent, the whole rationale 

for granting a patent is that it provides the inventor with a 

monopoly of their invention, albeit for a limited period. 

Box 3: Environment and energy 

Bioremediation: The modifi cation of bacteria and 

other microorganisms to eliminate toxic waste from soil 

has been pursued for many years. Improved abilities to 

design complex behaviour and degradation capabilities 

as well as adaptation strategies within ecosystems 

might bring this dream into reach. 

Production of energy: Just as our societies need to 

seek alternatives to fossil fuels as raw materials for 

bulk chemicals production, so they must replace such 

sources, ideally with renewables, for energy generation. 

The challenge is to design a set of converging chemical 

pathways that allow an essentially quantitative 

conversion of readily available solar energy and natural 

or waste materials to (for example) biofuels. 

GMO safety: Encoding transgene genetic information 

in non-natural nucleic acids might provide a safer path to 

genetic modifi cation, as the presence of the transgene 

would at all times be dependent on the external supply 

of non-natural nucleic acid precursors. 

7.7.7.6 Unregulated developments: The manipulation 

of DNA and other biological materials by hobbyists (as 

opposed to trained and supervised professionals) already 

appears to exist as a significant phenomenon 32 . The 

availability of key reagents and components has opened 

up the possibility of a ‘garage industry’ in synthetic biology 

– by definition, operating outwith normal regulated 

research networks such as university and research 

32 Schmidt, M. et al (2008): ibid 


facilities. Comparisons have been drawn to the explosion 

in computer usage and capability over the last two 

decades, and it could be argued that such a development 

might not necessarily be harmful. Some would contend 

that developments in synthetic biology should not 

be the preserve of large companies or governments. 

However, there are still issues around control and misuse, 

as well as with unexpected or unintended interactions 

when synthetic biology creations with the capability to 

reproduce are released into the environment. 

7.7.8 Factors influencing the Progress of Synthetic 

Biology 

7.7.8.1 Several technological obstacles remain which 

may inhibit the potential of synthetic biology. For example, 

the reliable transfer of large pieces of DNA into living cells 

still presents significant technical challenges. 

7.7.8.2 The design and construction of basic bioparts 

and their assembly into small modules has characterised 

the early years of synthetic biology. Bringing these bioparts 

together to build functional systems is not simple as they 

may arise from very different biological sources and require 

considerable standardisation. 

7.7.8.3 Some observers believe that we are now entering 

a ‘second wave’ of synthetic biology where modules may 

be integrated to create systems-level circuitry 33 . This may 

involve incorporation of adaptive, intelligent processes 

potentially leading to systems which may impinge on 

multiple pathways, systems or targets. However, the level 

of uncertainty and variability in biology may present 

significant challenges in modelling systems behaviour, as 

biological systems tend to behave less predictably than 

conventionally engineered systems. 

7.7.8.4 Additional tools. Selection of the ‘chassis’ or host 

organism for the synthetic system may influence the 

33 Purnick, P.E. and R. Weiss: The second wave of synthetic biology: from 

modules to systems. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 10: 410-22. (2009) 

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functionality of the designed process. Cell viability and 

interference from host cellular processes may influence 

host selection and construction of a minimal genome. It 

is also possible to manipulate the genetic code in tandem 

with modified translation machinery resulting in the 

incorporation of novel amino acids and consequently 

novel proteins. 

7.7.8.5 Standards and regulation. There is a drive to 

adopt universal standards covering tools and components 

ranging from complex systems to genes. As previously 

indicated, the BioBricks Foundation is currently a leading 

facilitator promoting the setting and adoption of 

standards. 

7.7.8.6 Research networks. Support from various 

Research Councils seeks to foster research networks within 

the UK. In addition, the EU has established several initiatives 

designed to stimulate inter-disciplinary and international 

research. Academic and commercial organisations in the 

USA are major players. 

7.7.9 Responsibility and Synthetic Biology 

7.7.9.1 Responsibility can be defined as a state of 

being accountable and answerable for something or 

for someone. In other words, it means that one could 

eventually be called to give an account for an action, an 

object or subject with which one is seen to have a special 

relationship. Responsibility also means that one may be 

accountable before society, the law or God when the 

actions, things or people for which one is responsible may 

negatively impact upon other people, the environment or 

society. 

Several concepts important in considering responsibility 

are explored: 

7.7.9.1.1 Principles of responsibility. All involved have a 

responsibility to guard against negative effects resulting 

from new synthetic biology products. This is a resonance of 

the traditional understanding of the creator’s responsibility 


towards his or her creatures. This manifests itself in the 

realisation that the creator has responsibility for his/her 

creation, and a responsibility to the creature. 

Box 4: Smart materials and biomaterials 

Synthesis: Biology achieves synthesis with atomic 

precision; synthetic biology could expand the range 

of potential target materials - for example silk-like or 

bio-adhesive domains. Engineered cells could make 

materials with useful electrical or optical behaviour, or 

proteins which can ‘glue’ other materials together. 

Organisation: One of the major challenges for 

nanoengineering is to gain control of materials 

manipulation at such small scales. For example, motor 

proteins have been used to transport nanoparticles in a 

directed fashion, while DNA has been used for enabling 

the assembly of nanoscale objects at precisely defi ned 

locations on a surface. These approaches might allow 

the production of molecule-based memories. 

Integration: While it has proved possible to use 

individual biological components, the big challenge 

is to integrate and synchronize such components 

in functional systems. For example, coupling 

photosynthetic machinery to motor proteins could 

enable light driven molecular motion. It might turn 

out that the simplest way of achieving this is to encode 

and express them in engineered or synthetic organisms 

in a manner analogous to the current engineering of 

metabolic pathways. 

7.7.9.1.2 While it must be remembered that, at present, 

synthetic biology will result in simple organisms rather 

than sentient beings, this bond between the creator and 

the creature has often been explored in fiction. Among the 

most well known is Pinocchio. The character of Pinocchio, 

created as a wooden puppet carved from a piece of pine, 

but who dreamed of becoming a real boy, first appeared 

in a book by Carlo Collodi in 1883. A number of other,

more contemporary, works of fiction explore very similar 

themes – for example, Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot”, and Philip 

K. Dick’s “Do androids dream of electric sheep?” (popularised 

in the film “Bladerunner”) 

7.7.9.2 Responsibility for 

7.7.9.2.1 It is necessary to take into account the possible 

risks of any negative outcome which may be occasioned 

by synthetic biology. These may include using synthetic 

biology as a source of destruction, or the possibility 

of bringing about unacceptable suffering and distress 

through the use of synthetic biology. Experimentation 

on animals which causes unnecessary suffering has often 

invoked revulsion among the general public. The scientific 

community must take seriously the responsibility for 

life-forms brought about through synthetic biology, or 

affected by it. 

7.7.9.3 Responsibility to: the concept of telos 

7.7.9.3.1 While bearing in mind that synthetic biology 

is currently dealing with non- sentient organisms such 

as bacteria, another issue which should be addressed by 

scientists and society is the concept of telos, sometimes 

also termed the ‘intrinsic value’ or ‘integrity’ of a being. It 

has been described as ‘the pigness of a pig’, the sum total 

of an organism’s potentialities (whether realised or not) 34 . 

By interfering with a living being’s inherent characteristics, 

one may be changing what this being ‘is’, its ‘natural’ form 

of life, its purposes and ends. 

7.7.9.3.2 Telos can be applied to any living organism, 

whether sentient or not. Modifying telos is not necessarily 

the same as violating telos and one must also ask if all 

genetic manipulations must necessarily compromise 

telos. Despite its lack of conceptual clarity, however, the 

question of telos deserves serious attention. In most cases 

it is obvious that violations of an animal’s telos may also 

34 de Pomerai, D.: Are there Limits to Animal Transgenesis?, Human 

Reproduction and Genetic Ethics: 3 (1997). http://geneticethics.org/ 


result in some disadvantage to its welfare 35 . 

7.7.9.3.3 In Sweden, legislation has been introduced 

which stipulates that farm animals must be allowed to 

live their lives in accordance with their telos 36 . In addition, 

under Dutch law, telos is an important issue in deciding 

whether or not transgenic animal research should be 

allowed to go ahead 37 , 38 . 

7.7.9.4 The precautionary principle 

7.7.9.4.1 The precautionary principle is enshrined in EU 

law. This principle indicates that if a new action or policy 

may cause severe or irreversible harm to an individual, a 

community or the general public, in the absence of full 

scientific certainty that harm would not ensue, the burden of 

proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action. 

7.7.9.4.2 The precautionary principle is often applied 

to biological procedures because changes cannot easily 

be contained and may affect everyone. In the case of 

technological innovation, it may be all the more difficult 

to contain the impact because of the possibility that the 

technology can self-replicate. Application of the principle 

modifies the status of innovation and risk assessment: it 

is not the risk which must be avoided or amended, but 

a potential risk which must be prevented. However, it 

should be remembered that no activity or process can 

ever be guaranteed to present no risk whatever and to be 

completely safe. 

7.7.9.5 The proportionality principle 

7.7.9.5.1 The proportionality principle states that 

the scientific benefits or advantages expected from a 

35 de Pomerai, D.: ibid 

36 Straughan, R.: Ethics, Morality and Animal Biotechnology, p. 21 (1999) 

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. http://www. 

bbsrc.ac.uk/ 

37 Brom, F.W.A. and E. Schroten: Ethical questions around animal 

biotechnology: the Dutch approach. Livestock Production Science 36, 99- 

107 (1993). 

38 de Pomerai, D.: ibid 

2

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procedure being considered should be weighed against 

the perceived resulting disadvantages or risks. Thus, 

according to the proportional principle, an act can be 

justified if the overall good involved in doing the action 

compares favourably with the overall disadvantages 

which it would bring about. Alternatively, an action is 

not undertaken if the overall disadvantages compare 

unfavourably to the overall benefits which it is considered 

to bring about. 

7.7.9.5.2 In other words, it is a tool assisting in moral 

decision–making according to which an agent ought 

to choose – through a preliminary assessment – that 

alternative course of action which promises the greater 

proportion of good over disadvantages 39 . 

7.7.9.6 The concepts of public policy and ‘ordre 

public’ 

7.7.9.6.1 Patent legislation has long contained provision 

allowing patents to be refused on public policy grounds. 

At the root of these exclusions is the common law concept 

of public policy, by which is meant not government policy, 

but what is off ensive to the sense of morality of society. 

Where there are public policy considerations, a court will 

refuse to recognise an otherwise legal act. 

7.7.9.6.2 To similar eff ect is the concept in Napoleonic 

systems of “ordre public”. Although there is no universally 

accepted notion of ‘ordre public’, the concept is useful to 

consider since it includes the protection of animal and 

plant life in addition to health and may be applied to any 

subject matter which may lead to serious prejudice to the 

environment. 

7.7.9.6.3 This concept is already established on the 

international stage with, for example, the European Patent 

Offi ce Guidelines for Examination, which state that a patent 

39 Lawler, R., Boyle, J. and W. May: Making good moral choices: Two 

approaches (1994) http://www.ewtn.com/library/DOCTRINE/PROPORT. 

TXT 


cannot be accepted if a subject matter may undermine 

‘ordre public’. 40 . Refl ecting this, there is a specifi c exclusion 

from patentability in EU Law on certain forms of genetic 

engineering 41 

7.7.9.6.4 The concepts of public policy and of ordre 

public are constantly changing in tune with the mores of 

society. Ordre public and public policy are, in reality, not 

shapers, but lagging indicators of public morality. 

7.7.10 Regulation and Synthetic Biology 

7.7.10.1 Public awareness and the need for 

regulation. 

7.7.10.1.1 Developments in synthetic biology are 

bringing new horizons into view, but with them come new 

problems. There has always been an ambivalence in the 

eyes of the public around medical or scientific advances. 

In Greek the word ‘pharmakon’ translates both as ‘remedy’ 

and as ‘poison’. In medicine, heightened public awareness 

of the possible side effects of therapies together with some 

therapeutic disasters (eg thalidomide) have led to a suspicion 

of new initiatives. Synthetic biology would appear, however, 

to have created less concern in the media than, for example, 

genetic modification. One public consultation found that 

67% of those sampled had not heard of synthetic biology 42 . 

7.7.10.1.2 Public perception of a new technique 

or development can be critical, especially if there is 

suspicion that there is a potential for harm. With a field 

as complex as synthetic biology there is real difficulty in 

raising awareness. Ordinary citizens, however, must be 

aware of both the potential risks and benefits of synthetic 

biology and need assurance that controls are in place to 

40 European Patent Offi ce Guidelines for Examination, Part C, Chapter 

II, 7. Prohibited matter, 7.2 Matter contrary to ordre public or morality, 

http://www.european-patent-offi ce.org/legal/gui_lines/e/c_ii_7_2.htm 

41 Directive 98/44/EC, Article 6 (2) 

42 Ethical Aspects of Synthetic Biology. European Group on Ethics. 

(2009) See Pauwels, E.: p41 http://ec.europa.eu/european_group_ethics/ 

publications/docs/round_table_ethical_aspects_of_synthetic_biology. 

pdf

avoid harm. Undoubtedly openness and transparency 

are prerequisites in achieving public acceptance of new 

technology, and there is a need for researchers to address 

this issue. 

7.7.10.2 Regulatory models. 

7.7.10.2.1 Some control can be imposed by patents 

or property rights. There is concern that research can be 

hindered by patenting of basic tools. One of the leading 

proponents of synthetic biology, for example, has already 

established patents on an artificial microbe. 

7.7.10.2.2 The European Commission (EC) has established 

a model which recommends a: 

“code of conduct for responsible nanosciences and 

nanotechnologies research” 43 . 

7.7.10.2.3 The EC European Group on Ethics (EGE) 

has produced a paper specifically on synthetic biology; 

recommendation 3 of this report takes the view that a 

Code of Conduct would seem more appropriate than 

legislation, national or international, which is viewed 

as difficult to impose 44 . This report also specifically 

recommends ‘philosophical and religious input’ into 

debate on these issues. 

7.7.10.2.4 Any successful model should have a 

participatory approach, involving lay as well as scientific 

stakeholders. Transparency is critical to the process. The 

complexity of the science involved in synthetic biology may, 

however, present a challenge to scientists in presenting the 

issues involved in an understandable form. 

43 European Commission Recommendation of 07/02/2008 on a code of 

conduct for responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research. 

ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/nanocode-recommendation. 

pdf 

44 Opinion of the European Group on Ethics in science and new 

technologies to the European Commission. No 25. 17/11/2009. Ethics of 

synthetic biology. 

http://ec.europa.eu/european_group_ethics/docs/opinion25_en.pdf 


7.7.11 Synthetic Biology and Theology 

7.7.11.1 Reductive approach to life 

7.7.11.1.1 Scientists can now create new life-forms 

which could never occur naturally. Does this mean that 

science has finally managed to answer the millenniaold 

question ‘What is life?’. If a synthetic virus can now 

be created in a scientific laboratory, does this mean that 

synthetic biology has proved that life is nothing more than 

a series of chemical reactions? 

7.7.11.1.2 Reduction is the process by which an object, 

property, concept or theory is shown to be explicable in 

terms of another, lower level object, concept or theory. 

Such a method is very popular in science because it 

promotes conceptual and theoretical economy. Some 

scientists appear to believe that synthetic biology proves 

the superiority of reductionism over other life-theories and 

has unravelled the fundamental nature of life. However, 

others in the scientific community have pointed out that: 

“scientific definitions of life are working hypotheses 

– tools – used in the process of research that do 

not necessarily cover what counts as life from the 

everyday-life experience, or other perspectives.” 45 

7.7.11.2 Holistic approach to life 

7.7.11.2.1 Christian theology supports a completely 

different ontological theory which is based on the doctrine 

of creation, the Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. 

According to the Christian tradition, God created 

everything which exists ex nihilo, out of nothing. The ex 

nihilo creation affirms that God created everything out of 

divine sovereignty and freedom and not out of necessity. 

God did not create the world and then abandon it. The 

incarnation of Christ demonstrates that God remains in an 

intimate and loving relationship with creation. Creation is 

seen more like a project and less like a static work of art. 

The whole cosmos, being the work of God, was created 

45 Boldt, J. and O. Müller: Newton of the leaves of grass, Nature 

Biotechnology, 26: 337-339 (2008) 

2

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good 46 ; nature followed humanity in the fall but will also 

be redeemed at the end of time 47 . 

7.7.11.2.2 The Christian doctrine of creation offers a holistic 

understanding of the cosmos. Holism affirms the goodness 

of the created world and therefore gives a particular 

normative ethical meaning to all creation. Nature should not 

be abused, exploited or destroyed; on the contrary it should 

be approached with respect and love, and nurtured in 

stewardship. Boldt and Müller argue that if we start creating 

lower forms of life and thinking about them as ‘artefacts’ then 

there is the fear that in the long run we might lose respect 

for higher forms of life too 48 . Christian theology, by affirming 

the inherent goodness of creation, offers a normative reason 

for why life should always be respected. 

7.7.11.2.3 Yet, is ‘artificial’ life of the same moral calibre 

as ‘natural’ life? Is artificial life also worthy of protection in 

the same way that we believe that ‘natural’ life is (or should 

be)? These questions have engaged theologians as well as 

wider society. They have also been repeatedly explored in 

fiction, as noted previously 49 . 

7.7.11.2.4 Synthetic biology seeks to treat biological 

systems as analogous to mechanical and electronic ones, 

so that individual components can be removed and 

replaced at will. Technological advances have allowed the 

addition of a small number of genes to a biological system. 

Synthetic biology seeks to take this a step further, by 

developing the ability to add or subtract whole biological 

pathways in a single unit. 

7.7.11.2.5 Perhaps one of the fundamental areas of 

disquiet over synthetic biology is the deliberate blurring 

of the border between the natural and artificial: as Cole- 

Turner puts it, in synthetic biology: 

46 Gen. 1: 31 

47 Rom. 8: 19- 22 

48 Boldt, J. and O. Müller (2008): ibid 

49 See, for example, “I, Robot”: I. Asimov; “Do Androids Dream Of Electric 

Sheep?”: P.K. Dick 


“…nature may still be the matrix….but it is hardly 

the norm” 50 .. 

7.7.11.2.6 Just as the church would hold that wealth 

is more than money, religion more than ritual, and 

relationships more than sex, it views life as being more 

than simply the interactions of chemicals. 

7.7.11.3 ‘Playing God’ 

7.7.11.3.1 Markus Schmidt and colleagues identify 

‘playing God’ as a central theme within synthetic biology: 

“the idea of ‘creating life’ from scratch, in a way only 

nature has done so far (‘playing God’) as well as 

the often powerful yet difficult to pin-point feeling 

of uneasiness which surrounds the emergence 

of such a technology, a feeling which may either 

reflect our prejudices or be an indicator of deeper 

ethical problems.” 51 . 

7.7.11.3.2 According to Christian theology, the divine 

creation of life and its inherent goodness affirms its 

normative status. There is clear distinction between the 

created cosmos and the Creator God. God pre-existed 

everything; the cosmos is created by God, ex nihilo, out 

of nothing. God always existed and thus God pre-existed 

creation 52 , whereas the cosmos came into being through 

divine action. God and the cosmos do not share the same 

substance (ousia). God is eternal, self-existent/uncreated, 

self-contained and self-sufficient. Creation, on the other 

hand, is temporal, created and dependent on God for 

its existence. If God, in His eternal nature, is ‘Being’, then 

creatureliness by contrast is a state of ‘non-Being’. This 

doctrine describes and underlines the origin and the nature 

of created beings, and sets the basis of the relationship 

between God and creation. It is not just a juristic or ethical 

50 Cole-Turner, R.: ibid 

51 Schmidt, M. et al (2008): ibid 

52 It is recognised that time (and thus the concept of pre- or postexistence) 

is itself part of creation

form of relationship, but a more meaningful, causative 

relationship where finite existence derives directly from, 

and depends entirely upon, infinite existence. 53 

7.7.11.3.3 Does synthetic biology challenge the 

distinction between Creator and creature? Has synthetic 

biology turned humans into a ‘Creator’ too? Pat Mooney of 

the Erosion Technology and Concentration (ETC) Group, 

commenting on the work which created the first synthetic 

bacterium, claimed that 

“For the first time, God has competition”. 54 

7.7.11.3.4 In order for this claim to be true, though, 

scientists must be able to create something out of nothing. 

However, as Boldt and Müller note: 

“in contrast to the impression which bold statements in the lay 

press may give rise to, synthetic biology research is currently a 

good way off from the point where the creation of life as such 

will become feasible. After all, the platform organism that 

synthetic biology relies on when attempting to create new 

life forms is a modified, stripped-down version of an existing 

organism, not an organism assembled from separate small 

molecules in the laboratory.” 55 

7.7.11.3.5 Furthermore, the concept of idolatry (of 

human capability) enters into the debate: we are not gods; 

and it would be a false premise to assume so. Creating new 

forms of life in the way described above does not constitute 

ex nihilo creation. Humanity has not managed to transcend 

the boundaries of creatureliness and become a ‘Creator’. 

Human beings are part of nature. Humanity’s creative nature 

is defined and underlined theologically by the doctrines of 

creation and redemption. The doctrine of Imago Dei (the 

53 Matsoukas, N.: Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology B, Thessaloniki: 

Pournaras, (1999) p. 144ff. 

54 ETC Group, Patenting Pandora’s Bug: Goodbye Dolly …Hello, Synthia! 

7 June 2007. http://www.etcgroup.org/upload/publication/631/01/ 

etcnr_syn_final2.pdf 

55 oldt, J. and O. Müller (2008): ibid p. 387. 


image of God) gives a special status to humankind over the 

rest of the creation. As Gunton points out: 

“Genesis makes the human race both the crown 

of, and uniquely responsible for, the shape that 

creation takes.” 56 

7.7.11.3.6 Humanity’s unique position in the cosmos 

cannot be understood outside Christology. 

“By speaking of Jesus Christ as the true image of God, 

the New Testament shows that this responsibility 

takes shape through him.” 57 

7.7.11.3.7 As mentioned above, creation is seen in 

Christian theology more as an evolving project rather than 

a static work of art. In order for creation to achieve its end, 

redemption is necessary. Humanity’s relationship with the 

rest of creation must not be confused with a wrongful 

domination and exploitation. Creation should not be 

perceived as sacred, as a given which needs to be kept 

untouched (pantheism). Rather, it needs to be viewed as 

a gift: 

“to be cherished, perfected and returned.” 58 

7.7.11.4 A Christian response 

7.7.11.4.1 Synthetic biology is a new scientific 

application which, if used correctly, could revolutionise 

medicine, transform the primary and secondary sector of 

industry and offer solutions to energy and environmental 

problems. If appropriate legislation and effective control 

could make sure that all potential risks were eliminated, 

or at least avoided, there is no compelling reason to 

stop or ban synthetic biology. Everybody, including the 

Christian world, could welcome this scientific innovation. 

Eliminating human suffering, protecting the environment, 

56 Gunton, C.E., “The doctrine of Creation”. Continuum International 

Publishing Group - T & T C (2004), p. 144. 

57 Gunton, C.E., ibid, p144 

58 Gunton, C.E., ibid, p. 155. 

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promoting general well-being and advancing scientific 

knowledge using reason and human ingenuity are goals 

in harmony with Christian teaching. God has endowed 

human nature with mental and intellectual capacities. It is 

our responsibility to use the divine gifts for the benefit of 

humanity, and of nature as a whole. 

7.7.11.4.2 Humanity has long sought to tame nature, to 

bring the wilderness under control. From the domestication 

of animals and plants in prehistory to current attempts to 

alleviate drought by ‘seeding’ clouds to produce rain, or to 

ameliorate climate change using ocean seeding, ingenuity 

and innovation have been important to the progress of 

human society. Could synthetic biology be viewed as just 

another step along the road of humanity adapting the 

environment to our own benefit? 

7.7.11.4.3 We live in – and are thus called to have a 

prophetic role in – the digital age. In many ways, synthetic 

biology could be viewed as being the perfect approach to 

the natural world for the digitally–inspired ‘net generation’. 

In his book “Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is 

Changing Your World”, Don Tapscott identifies: 

“eight norms that define Net Geners”. 

7.7.11.4.4 These include valuing freedom and choice 

in everything they do, a love of customisation and 

personalisation, an expectation of constant innovation, 

and that everything will be achieved quickly 59 . 

7.7.11.4.5 Much of what goes on in nature could be 

seen as being wasteful in a purely mechanistic sense: 

biological pathways contain redundancy (often to prevent 

catastrophic failure of the organism), reproduction results 

in some offspring which are better adapted to survival 

(and, as a corollary some which are less well suited, and 

which consequently perish). What better use of human 

59 Tapscott, D.: “Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing 

Your World” McGraw-Hill (2008) 


ingenuity, some may argue, than to circumvent the need 

for selective breeding, and to start with a clean slate, a 

basic platform or chassis on which to build the organisms 

that we need? 

7.7.11.4.6 The practical application of synthetic biology 

in order to achieve the benefits described above need 

not constitute a problem for Christian theology. It is the 

philosophical/anthropological connotations of synthetic 

biology which may be seen to be ‘treading on religious 

toes’. Christian theology fundamentally disagrees with 

a reductive understanding of life. Reductive life theories 

argue that the only thing which exists is matter and that all 

phenomena, including mental and spiritual phenomena, 

can be reduced to physical and chemical processes. 

However, reductive theories are unable to satisfactorily 

and fully explain events such as beliefs and emotions, and 

ideas such as free will. Christian holism holds that life is an 

interrelation of spirit and matter, and is able to account for 

physical as well as mental and spiritual phenomena. 

7.7.11.4.7 Reductionism as a methodological 

approach is very useful for scientific research: it allows 

scientists to break down a system and focus on the part 

which most interests them. As an ontological theory, 

however, it is neither the only one available nor the most 

comprehensive. 60 As Caplan argues, the fact that scientists 

can create a virus does not mean that they have found 

the answer to all questions regarding life 61 . Christian 

holistic ontological theory has strong philosophical and 

theological foundations and encompasses all aspects 

of life, human and non-human. Furthermore, it justifies 

60 Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence 

or reality in general, as well as of the basic categories of being and their 

relations. Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of philosophy 

known as metaphysics, ontology deals with questions concerning what 

entities exist or can be said to exist. 

61 Wilson Centre, Synthetic Biology: Is Ethics a Showstopper? 

Video available at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ondemand/index. 

cfm?fuseaction=home.play&mediaid=D1679245-99F8-2253- 

E3E356E66B1798F5

the normative ethical status of nature. Scientists are 

making great progress in unravelling and explaining the 

mechanistic mysteries of life. When attempting to transfer 

their scientific discoveries into the area of ontology and 

metaphysics, scientists need to collaborate and engage in 

open dialogue with philosophers and theologians. 

7.7.11.4.8 Too often the church comes across as simply 

wanting to say ‘no’ to anything new- thus the impression is 

given to those outside the church that our main purpose 

is to stand in the way of progress. Progress which, if it fulfils 

its promise, could have a profound effect on many aspects 

of our lives - and on the environment in which we live. 

7.7.11.4.9 Synthetic biology need not be opposed 

to Christian theology as long as it aims at preventing 

unintended and unexpected consequences and 

promoting the common good. However, close 

collaboration of scientists and ethicists – religious and 

non-religious – and regular ethical checks are necessary to 

ensure that synthetic biology is used for the best. As has 

previously been noted, the report on synthetic biology of 

the European Group on Ethics, in its final recommendation, 

specifically recommends ‘philosophical and religious input’ 

into debate on these issues 62 . 

7.7.12 General Conclusion 

7.7.12.1 Although still a relatively novel area of scientific 

exploration, the field of synthetic biology potentially holds 

great promise in a wide variety of applications. From novel 

forms of biofuels to improved medical interventions, the 

manipulation of microorganisms in the ways envisaged by 

synthetic biology has the potential to revolutionise much 

of our lives. 

7.7.12.2 And yet, for many, some nagging disquiet 

remains: in treating organisms as Lego-like constructs 

62 Opinion of the European Group on Ethics in science and new 

technologies to the European Commission. No 25. 17/11/2009. Ethics of 

synthetic biology. 

http://ec.europa.eu/european_group_ethics/docs/opinion25_en.pdf 


to be disassembled and reassembled at will, are we as 

humans pushing the boundaries of manipulation of 

our environment too far? Do we fully appreciate the 

potential consequences of our actions in this area? Is the 

unregulated nature inherent in much of what is possible 

through synthetic biology an opportunity or a problem? 

7.7.12.3 Humanity is charged not only with the 

stewardship of the world around us but also the care 

and concern for other people. To deny the technological 

breakthroughs and consequent benefits promised by 

synthetic biology would be irresponsible. The Bible 

makes clear the need for humans to act in a humble and 

responsible manner toward God, their fellow creatures 

and the environment 63 . 

7.7.12.4 This report has sought to explore the 

relationship between synthetic biology and theology. 

Despite some protestations to the contrary, synthetic 

biology does not put humanity on a par with God: our 

creatureliness remains, our undoubted creativity in such 

areas notwithstanding. Much of what is highlighted 

illustrates afresh the need for all aspects of human 

endeavour to be carried out in an appropriate ethical 

framework, and the responsibility of the church to engage 

constructively with those seeking to utilise science and 

technology in a responsible manner. The participatory 

‘Deliberative Meetings Of Citizens’ (DEMOCS) card game 

developed by the Genomics Network in collaboration 

with the New Economics Foundation on the subject is to 

be highly recommended. This allows a small group to find 

out about an issue, discuss it, seek common ground, and 

give their views 64 . 

7.7.12.5 There are potential benefits to be gained from 

synthetic biology, and the church has a responsibility to 

63 See, for example, Gen 11: 4 

64 Available to download at 

http://www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk/esrcgenomicsnetwork/news/ 

title,22223,en.html 

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be in discussion with those carrying out such research. It 

is to be hoped that this paper might act as a starting point 

for such discussion with the scientific community. 

Acknowledgements: 

In addition to members of the Church and Society Council, 

we would gratefully acknowledge the following who were 

involved in the preparation of this report: 

Rev Dr Alistair Donald Chaplain to Heriot-Watt University. 

Dr Angeliki Kerasidou The Wellcome Trust Centre for 

Human Genetics, University of 

Oxford. 

Dr Donald Morrison Microbiologist 

Dr Kaihsu Tai Research Associate, Department of 

Biochemistry, University of Oxford 

Glossary 

Amino acids: The building blocks from which proteins are 

constructed. There are 20 different amino acids found in 

nature; just as the letters of the alphabet can be combined 

to form an almost endless variety of words, amino acids 

can be linked together in varying sequences to form a vast 

variety of proteins. 

Biomass: The amount of living matter that can be 

converted to fuel and is therefore regarded as a potential 

energy source. 

Biosensor: A detection device that combines biological 

and mechanical components. 

Codon: A triplet of nucleotides in the messenger RNA 

chain that codes for a specific amino acid in the synthesis 

of a protein molecule. 

DNA: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) contains the genetic 

instructions used in the development and functioning 

of most known living organisms. The main role of DNA 


molecules is the long-term storage of information. 

Extropianism: An evolving framework of values and 

standards for continuously improving the human 

condition. Extropians believe that advances in science and 

technology will someday let people live indefinitely. 

Gene: The basic physical unit of heredity; a linear sequence 

of nucleotides along a segment of DNA that provides the 

coded instructions which, when translated into protein, 

leads to the expression of hereditary characteristics. Genes 

hold the information to build and maintain an organism’s 

cells and pass genetic traits to offspring. 

Genome: The entirety of an organism’s hereditary 

information. The genome includes both the genes and the 

non-coding sequences of the DNA. The genome of many 

organisms is made up of a number of chromosomes. 

Inorganic: Inorganic compounds are considered to be of 

a mineral, not biological, origin. By contrast, most organic 

compounds are traditionally viewed as being of biological 

origin. 

Lipid: Lipids are a group of naturally-occurring molecules 

which includes fats and waxes. The main biological 

functions of lipids include energy storage and as structural 

components of cell membranes. 

Metabolism: The set of chemical reactions that happen 

in living organisms to maintain life. These processes 

allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their 

structures, and respond to their environments. 

Molecule: A group of at least two atoms in a definite 

arrangement held together by strong chemical bonds. 

Nanomotor: A device capable of converting energy into 

movement. 

Nucleotide: Any of a group of molecules that, when 

linked together, form the building blocks of DNA or RNA.

Four different nucleotides are found in DNA: adenine, 

cytosine, guanine, and thymine (often abbreviated as A, 

C, G and T). 

Ontology: Ontology is the philosophical study of the 

nature of being, existence or reality in general, as well 

as of the basic categories of being and their relations. 

Traditionally listed as a part of the major branch of 

philosophy known as metaphysics, ontology deals with 

questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to 

exist. 

Organic: Organic compounds are considered to be of 

biological origin. By contrast, most inorganic compounds 

are traditionally viewed as being of a mineral origin. 

Protein: Highly varied organic molecules constituting a 

large portion of the mass of every life form. Composed 

of amino acids linked in a genetically controlled linear 

sequence into long chains, proteins include such specialized 

forms as collagen for supportive tissue, haemoglobin for 

transport, antibodies for immune defence, and enzymes 

for metabolism. 

Replication: The process by which double-stranded 

DNA makes copies of itself: each strand, as it separates, 

synthesizing a complementary strand. 

RNA: Ribonucleic acid: any of a class of single-stranded 

molecules transcribed from DNA in the cell, containing 

along the strand a linear sequence of nucleotide bases 

that is complementary to the DNA strand from which it 

is transcribed. 

Transcription: The process by which genetic information 

on a strand of DNA is used to synthesize a strand of 

complementary RNA. 

Transhumanism: An international intellectual and cultural 

movement supporting the use of science and technology 

to improve human mental and physical characteristics and 

capacities. The movement regards aspects of the human 


condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and 

involuntary death as unnecessary and undesirable. 

Translation: The process by which a messenger RNA 

molecule specifies the linear sequence of amino acids on 

a ribosome for protein synthesis. 

8. Caring for the Earth 

8.1 The Imperative 

8.1.1 In November 2009, two hundred delegates from 

faith groups around the world gathered in Windsor Castle 

at a meeting organised by the Alliance of Religions and 

Conservation (ARC). The meeting, which was hosted by the 

Duke of Edinburgh and Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of 

the United Nations, highlighted the importance all faith 

groups attach to the care for creation, expressed in their 

own terms and in their own languages. The meeting was 

titled Many Heavens, One Earth and concluded: 

• “Care for the earth is a common duty for all faith groups. 

• Our use or misuse of the earth and its resources is now 

apparent: faith groups cannot ignore the enormous 

problems that this is now causing. 

• Faith groups have a duty to help transform our attitudes 

to nature and our place within nature.” 

8.1.2 Martin Palmer, Secretary General of the ARC, 

summed up the role of churches. 

‘We believe that the key contribution the religions 

can make is to develop programmes that will deliver 

responses based not on fear, guilt, or apprehension, but 

because they are true to what the faith understands’ 

8.1.3 The work of the Church of Scotland is an important 

part of this process. While we may be numerically 

small compared to other churches or faith groups, 

the Responding to Climate Change project and our 

involvement in Eco-Congregation Scotland can play a 

leading role not only in Scotland but as part of a global 

movement to help people care for the earth at a time of 

change and uncertainty. 

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8.2 The Challenge in Scotland 

8.2.1 There have been a number of important 

developments since the General Assembly 2009. The 

Scottish Parliament passed the Climate Change (Scotland) 

Act. This is one of the most demanding pieces of climate 

change legislation in the world and sets legally binding 

targets for the Scottish Government to reduce the emission 

of greenhouse gases in Scotland by 42% by 2020 and 80% 

by 2050. These targets are unlikely to be fulfilled without 

the active involvement and support of individuals and 

communities across Scotland. The Church of Scotland, in 

conjunction with Eco-Congregation Scotland, lobbied 

MSPs to include in the legislation a duty on the Scottish 

Government to help people across Scotland put the Act 

into effect. The lobbying was successful and a duty was 

included in the Act requiring the Scottish Government 

to publish a ‘public engagement strategy’ before the end 

of 2010. The engagement strategy offers the opportunity 

for churches and congregations to play an important role 

in helping meet the targets set out in the climate change 

legislation. 

8.3 Can the Church of Scotland Play a Leading Role? 

8.3.1 On 5 December 2009 in Glasgow there was the 

largest climate change demonstration ever seen in 

Scotland, The Wave. Following an ecumenical service 

held at St Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church in 

Bellahouston, which was led by the Moderator, the Primus 

of the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic 

Cardinal, the march was led by the three faith leaders 

through Glasgow. The march was organised by the Stop 

Climate Chaos coalition and the presence of leaders of 

Scotland’s churches at the head of the march indicates our 

growing role in this movement. 

8.3.2 The Church now engages significantly in the 

national debate, particularly with the Scottish Parliament 

and the Scottish Government, and there is an opportunity 

to play a leading role in helping others to make the 

changes that will be needed to reduce Scotland’s carbon 


footprint. The reason for doing this is not to do the work 

of the Scottish Government but to put into effect our 

Christian duty to care for others and to care for creation. 

This commitment leads us to work with others, to work 

with the Councils of the Church and with congregations 

across Scotland. 

8.3.3 The General Assembly is asked to endorse this 

role; particularly that the Church of Scotland works with 

others including Members of the Scottish Parliament, 

the Scottish Government, and the Stop Climate Chaos 

coalition to provide spiritual and practical leadership in 

reducing Scotland’s carbon footprint. 

8.4 Action Within the Church 

8.4.1 The project is managed by the Church and Society 

Council but belongs to the Church of Scotland as a whole. 

It offers the opportunity for all Councils, presbyteries 

and congregations to contribute. During the year the 

Council of Assembly reviewed the project and accepted a 

recommendation proposed by secretaries to the Councils 

of Church and Society, Ministries, Mission and Discipleship 

and World Mission that the project should be continued 

for a further three years. This represents an important 

commitment at a time of uncertainty and reflects the 

importance that the General Assembly has attached to 

the issue. 

8.4.2 All four Councils have identified tasks that they can 

contribute to promote action and awareness on climate 

change and these are reported elsewhere. These include 

work on travel plans for ministers led by Ministries Council; 

action to reduce energy use in the Church offices by 

Central Services Committee and work by World Mission 

Council in bringing stories to congregations in Scotland 

about the serious impact of climate change elsewhere. 

8.5 Action With Presbyteries 

8.5.1 The General Assembly 2009 agreed a deliverance 

to:

Instruct Presbyteries, in association with the Church 

and Society Council, to produce a plan for each 

congregation in their bounds, setting out how 

they will measure energy consumption in their 

church buildings, ascertain their carbon footprint 

and achieve a year-on-year reduction of 5% of 

their carbon footprint using the Eco-Congregation 

Scotland footprint module; and instruct the Church 

and Society Council, in consultation with the General 

Trustees, to report to the General Assembly of 2010 on 

the implementation of this instruction. 

8.5.2 A major part of the work of the project during the 

year has been to fulfil this instruction. In summary we 

have: 

• sent guidance to all presbytery clerks on the instruction 

and how it could be put into effect 

• published supporting material and guidance on the 

climate change pages of the Church of Scotland website 

• responded to many inquiries from presbyteries and 

congregations 

• encouraged and supported presbyteries holding 

climate change conferences 

8.5.3 Presbyteries have made great progress in 

responding to this challenge, meeting to discuss the 

instruction, debating its role in their lives and encouraging 

congregations to become involved. 

Presbytery Conferences 

Presbytery conferences on climate change have 

been particularly successful in bringing together 

congregations to learn about climate change and 

encouraging them to learn about each other’s work, 

the work of eco-congregations and about external 

sources of advice and support from organisations 

such as the Energy Saving Trust (EST). An example was 

the conference held by the Presbytery of Dumbarton 

on 23 January 2010, when representatives from most 


congregations in the presbytery met together with the 

Climate Change Offi cer, a speaker from the EST, and 

the Minister of Abbotsford Church in Clydebank, Roddy 

Hamilton, to discuss the General Assembly instruction 

and how they could respond. As an example of practical 

action in the presbytery, the congregation of Radnor 

Park Church has reduced the carbon footprint of their 

church heating by over half by joining a district heating 

system operated by Clydebank Housing Association. 

Such an opportunity is not open to all congregations 

but demonstrates the remarkable results that can be 

achieved in church buildings by creative approaches to 

church heating. 

All presbyteries are invited to contact Church and 

Society Council to discuss holding a conference on 

climate change or other issues of current concern. 

8.6 Reaffirming our Commitment 

8.6.1 All presbyteries have been asked to report back to 

Church and Society Council on the implementation of this 

instruction giving details of the data they have received 

from all congregations on their carbon footprint. The 

results from this work are being published on the Church 

of Scotland website. 

8.6.2 The challenge of measuring and reducing our 

collective footprint is not one that can be achieved in one 

year but requires a growing effort over a number of years. 

Presbyteries and congregations have made a great start in 

responding to the challenge and the General Assembly is 

asked to note this success and re-affirm its commitment 

to the instruction issued last year. The Church and Society 

Council is committed to working with the General Trustees 

and others to support presbyteries in this task. 

8.7 Eco-Congregation Scotland: Becoming a Charity 

8.7.1 There are now over 230 eco-congregations 

registered with the programme and it continues to grow 

steadily. There are 8 local networks across the country, 

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and 2 more are in the process of being established. They 

are active in bringing together eco-congregations in 

their local areas to share experiences and to encourage 

partnership working with other local agencies. Two 

new modules have been published; Module 13, Climate 

Change: Managing your carbon footprint and Module 2, 

Celebrating Creation: Ideas and Resources for Worship. 

Eco-Congregation Scotland (ECS) has also been involved 

in a number of national events with other agencies, like a 

conference focussing on Climate Change issues in Priority 

Areas, together with the Priority Areas Committee. 

8.7.2 As reported to the General Assembly last year 

the ecumenical Eco-Congregation Scotland Steering 

Group received advice that it should now incorporate 

the organisation as a charitable company. This 

recommendation has been taken forward during the 

year. Draft memoranda and articles of incorporation 

have been agreed by the Office of the Scottish Charity 

Regulator (OSCR) and submitted to Companies House for 

incorporation. Becoming a charity will legally empower 

ECS to take actions that have been problematic until now. 

For example it will now be able to raise funds by asking for 

donations from members and from charitable foundations. 

This is a major milestone and an opportunity to celebrate 

its coming of age. In a little over ten years it has grown from 

a few dedicated congregations to the largest movement of 

community based environment groups in Scotland. This is 

an achievement of which all member congregations and 

supporting partners can be proud. 

8.7.3 As an ecumenical organisation ECS has great 

potential to help congregations of all denominations 

respond to climate change and take action in other ways 

to allow congregations to care for creation, for example 

in promoting biodiversity or in encouraging recycling. The 

General Assembly is asked to welcome the incorporation 

of ECS as a charity and to encourage congregations 

and individuals to offer support. It is suggested that 

Church of Scotland congregations in membership of 


Eco-Congregation Scotland should consider making a 

financial donation each year to enable the charity to grow 

and flourish. 

9. Societal Issues 

9.1 Practical Congregational Responses to Poverty 

‘Priority for the poorest and the most marginalised 

is the gospel imperative facing the whole Church, 

not just the Church in the poorest places’ 

9.1.1 This commitment and challenge from the 2002 

General Assembly report, “Sharing the Pain – Holding the 

Hope” sums up the motivations that drove the Church and 

Society Council to write this report. 

9.1.2 Around 950,000 people in Scotland currently live 

in poverty, 19% of the population. 65 And for our children 

this startling statistic rises to 25% living in poverty. 66 

These statistics do not give a full picture of the effect that 

poverty and inequality have on Scottish society, but they 

indicate a clear priority for practical congregational action. 

This has to start with those congregations in areas where a 

significant proportion of the community is poor. However, 

action is not confined to these areas; all congregations can 

contribute to this work. 

9.1.3 This report takes a look at individual stories and 

explores how successful projects which are linked with 

congregations have developed, what have been the 

triggers and what have been the challenges. The main 

intention is to encourage other congregations to tackle 

local poverty as a practical priority. 

9.1.4 In March 2009 the Church jointly sponsored the 

establishment of Scotland’s first Poverty Truth Commission 

hosted in Glasgow City Chambers. In front of an audience 

65 Defined as a household income that is 60% or less of the average 

(median) British household income after deducting housing costs. 

(Source – Department of Work and Pensions 2009) 

66 Source – DWP 2008

of 400 people the Commission brought together two 

groups of people: people who are experts about poverty 

because they live with the struggle every day and people 

in power who speak of their desire to make a difference 

but who often see their attempts to understand and tackle 

the causes and symptoms of poverty fail. Since March the 

Commission has continued to meet, focusing on the critical 

issues of kinship care, promoting positive alternatives to 

violence and advocating for more positive images of people 

in poverty in the media. At the heart of all the Commission’s 

work lies a simple understanding – unless people in poverty 

are included all attempts to develop a better and fairer 

Scotland will fail. “Nothing about us without us is for us.” 

9.1.5 However, it is primarily in the work of local 

congregations across Scotland that the Church’s response 

to poverty has to take shape. As one congregation put it: 

“Because we witness daily the local issues of 

poverty and meet and care for and worship with 

and marry and baptise the people living in that 

poverty, we wish to creatively partner local people 

in improving all our physical, emotional and 

spiritual well-being” 

9.1.6 Individual stories come first in this report; they are 

followed by details of the projects. These 4 people have 

each been involved in one of the projects described 

later. Forty funded projects were surveyed; identifying 

the journeys taken by the congregation and the impact 

of those journeys on both the congregation and their 

community. More information about the survey findings 

is included later in this report. 

9.1.7 Individual Stories (names have been changed) 

9.1.8 Jane’s Story 

9.1.8.1 Jane has been coming to the project for about 

a year. She has two year old twins. “It gets me out of the 

house. It gives me a couple of hours when the children go 

to crèche to go and do things like beauty therapy and look 

for jobs. And it gets the children out and helps get them 


used to going to nursery and me not being there.” 

9.1.8.2 Jane describes the particular challenges in her 

life as: having twins, living back home with her mother and 

having to cope with her mother having breast cancer on 

two occasions. She has also had periods of unemployment 

but is currently in work. 

9.1.8.3 “I have been employed for a year now, working 

behind a bar but I’ve been unemployed in the past. It was 

so boring I didn’t like sitting about.” 

9.1.8.4 Jane has also experienced some financial difficulties 

particularly related to bank charges. “I have debt due to an 

overdraft on the bank. They tried to say I’d gone over it and 

I refused to pay them the 29p or whatever it was and they 

keep sending the letters out charging £30 or £50 every 

time. It’s mounted up to about £600. But I’ve started paying 

it back now, giving a tenner a month. I have also had rent 

arrears which I’m paying back at £6 per week.” 

9.1.8.5 Jane is due to be rehoused in the next couple of 

weeks and is anticipating financial challenges. She works 

less than 16 hours per week at £5 per hour and only 

gets £25 per week income support as money is taken 

off for her rent arrears. She also has tax credit and child 

benefit which goes into her mum’s account. When she 

previously had a house Jane found it hard to cover her 

costs – eg £50 per week electric. “If I could I would work 

full time but I don’t know if the wage would cover my 

costs. I would lose my housing benefit. That’s why a lot 

of people don’t take jobs because they couldn’t afford to 

lose housing benefit.” 

9.1.8.6 When asked what would make things easier Jane 

says that people should still be able to get at least some of 

the housing benefit even if you work full-time. She thinks 

that, if that were the case, a lot more people would be 

having jobs instead of sitting about doing nothing. 

9.1.8.7 Jane feels that other churches should develop 

similar projects “because it’s good for the mums – and 

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dads because they can come to the groups as well. They 

should do parenting groups for young mums. It’s good 

because I’ve made new friends. The project has helped me 

out a lot, with getting the house and helping to sort out 

furniture. It’s good to have a support worker to speak to.” 

9.1.9 Joan’s Story 

9.1.9.1 Joan has been coming to the project for about 

18 months having had some quite significant challenges 

in her life. She is now about to go to college with a view to 

eventually going on to university. 

9.1.9.2 “Coming to the project has helped build up my 

confidence. This is the place where I don’t get judged. The 

project offers information about college courses and work 

and helps to make links with other support organisations. 

This project is perfect for developing the social skills of the 

children. Everybody who comes to this project is improved. 

There are opportunities to give back via volunteering. It 

allows me to take all the bad stuff that’s happened to me 

and turn it around and use it to help other people.” 

9.1.9.3 “This project should be expanded. Projects like 

this for people who have special support needs shouldn’t 

be having to scrounge around for money. There should 

be Government funding. I think Gordon Brown’s recent 

comments about young mums and single mums being 

put into homes and workhouses are very stupid. 67 That’s 

not the way. Things used to be much worse and the 

67 The comments made by Joan refer to a speech by Gordon Brown to 

the Labour Party Conference in September 2009. The speech was the 

subject of significant press coverage at the time. The full speech can be 

found at http://www.labour.org.uk/gordon-brown-speech-conference 

The relevant section reads: “And I do think it’s time to address a problem 

that for too long has gone unspoken, the number of children having 

children. For it cannot be right, for a girl of sixteen, to get pregnant, be 

given the keys to a council flat and be left on her own. From now on all 

16 and 17 year old parents who get support from the taxpayer will be 

placed in a network of supervised homes. These shared homes will offer 

not just a roof over their heads, but a new start in life where they learn 

responsibility and how to raise their children properly. That’s better for 

them, better for their babies and better for us all in the long run.” 


improvements have come from projects like this which 

help and encourage people to look after their babies 

properly, building confidence to gain education to get 

back to work. People aren’t being judged here but are 

included.” 

9.1.9.4 “It’s an excellent idea for churches to get involved 

in this kind of project. They should ask volunteers to come 

along. It’s so good that people are volunteering here 

because they really want to be here. They’re not here 

because they are getting paid for it. If the C of S wants to 

encourage Christianity they need to think at the level we 

are at – not an ideal world. In order to encourage people to 

have a good life they should open more projects like this.” 

9.1.10 Anna’s Story 

9.1.10.1 Anna left school when she was 16 to “try to get 

into work”. Now 18 years old, she has “had lots of jobs, but 

never for more than a month at a time”. She did complete 

a course at college which qualifies her “to work as a chef”, 

but Anna found the atmosphere in which such work takes 

place to be “repressive”. She has tried “lots of jobs” but saw 

these as “just work”. 

9.1.10.2 Anna had a period of unemployment during 

which she began to feel depressed. She really tried to find 

work, sending out over 60 CVs but getting no replies. “Just 

sitting in the house I began to wonder ‘am I no good”. She 

had a negative outlook on life. At this point, Anna decided 

to volunteer at the project, working in the kitchen. Anna 

is now just completing a 13 week work-placement in the 

project, which has given her experience in administrative 

work and helped her develop new skills. 

9.1.10.3 At the project, Anna found that people welcomed 

her and accepted her, showing her understanding. “They 

kept believing in me”. She now has a different view of work, 

seeing all experiences, even negative ones, as of value. 

She is now looking for a career and is willing to start at 

the bottom and work her way up. Her interest is in fashion 

and she talks with conviction about the role that fashion

plays in the confidence of young people. She believes that 

youngsters buy and wear what they think their peer group 

value, rather than what they themselves like. “They need to 

learn not to worry about what others think, or what they 

wear. If they were happy with their own style, they’d be less 

worried about what other people think.” She recognises 

that her confidence and self-esteem have grown since she 

came to the project. 

9.1.10.4 Anna has mixed with a wide range of ages 

and of cultural backgrounds. “You see the background of 

the asylum seekers and refugees and know that we are 

better off.” She has gained confidence in communicating 

with a wide range of people. Excited about the future she 

believes that “you can do whatever you want.” The project 

has helped her build her CV, is helping her look for jobs, has 

given her more qualification to look for jobs and shown 

her that people can “stick with” her and believe in her. 

9.1.10.5 Anna and her partner, who has just lost his 

job, live at present on £55 per week, receiving no grants. 

“Money is tight and it’s hard to manage, but I think it’s a 

good experience. It’ll make us appreciate money”. Their 

flat “has no wallpaper on the walls and the floors are bare, 

but I love it.” She thinks that, in the future, they’ll look back 

on it with happy memories. They don’t go out much and 

are grateful for family members who supply a couple of 

meals each week. “The project gave me determination 

and helped me to grow into this person”. 

9.1.10.6 Anna now has confidence in herself and her 

ability. She says she was immature when she first came 

but has learned so much about herself and about others. 

She will continue to volunteer when she does start work. 

9.1.10.7 When asked about messages for others, Anna 

said that they need to see the person and not be put off 

by how they speak or how they dress. People need selfrespect 

and so we should treat them with respect. If we 

welcome people and are enthusiastic about meeting 

them, then they will want to come back. 


9.1.11 Tam’s Story 

9.1.11.1 Tam used to work on the oil rigs and then was 

a self-employed contractor with 5 employees. Five years 

ago he had a “nervous breakdown and lost everything, 

family, home, job and ended up in a homeless unit.” Tam 

became an alcoholic and spent all his days sitting alone in 

his house “sad and lonely.” He says that the project “saved 

me from suicide – it’s changed my life.” 

9.1.11.2 Tam’s son found details of the project on a 

website and persuaded him to go along. To his surprise, 

people welcomed him and accepted him. He was “not 

forced to do anything” but could choose duties with 

which he felt comfortable. He now has “something to 

focus on” and “people care for me, accept me as I am.” He 

now has a structure to his day – something to get up for 

and somewhere to go. He sees the project as a stepping 

stone to help him “get back to real life”. 

9.1.11.3 In the group, Tam feels that people listen to him 

and respect his views. His skills are valued and he can see 

ways to use them to benefit the project. He contributes 

to decision making, which increases his self-esteem. He 

can now see a future ahead, where previously there was 

none. Tam thinks we “need more places like this. There are 

lots of folks sitting at home alone and sad – OAPs, addicts, 

folk who are ill. Just sitting there lonely.” Tam believes that 

the church could provide a meeting place for all ages and 

that they could be run by volunteers, just like him, thus 

extending the impact and benefit of such centres. But he 

stresses “you have to tell folk you are there and what you 

do. I’d have been here 2 years ago if I’d only known about 

it”. He thinks that a meeting place like the project enables 

conversations to start – but “folk have to feel welcome. It 

takes a lot to come through that door and so you have 

to feel accepted as you are”. Tam believes that the project 

literally saved his life. It has given him stability, confidence 

and belief that he is still of value. “We need more places 

like this,” he says, “to get the kids off the streets and the old 

folk out their houses.” 

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9.1.12 Project Case Studies 

9.1.12.1 These individual stories came from their 

involvement in the following projects. 

9.1.13 Cranhill Community Project - http://www. 

cranhillcp.co.uk/ 

9.1.13.1 Cranhill Community Project (CCP) was 

established in 2001 in response to the changing needs 

and environment of the local area. Funding from the 

Church has continued in recent years through the Parish 

Development Fund. The organisation developed as a joint 

initiative involving local churches, local people and other 

community-based groups, under the vision statement 

“We aim for justice for the people of Cranhill”. It was 

committed to develop an open and inclusive community 

facility within accommodation provided by Cranhill Parish 

Church; made possible by the congregation’s vision of their 

building being used 7 days a week to benefit the wider 

community. From the outset ownership of the project has 

rested with the people of Cranhill, with community views 

and perceptions always being important. 

9.1.13.2 As with many such initiatives, and reflecting 

the partnership nature of the work, CCP was set up as a 

Company Limited by Guarantee, and is recognised as a 

Charity in Scotland. The organisation is governed by a Board 

of Directors responsible for the strategic management. The 

project is committed to the development of joint working 

arrangements. The underlying ethos is the Christian vision 

of justice, compassion and the possibility of transformation 

for all. The project is promoted as a gateway for those who 

need protection or respite from the relentless pressures 

of modern life, whether young mothers struggling with 

children, asylum seekers suffering from bigotry or living 

in fear, young people written off at a tender age, isolated 

older people, those paralysed by mental health problems, 

or those simply struggling to make ends meet. 

9.1.13.3 There is a wide range of services, designed to 

promote and develop the wellbeing of local residents by 

addressing health-related issues, addressing poverty and 


deprivation, and issues of social exclusion. Services are 

open to all, but they have developed particular expertise 

for asylum seekers in the area. Around 400 people a week 

take part in a wide variety of activities within CCP. Those 

available are: 

Citizen Advice Bureau (3 times per week); advice for asylum 

seekers; employability advice; English classes for asylum 

seekers, refugees and migrant workers; volunteer training; 

IT classes, literacy and numeracy classes; access to smoking 

cessation; healthy eating via café; fitness classes, cookery 

classes, arts & crafts for 55+; Girls and Boys Brigades and 

youth clubs; a low-cost community café; nearly new shop 

and a food co-op. 

9.1.13.4 The project works in partnership with a variety 

of organisations: Glasgow East Regeneration Agency; 

Glasgow Community Planning Partnership; John Wheatley 

College; Glasgow City Council; Church of Scotland; The 

Robertson Trust; Lloyd’s TSB Foundations. 

9.1.14 Ruchazie Community Café 

9.1.14.1 Against a background of social problems - 

including high unemployment, mental illness and street 

violence - and bad publicity for the area, Ruchazie Parish 

Church is breaking new ground with its Open Space 

initiative. Expanding its traditional role, the church offers 

space for prayer, one-to-one conversations, groups and 

clubs, even alternative therapies. The church describes the 

work in its own words as follows: “’Open Space’ focuses the 

services of Ruchazie Parish Church for our community as 

a centre for wholeness, wellbeing and spirituality. We are 

creating a welcoming, people-friendly environment to 

meet the needs of our community and offer openings into 

new ways of thinking and being that are caring, supportive 

and challenging.” 

9.1.14.2 The project was a response by the Parish Church 

to the changing needs and opportunities, as a result of 

the community undergoing substantial regeneration. 

This has brought new housing and new people into the

community. The church has always physically been at 

the heart of the community and has always been seen as 

being for all the community and was itself substantially 

redeveloped. However, when the initiative began in 2007, 

the congregation was at a very low ebb with few attending 

on a Sunday and most being either over 70 or under 12. 

The development of the project has brought engagement 

with people of all ages in the community and the growth 

of activities is recognised locally as being the work of 

the church. To quote from a recent report to the Parish 

Development Fund, “while people have not flocked to 

Sunday services there is a real openness to our work.” 

9.1.14.3 At the heart of the project, and seen as a real 

community hub, is the Shell Café where local people are 

welcomed with no pressure to join anything; they’re free 

to come and go or to stay and that’s what many do. This 

provides for many people the route into other groups and 

activities. They join Women on Wednesday or Space4Weans 

or Tai Chi or beauty therapy classes. Others, perhaps feeling 

isolated in their community, find themselves sitting next to 

neighbours and starting new friendships. For some it is just 

that they now feel that they can ask for help. 

9.1.14.4 Local staff and volunteers have a renewed sense 

of self-worth too. The work began with two part-time local 

staff. It now has 6 people employed as well as the minister. 

Representatives of the project, together with local people, 

have been very active participants in the Poverty Truth 

Commission, a sign of the growing confidence of local 

people to begin to speak out with their own voice about 

their experiences of poverty and struggle. 

9.1.14.5 Church on Sundays continues in the midst 

of all this and is at the heart of all the work. The church 

is working on blurring the edges between church and 

community through all that they do and hope to be 

able to offer alternative worship experiences to people 

at different times, especially for young people who have 

been in church as children but might not feel it holds 

much for them now. 


9.1.15 Tibal Community Projects, Benarty and 

Lochgelly in Fife http://www.tibal.org.uk/ 

9.1.15.1 TIBAL (Together In Benarty and Lochgelly) is a 

charity which was established in 2003 as a result of three 

local Church of Scotland congregations working jointly 

with three Roman Catholic Churches, the local Episcopal 

church and a number of key local agencies and community 

organisations. The motivation was to try to make a 

difference within a former mining community which was 

characterised by a lack of self esteem, low aspirations, a 

sense of purposelessness, high unemployment and drug 

and alcohol problems. Lochgelly is now classed as a town 

in need of regeneration “economically and socially” and 

has the cheapest average home price in Britain. 

9.1.15.2 TIBAL aims to create extra choices and 

chances for the people of the area. The project seeks to 

listen to the local community and work in partnership 

with like-minded organisations to make a difference 

to people’s lives. It presently has two main areas of 

involvement: the Edge Project for 5-18 year olds and the 

Elderly Befriending Project for over 60s. Plans are also in 

place to develop the Gap Project which will work with 

the 18-60 age group, the gap in between the projects. 

The Edge Project, which began in 2004, has five distinct 

strands of involvement with the young people: Primary 

and Secondary School Work, Out of School Youth 

Work Activities, Street Work, Alternative Curriculum 

Projects and Personal Development Training. The Elderly 

Befriending Project which began in May 2007 now has 20 

volunteers and is providing a much needed befriending 

service, and a comprehensive schedule of social events 

which both volunteers and clients eagerly look forward 

to every month. 

9.1.15.3 The churches remain actively involved through 

serving on the management committee and through 

members being involved as volunteers. There is no doubt 

that the project has made a significant difference to the 

lives of a great many people both young and old. 

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9.1.15.4 Examples of the work of the Edge Project 

include older teenagers learning how to run a disco for 

younger teenagers and learning to orienteer. These are both 

examples of helping individuals to grow in self-confidence, 

as well as learning to respect themselves and others. The 

opportunity to widen skills and gain confidence means 

that individuals are better able to take up opportunities 

to study or train for work as well as being better equipped 

to avoid drug and alcohol related problems. In all these 

activities the Church is a quiet presence, providing helpers, 

space, and a focus for the community. Youngsters develop 

a curiosity about what the Church is all about from this 

community commitment by the congregation. Funders 

include: the Parish Development Fund, Children in Need; 

Coalfield Regeneration Trust; Fife Council and Lloyds TSB. 

9.1.16 St Andrew’s Family Support Project, Dundee 

http://www.standrewsfamilysupportproject.org/ 

9.1.16.1 In January 2005, with vision and a leap of faith, 

the St Andrew’s Parish Church in Dundee opened its doors 

weekly for two hours to single parents under twenty-one 

and their children. In partnership with the Early Years and 

Childcare Team of Dundee City Council, they provided a 

free healthy lunch for all followed by an hour of activities 

which were designed to encourage the mums to interact 

positively with their children, and give them “time out” via 

activities such as cooking, crafts, aerobics etc. 

9.1.16.2 The project came into being as a result of 

elders from the Church wanting to become involved in an 

“outreach project”. The decision to focus support on single 

parents aged 16-21 years and their children was driven by 

local research which identified that many such mothers 

were not accessing mainstream facilities for reasons such 

as, “I feel that other people are judging me” or “I didn’t fit 

in.” 

9.1.16.3 The motivation was to be a “church without 

walls”, showing God’s love and care to young people who 

at present have a negative perception of 'the church'. 

Indeed an initial difficulty in setting up the project was the 


fact that it was located in a church. However, these issues 

have been overcome and the project is well established 

and valued by those who benefit from it. 

9.1.16.4 The work is led by what the mums ask for 

and includes parenting support, emotional and social 

support, assistance with housing and financial issues, 

addressing drug and alcohol misuse, “back into education” 

programmes, training, and jobseeking. 

9.1.16.5 Peer education has been of tremendous value 

to the young girls, and they have written and produced a 

five-minute play about their lives from school until now 

– a fascinating and moving insight into the poverty and 

isolation the girls face. 

9.1.16.6 The project is now a registered charity and 

opens two days a week for four hours. A crèche is provided 

on Monday and Tuesday afternoons to allow parents 

to attend literacy, numeracy, and IT classes. They are 

seeking funding to employ two crèche workers for Friday 

mornings, allowing Sue, the Team Leader, to address moral 

and spiritual issues now being raised by the girls, eg “Why 

do you believe in God?” or “What is this Easter thing all 

about?” 

9.1.16.7 Those who use the service have had to deal 

with challenges during their lives, including homelessness, 

unemployment, domestic abuse and chaotic families and 

lifestyles. 

9.1.17 Wider review of funded projects 

9.1.17.1 Forty successful funding applications from 

faith-based community projects tackling poverty and 

related social problems were reviewed by a post-doctoral 

researcher at New College, The University of Edinburgh, 

with a view to understanding why a congregation (or 

ecumenical group) gets involved in such projects; how it 

sees and expresses the ethos and purpose of the project 

in the community; and how it views the impact of the 

project on the church. The quotes (which have been

made anonymous) throughout this section have been 

taken from applications to the following funds: 

a) the Church of Scotland’s Parish Development Fund 

(PDF); 

b) the (ecumenical) Scottish Churches Community Trust 

(SCCT); 

c) the Faiths in Scotland Community Action Fund (FiSCAF, 

since 2008 the inter faith successor to SCCT). 

9.1.17.2 What emerges is a hugely positive picture of 

churches engaging faithfully and imaginatively with their 

communities. And this is happening where many churches 

are, by our most commonly used criteria of membership 

and money, struggling: one application speaks of a 

congregation having to define more closely its own role 

and mission and unique contribution to regeneration as 

a “wee community of faith with a big heart”, and another 

of a “small church of some 30 members but making a big 

difference”. 

9.1.17.3 There is a wide variety among applications as 

to the faith basis and motivation of the work. Some make 

no mention of any theological dimension, while others 

tell the story of a project emerging from prayer, bible 

study and theological reflection. Particularly for Church of 

Scotland congregations the traditional notion of a parish 

as an area for mission and service seems still to be deeply 

engrained in their ethos. That basis is not confined to the 

church; there are clearly shared values between the work 

of churches in responding to poverty and the Muslim 

group which says “the hope and struggle is to counteract 

the causes and effects of deprivation and poverty and to 

develop a society where communities respect and value 

each other”. 

9.1.17.4 In areas where people’s lives are under daily 

pressure, the church shares that pressure. The stories of 

community projects reveal a refusal to retreat into the 

defensiveness of holding on to an island of church, rapidly 

being eroded by cultural change. 


9.1.17.5 Many start by seeking to develop their 

understanding of their community and identifying needs 

within that community. In many applications, the need 

for a piece of work is established through statistics of 

deprivation, and of health and other social problems 

(including “statistics for mission”); sometimes this is 

amplified by drawing up a community profile (several 

acknowledged the help of Faith in Community Scotland 

in doing so), or by contact with local and statutory 

organisations. These groups are generally found to be 

sympathetic, confirming and encouraging – one said that 

statutory bodies had “without fail, been entirely open to 

what we are doing, taking into account its Christian basis” 

while another found them “a little bemused that our church 

wants to develop what is seen as an unusual project for a 

religious organisation especially when there are no overt 

religious undertones to it.” The Parish Development Fund 

and Faith in Community Scotland are both available to 

provide support to congregations as they seek funding 

from external sources. 

9.1.17.6 Other churches built on experiences gained 

through existing work. Several applicants had deepened 

their understanding of need through conversations, 

for example with homeless people, or interviews with 

social workers followed up by “walking the area talking to 

people”; another said “the project began by listening to 

the young people. The action began by asking the young 

people what they’d want to do and how they could make 

it happen”. Visits to other church projects had helped 

several. 

9.1.17.7 One congregation highlighted the impact of 

Ann Morisy’s book, “Journeying Out”, as a model for mission: 

“we should journey out and offer people opportunities 

for discipleship (venturesome love)”. 68 This had sparked 

a process by which an office-bearers conference led to 

a mission strategy group which “has considered Gospel 

68 Ann Morisy: “Journeying Out”, Continuum International 

Publishing Group Ltd., March 2006 

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Values that should inform the church’s mission” and 

reflected on the statistics for mission for the parish. Several 

had drawn inspiration from the “Church Without Walls” 

report and subsequent work on that theme. 

9.1.17.8 Some congregations gained a challenge from 

using the “Just Church” study programme, produced by 

Church Action on Poverty (CAP), (see www.justchurch. 

info/). Designed for group work this includes a variety of 

resources to expose common views on poverty and debt. 

The group is then asked to complete a questionnaire 

which helps to identify areas where their knowledge is 

limited or aspects they wish to explore as a stimulus to 

action at a local level. 

9.1.17.9 Other applicants, after a community audit, 

became “more and more aware of the crippling effect 

debt has in our community”, leading them towards a 

partnership with Christians Against Poverty, a national UK 

debt counselling charity (see www.capuk.org ). Based on a 

recognition that “often the Christian message of hope cannot 

be shared until this millstone is removed”, this approach sets 

the work on tackling debt clearly in the context of faith, and 

as the removal of a barrier to evangelisation. 

9.1.17.10 Others see the work itself as an expression of 

faith. One project was described as “in its origin, sustaining 

motivation and everyday outworking … an expression of 

the compassion and grace which Jesus showed us in his 

incarnation and ministry. Our aim is to help people find 

fullness of life … having concern for all parts of their life 

and being” (seeing it as crucial that Christians and non- 

Christians work together on this). Another group found 

that an exchange visit to Malawi “made us more confident 

of offering our services with a faith basis as it is so much 

more part of everyday life there”; their experience that 

“we do not force it on people but offer it and people are 

interested and open” is frequently echoed. 

9.1.17.11 Some see a contrast to other forms of church 

outreach, reversing the tendency to invite people onto 


church territory by meeting them on their own ground: 

“risking is not about inviting them into our ‘safe’ places but 

meeting them in theirs and making friendships with them 

as Jesus calls us to do”. 

9.1.17.12 The low self-esteem closely associated with 

poverty was frequently identified as a major problem to 

which churches are well-placed to respond: “The main 

concerns about young people … are in relation to low selfesteem 

and the behaviour that results – lack of focus and 

motivation, truancy and low educational attainment, petty 

crime and substance abuse”. One project was designed 

to offer “…hope to young people within a community 

where there is a sense of hopelessness and resignation”, 

while another said “we aim to increase self-esteem and 

autonomy and help people regain (in some cases gain for 

the first time) control of their lives”. 

9.1.17.13 “When we create more obviously ‘spiritual’ 

activities such as the prayer time or the… discussion 

groups then the God who is being worshipped and the 

gospel which is proclaimed are familiar to people who 

have seen Christianity being lived out in compassion, 

faithfulness and grace through the project. The project 

has functioned for several people as a stepping stone to 

relating to church and exploring Christian faith through 

the relationships and experiences they have found there”. 

9.1.17.14 Most established projects recognise that 

building relationships of trust is not easy. One spoke 

candidly about a careful assessment of need leading to 

the launch of a project with drug addicts, with little idea 

of who would come and, “to begin with – and for almost 

the whole of the first year – almost no-one did”. Patience 

and better partnerships with statutory bodies eventually 

bore fruit. Another described a “resurrection phase” after a 

major set-back when a building burned down. 

9.1.17.15 This work can also be challenging for the 

congregations involved, at all levels:

“From time to time things go wrong in the use of the 

church hall, and not only are roles, responsibilities 

and boundaries redefined but the congregation 

grows in maturity of reaction. In particular, they 

are tested as to the exact nature of Christian 

forgiveness and the levels of appropriate sanctions 

used with children and young people”. 

9.1.17.16 There is a recognition that “living and sharing 

the gospel and following in the footsteps of Jesus means 

being vulnerable, being open to ridicule because we 

believe in the kids whom others no longer believe in”. 

Indeed several churches felt a particular calling to work 

with those “whom others may see as undeserving or 

difficult”, in ways that demonstrate their belief “in these 

kids and the potential that is within them and that they 

too are created in the image of their God”. 

9.1.17.17 There is no unified theological vision 

consistently expressed through these applications, nor 

any magic formula guaranteed to spark a congregation 

into effective local action. But there is a range and depth of 

faith-based reflection and insight – rooted in communities 

– both as the inspiration for action in the community and 

as its outcome. And there are diverse examples of good 

practice from which congregations who want to do 

something but are unsure what, can readily learn. 

9.1.17.18 “We believe that what we do does glorify 

God but we also believe that Christian projects cannot 

only compete but shine in any company… as the Church 

struggles more and more to deal with the issues of 

Scotland’s poorest communities, (this) and similar projects 

are proof that the Church can still have a credible presence 

in areas of social exclusion” 

In the stories of many community projects, our 

commitment to life in all its fullness is taking shape. 

“Our Christian distinctiveness comes from our 

deep-rooted faith in Christ but its incarnation is 


to unconditionally serve and respect all people. 

We are motivated by the love of God, especially 

for the poor … we value all people in a way that 

is consistent with our distinct Christian ethos 

by creating an environment where everyone is 

able to realise their potential, empowered to take 

responsibility for their own learning, and are able 

to value a balanced and holistic lifestyle” 

9.1.18 Common Project Features 

9.1.18.1 The things that stand out are: 

1) The value of an audit of local needs to decide priorities 

for serving the parish; 

2) projects worked with others (other faith communities, 

and community organisations), using a variety of 

sources of funding and exploring ways of overcoming 

the barriers to working together; 

3) they are overcoming barriers of low self-esteem, 

hopelessness; 

4) churches in some of the poorest communities are 

regaining confidence in their faith through practical 

service to their parish; 

5) the value of long term rootedness in communities; 

6) the faith to take risks. 

9.1.18.2 This report had originally been planned to 

highlight projects specifically aimed at helping people 

with debt and unemployment. However, most are in fact 

concentrating on overcoming social exclusion and low 

self-esteem. Some congregations are providing space for 

other organisations working on debt or unemployment, 

and many individuals help with Citizens Advice Bureaux 

(www.cas.org.uk/) and the like. A few congregations have 

linked up with the very specific programme of Christians 

Against Poverty. Relationship building is crucial to the 

ethos of all the projects, and establishing trust clearly a 

key element. These are seen as important in themselves, 

and also offer the context on which a sharing of faith can 

happen naturally. 

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9.1.19 What We Have Found 

9.1.19.1 These stories from congregations are 

challenging. As we mark the 450th anniversary of the 

Scottish Reformation they show the best of confident 

faith, meeting people where they are, and they challenge 

the whole church – “it is the church as a whole that is 

missionary, not just a few mad adventurers” 69 . 

9.1.19.2 The Church’s long term rootedness in 

communities is a strength for starting with people right 

there. Those who share in the life of the community 

and feel the recurrent blows that erode self-esteem are 

working to build personal relationships which affirm folk 

where they are, recognising and nurturing gifts rather 

than knocking people down further. 

9.1.19.3 The Church is being faithful to Jesus, who was 

attractive to those who had been written off by others (not 

least by religious authority), like the woman who interrupts 

Simon’s dinner party for Jesus, bursting in with her jar 

of perfume (Luke 7). Much public discussion of poverty 

still looks to find the “sin” in those who are poor, like the 

argument among the disciples about the man born blind 

(John 9). Government policy on welfare benefits taps into 

this blame culture. For some people today, condemnation 

is what they expect from the Church too. Sadly, even for 

some who are part of the Church, the Church is the last 

place they would go when things have gone wrong. But in 

the projects described in this report we find the authentic 

gospel of non-judgmental love simply caring, when some 

other agencies seem quick to condemn. 

9.1.20 Gross Inequality and the Church 

9.1.20.1 Absolute poverty still kills people in many 

parts of our world: relative poverty and inequality shorten 

and blight lives here in Scotland. The massive amount of 

research assembled recently by Richard Wilkinson and Kate 

Pickett in “The Spirit Level”, shows the corrosive effect of 

inequality in relatively affluent societies like Scotland – on 

69 Paul Gallet: “Freedom to Starve”, Gill& MacMillan, Dublin, 1970 


health and almost every indicator of well-being, and on 

everyone, not just for the poorest: “Rates of mental illness 

are five times higher in the most unequal compared to the 

least unequal societies. Similarly, in more unequal societies 

people are five times as likely to be imprisoned, six times as 

likely to be clinically obese, and murder rates may be many 

times higher”. 70 The negative effects of inequality pervade 

the whole fabric of society. This cannot be a surprise to 

those familiar with the story of the Exodus, the words of 

Old Testament prophets, the Gospels and the account of 

the early church. All point to a fullness of life that does not 

depend on the increasing affluence as measured by GDP, and 

to the destructive power of injustice and inequality. Again 

and again, God calls his people to share His blessings. 

9.1.20.2 When members of congregations contribute 

financially to the Church some of this money is kept for 

local work and some of this money is pooled nationally. 

Our shared wealth is distributed according to need and 

weighted toward priority areas. This radical redistributive 

model of sharing our wealth (Acts 2) is both counter intuitive 

and counter cultural but has been the oft declared policy 

of General Assemblies over the years. Therefore the whole 

Church is enabling the work in priority areas to take place. 

9.1.20.3 Financial resources are important. In addition 

there are many other equally valuable ways in which 

congregations can share love, gifts and resources for 

example: 

1) the sharing of stories, such as found in this report; 

2) building closer relationships through twinning and 

other partnerships; 

3) praying for each other. 

9.1.20.4 This report seeks to encourage and challenge 

congregations to engage further in these important issues. 

This is not an easy journey but it is the one that reflects the 

Gospel bias to the poor. 

70 Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett: “The Spirit Level: Why More Equal 

Societies Almost Always Do Better”, Allen Lane, March 2009

9.1.20.5 That engagement should include reflections 

on questions such as: 

1) Are we offering a liveable critique of endemic 

poverty amongst which we are seeking to live the 

Gospel? 

2) Do we offer a sustainable alternative way that shows 

another world is possible? 

3) How have congregations incorporated this thinking 

into their own common living? 

9.1.21 Gross Inequality in Society 

9.1.21.1 We are also acutely aware of the effects of 

the economic downturn on the already marginalised in 

society. According to Oxfam GB “People in poverty have 

been hit particularly hard by recent cost of living rises, 

with incomes – both benefits and wages for the low paid 

– failing to keep pace. We are seeing recent reductions 

in some forms of poverty reverse.” 71 Young people have 

been far harder hit by unemployment than any other age 

group 72 and those young people furthest away from the 

labour market face an even greater barrier to realising 

their potential. 

9.1.21.2 All levels of Government should adopt a 

‘poverty proofing’ 73 approach to budgeting and priority 

setting; taking action to raise the incomes of the 

poorest, alongside protecting the incomes of those who 

are vulnerable to poverty. There must be unflinching 

prioritisation of the poor and marginalised but this cannot 

be seen in isolation to a wider lens of social justice; we 

must build a more sustainable, equitable and inclusive 

71 Moussa Haddad with Antonia Bance: “Close to Home: UK poverty and 

the economic downturn”, Oxfam GB, March 2009, page 2 

72 Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics, June 2009 

73 “The process by which government departments, local authorities 

and state agencies assess policies and programmes at design and review 

stages in relation to the likely impact that they will have or have had on 

poverty and on inequalities which are likely to lead to poverty, with a 

view to poverty reduction” Department for Social Development Northern 

Ireland http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/seminar3section6-2.pdf 


economy. 74 What we heard from the people in the projects 

we visited underlines the Churches’ support for the Living 

Wage. 

9.1.21.3 The work of the Church in this field is vital. 

Alarmingly the latest survey of social attitudes across Britain 

reports that “Support for redistribution from the better off 

to those who are less well off has dropped markedly. Fewer 

than two in five (38%) now think the government should 

redistribute income from the better off to those who are 

less well off, down from half (51%) in 1994.” 75 

9.1.21.4 In this climate of acceptance of inequality, the 

Church has a prophetic role in ensuring that the voices 

of those who feel the impact of poverty and inequality on 

their lives are clearly heard. 

9.2 Priority Areas Action Plan 

9.2.1 The 2009 General Assembly reaffirmed the 

Church’s ongoing commitment to its work in priority area 

parishes – the poorest 5% of neighbourhoods in Scotland. 

It approved seven strategic priorities for that work and 

instructed the Ministries Council to bring a Priority Areas 

Action Plan to this year’s Assembly. 

9.2.2 Over the last year the Church and Society Council 

has worked with the Priority Areas Committee of the 

Ministries Council to develop this plan. Priority to the 

poorest and most marginalised is a commitment shared by 

the whole Church. In the Council’s work, this commitment 

is demonstrated through the report of Congregational 

Responses to Poverty and Debt. 

9.2.3 The Council welcomes the Priority Areas Action 

Plan from the Ministries Council and looks forward to 

74 The Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland and Faith 

in Community Scotland submitted a joint response to the Scottish 

Government consultation the UK Equality Bill Specific Public Sector 

Duties to Promote Equality, and Socio-economic Duty in October 2009 it 

is available on the Church of Scotland website. 

75 Press release, National Centre for Social Research, 26 January 2010 

http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media-centre 

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working with the Priority Areas Committee, other Councils 

and Committees of the Church as well as a wide range of 

partners to deliver the Priority Areas Action Plan over the 

next seven years. 

9.3 Travellers 

9.3.1 In the wake of the deliverance passed by the General 

Assembly the Council’s representatives on the Scottish 

Churches Racial Justice Group (SCRJG) took the matter to 

that Group. The SCRJG met with Mrs Jess Smith, a member 

of the Travellers Community, accompanied by the Rev 

Russell McLarty. A transcript of the meeting was prepared 

and this has been shared with the ACTS Rural Group as it 

raised matters that were also pertinent to them. 

9.3.2 In her evidence Jess explained why and how she 

believed that the Travellers had been mistreated over 

the years in Scotland and drew attention to a number of 

instances in which she believed the Churches had been 

complicit in the mistreatment. The mistreatment and 

persistent propaganda against Travellers had resulted in 

a state of affairs where Travellers hid their identity and 

were afraid to acknowledge their distinctive culture. She 

was campaigning to bring about a change in attitudes 

which would allow Travellers, and those descended 

from Travellers, to acknowledge their own culture, to be 

openly proud of it and to preserve it. She also hoped that 

organisations responsible for some of the mistreatment 

could be persuaded to apologise for their past decisions. 

9.3.3 The SCRJG subsequently reflected on the meeting 

and decided to set up a small ecumenical group, to include 

those within the Churches who had worked with travellers, 

to recommend to the Group and the Churches how the 

matter might best be addressed. It is hoped that this group 

will complete its work during 2010, with recommendations 

available to the General Assembly in 2011. 

10. Politics and Government 

10.1 Parliamentary Office and Update. 

10.1.1 The Church and Society Council continues to 


engage actively with the Governments in London and 

Edinburgh through the Scottish Churches Parliamentary 

Office (SCPO). By working ecumenically in our political 

engagement as a core activity of the Council, the Church 

is better able to be both informed and have influence on 

public and political debate. The SCPO continues to provide 

monthly Parliamentary Updates and regular briefings 

on areas of particular concern to the churches. This 

work receives some financial support from the Scottish 

Government (funding for part of one staff member’s salary). 

Anyone can read the Update on the website at www. 

actsparl.org or subscribe to the free email distribution list 

for the Update by emailing info@actsparl.org. 

The Scottish Government continues to work with 

the Faith Liaison Advisory Group as a regular channel 

of communication with churches and other faith 

communities. SCPO is represented on that group. 

10.1.2 The SCPO continues to support the Scottish 

Churches Social Inclusion Network (SCSIN). This year the 

SCSIN has been enquiring into funding for community 

based social inclusion work in Scotland. A number of 

politicians, civil servants and policy makers within NGOs 

have met with the Network. These include Pat Watters, 

President of COSLA and Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing 

and Communities. 

10.1.3 The SCPO continues to provide a forum for 

ecumenical discussion on current Parliamentary business. 

This year SCPO has facilitated discussions about the Scottish 

Government’s Alcohol Strategy, the consultation on the End 

of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill prior to it being introduced 

to the Scottish Parliament and a wider discussion of death, 

dying and bereavement across society. 

10.1.4 The Church and Society Council has established 

a Working Group on criminal justice. This group has 

produced a leaflet on “Scotland’s Choice: Report of the 

Scottish Prisons Commission” including background 

information and Bible based discussion starters.

10.2 Preparing for the General Election 

10.2.1 The SCPO has participated in the work of 

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) to develop 

ecumenical materials to assist congregations in planning 

for and participating in the 2010 General Election. CTBI has 

produced a leaflet called “Faith in Politics” which provides 

background information on a range of current topics and 

suggests questions for the reader to reflect on or ask local 

candidates. CTBI has also produced guidance on how 

to plan a hustings meeting for local churches, groups of 

churches or Christian organisations. These materials are 

available on the CTBI website at www.churcheselection. 

org.uk. 

10.2.2 The Church and Society Council worked in 

partnership with the Poverty Truth Commission to hold a 

hustings event calling on all parties to combat poverty in 

the UK. 

10.3 Trident Campaign 

10.3.1 For a long time the Christian community has led 

the way in challenging the morality of nuclear weapons. The 

General Election has offered an opportunity, in a way that 

has rarely been seen before, to challenge the philosophy 

that nuclear weapons are a necessity for modern warfare. 

The Council took the view that there was a chance that the 

renewal of the Trident system which is due very soon, could 

be overturned if enough political pressure was applied, 

especially at a time when voters were asking hard questions 

about how we best use our tax revenues for the benefit of 

the maximum number of citizens. 

10.3.2 In response, the 2009 Assembly Deliverance 

encouraging church members to lobby their MP on the 

issue was developed into one aimed at aspiring candidates. 

In addition further contributions to public debate was 

encouraged. 

10.3.3 There were 4 actions in this campaign; 

• A post card campaign for church members to send to 

aspiring candidates 


• A joint Easter statement from Church Leaders 

• Draft letters made available on the Scottish Churches 

Parliamentary Office Website for members to send to 

local press 

• Congregations were encouraged to hold Election 

hustings where this issue could be raised with 

candidates 

10.4 Debate on Scotland’s Constitutional Future 

10.4.1 The Calman Commission on Scottish Devolution 

published its report in June 2009 and incorporated 

references to evidence which had been presented by 

the Church of Scotland. As highlighted in the Church 

and Society Report to the General Assembly in 2009 “The 

Church has not taken a stand for or against independence, 

nor would we urge it to do so; but we believe strongly 

that a significant contribution to this, as to any debate 

about Scotland’s future, can and should still be made.” 76 

The Church and Society Council, in partnership with other 

denominations, intends to provide materials for discussion 

and reflection in congregations on the issue and bring a 

report to the 2011 General Assembly. 

10.5 Alcohol Pricing Campaign 

10.5.1 In November 2009 the Scottish Government 

introduced the Alcohol Etc (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish 

Parliament. This Bill contains a variety of provisions 

including the introduction of a minimum sales price per 

unit of alcohol. The General Assembly discussed and 

supported the principle of pricing mechanisms as a method 

of reducing alcohol consumption in 1983, 1986 and 1987 

and reaffirmed this position in 2009. In December 2009 

the Church and Society Council launched a campaign to 

encourage members of congregations to write to MSPs 

and alcohol producers in support of minimum pricing as a 

mechanism to reduce alcohol consumption. Background 

information and the campaign materials can be found on 

the Church of Scotland website. 

76 Church and Society Council Report 2009 paragraph 4.2.1 

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10.6 Parliamentary Visits 

10.6.1 In June and July 2009 representatives of the 

Standing Committee on Education met with the Minister 

for Schools and Skills as well as Education Spokespeople 

from other parties. The agenda for the visit was: 

• A Curriculum for Excellence in relation to Religious and 

Moral Education and to discuss broader concerns about 

the delays in implementing the Scottish Government’s 

“Curriculum for Excellence” 

• To provide an update on work relating to Religious 

Observance 

• Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill 

• To highlight a recent Action of Churches Together in 

Scotland publication entitled “A Christian Vision for 

Education”. This publication can be downloaded from 

the Council’s web pages. 

10.6.2 In January 2010 the SCPO supported the 

Moderator’s Annual visit to the Scottish Parliament. The 

visit included: 

• The Moderator delivering Time for Reflection in the 

Scottish Parliament 

• Meeting with the First Minister and leaders of other 

parties to discuss areas of concern to the Church 

• A Parliamentary Reception hosted by Sarah Boyack 

MSP and attended by the Minister for Climate Change, 

Stewart Stevenson, church representatives, MSPs 

and environmental organisations. The theme of the 

reception was based around the Climate Change 

(Scotland) Act and was intended as a celebration of this 

Act, particularly the duty on the Scottish Government 

to publish a public engagement strategy in 2010. 

10.6.3 In March 2010 representatives of the Church and 

Society Council visited Westminster to meet with Scottish 

MPs from all parties as well as Government Departments 

to discuss issues of current concern to the Church. 

Reports of all these visits are available on the Church of 

Scotland website. 


10.7 Living Wage 

10.7.1 In May 2009 the Living Wage campaign 

announced a figure of £7 per hour as the definition of a 

living wage for Scotland (http://www.povertyalliance.org/ 

campaigns.asp). This was based on wide ranging research 

and on information from other Living Wage campaigns. 

The Church and Society Council remains committed to 

this work and is engaged in discussions with potential 

funders to take forward further research on the economics 

of the campaign in partnership with the Poverty Alliance. It 

also intends to develop ways to support congregations to 

achieve Living Wage status whilst recognising the particular 

challenges that will bring for many congregations. 

10.8 Human Rights 

10.8.1 Over the last year there has been a range of 

public debate around human rights and the Human Rights 

Act. There is an ongoing discussion around what a rightsbased 

agenda would look like and how competing rights 

can be managed in British society. Recent political debate 

includes calls for the repeal of the Human Rights Act and 

consultations around a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. 

There is a need for active theological reflection to enable 

the Church to more fully understand and speak about 

these issues. 

10.9 Bills Worked On 

Climate Change (Scotland) Act: SCPO successfully 

supported Eco-congregations to lobby for the inclusion of 

a Public Engagement Strategy in the Bill. 

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill specifically 

sections on: 

• Proposals for a Scottish Sentencing Council 

• Community Payback Orders 

• Presumption against short periods of imprisonment or 

detention 

• Prosecution of Children (raising the age of criminal 

responsibility by prohibiting the prosecution of children 

under 12 while still allowing them to be referred to a 

Children’s Hearing on offence grounds)

• Market Operator’s License: SCPO supported the Church 

of Scotland Guild in campaigning to retain the charity 

exemption to this license. 

Health Etc (Scotland) Bill: launched a campaign in support 

of minimum pricing sections and responded to call for 

evidence. 

End of Life Assistance (Scotland) Bill: launching a campaign 

to oppose the Bill 

10.10 Index of consultation responses: 

• Draft Gaelic Language Plan (Scottish Government) on 

behalf of the Gaelic Group of the Church of Scotland 

Council of Assembly 

• Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill-Call for 

Evidence (Justice Committee, Scottish Parliament) 

• UK Equality Bill Specific Public Sector Duties to Promote 

Equality, and Socio-economic Duty (Scottish Government) 

– joint response with Faith in Community Scotland 

• Health Etc (Bill)-Call for Evidence (Health and Sport 

Committee, Scottish Parliament) 

• The Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill - requested by 

The Scottish Parliament 

• General Teaching Council Scotland - requested by 

Scottish Government 

• Conserve And Save: Consultation by The Scottish 

Government On The Energy Efficiency Action Plan 

For Scotland (October 2009) - requested by Scottish 

Government 

• Forced Marriage: A Civil Remedy? - requested by Scottish 

Government 

• The National Minimum Wage - Service Charges, 

Tips, Gratuities, And Cover Charges - requested by 

Department For Business Enterprise And Regulatory 

Reform, Uk Government 

• Proposed Palliative Care (Scotland) Bill - requested by 

Roseanna Cunningham MSP, The Scottish Parliament 

• Climate Change (Scotland) Bill - requested by Transport 

Infrastructure And Climate Change Committee, The 

Scottish Parliament 


• Calman Commission - requested by The Calman 

Commission 

• Proposed End Of Life Choices (Scotland) Bill - requested 

by Margo Macdonald MSP, The Scottish Parliament 

• Ending Child Poverty: Making It Happen - requested by 

UK Government 

• Petition PE1239 - requested by Scottish Parliament, 

Public Petitions Committee 

• PE1262 – Faith Schools - requested by Scottish 

Parliament; Public Petitions Committee 

• Alcohol Etc (Scotland) Bill - requested by Health and 

Sport Committee 

The full consultation responses can be found on the 

Council’s website. 

11. Peacemaking 

11.1 Working with Military Chaplains 

11.1.1 Following discussions at the 2009 Assembly, 

meetings between staff and military chaplains have explored 

ways for continued dialogue about the work of the Council 

and that of the military chaplains. This requires the creation 

of dedicated space and time and further conversations are 

planned to devise ways of achieving this. 

11.2 The Ethics of Campaigning 


11.2.1.1 The Council’s report to the 2009 General 

Assembly included a section on the Ethics of Defence, and 

the Assembly approved an associated deliverance – ‘Urge 

congregations to participate in non-violent campaign 

activities against the renewal of Trident and, in particular, 

to meet with or write to their MP to urge them to vote 

against its renewal’. There was some discussion at the time 

about the scope and nature of ‘Christian campaigning’ 

and the Council undertook to prepare this brief further 

reflection on the ethical aspects of campaigning. 

11.2.2 The purpose and nature of campaigning – a 

Christian perspective 

11.2.2.1 It is unnecessary to rehearse in any detail the 

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theological and practical justification for the engagement 

of the Church, and of individual Christians, with social 

and political concerns. This is in concern about the gap 

between the way the world is within which we live and 

the promise and hope of God’s kingdom, the Biblical 

vision of fullness of life, justice and peace for all, as testified 

by the prophets and embodied conclusively in the life and 

teaching of Jesus Christ. 

11.2.2.2 The church is thus called and challenged, 

as indeed are all people of faith individually, not just to 

hope and pray for this better, fairer world but to share in 

God’s work which is transforming the present order. This 

calling involves more than performing ‘works of mercy’, 

necessary as they are to mitigate suffering and relieve 

need. It requires also seeking to serve the common good 

by pressing for changes to ensure that so far as possible 

social policies and priorities reflect the vision and values of 

God’s kingdom – in other words ‘campaigning’. 

11.2.2.3 A measure of discernment is often required 

as to the means of campaigning to be adopted, which 

will depend on the particular issue and circumstances. 

At national level the Church of Scotland itself has been 

campaigning for many years now through passing General 

Assembly deliverances on matters of consequence to 

the well-being of the nation and following them up in 

correspondence, through meetings with Government 

ministers and politicians of all parties, and with public 

statements. At local level campaigning is often both 

appropriate and necessary, particularly where issues of 

strategic significance are being discussed by local or 

health authorities or a controversial matter calls for the 

church’s voice to be heard: some Presbyteries are active 

in this way; in many cases, however, there is considerable 

scope for seeking ways to develop relations and bring 

further influence to bear. 

11.2.2.4 For individuals, campaigning may involve 

becoming a member of a political party or standing for 

office as a local councillor or even member of parliament. 


It may involve joining a church-related or other voluntary 

organisation pursuing a specific range of concerns or 

focussed on a single issue (eg, Church Action on Poverty, 

Child Poverty Action Group; Scottish Churches Action 

on Housing, Shelter; GreenPeace, Friends of the Earth, 

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF); Christian Aid, World 

Development Movement, Campaign against the Arms 

Trade, CND; Howard League, Amnesty International, and 

many others). It may involve writing letters to and seeking 

meetings with MSPs, MPs, MEPs or local councillors. It 

may involve taking part in marches (eg in recent years, 

Make Poverty History, Stop the War and last year just 

prior to the international conference on climate change 

at Copenhagen, The Wave), attending demonstrations or 

even engaging in more direct non-violent action, involving 

some form of civil disobedience. 

11.2.3 ‘Civil Disobedience’ 

11.2.3.1 In a democratic state the government is 

accountable to the electorate and the assumption is 

that government will be exercised responsibly and fairly 

according to social needs and often within a previously 

declared policy framework. There are well-established 

ways (public debate, media discussion, correspondence 

and meeting with – and ultimately voting out – elected 

representatives, etc.) through the democratic process 

of seeking and bringing about changes in policies and 

priorities. 

11.2.3.2 Where individuals or groups are discontented 

and wish to express their views, a number of courses may 

be open to them, ranging from such activities as prayer, 

letter-writing, and verbal persuasion through discussing 

and meeting, to forms of non-violent direct action involving 

more active protest – economic boycotts, demonstrations, 

rallies, etc – that may, in extreme circumstances and as a 

last resort, extend to or involve deliberate flouting and 

breaking of the law. 

11.2.3.3 There is a long-standing tradition of resistance 

or protest against authority, particularly in cases where

the government remains intransigent in the face of 

conscientious objection or where there is a substantial 

body of ‘dissident’ opinion. Such resistance may be entirely 

on grounds of conscience, where the individuals concerned 

feel morally unable to conform to the requirements of the 

law, or it may be used as a deliberate strategy or tactic – 

to keep an issue in the forefront of public attention or to 

seek public or political opinion with a view to bringing 

about change. However, in all such cases, those who 

decide to resort to a form of direct action that involves civil 

obedience do so very deliberately and ready to accept the 

legal consequences of their decision. 

11.2.3.4 The current practice of non-violent direct action 

has been largely shaped and influenced by such significant 

precedents as, within Britain, the Chartist movement of 

the 19th century and the Suffragette movement of the 

1920s that secured the women’s vote, the non-violent 

protest movement in India led by Gandhi in the 1930s 

(rooted in the concept of ‘satyagraha’ – truth-force), and 

in the United States, the civil rights movement, led by 

Martin Luther King and others, and the anti-Vietnam war 

protests. More recent examples include the anti-poll-tax 

movement of the late 20th century, the demonstrations 

against nuclear weapons at Aldermaston, Greenham 

Common, Faslane and elsewhere, the range of activities 

and events organised by environmental and animal rights 

activists, and parents’ ‘sit-ins’ protesting against impending 

school closures. Where laws have been broken, in almost 

all cases, the charge has specified relatively minor offences 

– the crime of trespass or, in Scotland, ‘breach of the peace’, 

and in some cases ‘violence against property’ (regarded as 

a separate crime – and in a different moral category, and 

thus legitimate and less exceptionable - from ‘violence 

against the person’). 

11.2.4 The Christian Tradition 

11.2.4.1 The essence of the Gospel is counter-cultural, 

perpetually challenging the prevailing social ethos and 

values and calling for change in individual attitudes and 


conduct. The New Testament’s account of the life and 

teaching of Jesus makes it clear that the primary reason 

for his conviction and crucifixion lay in the threat he 

presented to the religious and political authorities of the 

day (as exemplified in his words and actions concerning 

the Sabbath, his Palm Sunday entrance into Jerusalem and 

his overturning of the tables in the temple – both instances 

of ‘direct action’) and his message (reinforced by the Acts 

account of Peter’s defence before the authorities (Acts 3 & 

4) that the ultimate loyalty of people of faith was to God, 

not to any worldly authority or religious institution. The 

‘render to Caesar’ text (St Mark 12.17) is to be understood 

as an injunction to faithfulness, not an indication of the 

separation of church and state (‘spiritual’ and temporal): it is 

an affirmation of the sovereignty of God over all things and 

of the provisionality of every earthly form of government. 

And Paul’s injunction (in Romans 13) to obedience to the 

authorities is to be seen in the context of what he says 

about just government, according to God’s loving purpose 

for all (and of where he was at the time of writing – in 

prison in Rome on account of his civil disobedience!), and 

needs to be read alongside the insight of Revelation 13, 

seeing government as ‘the beast’, in conflict with the will 

and purposes of God. 

11.2.4.2 Down the centuries, within the history and 

theology of the church, there is a strong tradition of 

resistance and protest (seen in its most extreme form, 

against the background of the persecution of the early 

Christians, in martyrdom, as described in the writings of 

Tertullian and others). Augustine and Aquinas from different 

perspectives, while regarding the state as exercising 

God-given power for the common good, indicated that, 

precisely because of God’s absolute sovereignty, Christians 

had the right, even the duty, to disobey an unjust law and, in 

limited circumstances, to resist the authority of an unlawful 

or ungodly government, even by force of arms. Calvin, for 

all the emphasis he placed on the role of and obedience 

to political authorities, left room for the ‘exception’ where 

higher obedience to God demanded it. The documents of 

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the Scottish Reformation and the Westminster Confession 

point unequivocally to the sovereignty of God and the 

subordinate, and therefore, provisional role of ‘the civil 

magistrate’. In the turbulent times of the 17th Century, 

the stance of the Covenanters in Scotland, and such 

dissenting groups as the Diggers and Levellers in England, 

was rooted in their strong conviction that the authorities 

whom they opposed were pursuing policies contrary to 

the will of God, and indeed they were ready to resort to 

violent resistance - an anticipation of the perspective of 

the liberation theologians that violence is a legitimate 

response to a violent state. More recent theologians too, 

such as Barth, Brunner and Bonhoeffer, believed that, as 

a last resort, civil disobedience was permissible, indeed 

in extreme circumstances imperative. A cautionary note, 

however, was sounded by Thomas Merton, emphasising 

that civil disobedience, to be effective, particularly as a 

form of communication and awareness-raising, must never 

be undertaken lightly or as a matter of routine: he referred 

to the danger of protests and demonstrations becoming 

a ‘form of political snake-handling’, the celebration of ‘our 

own favourite group-myths in a ritual pseudo-event’. 

11.2.4.3 In the view of many within the churches it is 

not an option but an obligation for Christians to stand up, 

speak out and campaign for what is right and good and 

just and to be ‘a voice for the voiceless’. Clearly it is a matter 

of individual and collective discernment in each case as to 

what form campaigning should take and whether direct 

action is justified – measured against Christian values, 

derived from scripture and tradition, and taking account 

of pragmatic as well as conscientious factors. There is a 

view that within a state where the government is generally 

on acceptable lines, direct action can seldom be justified. 

But others have held, with long-standing theological 

backing as indicated, that it is the Christian’s obligation 

to disobey an unjust or bad law. Within the tradition of 

Christian ethics, criteria, corresponding broadly to those 

relating to ‘just war’ theory, have been identified that 

should be applied before any course of direct action is 


decided on – such as proportionality, discrimination, just 

cause, last resort, likelihood of success; and there is also 

the complex question of the relation between means and 

ends (and in what situations, for instance, good ends may 

justify questionable means). Such considerations assume, 

however, that the main object and intention of the action 

is to achieve change: this may be so in some cases; but 

in others, while this may be the ultimate aim, the more 

immediate purpose may be to promote public awareness 

or keep an issue before public attention, and there are 

other situations again where the primary motive behind 

direct action is conscientious witness in its own right on 

religious or moral grounds. As Luther said about his great 

act of civil disobedience, ‘Here I stand; I can do no other.’ 

11.2.5 Conclusion 

11.2.5.1 Thus, within the Christian tradition and as 

applied to current circumstances and issues, there are 

various forms of campaigning that can be pursued and 

justified. In particular, non-violent direct action, involving 

potential or actual civil disobedience, in the form of 

deliberate law-breaking, may be regarded as a legitimate 

approach in situations where other possibilities have 

been exhausted or such considerations as the magnitude 

or confessional nature of the issue justify it, and where 

those who engage in the action do so conscientiously, 

deliberately and ready to accept the legal consequences. 

A Bibliography on this issue is available on the Church and 

Society website. 

12. Education 

12.1 Religious Observance in Schools 

12.1.1 The Education Committee reported to the 2009 

Assembly on the effect and opportunity that the 2005 

guidelines on Religious Observance (RO) have brought 

to schools. Those guidelines can be seen on the Church 

and Society webpages. The Committee indicated in that 

report that discussions had begun with a wide variety 

of organisations involved in education delivery on the

creation of a professional training opportunity for both 

church and school staff in Religious Observance. The 

Committee is delighted to inform the Assembly that this 

qualification is now available through the Continuing 

Professional Development (CPD) programme of Glasgow 

University. It is being delivered by staff from Church and 

Society Council, Glasgow University and Scripture Union 

with the assistance of practitioner facilitators. 

12.1.2 Twenty six students are enrolled on the first course 

which began in January 2010. A second course will begin 

in September 2010. The course is at modular masters level 

and it is the intention of the Committee to support this 

work to the point where a Post Graduate certificate in RO 

is achievable. The Council has significantly subsidised the 

course for all students enrolled to make sure that finance 

is not a barrier for this work. 

12.1.3 The course is designed to: 

• be experience based 

• involve learning using reflective practice 

• be fully accredited by the University 

• be peer delivered across the nation in flexible modules 

using a variety of methods including practical workshops, 

theory exploration, distance learning and mentoring 

Further information about the background to the Course 

can be found on the Church and Society Website along 

with information on enrolment. 

12.2 Religious and Moral Education (RME) Resources 

12.2.1 At the 2009 Assembly a deliverance was received 

urging the creation of new resources for the Christian aspects 

of Religious and Moral Education. Further discussion within 

the Education Committee suggested that the issue was not 

that there was a dearth of such resources but that they were 

not easily accessible by teachers. It was also noted that they 

were mostly web-based. 

12.2.2 At the same time, the Council was approached 

by the Religious Education Movement Scotland, (REMS), 


to discuss opportunities for further development of the 

new REMS website as a vehicle for making resources more 

accessible for teachers. 

12.2.3 The outcome of those discussions was an 

agreement to make a joint application to the Jerusalem 

Trust, (who funded previous work on the REMS website), 

to create a 2 year post within the Council’s staff team, 

to research available RME resources for the study of 

Christianity, to critique their quality and to offer them 

online through the REMS website in a form that matched 

the RME Curriculum for Excellence guidelines. 

12.3 Religious and Moral Education (RME) 

Continuous Professional Development Proposal 

12.3.1 Through its work with the Scottish Joint 

Committee on Religious and Moral Education (SJCRME), 

the Education Committee has identified a gap in 

the resourcing of RME on the issue of access to faith 

practioners. The consequence of that lack of resource is 

that it is increasingly difficult for staff to help pupils explore 

the idea of faith and being faithful beyond the intellectual 

aspects and around views on specific subjects. 

12.3.2 East Dunbartonshire Council has done some 

significant and ground breaking work on this issue. 

Religious Observance Practitioners have been given the 

opportunity to engage at a deep and personal level with 

members of a wide variety of faith groups to explore how 

being someone of faith and belief affects their whole lives, 

choices and relationships with others. 

12.3.3 The Committee has therefore entered early 

discussions with Council Officers and with Edinburgh 

University to explore how this work might be developed 

and offered to a wider audience. 

12.4 Stevenson Prize for Excellence in Religious 

Observance and Religious Education. 

12.4.1 Last year’s prize was very successful with a 

significant increase in the quantity and quality of entries. 

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The focus in 2009 was Religious Observance and it was 

significant that those entering were showing Religious 

Observance spreading thoughout the life of their school 

community and it being not simply restricted to “assembly 

style” events. A further development was an additional 

award to a special school. This has led the Committee to 

add a new category for special schools. 

12.4.2 The 2009 winners were 

Kersland Special School - a special award 

Ben Nevis Road , Paisley 

Uyeasound Primary School - Stevenson Prize for Primary 

Schools 

Uyeasound, Unst, Shetland Islands 

Williamwood High School - Stevenson Prize for High 

Schools 

Clarkston , Glasgow, G76 8RF 

The 2010 prize again focused on excellence in Religious 

Observance. 

12.5 Religious Representatives on Local Authority 

Education Committees 

12.5.1 The Religious Representatives on Local Authority 

Education Committees met twice this year. The first 

gathering was a joint event with the Roman Catholic 

Church and was held in the offices of the Scottish 

Catholic Education Commission (SCEC). SCEC Director 

Michael McGrath, gave a very helpful introduction to 

the Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) 

publication “A Christian Vision for Education” to which 

all the major denominations had contributed. (Copies 

are available from the Church and Society website). He 

looked at how the thinking in that document reflected 

the implementation of the Scottish Government’s 

“Curriculum for Excellence”. 

12.5.2 This was followed by workshops on some of 

the challenges faced by Education Representatives 


since the advent of proportional representation in Local 

Government. The outcome of this was a letter sent on 

behalf of all representatives to Chief Executives outlining 

some of their concerns. This letter can be seen on the 

Church and Society Website. 

12.5.3 The annual overnight conference took place in 

Aviemore. The Conference participants visited Lagganlia 

Outdoor Centre, heard from school pupils, staff, the 

Scottish Government and each other about a wide variety 

of issues, all around the themes of the opportunities of 

Curriculum for Excellence and the challenges brought by 

proportional representation. A full report can be found 

on the Church and Society Website along with a report 

from a conference participant. 

12.6 Support for Chaplains 

12.6.1 At time of writing the department had run 

one conference for school chaplains since last year’s 

Assembly with another one planned for the spring of 

2010. The feedback from those attending is that this is 

an invaluable resource and that there is a great need for 

continual support for those involved in school chaplaincy. 

It is the intention of the Committee to run at least 

two conferences a year to support the work of school 

chaplains. It is further intended to aim these events at 

both church and school staff to help support that church/ 

school relationship. Where there are ecumenical teams, 

all team members will be encouraged to attend. 

12.6.2 The department is just beginning to explore 

ways of offering digitally based support resources but has 

not yet been able to create the capacity required within 

the staff team to develop this work to its full potential. 

12.6.3 The ACTS Scottish Education Committee has 

indicated that it would take on support for Further 

Education Chaplaincy. It is expected that a number 

of events will be forthcoming following an excellent 

consultation meeting hosted by the Chaplaincy Team at 

Reid Kerr FE College in Paisley.

12.7 Scottish Joint Committee on Religious and 

Moral Education (SJCRME) 

12.7.1 The Committee has supported the work of the 

SJCRME again this year. The Council Secretary was the 

main speaker at the SJCRME annual conference for RME 

teachers talking about the role of the Christian Community 

in shaping Scottish political and social life. Work is being 

developed on a statement on the differences and overlaps 

of RME and RO and significant work is being done with 

other faith groups on the opportunities for exploring the 

idea of faith in the Curriculum for Excellence. 

12.8 Meetings with Parliamentarians and Policy 

Makers 

12.8.1 The Committee continues to meet with education 

spokespeople of all the mainstream political parties. A fuller 

report is to be found under the section dealing with the 

Parliamentary Office. The Committee has representation on it 

from the HMIe and has had meetings this year with Learning 

and Teaching Scotland and the General Teaching Council 

Scotland. They also responded to four consultations, details 

of which can be found under that section in the report. 

13. Ecumenical and Interfaith Aff airs 

13.1 Europe 

13.1.1 Following the return of Rev Matthew Ross to 

parish appointment from his role in the Church and Society 

Commission (CSC) of the Conference of European Church 

(CEC) the Council took the decision this year to stop part 

funding that post and to facilitate a review of how British 

Churches can best engage with European issues. To that 

end the Council has been represented in two discussions 

with ecumenical partners and is involved in widening that 

conversation. The Council would want to pay tribute to 

the diligence and hard work of Matthew Ross during his 

time on our behalf with the CSC. 

13.1.2 The CSC’s main office is located in Brussels 

(with a second, smaller office in Strasbourg) in close 

proximity to the European Parliament and European 


Commission. There was a proposal for the The Churches’ 

Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) to become 

part of CEC in 2008 but this has gone into abeyance. 

CCME will continue to share the same office building in 

Brussels as the CSC. 

13.1.3 The election of BNP candidates to the European 

Parliament has thrown light on the work of elected 

members at European level and in particular how money 

used to support them is used for agendas that would 

undermine those institutions, in particular to create 

barriers between peoples on the basis of ethnic origin, 

something that is the antithesis of the European ideal. 

Following the election of the two BNP MEPs, Churches 

Together in Britain and Ireland organised a conference 

reflecting on how the churches should respond to the 

politics of the Far Right. The day, “Voting With our Feet, 

The Challenge of the Politics of the Far Right and the 

Churches”, was well attended and included a key note 

address from Jon Cruddas MP (who represents an area 

with 12 BNP councillors) who emphasised the importance 

of democratic and political engagement at all levels as key 

to overcoming the rise of extremist parties. The Council 

would see this issue as an example of why engagement in 

the political process by church members as well as by the 

institutional church is very important and will continue to 

monitor the issue of the growth and consequences of far 

right political parties. 

13.1.4 CEC marked its 50th anniversary in 2009, holding 

its 13th Assembly in Lyon, France, 15-21 July. The former 

Council Secretary Rev Dr David Sinclair was one of the 

Church of Scotland representatives. His successor as 

Council Secretary, Rev Ewan Aitken, has been appointed 

to the Commission for a 4 year term. 

13.2 ACTS Networks 

13.2.1 The Council represents the Church on 4 ACTS 

networks: Church and Society, Racial Justice, Education 

and Rural. In each case the Council endeavours where 

possible to make its ecumenical work its core activity on 

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the issues raised by each network’s agenda. Thus the work 

on FE Chaplains, formerly directly under the remit of the 

Education Committee is now led by the Education Group, 

the work on Travelling people, although a deliverance from 

the 2009 General Assembly, is being developed by the 

Rural network and our work on Racial Justice is delivered 

by supporting the work of the ACTS Racial Justice Officer. 

In that instance, in 2010 the Council has increased its 

contribution from £10,000 to £16,000 per annum to allow 

the post to be advertised with an increase in hours from 2 

½ days a week to 4. 

13.2.2 The Council Secretary is also one of the Church of 

Scotland representatives on the ACTS members meeting. 

13.2.3 Full details of the work of each of the ACTS 

networks can be found on the ACTS website. 

13.3 Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) 

13.3.1 The Council continues to play an active part on 

the CTBI Church and Society Network, for example by 

organising an event for a UK wide audience to discuss 

debates about constitutional changes that are taking 

place in devolved countries. 

13.4 Joint Faiths Advisory Board on Criminal Justice 

13.4.1 Through SCPO the Council continues to support 

the work of the Joint Faiths Advisory Board on Criminal 

Justice (JFABCJ). This year the JFABCJ has participated 

in the Equal Opportunities Committee of the Scottish 

Parliament Inquiry into female offenders in the criminal 

justice system and the Board continues to encourage the 

involvement of local faith groups in the criminal justice 

system. JFABCJ has also responded to the Criminal Justice 

and Licensing (Scotland) Bill call for evidence. Rev Elaine 

MacRae, member of the Church and Society Council, has 

been elected as JFABCJ convener. 

14. International Issues 

14.1 Afghanistan 

14.1.1 Background 


14.1.1.1 The International Security Assistance Force 

(ISAF) was created in December 2001 at the same time as 

steps were taken to begin the process of reconstructing 

the country by setting up a new government structure, the 

Afghan Transitional Authority (ATA). The concept of a UNmandated 

force to assist the new Authority was to enable 

development of a more secure environment around Kabul, 

primarily in support of the reconstruction effort. These 

early agreements paved the way for the formation of a 

three-way partnership between ATA, the United Nations 

Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and ISAF. 

14.1.1.2 Strong arguments were put forward by the US 

and many other nations that there was no realistic, viable 

alternative to military action. They argued that a military 

response was the most effective means by which terrorist 

atrocities could be quickly prevented in the future and 

that there was no other effective means of destroying the 

al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. In 2002 an Assembly 

report noted that the Church understood the thinking 

behind these arguments, but would strongly question 

whether such a policy offers a lasting solution. 

14.1.1.3 The Assembly accepted that there could be 

some international situations in which a military response 

could be justified. In its report to the 2002 Assembly the then 

Church and Nation Committee reminded Commissioners 

that the Church of Scotland had expressed the view prior 

to the invasion of Afghanistan that: 

“if military action was to take place in Afghanistan, 

then it should be proportionate, accurate and 

have a reasonable expectation of success. In view 

of the scale of the bombing campaign and the 

large number of civilian casualties, we contend 

that these criteria were not met. We accept that 

determining casualty figures is difficult. While some 

estimates have been as high as three thousand, 

one of the most cautious estimates from a US 

source is provided by the Boston-based Project on 

Defence Alternatives. PDA, drawing on western

media reports, concluded that over one thousand 

Afghan civilians were killed by the bombing and 

several thousand more have died or will die from 

hunger, disease or exposure as an indirect result of 

the war” 

14.1.1.4 In 2002, the Assembly took the view that military 

action alone had no prospect of eliminating international 

terrorism and in this case had probably strengthened the 

resolve of terrorists to strike back. Following the initial 

intervention into Afghanistan in 2001, an FBI assessment at 

the end of that year concluded that the al-Qaeda network 

had had its capabilities diminished by no more than 30%. 

Even by the beginning of February 2002, it was reported 

that 16 of the top 22 al-Qaeda leaders were still free. 

14.1.2 ISAF and NATO Involvement 

14.1.2.1 The ISAF mission can be summarised as follows: 

• Security: in accordance with the relevant UN Security 

Council resolutions, ISAF’s main role is to assist the 

Afghan government in the establishment of a secure 

and stable environment. To this end, ISAF forces 

conduct security operations throughout the country 

together with the Afghan National Security Forces 

and are directly involved in the development of the 

Afghan National Army through mentoring, training and 

provision of equipment. 

• Reconstruction and development: through its 

provincial reconstruction teams, ISAF supports the 

rebuilding of Afghanistan in many of the traditional 

population centres. Where appropriate, and assisted by 

UNAMA representatives on the ground, ISAF provides 

the essential practical support for reconstruction 

and development alongside humanitarian assistance 

provided by Afghan agencies and international NGOs. 

This work is outlined in a response received by the 

Council following a letter written in November 2009 

at the request of Glasgow Presbytery to the Ministry of 

Defence asking whether the Government was confident 

that they were both sure of their mission and able to 


resource it properly. Copies of the correspondence can 

be found on the Church and Society website. 

• Governance: ISAF, through its provincial reconstruction 

teams, is helping the Afghan authorities to strengthen 

the institutions required to fully establish good 

governance, to promote the rule of law and the 

recognition of human rights. This approach consists 

of building longer-term capacity by supporting the 

growth and improvement of governance structures. 

14.1.2.2 In August 2003, NATO assumed leadership 

of the ISAF operation and became responsible for the 

command, co-ordination and planning of the force, 

including the provision of a force commander and 

headquarters on the ground in Afghanistan. An effective 

NATO headquarters enabled smaller countries in the 

alliance to play a significant part without assuming the 

leadership responsibility. The dominant partners in ISAF 

have continued to be the USA and UK. 

14.1.2.3 ISAF’s mandate was initially limited to providing 

security in and around Kabul. However, in October 2003, 

the United Nations extended ISAF’s mandate to cover the 

whole of Afghanistan, (UN Security Council resolution 

1510) thereby extending the mission across the country. 

This assessment of the reduction of risk levels to other 

nation states remains similar 8 years on. In his annual threat 

assessment of the intelligence community for the Senate 

Select Committee on Intelligence on 12 February 2009, 

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C Blair, said 77 

“Al-Qa’ida and its affiliates and allies remain 

dangerous and adaptive enemies, and the threat 

they could inspire or orchestrate an attack on the 

United States or European countries. Under the 

strategic direction of Usama Bin Ladin and his 

deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qa’ida remains 

intent on attacking US interests worldwide, 

including the US Homeland. Although al-Qa’ida’s 

77 http://www.dni.gov/testimonies/20090212_testimony.pdf 

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core organization in the tribal areas of Pakistan 

is under greater pressure now than it was a year 

ago, we assess that it remains the most dangerous 

component of the larger al-Qa’ida network. Al- 

Qa’ida leaders still use the tribal areas as a base 

from which they can avoid capture, produce 

propaganda, communicate with operational cells 

abroad, and provide training and indoctrination to 

new terrorist operatives.“ 

We lack insight into specific details, timing, and 

intended targets of potential, current US Homeland 

plots, although we assess al-Qa’ida continues to 

pursue plans for Homeland attacks and is likely 

focusing on prominent political, economic, and 

infrastructure targets designed to produce mass 

casualties, visually dramatic destruction, significant 

economic aftershocks, and/or fear among the 

population. 

Increased security measures at home and abroad 

have caused al-Qa’ida to view the West, especially 

the United States, as a harder target than in the 

past, but we remain concerned about an influx 

of Western recruits into the tribal areas since mid- 

2006. 

Al-Qa’ida and its extremist sympathizers in 

Pakistan have waged a campaign of deadly and 

destabilizing suicide attacks throughout Pakistan, 

including the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in 

Islamabad in September, which killed 60 people 

and wounded hundreds.” 

14.1.2.4 While the fall of the Taliban is to be welcomed, 

it is far too early to know whether the new Afghan 

Government will be able to stabilise the country in the 

long term. The past history of Afghanistan indicates that 

creating such stability will be an extremely difficult task. 

According to Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at 

Bradford University: 


…lawlessness and disorder are affecting much of 

the country. The UN special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, 

has urged a major expansion of peacekeeping 

operations. Brahimi is widely regarded as one of 

the most able diplomats in UN service, with a long 

record of work in Afghanistan. His conformation 

of the need for a level of peacekeeping that far 

exceeds the work of the small … force in Kabul 

indicates the extent of the problem facing the 

interim administration. 78 

14.1.3 Present Political Decisions 

14.1.3.1 The political justification for maintaining 

the NATO engagement in Afghanistan is often stated 

quite simply and starkly. The Prime Minister and other 

Government Ministers hold to the view that the primary 

aim is to contain the Taliban insurgency as far as possible. 

They argue that this will help to keep the streets of Britain 

safe and to protect the UK population as far as possible 

from further terrorist threats by al Qaeda and its affiliated 

organisations. Britain currently has around 9,500 troops 

in Afghanistan in support of ISAF. However, the steadily 

increasing losses amongst NATO forces, particularly 

amongst those UK troops deployed in Helmand Province, 

is the visible price of this strategy. 

14.1.3.2 The UK is not alone in taking an aggressive 

military posture against the Taliban, carrying the fight daily 

into the villages across extremely inhospitable terrain. 

Indeed the President of the United States has recently 

agreed to increase the US presence by 30,000, to a total 

of 100,000 US troops committed to NATO operations 

in Afghanistan over the coming year. Some see this as a 

courageous policy decision by the President echoing the 

scale of US involvement in Vietnam, where the attempt 

was made to counter emerging threats during a different 

era. Others take a contrary position and maintain that the 

President’s proposed exit strategy, which depends on the 

78 article on open democracy website Feb 14 2002

USA progressively withdrawing its forces from Afghanistan 

during 2011, is hopelessly optimistic and cannot be 

achieved in practice on the timescale envisaged. 

14.1.3.3 In his policy statement on 1 December 2009, 

President Obama made a number of significant points 

that are the official benchmark for coming years: 

• An end in sight: Mr Obama gave a pledge to his field 

commanders to begin to end the US commitment by 

July 2011. As he stated: “These are the resources we 

need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan 

capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of 

our forces out of Afghanistan.” 

• More Afghan forces: the top US commander had asked 

to double the size of the Afghan army and police to 

about 400,000 (currently the Afghan army has about 

92,000 troops and the police 84,000). A substantial 

training programme, one year at a time, will need to be 

carefully evaluated to achieve this objective. 

• An accelerated pace: a wary and war-weary American 

public needed to see an immediate return on this 

increased effort, and the President has directed that the 

latest military surge must therefore occur quickly over 

the course of the next eight months. 

• Hamid Karzai: US officials recognise that they have little 

choice other than to reinvent their relationship with 

Mr Karzai, despite the uncertainties and fraudulent 

practices of the recent presidential election. They will 

continue to press the Karzai government to operate 

more effectively so that it can take over governance and 

security of the country within the next few years. 

14.1.3.4 Arguably the use of overwhelming force by 

NATO troops, especially the continuing deployment 

of highly-trained US and UK combat brigades against 

the Taliban insurgency in Helmand Province, will only 

serve to perpetuate the bitterness, resentment and 

misunderstanding amongst many militant tribesmen, 

thereby making the possibility of UN peace-making and 

peace-keeping operations a very distant prospect. At the 


end of the first decade of the 21st century, it is necessary 

to raise the question before many more lives are lost in 

this desperate conflict and ongoing struggle for military 

supremacy – ‘What is the alternative?’ 

14.1.3.5 The United Nations is caught in the middle of 

this ongoing conflict. It has extremely limited resources 

and is largely dependent on the goodwill and partial 

effectiveness of ISAF itself. The traditional Afghan method 

is to bring as many leaders as possible from the ranks of 

opposing forces into a general assembly or Loya Jirga in 

order to actively take part in conflict resolution and the 

negotiation of a cease-fire, hopefully en route to a peaceful 

settlement in the short to medium term. This method has 

much to be commended, while acknowledging that it 

would require intense diplomatic efforts on all sides. The 

churches and the faith communities will continue to be 

strong advocates for any such approach that results in 

all weapons being laid aside and improvised explosive 

devices being permanently dismantled. More political 

pressure is needed in this country and elsewhere to ensure 

that this possibility is not neglected in the rush to impose 

a military solution over the year ahead. 

14.1.3.6 In an interview shortly after the Taliban fell, 

Tony Blair 79 stated that he believed that the world was now 

a safer place. However, it will take more than the fall of 

one evil regime to achieve this. To do that requires much 

more fundamental changes in human affairs. For example, 

the world will be a safer place when the obscene trade 

in arms across the planet has come to an end and when 

we eliminate nuclear weapons altogether. It will be a safer 

place when far more effective means of overcoming the 

injustices prevalent in the world’s poorest nations are 

pursued. It will not be any safer when governments believe 

that going to war is the only viable means of resolving the 

problems which face our world today. 

79 Interview FCO website 7th Dec 01) 

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14.1.3.7 It remains an open question whether there is any 

real alternative to the continuation of the armed struggle. 

At some point in the near future, probably after a general 

election, British public opinion may shift strongly against 

accepting the mounting losses of young soldiers on the 

field of battle. The linkage between the war in Afghanistan 

and terrorist activity on the streets of Britain will need to 

be critically examined by a new generation of politicians 

at Westminster. The stream of evidence presented to the 

ongoing Inquiry on the Iraq War chaired by Sir John Chilcott 

suggests that there will be many factors that demand open 

scrutiny and public debate in this country. One thing remains 

beyond dispute. The efforts to rebuild the governance of 

the vulnerable and failing state of Afghanistan, bringing 

democratic principles and human rights to the fore, are 

commendable in themselves and deserve to be supported 

and sustained by the international community. That is a 

price that is well worth paying in the longer term. There is 

no going back to former days. 

14.1.3.8 This conflict and its consequences will have a 

profound effect on wider geo-political stability. As well as 

monitoring the conflict itself, further thinking is needed 

about these wider global consequences. Given the 2002 

Assembly report and this further brief review a remit for 

such thinking might be well shaped by these following 

four questions: 

14.1.3.9 In 2002 the Assembly said that “if military 

action was to take place in Afghanistan, then it should be 

proportionate, accurate and have a reasonable expectation 

of success”. 

What are the benchmarks now being used to define success 

given that the war in Afghanistan is now 8 years old? 

14.1.3.10 “While the fall of the Taliban is to be 

welcomed, it is far too early to know whether the new 

Afghan Government will be able to stabilise the country 

in the long term”. 


What are the indications that the present elected structures 

have brought any sense of stability to Afghanistan? 

14.1.3.11 The UN’s role, as is the case in many other 

international conflict situations, seems to be viewed as 

one of picking up the pieces when the fighting is over 

and providing humanitarian assistance. Is this yet another 

sign that any commitment by nations to the UN does not 

include relinquishing the right to attack another country 

without reference to the collective international view? 

14.1.3.12 What role has the Church in encouraging and 

even facilitating alternative approaches like the traditional 

Afghan method of bringing as many leaders as possible 

from the ranks of opposing forces into a general assembly 

or Loya Jirga in order to actively take part in conflict 

resolution and the negotiation of a cease-fire? 

14.2 China 

14.2.1 At the Assembly in 2009, the Council reported 

that it was working on a report on China. A considerable 

amount of information was gathered, and a working 

group met on a number of occasions and a draft report 

was brought to a fairly advanced stage. 

14.2.2 However, throughout its work, the group had 

struggled with a number of issues, in particular the need 

to be extremely careful not to publish any material which 

might have had the effect of imperilling the work done 

by British and Irish Churches in China. This work has been 

painstakingly built up over many years and depends, to a 

large extent, on the goodwill of the Chinese authorities. 

It has long been understood that this work can only be 

done ecumenically. 

14.2.3 At the Scottish level, the Church of Scotland 

traditionally worked through the Scottish Churches China 

Group (SCCG). Despite the change in the relationship 

between the SCCG and the Church of Scotland consequent 

upon some decisions made by the World Mission Council, 

the Church and Society Council continued to benefit

from the expertise of members of the SCCG and wishes to 

record its gratitude to them. 

14.2.4 At the British and Irish level, churches, including 

the Church of Scotland, have worked in China through 

the China Desk of Churches Together in Britain and 

Ireland (CTBI) and the China Forum. Following discussions 

with the leadership from CTBI, the Council came to the 

conclusion that to continue work on a report from one 

denomination could put at risk work in China as well as 

contributing to the impression that the Church of Scotland 

was not committed to working ecumenically. It therefore 

decided that the most appropriate course of action was to 

commit to work within the China Forum so that common 

concerns, issues and opportunities might be taken forward 

effectively. 

14.2.5 This does not signal that the Church of Scotland 

is not interested in China. China plays an increasingly 

important role on the world stage. No major issue, be it 

economics, climate change, energy policy or human rights 

is without a Chinese dimension. The Church and Society 

Council therefore will continue to keep a careful watch on 

developments in China and seek to play a constructive 

part within the Scottish and UK ecumenical framework in 

the work being undertaken by British and Irish Churches 

in China. 

14.3 International Development and the Financial 

Crisis. 

14.3.1 The economic crisis sparked by financial 

institutions in the richest nations has taken a heavy toll 

on the world’s poorest. Whether the crisis can be turned 

into an opportunity to review the structures and systems 

that keep people trapped in poverty depends on how 

governments respond. 

The impact of the crisis on developing countries has 

been a significant drop in exports, a fall in the price of raw 

commodities and rising unemployment. Low-income 

countries’ exports were estimated to drop by almost 15% in 


2009, increasing their trade deficit from 6.3% to 9.2% of GDP 

according to the World Bank, while global unemployment 

is set to reach a record high of 219-241 million. 

14.3.2 The result for governments in developing 

countries has been less money to meet their spending 

plans on health, education and infrastructure. Although 

the unique circumstances of each country mean that 

the damage from the crisis will not be felt evenly, the 

World Bank estimates an additional 30-50 thousand infant 

deaths in sub-Saharan Africa alone, with numerous other 

malnourished babies ending up with long term brain 

damage hindering their ability to earn a living as adults. 

14.3.3 It has also been estimated that the crisis may also 

lead to an extra 120 million people’s incomes drop to less 

than $2 a day by 2010, through the combined effect of 

unemployment and a fall off in remittances sent back from 

relatives overseas. For individual families, with no safety 

net to fall back on, that means having to compensate by 

taking their children out of school and/or spending less on 

food – mothers, particularly, are more likely to go without 

food in order to feed their youngest. 

14.3.4 At the very time when developing countries 

need more money, less has been available for their 

governments and businesses to borrow, while aid budgets 

have been squeezed as rich countries try to shore up their 

own economies (the UK and Scotland being honourable 

exceptions having maintained their aid commitments). In 

addition, aid agencies in the UK have been hit by a double 

whammy - a fall in donations from the public, while a 

drop in the value of the pound (due to excessive public 

borrowing by the government to bail out the banks), has 

led to a significant rise in the cost of overseas operations. 

14.3.5 The Millennium Development Goals are now 

unlikely to be delivered by 2015 and climate financing is 

also likely to take a hit unless governments look beyond 

short-term fixes to solutions that will benefit both rich and 

poor nations. 

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14.3.6 One such response has been a call for the 

implementation of a Financial Transaction Tax, which 

would introduce a levy on all financial market transactions 

(this would be more far reaching than a Tobin Tax which 

would only target currency transactions). A potential 

advantage of such a tax, in addition to raising additional 

funds for development, would be its restraining effect on 

speculators, resulting in less volatility in financial markets. 

However, critics have argued that a Finance Transaction Tax 

would only provide another source of aid and would not 

in itself support a system to enable developing countries 

to mobilise their own resources. 

14.3.7 An additional means of averting another global 

financial crisis, which would also free up a sustainable 

source of income for developing countries, would be to 

impose greater transparency and more regulation on 

global financial transactions. This would address the main 

causes of the crisis – that financial integration among 

rich countries ran far ahead of the capacity of national 

regulators to maintain domestic credit restraint, and that 

by using secret and little-regulated jurisdictions, banks 

and other financial institutions were able to hide their risktaking. 

14.3.8 This same lack of transparency has also played 

a major role in denying revenue to developing countries, 

by facilitating an estimated one trillion dollars annually of 

illicit capital flows due to corruption, money-laundering 

and above all tax dodging. 

Arguably, in the wake of the financial crisis, there has 

never been a more opportune time to establish systems 


to support sustainable sources of revenue for developing 

countries. If international policymakers take the right 

measures now, not only could they reduce the chances 

and severity of another crisis, but they could also kick away 

a major structural cause of poverty. 

15. Staffing 

15.1 We welcome 3 new staff to the Church and 

Society Department: David Bradwell as Associate Council 

Secretary and Aniko Schuetz and Sheena Cowan who 

will be working with the Responding to Climate Change 

Project and the Society, Religion and Technology Projects 

respectively. 

16. Thanks 

16.1 The Council would like to thank everyone who has 

helped in the writing of this report and in particular Rev 

Norman Shanks for his work on the Ethics of Campaigning 

and Una Bartley of Christian Aid for her work on International 

Development and the Financial Crisis. The Council, would 

also like to thank Prof Ewan Brown, Rev Dr Graham Blount, 

Rev Martin Johnstone and Dr Robbie Mochrie for their 

significant contribution to the preparatory work on the 

Economics Commission. 

In the name and by the authority of the Council, 

IAN GALLOWAY, Convener 

ALEXANDER HORSBURGH, Vice Convener 

EWAN AITKEN, Council Secretary

ADDENDUM 

Sandy Horsburgh 

Rev Alexander Horsburgh is due to retire at this Assembly 

after many years involvement in the work both of this 

Council and its part predecessor the Church and Nation 

Committee. Sandy has brought a deep ecumenical 

commitment to this work along with theological insight, 

humour and a significant capacity for improving the 

grammar of the Council’s reports! He has also played 

a welcome role as pastor to staff and Council members 

alike. His contribution to the life of the Council at many 

levels will be greatly missed and we wish him well. 

On behalf of the Council 

IAN GALLOWAY, Convener 

EWAN AITKEN, Council Secretary 


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MINISTRIES COUNCIL 

May 2010 



2. Note the ongoing work of the Council in relation to the review of tenure, affi rm the ongoing commitment of the 

General Assembly to an overhaul of the system of tenure, and instruct the Council to bring forward to the General 

Assembly 2011, full and detailed plans for the implementation of the range of issues documented in the Council’s 

consultation with Presbyteries in the autumn of 2009. (Section 1.1) 

3. Note the continuing work of the Council in reviewing its patterns of training for ministries and approve in principle 

the key pointers towards the future shape of ministries training outlined. (Section 1.2) 

4. Note the outline of Strands for Ministries presented below and instruct the Council to bring to the General Assembly 

2011 plans for the implementation of an Ordained Local Ministry. (Section 1.4.6.2) 

5. Affi rm the long term objective of the Council to ensure that all training for ministries in Scotland be conducted 

intentionally in ecumenical partnership and instruct the Council to work together with the Ecumenical Relations 

Committee in encouraging all denominations in Scotland to consider ways in which ecumenical partnership in 

training can be strengthened. (Section 1.2) 

6. Note the collaborative work undertaken with others in the production of the Priority Areas Action Plan, approve its 

content and instruct the Council to continue to work together with the many partners who have agreed to commit 

to joint working. (Section 1.3) 

7. Note with concern the issue of sustainability in relation to the future funding of the ministries of the Church and 

instruct Presbyteries to work closely together with the Ministries Council to achieve a balanced budget for ministries 

by 2014. (Section 1.4) 

8. Instruct Presbyteries to begin an immediate review of Presbytery Plans using the principles and numbers outlined 

in section 1.4 of this report. (Section 1.4) 

9. Instruct the Council to work together with the Mission & Discipleship Council in preparing plans for the delivery 

of such training as is necessary to ensure the provision of well-equipped local ministries to work alongside Parish 

Ministers in the fulfi llment of the remit of the Church of Scotland as a National Church. (Section 1.4.6) 

10. Instruct the Council to work together with the Council of Assembly’s Finance Group in seeking to address the 

fi nancial issues arising out of the Council’s commitment to establishing a balanced budget. (Section 1.4.11) 

11. Note the continuing development of A Place for Hope and instruct the Council to continue its programme of 

mediation training to assist in confl ict resolution throughout the Church. (Sections 1.5 and 4.2) 

12. Note the pointers to the future outlined in relation to developing a green travel plan for those engaged in ministries 

and instruct the Council to contribute appropriately to the Church & Society Council’s eff orts in bringing this matter 

before the whole Church. (Section 1.6) 

13. Pass an Act Anent the Ordination of Professors and Lecturers of Theology and Biblical Studies as laid out in Section 

1.10 below. (Section 1.10) 

3

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1 Introduction – 2020 Vision 

“Where there is no vision, the people perish”(Prov 28:19), 

declares the Wisdom writer. This was a sentiment most 

likely forged in crisis, addressed to people who found the 

pressures around too great to raise their heads and look 

around. These are words which speak into our current 

situation in the Church of Scotland, facing as we do a 

signifi cant crisis in relation to ministries. A defi cit budget 

of £5.7M is quite simply unsustainable. Given that the 


14. Instruct the Council, in consultation with the General Trustees, the Legal Questions Committee and the Housing 

and Loan Fund, to prepare a report for the General Assembly 2012 on the future of manse provision. (Section 1.12) 

15. Pass a Consolidating and Amending Act Anent Deacons (incorporating the provisions of Acts VIII 1998, IX 2001, VII 

2002 and II 2004, all as amended) as set out in Section 1.13 and Appendices A, B, and C. (Section 1.13) 

16. Instruct the Council, through its Priority Areas Committee, to engage with the General Trustees and Faith in 

Community Scotland in enabling the development of sustainable buildings in designated priority area parishes. 

(Section 2.7) 

17. Note the work being undertaken on a Youth Work Strategy for priority areas and instruct the Council to continue the 

implementation of this important work. (Section 2.10) 

18. Welcome the report on numbers of Women in Ministry and instruct the Council to continue to monitor and report 

on the issues raised therein. (Section 3.4) 

19. Instruct the Council, as part of its training review for ministries, to explore further the relationship between the 

Accompanied Review process and the variety of opportunities that are available for personal development and 

further study. (Section 4.3) 

20. Note the work done on devising a liturgy for the Introduction of Chaplains who work outside of the structures of the 

church and encourage Presbyteries to devise services which are sensitive to the local context and circumstances. 

(Section 4.5) 

21. Instruct Presbyteries to ensure their membership of Local Spiritual Care Committees and to work collaboratively 

with their colleagues across the denominations and other faiths to develop best practice in the delivery of Spiritual 

Care within the NHS. (Section 4.6) 

22. Resolve to raise the New Charge Development charge of Glasgow: Whiteinch to a parish in full status and pass an 

Act as set out in Section 5.6, Appendix 1. (Section 5.6) 

23. Pass an Act amending Sections 1 – 25 of Act XIII 2000 anent New Charge Development (as amended by Acts V and 

VIII 2003 and Act VII 2004), as set out in Section 5.8 and Appendix 2. (Section 5.8) 

24. Pass an Act amending Sections 26 – 37 of Act XIII 2000 anent New Charge Development (as amended by Acts V and 

VIII 2003 and Act VII 2004) as amended, as set out in Section 5.8 and Appendix 2. (Section 5.8) 

25. Instruct the Council to adopt a policy for future recommendation for stipends and salaries whereby these will 

not rise by a fi gure greater than any increase in income coming to the Ministries Council from congregational 

contributions (Section 6.1.7.2) 

Ministries Council is responsible for 87% of the Church’s 

budget, this is a crisis for the whole Church, not just for the 

Ministries Council. 

Out of crisis, however, can come both vision and 

opportunity. The remit of the Council is: the enabling of 

ministries in every part of Scotland and elsewhere where 

appropriate, giving special priority to the poorest and most 

marginalized, through recruitment, training and support of

ecognised ministries of the Church and the assessment and 

monitoring of patterns of deployment of those ministries. In 

fulfi lling this, we want to take seriously the scale of work 

which needs to be done, initially to 2014, then beyond 

towards a revitalized ministry at the end of this new 

decade. 2020 Vision does not imply that we can wait until 

2020 to sort things out! Far from it, change must begin 

now and continue as a full and natural part of life for the 

years ahead. 

In the light of this, the Council presents, as a common 

theme running through the report, its 2020 Vision. In giving 

priority to the poorest in our country, the Priority Areas 

Action Plan (1.3) represents the Council’s vision towards a 

more just and equitable society in the decade ahead. This 

area of the Council’s work has not only been instrumental 

in shaping a strategy for those to whom fi rst priority is to 

be given, the poor, but also, arising out of that, has off ered 

strategic insight for all our forward thinking and planning. 

Now in its second phase, the Ministries Training Review (1.2) 

forms a clear part of 2020 Vision. The principles set out in 

this report will not only shape the next decade’s training 

programmes, but will also continue to shape the Church’s 

ministries in the lives of those training for the next halfcentury. 

MINISTRIES COUNCIL 3/3 

The project A Place for Hope (1.5 & 4.2) seeks to eff ect 

change in the way that we approach confl ict as a 

Church. Its contribution towards 2020 Vision is to off er 

a new impetus in mediation, bringing hope that the 

Church in every community throughout Scotland might 

become increasingly recognised as a place of healing and 

reconciliation, in line with Gospel values. 

Undoubtedly the most urgent part of the 2020 Vision 

in terms of decision-making this year will be Building 

for Sustainable Future Patterns of Ministries, Finance and 

Presbytery Planning (1.4). In presenting the overall vision 

for the future, the theological and economic challenges 

contained in the proposals for reshaping ministries, 

planning for variety and achieving a sustainable pattern 

for the future through pruning for growth, the Council 

recognises the size of the task ahead for all of us. In the 

overarching context of 2020 Vision, however, it is a task 

which is full of opportunity if we can grasp the vision 

together. The task is both theological and fi nancial: there is 

a budget to be balanced and that is a fi nancial challenge. 

There is also, of more lasting theological signifi cance, the 

need to establish patterns of ministry for the 21 st century 

which see the stipendiary ministries of the Church more 

clearly in their proper context, the ministry of all God’s 

people. The Council invites the General Assembly to step 

forward into the future boldly and with hope. 

3

3/4 


Task Progress/Update Additional 

Material 

1 OVERALL COUNCIL 

WORK 

1.1 Note the work 

undertaken to this point 

in respect of the review 

of tenure, instruct the 

Ministries Council to 

continue to consult 

Presbyteries, the Legal 

Questions Committee 

and other appropriate 

bodies and instruct 

Presbyteries to respond 

to the Council by 1 Dec 

2009. 

The Council issued a consultation document to 

Presbyteries in June 2009 and received responses 

from all but two. The overwhelming indication 

is that Presbyteries want to see the various ideas 

outlined in the document worked out in detail 

and brought forward for further consideration. The 

Council intends to bring such detailed work for 

consideration to the General Assembly, but the time 

available in writing this report is not suffi cient to do 

justice to the importance of the subject. A full report 

will therefore be prepared for the General Assembly 

in 2011. 

In the meantime, some of the main results of the 

feedback from Presbyteries are listed below (section 

1.1). In the light of this, the Council asks the General 

Assembly to affi rm its ongoing commitment to an 

overhaul of the system of tenure to enable maximum 

fl exibility in planning for the future deployment of 

ministries. 

Consultation with 

Presbyteries on 

Tenure (Section 1.1) 

Del 

2



Material 

1.2 Note the work already 

undertaken on a major 

review of training 

processes within the 

remit of the Council and 

instruct the Council to 

bring a further update 

on progress to the 

General Assembly 2010. 

The Council has continued its three-year programme 

of reviewing the training processes for which it is 

responsible. Year two has been spent in seeking to 

establish some broad models of training, consistent 

with the theological outlook expressed in the 

paper Enabling Ministries, with a view to defi ning 

programmes of training in the third year of review 

beginning after the General Assembly 2010. 

The task of defi ning models for training has proved 

more complex than fi rst anticipated. A questionnaire 

was drawn up in Aug 2009 and circulated to more 

than 30 institutions worldwide, seeking responses 

about the models of theological education for 

ministries which they employ. Only three responses 

were actually received, two of these from existing 

academic partners in Scotland. This was disappointing 

and led to a rethink in our methodology. 

In Jan 2010, three Council representatives visited 

staff of the Ecumenical Theological Education 

and Lay Formation Projects division of the World 

Council of Churches in Geneva to gain from their 

global experience of theological education. Out 

of this visit, a number of partners were identifi ed 

who will assist the Council in refl ecting further on 

appropriate models of theological education for the 

future ministries of the Church of Scotland. It was 

also a reminder to us that theological education is a 

task for all the Churches in Scotland and it is in that 

context that our particular plans will be forged. 

The information gathered during the visit to the WCC 

has contributed to the Council identifying a number 

of key pointers to the future shape of such models. 

These are listed below (Section 1.2). 

Key Pointers to 

Future Shape of 

Models (1.2) 

Del 

3 – 5 

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Material 

1.3 Affi rm the principles 

and priorities identifi ed 

in the report Celebrating 

the Past – Glimpsing the 

Future and instruct the 

Council to bring forward 

to the General Assembly 

2010 a detailed 

programme of activity 

for the next phase of 

Priority Areas work. 

As this report goes to print, the Council is continuing 

to sharpen up the models it will present to the 

General Assembly in 2011, alongside proposed 

programmes for future training. If there are further 

developments, particularly in relation to learning 

from partners in the worldwide church, these will be 

outlined in a Supplementary Report to the General 

Assembly 2010. The Council welcomes comment 

on the broad principles outlined above as it seeks to 

provide, for the Church of the 21 st century, training 

patterns which are both relevant and enabling. 

The principles and priorities outlined in last year’s 

report from the Priority Areas Committee have been 

fully embedded in the work of the Council over the 

past year. A detailed Action Plan for the next seven 

years of the Committee’s work has been drawn up, 

discussed and agreed with a wide range of partners 

within the Church and beyond. 

The Action Plan is presented below (Section 1.3) for 

adoption by the General Assembly. 

Priority Areas 

Action Plan 

(Section 1.3) 

Del 

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Material 

1.4 Note with concern the 

issue of aff ordability in 

respect of the ministries 

of the Church and 

instruct the Council to 

bring forward a report 

with recommendations 

on future policy with 

regard to stipends, 

salaries and numbers to 

the General Assembly 

2010. 

In its report to the General Assembly 2009, the 

Ministries Council fl agged up the fact that the cost 

of sustaining ministry had reached a critical point 

and would require signifi cant action to be taken. 

Over the past year, the Council has conducted 

careful research into the question of how it can 

fulfi ll its responsibilities with regard to the provision 

of ministries in a sustainable way. This has involved 

work internal to the Council, and also included two 

consultations with representatives of Presbyteries. 

This report now brings forward a number of proposals 

based on that work of research and consultation. 

The key issues to note at this point are: 

• There is a massive defi cit which must be dealt 

with: in 2010, the Council is budgeting for a defi cit 

of £5.7 million. Since Ministries receives 87% of 

Ministry & Mission funds from congregations, this 

is a problem for the whole Church, not just for the 

Ministries Council. If we do not achieve a balanced 

budget in the next few years, the Council’s reserves 

will be exhausted and we will not be able to sustain 

ministry across the country. 

• We need to prune in order to grow: since 2006, the 

Council has been producing reports indicating the 

need for a change in the patterns of ministry we 

use, calling for a far wider involvement by people 

trained and ordained to local, part-time paid or 

non-stipendiary forms of ministry, alongside the 

core of paid Parish Ministers. The only way a serious 

diff erence can be made to the defi cit is by reducing 

the amount of money spent on paid ministries. The 

Council sees this, as it has consistently said, as an 

opportunity for growth in new ways, through new 

patterns – it is not merely a cost-cutting exercise, 

even though that is now also clearly necessary. 

2020 Vision – 

Building for 

Sustainable 

Future Patterns 

of Ministries, 

Finance and 

Presbytery 

Planning 

(Section 1.4) 

Del 

7 – 

10 

3

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Material 

• We need to realign the Church for mission 

through a reshaping of ministries: working in 

partnership with others, the Council needs to 

enable and sustain ministries, which are orientated 

towards mission. To this end, a major review of 

training patterns is already well under way (see 

section 1.2), and the Council is working together 

with the Mission & Discipleship Council to foster 

patterns of emerging ministries. 

• We need to revise Presbytery Plans with purpose 

and variety, taking account of fi nance: existing 

Plans take no account of what is aff ordable, 

indicating that 1,234 posts will be funded. A 

sustainable, balanced budget fi gure is 1,000 fulltime 

equivalent (FTE) posts and Plans will need 

to be revised to refl ect this. We need to break the 

automatic connection between one post and one 

person, so planning should be for FTE posts. 

In the additional material below (section 1.4), these 

key points are expanded and proposals to take 

forward new patterns of ministry are outlined. 

This includes a table outlining the numbers of FTE 

posts which will be funded by 2014, but it is clear 

that planning for this must begin immediately if the 

necessary changes are to be undertaken successfully 

within the time scale. 

The Council will continue to work on the steps 

which need to be taken to reach a sustainable future 

for ministries and in doing so will communicate 

regularly with Presbyteries. It is very likely that in 

going about the work of reshaping ministries, a 

number of Presbyteries will also want to think about 

their own viability: the Council stands ready to help 

in any discussions, should that prove of value. 

Del



Material 

1.5 Affi rm the commitment of 

the Council to investment 

in the implementation 

of the Action Plan on 

Congregational Confl ict, 

submitted to the General 

Assembly 2008, and 

commend to the wider 

Church the conference on 

The Church and Confl ict, 

to be held from 15 – 18 

Nov 2009 in Aviemore. 

The Council held a conference entitled Christianity, 

Confl ict and the Soul of the Nation in Aviemore in 

Nov 2009, with around 240 participants. Keynote 

addresses were given by John Sturrock QC, one of 

Scotland’s leading mediators; Prof Ken Cloke from 

the USA, recognised as a leading world authority on 

mediation; Dr Cecelia Clegg, Edinburgh University, 

who has worked in mediation particularly in Northern 

Ireland and Prof David Brubaker of Eastern Mennonite 

University, VA. Around 40 workshops were held on a 

wide variety of subjects relating to the overall theme 

and participants were able to attend at least three 

of these. Feedback indicated that many had found 

this to be a very important, even life-changing, 

experience, setting them on a pathway to diff erent 

and more positive ways of dealing with confl ict. 

The conference was held as part of the overall work 

of the Council in fostering the wider development 

of mediation and confl ict resolution skills under the 

title, A Place for Hope. Thanks are due to the Guild for 

their role in supporting A Place for Hope as one of the 

special projects for the next three years. The Council 

hopes, by the end of that period, to have established 

a network of people, well-resourced in the skills of 

mediation and confl ict resolution, off ering hope 

of transformative ways of dealing with confl ict, 

overcoming its destructiveness to individuals and 

communities. 

Further information on this key work of the Council 

can be found in the Support & Development section 

of the report (Section 4.2) 

See further under 

Section 4.2 of this 

Report 

Del 

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Material 

1.6 Instruct the Ministries 

Council, in partnership 

with the Church & 

Society Council, to 

bring forward to the 

General Assembly 2010 

a template for use by 

all Parish Ministers and 

employees in creating 

a ‘Green Travel Plan’, and 

to set up a Reference 

Group to assist in this 

task. 

1.7 Note that the Ministries 

Council will (a) engage 

over the next year in 

conversations with 

partner churches in 

South Africa concerning 

the numbers of ministers 

seeking admission from 

those denominations to 

the Church of Scotland; 

(b) report the outcome 

of conversations to the 

General Assembly 2010. 

The Council has worked together with the Church 

& Society Council, with the support of the Energy 

Savings Trust, to consider recommendations on how 

to implement a green policy in respect of travel. 

It became clear early in discussions, that a single 

solution for the geographically challenging spread 

of Scotland (and beyond) was not realistic. 

In order to pursue a solution which takes seriously 

the needs of all, the Council has drawn up some 

broad pointers to the future for consideration and 

development (Section 1.6). It is hoped that this 

will lead to a fi rm plan for the whole Church being 

presented to a future General Assembly. 

At the time of writing this report, the Council had 

not yet been able to engage in conversations with 

the partner churches in South Africa on the issue of 

ministers leaving that country to come to Scotland. 

It is hoped, however, that by the time of the General 

Assembly, this issue will have been discussed in the 

wider context of developing relationships around the 

Council’s review of training. Forging good working 

relationships with the South African church remains 

an ongoing desire for the Council. A further report 

will be brought to the General Assembly 2011. 

Green Travel 

Plans: Pointers to 

the Future 

(Section 1.6) 

Del 

12



Material 

1.8 Affi rm the current 

commitment of the 

Church & Society 

Council to the 

‘Responding to Climate 

Change Project’ and 

instruct the Church 

& Society Council, in 

partnership with other 

Councils, to complete 

the review of this 

project with a view to its 

development. 

1.9 Instruct the Project 

Group to work together 

with the Ministries 

Council in exploring 

ways in which HIV and 

Aids education can be 

off ered as part of the 

candidates training 

programme. 

The Council participated fully in the review of the 

Responding to Climate Change Project and has 

supported, through devolution of budget resources, 

the outcome whereby a more permanent fi nancial 

structure has been put in place to ensure ongoing 

commitment to the issues. 

When this instruction was brought forward at the 

General Assembly 2009, it seemed to assume that 

no such education in HIV / Aids work was currently 

being undertaken by candidates. In fact, the work of 

the HIV / Aids project has been included for some 

time in the Candidate training programme, but a 

review of this has taken place in the past year, with 

some strengthening of links. The Council is grateful 

for the opportunity provided to revise and enhance 

its delivery in this area. 

Del 

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Material 

1.10 Explore the possibility of 

Professors and Lecturers 

of Theology and Biblical 

Studies in recognised 

institutions being ordained 

to ministry within 

the Church of Scotland 

Along with recognised partners in the delivery of 

theological education for candidates for the ministries 

of the Church, the Council has been concerned at 

the increasingly small numbers of ordained ministers 

serving in University departments of theology. The 

ever-present need for such departments to keep up 

research ratings places pressure on those in academic 

life to publish original work on a regular basis. This has 

meant that the opportunity for younger candidates 

who show academic promise at the highest level to 

go on to gain higher degrees and then to lecture in 

the departments, while at the same time being able 

to spend a period of time in Parish Ministry, has now 

virtually disappeared. 

Recognising that the call to ministry may well include 

for some a call to minister through equipping others 

in ministry in the partner institutions in which 

candidates for ministries train, the Council brings 

forward to the General Assembly legislation which 

will permit professors and lecturers of theology 

and biblical studies to be ordained while holding 

such a post. The Council believes this will enhance 

the opportunity for Church of Scotland ministers 

to maintain the tradition of delivering theological 

education within the University context in Scotland. 

The Council recognises that this will involve the 

creation of a new form of probationary period for 

those who wish to be ordained into such a post. This 

will be considered over the coming months and an 

appropriate amendment to legislation brought to 

the General Assembly 2011 in conjunction with the 

Council’s overall Training Review. 

Act Anent the 

Ordination of 

Professors and 

Lecturers of 

Theology and 

Biblical Studies 

(Section 1.10) 

Del 

13



Material 

1.11 Resolve the tension 

which can arise between 

the role of the Council as 

an employer and that of 

Presbyteries in relation 

to offi ce holders, where 

a dispute between 

a PPW and a Parish 

Minister arises. 

From time to time, relationships break down between 

a Parish Minister and a member of staff (Presbytery / 

Parish Worker = PPW), where the Ministries Council 

is the employer of the PPW and the minister is acting 

as line manager. This may result, for example, in a 

grievance being lodged against the minister, who as 

an offi ce holder is responsible to Presbytery in terms 

of discipline and grievance. The PPW is responsible 

in relation to such matters to the employer, under 

civil law. A tension, therefore, exists between the 

conduct of a process of investigation, which the 

Presbytery will conduct under the terms of Act III 

2001, and the normal pursuit of a grievance under 

the terms of employment law, administered by the 

Council with the assistance of the Human Resources 

department. 

The Council at present has no direct involvement 

in an investigation under Act III, which leaves a very 

diffi cult situation if a Presbytery decides, after internal 

investigation, that there is no case to answer in 

respect of the minister. The Council, operating under 

employment law, still has an outstanding grievance, 

which cannot be heard, because it has no power to 

engage with the minister. This is an unsatisfactory 

situation for a number of reasons, not least because 

it leaves the Council vulnerable under employment 

law to a claim that a grievance has not been properly 

dealt with. 

In the light of this, the Council is currently in 

conversation with the Principal Clerk and the 

Church Solicitor with a view to bringing forward in 

a Supplementary Report recommendations on how 

to proceed in such cases. 

Del 

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Material 

1.12 Look into the future 

sustainability of retaining 

manses in every parish. 

1.13 Revise and consolidate 

materials relating to the 

role of the Diaconate in 

the Church of Scotland 

The Board of Ministry brought forward a report to 

the General Assembly in 2005 (Reports 17/19, 2005) 

which concluded that the issue of manse provision 

should only be reconsidered in future if changes 

took place in either Church law or civil law which 

necessitated a new look at the subject. While no 

such changes have taken place, the Council believes 

that the time is right, some fi ve years on and facing 

a very diff erent fi nancial situation, to consider again 

whether a ‘one-size-fi ts-all’ approach is the best way 

forward, or indeed, if any other solutions to some of 

the problems around the provision of housing are 

possible. The Council, therefore, invites the General 

Assembly to instruct it to look into this matter in 

partnership with the General Trustees and the 

Housing & Loan Fund. 

Over a number of years, Church legislation with 

regard to the role and function of Deacons within 

the Church of Scotland has being evolving. This 

has often been rather piecemeal in fashion, largely 

due to the fact that changes were being made in 

legislation relating to issues such as assessment and 

training which includes all forms of ministry. Such 

Acts of the General Assembly made reference to the 

Diaconate, but this material was not drawn together 

in an easily accessible format. 

Consolidating 

and Amending 

Act Anent 

Deacons (1.13) 

+ Appendices A, 

B, and C 

Del 

14 

15



Material 

In the light of this, the Council has worked together 

with the Diaconate Council and the Legal Questions 

Committee to bring forward a Consolidating Act in 

relation to the role and function of Deacons and of the 

Diaconate Council. This has off ered the opportunity 

to update a number of issues in terms of practice as 

well as to highlight again the important role which 

Deacons and the Diaconate Council play in the life 

and work of the Church of Scotland. The Act and 

the related Appendices outlining the Constitution 

of the Diaconate Council, its Standing Orders and 

the role of Local Associations are also included for 

information and completeness. 

Del 

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1.1 Consultation with Presbyteries on Tenure 

The Council consulted with Presbyteries in the autumn of 2009 on the issue of the future of tenure. The following general 

points should be noted: 

• Eight key proposals were put forward for discussion. 

• Responses were received from 40 Presbyteries. 

• 2 of the 40 did not give any indication of whether they wished the Council to prepare detailed proposals, leaving a 

maximum number of responses to any issue as 38. 

• 3 Presbyteries voted against preparing any of the proposals in detail. 

• 8 Presbyteries did not offer any detail in response to the questions, some of these offering only a couple of sentences. 

• Not all Presbyteries responded to every issue. 

The following table indicates the breakdown of responses: 

Proposal Prepare 

Detail 

Unrestricted tenure should remain 

the norm 

Revise Act VII 2003, Section 13(1) 

(b) 

Revise Act VI 1984 to make it usable 

in changed circumstances 

Enact a Capability Policy for 

ministers 

35 3 

34 3 

32 4 

33 4 

Do not 

Prepare 

Detail 

Comments 

Wide agreement that, despite being 

often a barrier to ease of planning, this is 

the best expression of a sense of calling 

to a particular setting. One Presbytery, 

however, called it a “luxury we cannot 

aff ord”. 

There was very broad agreement that 

this revision should take place, but that 

there needed to be appropriate care for a 

minister in a situation where conversations 

were taking place. 

Broad agreement that this would be worth 

amending, but some lingering doubt that 

it would be workable in practice. 

There was general agreement that this 

would be a good thing in principle. Nearly 

all had questions about how it would 

operate, what the scope would be and 

what the detail would look like.

Restricted Tenure 

Transition Ministry 

Interim Ministry 

Continued Vacancy 


33 5 

29 8 

29 7 

26 9 

Most saw this as an improvement on 

Reviewable Tenure, but some questioned 

the need for compensation. 

While many saw this as an extension 

of Interim Ministry, many doubted the 

value of an additional form like this. Many 

thought it should be combined with 

Interim Ministry to give it more fl exibility. 

There was still a desire to see the detailed 

proposal. 

Almost all saw this as a successful form 

of ministry already and 4 of the 7 against 

seeing further detail indicated this was 

because it was not necessary – it has 

proved its worth. 

Many could not see the point of the 

proposal. The name is generally deemed 

unfi t and it was seen as a last resort for 

some particular places. 

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1.2 Key Pointers to Future Models of Training for 

Ministries. 

The following key pointers are indicative of the principles 

which support the models of training and corresponding 

programmes which the Council will bring to the General 

Assembly 2011. They build on the theological principles 

outlined in the Enabling Ministries report (2009), which 

indicates that all ministry is shaped around the model of 

Jesus, in whose own ministry we are called to participate. 

• Training for ministries should be delivered in as fl exible 

and accessible a manner as possible using a variety of 

delivery modes (including distance learning, part-time 

and full-time options). 

• An ongoing dialogue needs to be established between 

the planning and deployment function of the Council 

and vocation and training, enabling the development of 

selection and training patterns which take into account 

the changing demographics of Scotland. 

• Theological training for ministries should be delivered 

in a manner whereby the intellectual, practical and 

spiritual elements of formation are held together in 

balance and fully integrated. At all times it will seek to 

model patterns which are collaborative, refl ective and 

formative. 

• A clear path, including additional training requirements, 

needs to be mapped out to provide for movement 

between the various ministries which the Church 

recognises. 

• Those engaging in training for ministries should be 

preparing to work ecumenically and the content of 

programmes of training must refl ect this. Alongside 

this, candidates for ministries should be enabled to 

understand better their Reformed origins and their 

identity within the Church of Scotland. 

• Training patterns for recognised ministries should 

always complement patterns for wider theological 

training of all God’s people, requiring the Ministries 

Council to work in close partnership with the Mission & 

Discipleship Council in respect of this. 

• All patterns of training should aim at fostering a learning 


community, engendering modes of collaborative 

working and resisting any tendency to isolate an 

individual in study. All programmes of training will aim 

for the highest standards in intellectual and practical 

engagement. 

• Opportunity needs to be given to candidates for training 

in specialist ministries, recognising the necessity for all 

candidates for ministries to be trained for ministry which 

is mission-centred. 

• Candidates for all ministries should be enabled to 

exercise leadership with integrity, courage and openheartedness. 

• Training for ministries requires active and ongoing 

dialogue with academic partners and to that end, an 

eff ective interactive forum needs to be established. 

• Close attention should be given to the way in which 

those engaged in supervision, mentoring and 

accompaniment are themselves selected and trained 

for the work of supporting candidates in training for 

ministries. 

• Training for ministries must be seen as a lifelong task for 

those engaged in ministries and should be integrated 

with a process of personal appraisal and development. 



The 2009 General Assembly approved a set of strategic 

principles and priorities for the Church’s work in its poorest 

neighbourhoods over the next seven years (Celebrating 

the Past, Glimpsing the Future, May 2009). In doing so it 

instructed the Ministries Council, in collaboration with 

others, to bring forward a detailed Priority Areas Action Plan 

to the 2010 General Assembly. 

The responsibility for the Church’s work within priority areas 

is the shared responsibility of all parts of the Church in line 

with the General Assembly’s longstanding commitment 

that ‘priority for the poorest and most marginalised is the 

Gospel imperative facing the whole Church.’ As such, any 

Action Plan must work eff ectively across all parts of the

Church’s national (as well as regional and local) structures. 

Over the past year the Priority Areas Committee, which 

has a developmental and coordinating function for the 

work of priority areas, has worked collaboratively within 

the national structures of the Church – as well as a whole 

range of other partners – to bring forward an Action Plan 

which builds upon previous work and which focuses on 

the priorities agreed by the 2009 General Assembly. 

1.3.2 Three Spheres of Activity 

For the last seven years the work within priority areas has 

been focused around three inter-linking spheres of activity. 

These are: 

• Engaging with Wider Church & Society where the primary 

focus is about challenging the injustice of poverty in 

Scotland. People in Scotland continue to die young and 

to live damaged lives because of poverty. The Church 

cannot remain silent (or ignorant) for as long as this 

situation continues to exist. This is about more than 

advocacy or campaigning. It is about living out the 

demand for change – being prepared to take on the 

fl esh of the Gospel message. 

• Enabling New Models of Church where we are primarily 

concerned to fi nd and develop ways which will enable 

the Church (and more importantly, the Gospel) to be 

attractive in our poorest neighbourhoods – the very 


places where offi cial Church membership is often at 

its weakest. At the same time many of these are the 

areas where the Church is carrying out some of its most 

inspirational work. What is emerging is often fragile, 

innovative, dynamic and challenging. Increasingly we 

have been learning – and sharing – not just locally but 

also globally. 

• Encouraging New Models of Community where we are 

concerned to equip local churches to be as eff ective 

as they can be in tackling the causes and symptoms 

of poverty. Our churches are already making a massive 

diff erence in many neighbourhoods and our desire is 

always to see how we could do even more. For some 

this involves encouraging people to dream and for 

others, turning their aspirations into reality. For a third 

group, it is fi nding ways to make the work that they are 

doing sustainable and transformative in the long term. 

These three spheres of activity are, of course, overlapping. 

Indeed, the very best of the work which is going on within 

priority areas has a direct relevance to each of these spheres 

of activity. These spheres of activity will continue to be the 

basic framework through which the work in priority areas 

will continue to operate. The Action Plan will infl uence and 

shape the work in all of them and will continue to promote 

the principle of working across them. 

1.3.3 The Process of Developing, Agreeing and 

Delivering the Action Plan 

In September 2009 representatives of all the Church’s 

National Councils and Committees met for a day to 

refl ect on the seven priorities agreed by the 2009 General 

Assembly and to begin the process of identifying ways 

in which these priorities could be put into practice in an 

eff ective and collaborative manner. A draft Action Plan was 

produced in November 2009, which was subsequently 

discussed, modifi ed and agreed by the diff erent Councils 

and Committees in early 2010. 

The Priority Areas Action Plan should be understood as an 

organic document which will change and develop in the 

3

3/20 

light of the changing context of priority areas and the wider 

church as well as in response to a detailed monitoring and 

evaluation process which has been put in place alongside 

the Church’s work within priority areas. 

The Action Plan will be coordinated by the Priority Areas 

Committee of the Ministries Council in close collaboration 

with all other partners. 

1.3.4 Seven Priorities 

The Seven Priorities agreed by the 2009 General Assembly 

were in no particular order. Indeed, it is helpful to 

understand these priorities as part of an ongoing cycle. 

1.3.4.1 We aim to address the problem of our 

buildings. 

Our church buildings should be huge assets but, in reality, 

they are often liabilities which consume vast amounts of 

local energy and creativity. Over the last decade we have 

achieved some notable successes both in the development 

of new buildings and the substantial refurbishment of 

others. However, it is clear that much more work needs 

to be done. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we want to have secured a long-term and 

sustainable solution (economically and environmentally) 

for 80% of church buildings within priority areas. 

Our aims: 

• Increase eff ective routine maintenance of churchowned 

buildings through improved training and by the 

establishment of a social economy organisation with a 

maintenance portfolio. 

• Work with congregations to enable eff ective carbon 

reduction within church buildings. 

• Establish an eff ective Project Management Team for 

complex, multi-dimensional building developments. 

• Produce clear protocols and criteria for churches seeking 

to develop partnership working within their buildings. 

• Develop ministerial training to maximise partnership 


working and entrepreneurship. 

Core partners: 

General Trustees, Ecumenical Relations, Church & Society, 

Crossreach and Ministries Council. 

External Partners: 

Faith in Community Scotland and One Church One 

Hundred Uses. 

1.3.4.2 We aim to make our structures more 

straightforward. 

Many churches complain that the bureaucratic structures 

within the Church are often stifl ing of creativity and 

sapping of energy. It seems to be that fewer and fewer 

people are being asked to do more and more, much of 

which seems to be less and less relevant. This can be 

particularly diffi cult in priority areas. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we want to have streamlined and reduced 

the level of information which is requested from local 

congregations. 

Our aims: 

• Establish a collaborative programme to support local 

congregations to fulfi l the necessary OSCR (Offi ce of the 

Scottish Charity Regulator) regulations. 

• Develop a team of people which will support local 

churches through the necessary administrative and 

bureaucratic structures. 

• Improve eff ective sharing of information across the 

Councils and Committees of the Church at national and 

regional levels. 

Core Partners: 

Council of Assembly, Stewardship & Finance, Priority Areas 

Forum and Presbyteries. 


Evaluation Services and Evaluation Support Scotland.

1.3.4.3 We aim to take our work to the margins. 

The Church’s commitment to priority areas has been an 

eff ective and courageous decision which has had an 

impact on the lives of some of the very poorest people 

living in Scotland today. Looking to the future we want to 

consolidate that position and to develop our work with 

some of Scotland’s poorest citizens. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we will have signifi cantly deepened the work we 

do – at a congregational level – with some of the very 

poorest members of Scottish society. 

Our aims: 

• Deliver the Priority Areas Youth Work Strategy, increasing our 

work with disadvantaged children and young people. 

• Grow a generation of local youth leaders, coming from 

and living in Scotland’s poorest neighbourhoods. 

• Establish a range of prison throughcare centres, 

supporting ex-off enders and their families. 

• Develop an increased level of work with individuals and 

groups struggling against alcohol, drug and gambling 

addictions. 

• Build on established relationships with asylum seekers 

and members of the BME community. 

• Deepen our links with people in poverty living in other 

parts of the world. 


Mission & Discipleship Council, Church & Society Council, 

Crossreach, Church of Scotland Guild, Ecumenical Relations 

Committee, World Mission Council, Parish Development 

Fund Committee and Ministries Council. 


Rank Foundation, George Williams YMCA College, Columba 

1400, Iona Community, Evangelical Alliance and Faith in 

Community Scotland. 

1.3.4.4 We aim to have worship at the heart of all 

that we do. 


Worship is not an optional extra for Christians. It is at the 

heart of our identity and must run through all that we strive 

to do together. Many congregations are being increasingly 

creative and innovative in their patterns of worship and of 

sharing faith and we need to ensure that this is carefully 

and deliberately nurtured as we move in the future. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we will have supported over 50% of congregations 

serving our poorest neighbourhoods to develop a range 

of new patterns of worship and discipleship drawing on 

the local and global contexts. 

Our aims: 

• Establish a pattern of healing ministries across priority 

areas. 

• Develop contextual Bible Study groups and encourage 

greater familiarity with the Bible and its relevance for 

Christian living. 

• Encourage the development of participatory arts in 

worship along with other programmes designed to 

increase participation in worship. 

• Promote the development of worship resources 

which address the critical issues facing people living in 

poverty. 

• Provide training to equip ministries to be more eff ective 

in supporting development and leadership of worship 

led by local people. 

• Create ongoing opportunities for members of small 

congregations to gather together for larger, shared 

worship celebrations. 


Mission & Discipleship Council, Church & Society, Parish 

Development Fund, World Mission, Ecumenical Relations 

Committee and Ministries Council. 


Unlock Glasgow, Soul Marks, Scottish Bible Society and 

Christian Fellowship of Healing. 

3

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1.3.4.5 We aim to tackle the causes of poverty. 

A great deal of work which goes on within priority areas 

helps to alleviate the worst excesses of poverty. However, 

it is not enough to address the consequences of poverty. 

We need to be addressing what it is that makes people 

poor in the fi rst place. We have begun to do more of this 

and want it to be a major focus of our work in the future. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we will have increased the number of people 

involved in campaigning against poverty in priority areas, 

and across the wider Church. 

Our aims: 

• Establish a long-term programme to support local 

people living in poverty to become advocates of 

change. 

• Continue the programme of the Poverty Truth 

Commission and work for the implementation of its 

recommendations. 

• Increase the eff ectiveness of the Church’s campaigning 

role against poverty. 

• Raise awareness of the ongoing reality of poverty and 

encourage practical steps to overcome it. 

• Promote and develop microcredit and credit unions. 

• Deepen international links to enable more eff ective 

international learning and campaigning against 

poverty. 


Church & Society Council, World Mission Council, 

Ecumenical Relations and Ministries Council. 


Scottish & UK Governments and SCCoTTS Buddies. 

1.3.4.6 We aim to develop more eff ective 

leadership. 

One of the key lessons which we have learned over the last 

decade has been the importance of investing in leaders 

and in people who have the potential to be leaders. In 


the future we want to continue to support leaders with 

a particular focus on local leadership. This, we believe, 

is the best way to develop sustainable worshipping 

congregations and to deliver long term change. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we will have a range of core networks for 

leaders across priority areas ensuring strong, eff ective, 

entrepreneurial and creative leadership in our churches 

and communities. 

Our aims: 

• Continue and deepen the coaching programme for 

faith leaders, ensuring that all church-based staff within 

priority areas will have the opportunity to participate in 

this programme. 

• Establish a programme and funding to support the 

development of youth leaders. 

• Increase the Women’s Leadership Network to ensure that 

local women of faith are supported to undertake and 

develop their leadership role within local communities. 

• Establish a Men’s Leadership Network to increase the 

confi dence and capacity of men within priority areas to 

undertake and fulfi l appropriate leadership roles. 

• Promote entrepreneurial and inclusive models of 

leadership, focused on making real change possible. 

• Develop increased refl ective practice. 


Mission & Discipleship Council, Crossreach and Ministries 

Council. 


Auburn Theological Seminary, George Williams YMCA 

College, Rank Foundation, CLAN, Columba 1400 and Iona 

Community. 

1.3.4.7 We aim to widen the reach of our support. 

The decision to focus attention and resources on the 

very poorest neighbourhoods was a deliberate and 

justifi ed policy. It has enabled us to make real changes

in a signifi cant number of places over the past decade. 

However, it was never a long term strategy to limit work 

to these neighbourhoods and in the future we want to be 

working more widely. 

Our target: 

By 2017 we will be off ering targeted support to twice the 

number of congregations that we are currently working 

with whilst remaining fi rmly committed to delivering 

support where it is needed most – in our very poorest 

neighbourhoods. 

Our aims: 

• Establish an agreed work plan within the revised list 

of priority area parishes arising from the 2011 National 

Census. 

• Deliver a range of activities and services for 

congregations committed to tackling poverty within 

their neighbourhoods wherever they are. 

• Develop a network of associate congregations keen to 

draw on some of the wisdom and expertise which is 

being pioneered in priority areas parishes. 

• Share learning from within priority areas across the wider 

Church. 

• Deepen links with rural congregations seeking to 

address rural poverty. 

Core partners: 

Council of Assembly, Mission & Discipleship Council and 


Conclusion 

Although each of the agreed priorities have targets, aims 

and partners associated with them, these priorities should 

also be cutting across all areas of the Church’s work within 

priority areas. As such, individual staff and committee 

members in the Priority Areas Committee will have a 

lead responsibility for ensuring that these priorities are 

refl ected in all elements of the Church’s work in its poorest 

neighbourhoods. 


1.4 2020 Vision – Building for Sustainable Future 

Patterns of Ministries, Finance and Presbytery Planning 


To address the issues facing the Church in terms of 

ministries will require both vision and discipline. The 

Council has off ered such vision to the General Assembly 

in successive years through reports like Vision for Ministries 

in the 21st Century (2007), Building for the Future – from 

the Grassroots (2008) and Roots and Shoots (Joint Report 

on Emerging Church, 2009). In receiving these reports 

the General Assembly affi rmed ‘the concept of a “mixed 

economy church” within the Church of Scotland, where 

both existing and fresh expressions of church co-exist, 

not at the expense of the other, but for the benefi t of the 

whole.’ (Deliverance 4, 2008). 

In reality there is nothing new in this. This is the story of the 

church through two millennia. In dependence on the Holy 

Spirit every generation has gratefully accepted the best 

that exists and supplemented it with fresh ideas. Change 

is the norm rather than something surprising in the life of 

a Church which moves in tune with God’s Spirit. 

As we embark on a process towards balancing the budget 

of the Council, it is crucial to see this in context. The 

theological work which has been ongoing to enable a 

rethinking of patterns of ministry is not an innovation to try 

and give some positive ‘spin’ to bad news about fi nancial 

cuts! Far from it: the Council has been urging serious 

thinking about the shape of ministries since at least 2006 

because it believes this is right for the mission and growth 

of the Church in the new millennium. That it is now also 

urged upon us by the economic circumstances should not 

allow us to lose sight of the genuine opportunity to fi nd 

a future shape for ministry which recovers more strongly 

our historical and reformed commitment to the ministry 

of Jesus Christ as a ministry of all God’s people. 

1.4.2 Levers for change 

It is one thing to articulate a vision, another to realise it. 

In order to realise the vision articulated by many voices 

3

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in the Church, including the Ministries Council, it is vital 

to identify the levers that may produce change. Five 

signifi cant levers are currently under review. No single lever 

will deliver change and no one body within the church 

has responsibility for all of them. The Ministries Council, 

therefore, while exploring how future patterns of ministry 

might be shaped and made fi nancially sustainable, is in 

dialogue with others in the Church. 

1.4.2.1 Territorial Ministry 

The Third Declaratory Article defi nes a role for the Church 

of Scotland in a territorial ministry. A Special Commission is 

considering this and will report in 2010. Initial indications 

are that this will be very much in tune with the proposals 

being brought forward here by the Ministries Council. 

1.4.2.2 Presbyteries 

The Panel on Review and Reform is considering how 

Presbyteries can be most eff ective and will report to the 

General Assembly in 2010. The Panel is charged with off ering 

an alternative structure for the church, but the Ministries 

Council will need to provide some of the rationale for 

that structure. While the proposals for Presbytery Planning 

contained in this report do not absolutely require a reform 

of Presbyteries, the Council’s view is that, with a reform in the 

structure of Presbyteries, it is more likely that the proposals it 

is articulating can be implemented eff ectively. 

It is clear that for some existing Presbyteries, the 

proposals contained in this report will inevitably call 

into question whether they can remain viable on their 

own if sustainability is to be achieved. Whatever the fi nal 

outcome of the Panel’s deliberations, the need to achieve 

sustainable patterns of ministries for the future will surely 

mean a number of very small Presbyteries will want to 

consider how, together with their neighbours, they might 

best achieve a critical mass. 

1.4.2.3 Presbytery Planning 

Act VII 2003, (Appraisal and Planning) is the main instrument 

that determines how paid ministry is deployed. The 


deployment of ministries (Word and Sacrament, Diaconal, 

Presbytery & Parish Workers [PPWs], including Associate 

Ministers, Youth Workers, Parish Assistants, etc.) is a major 

factor in shaping the local church. It is the Presbytery 

Planning process, more than any other that determines 

what the local church looks like. The Ministries Council 

is the body that is responsible on behalf of the General 

Assembly for overseeing Presbytery Planning. This section 

of the Council’s report focuses on how the Presbytery 

Planning process might be developed. 

1.4.2.4 Training for Ministries 

Training for ministries is the other side of the Presbytery 

Planning coin. The type of ministries Presbyteries can 

plan to deploy is limited to those for which the Church 

has identifi ed, assessed and trained people. The Church 

needs to ask: what sort of church do we think we will be 

in twenty years? What kind of ministries will be needed to 

enable this kind of church? What sort of training is needed 

to produce these kinds of ministries? This is precisely the 

exercise in which the Ministries Council is engaged at 

present (see section 1.2). 

1.4.2.5 Congregational Resourcing 

The Mission and Discipleship Council is responsible for 

enabling and resourcing local congregations. It does this in 

many ways, but in particular has developed Future Focus: ‘a 

“toolbox” of ideas, intended to help congregations understand 

their situation better, to read the signs of the times, and to 

answer the call of God to be all that God wants us to be in 

these challenging times.’ The philosophy of Future Focus is 

very similar to what the Ministries Council proposes in this 

report as Planning with Purpose (section 1.4.7). Presbytery Plans 

will both inform and be informed by the vision developed by 

congregations through Future Focus. 

If Future Focus provides some tools to assist congregations 

articulate a sense of purpose, understand their 

communities and identify ways of engaging with them, 

the Planning with Purpose section of this report attempts 

to replicate that process at Presbytery level.

1.4.3 1000 Ministries 

The Council is absolutely clear that the issue of creating 

sustainable ministries is both a theological and an economic 

question. Theologically, we are being challenged to create 

new patterns of ministry which can carry the mission of 

the Gospel forward in the communities of Scotland and, 

where appropriate, beyond. Economically, there is the 

stark reality of a £5.7M defi cit which must be addressed 

at once. 

Having looked carefully into this, the Council has 

concluded that the Church can now aff ord 1000 fulltime 

ministries and 75 two-day locums. This cost of 

£38,710,000 is an aff ordable ministries budget for the 

Church. The accompanying table (see below Appendix 1) 

allocates these ministries across Presbyteries on an 

equitable basis according to the National Guidelines for the 

Deployment of Ministries approved by the General Assembly 

in 2005. These guidelines allocated to each Presbytery a 

percentage of the total ministries available to the Church, 

taking into account population, poverty and geography. The 

proposed revision, allocating on the basis of a sustainable 

1000 ministries, is based on these National Guidelines. 

One signifi cant fl aw in the original guidelines is that they 

did not include either a fi gure for the Presbytery of England, 

or any provision for contingency. The guidelines divided 

100% amongst the Presbyteries in Scotland. A further 6 

posts were then allocated to the Presbytery of England, 

which represented an additional 0.48%. In addition when 

plans were being negotiated with Presbyteries it was 

necessary to allocate additional posts for specifi c reasons 

(see section 1.4.9 below). In eff ect this amounted to 2.5% of 

the total. It is arithmetically impossible to allocate more 

than 100%. As a result, the percentages for 2010 have 

been adjusted so that when the Presbytery of England 

is included and a provision is made for contingency, the 

total is 100%. 

1.4.4 Ministries Budget 

The table refers to Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) and 


vacancies per Presbytery. The allocation each Presbytery 

receives is expressed both as FTE posts and as a sum of 

money. In addition to the costs of ministries personnel 

when in post, there is also a cost for maintaining ministry 

in a vacant congregation. The average annual cost of a 

full-time ministry is £37.9k. Vacancy allowance per year 

(Sunday plus 2 days) is £10.8k. 

It is the intention of the Ministries Council to move 

towards allocating each Presbytery a ministries budget 

which relates to the number of FTE posts. It wants to 

encourage Presbyteries to think creatively about ministries 

and believes that giving each Presbytery responsibility 

for its own ministries budget will help it do this. It does 

not intend to transfer this budget to a Presbytery’s bank 

account, funds will be retained within the Ministries 

Council and each Presbytery will be able to plan how they 

will use the sum they are allocated for ministries. 

The average annual costs of diff erent ministries are as 

follows: 

• Full-time ministry 

(Word & Sacrament or PPW) £37.9k 

• Part-time ministry 

(a proportion of full – e.g. half-time) £19k 

• Two day locum £10.8k 

• One day locum £7.2k 

• Pulpit supply only £3k 

For ease of reference, the cost of a scale 10 Parish Minister 

is £39.1k 

Under this proposal, congregations would lose their 

automatic right to receive a vacancy allowance. Presbyteries 

will need to make provision within their ministries budget 

for vacancies. 

1.4.5 11% reduction 

Current Presbytery Plans anticipate a total of 1114 ministries. 

1000 ministries therefore requires an 11% reduction. The 

reduction in posts, is however greater than 11%. Current plans 

3

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allow for 10% of posts to be vacant, which equates to 124 

vacancies. 1000 ministries reduces this to 7%, which equates 

to 75 vacancies. It is widely accepted that there are too many 

vacancies at the moment and that they are not distributed 

equitably across the country. Reducing the total number of 

posts in plans to 1075 should address both these issues. 

The Council invites the General Assembly to instruct all 

Presbyteries to review their plans with a view to achieving 

1000 ministries by 2014. The intention is that all Presbyteries 

will begin this process at once seeking to implement the 

fi gure in column 4 of the table as soon as possible. 

Presbytery Plans are a tool for regulating the demand for 

ministries. The Council is taking steps to regulate the supply 

of ministries so that the Church will only be paying for 

1000 FTE ministries by 2014. If demand for ministries is not 

moderated through eff ective Presbytery Planning there will 

be a sharp increase in the number of vacancies. Should this 

occur it seems inevitable that Presbyteries who currently 

fi nd it diffi cult to call ministers will be worst aff ected. 

1.4.6 Planning for a Variety of Ministries. 

All discussion about what the Church often terms 

‘recognised ministries’ takes place against the backdrop 

of the ministry exercised by the whole people of God. 

This section deals primarily with the ministry of Word and 

Sacrament, but the Council is clear that this ministry stands 

alongside other ministries, such as the Diaconal ministry, 

in the one overarching ministry of Jesus Christ, expressed 

through the whole body. Every congregation consists of 

Spirit-fi lled disciples who have gifts and talents. Some 

have been ordained to the eldership. Elders, together 

with the other members of the congregation are called to 

ministry. They are neither paid nor ordained to sacramental 

ministry, yet they play a vital role in sustaining the mission 

and ministry of the church. 

1.4.6.1 Sustainable Units 

The need to create sustainable units in non-urban areas 

has often resulted in a series of linkages and/or unions, 


so that a minister today is often serving an area that four 

people might have served 50 years ago. The complaint is 

often made that people want a minister living in their own 

village. Like doctors’ surgeries, primary schools and post 

offi ces, the Church’s deployment has been shaped by the 

need to create sustainable units. 

Now is the time to turn that notion on its head. Instead 

of asking, what area constitutes a viable unit that can 

justify the employment of a full-time minister, we should 

ask, what form of ministry is appropriate for the people of 

faith in this distinct community. If eff ective ministry and 

mission occurs in community networks we need to fi nd 

ways of fi tting ministry into existing communities, rather 

than creating artifi cial communities that fi t a particular 

model of ministry. 

Our planning has essentially worked with a single model 

of ministry, full-time Parish Ministers. While there are many 

places where this is the appropriate model of ministry and 

therefore should continue, in others places it is not. 

In many cases, an urban model of ministry is imposed on a 

rural setting, which can result in: 

• vast parishes, which ministers fi nd diffi cult to cover 

eff ectively; 

• local communities who feel distanced from their 

minister; 

• a Church which is both struggling fi nancially to pay for 

all its ministry and also to fi nd ministers willing to serve 

in these communities. 

To use an analogy, while each village might like to have 

its own supermarket (= a full-time minister, resident and 

dedicated to that community), it is accepted that this 

is not feasible. The Church has worked on the model of 

one central supermarket (= one minister covering many 

diff erent communities, sometimes with one central 

worship centre, sometimes with multiple worship centres), 

but this model is becoming increasingly strained. The

time seems right to return to a ‘small local shop’ in each 

community, accepting that it cannot be ‘staff ed’ by a fulltime 

paid person. 

In other cases an outdated rural model of ministry is being 

imposed on an urban setting, where there is a need for a 

much more dynamic and collaborative approach to church 

life. While it is possible for paid and unpaid, ordained and 

lay people to work together, current structures do not 

encourage this. Those who try to work in this way often 

feel they are fi ghting against the structures rather than 

being assisted by them. 

1.4.6.2 Strands for Future Ministries of Word and 

Sacrament 

The Council is looking to introduce Strands for future 

ministries which will enable congregations to exercise 

ministry in ways that are appropriate to local situations. 

At a time when the number of stipendiary ministers is 

set to reduce, the Council remains committed to taking 

the measures necessary to maintain access to ministry of 

Word and Sacrament in communities across Scotland. The 

Future Ministries Working Group has prepared a document 

(1.4.6.6 – Table) outlining Strands for Future Ministries of 

Word and Sacrament to enable thinking about the exercise 

of local and national ministries. Such ministries could 

include: 

• Non-stipendiary ministers 

• assessed, trained and qualifi ed for the Ordained 

National Ministry; 

• now retired or working full-time for someone other 

than the Church; 

• serving as ministers for up to 10 hours a week unpaid, 

but able to receive expenses, honorarium or pulpit 

supply. 

• Bi-vocational ministers 

• assessed, trained and qualifi ed for the Ordained 

National Ministry; 

• serving part-time as a minister and being paid prorata 

for this; 


• having another job for part of the week and paid by 

that employer for this. 

• Ordained Local Ministers 

• assessed, trained and qualifi ed for the Ordained Local 

Ministry; 

• deployed locally with a remit for preaching, 

sacramental ministry and pastoral care; 

• serving under the direction of an Ordained National 

Minister; 

• normally in a non-stipendiary role, but able to be 

paid if circumstances dictate this is the best option. 

• Readers 

• assessed, trained and qualifi ed for a local ministry of 

worship and preaching; 

• unpaid, but receiving pulpit supply. 

This variety of delivery of ministries would be suitable 

in both rural and urban areas. In a rapidly changing 

society there will be a signifi cant number of places 

where deploying one full-time paid person will either be 

unsustainable or less than ideal. A church that is at ease 

with a variety of delivery and is fl exible in deployment of 

ministries, will be better able to meet the challenges and 

seize the opportunities that arise. 

1.4.6.3 Planning and Training 

The relationship between planning and training is a chicken 

and egg one – which comes fi rst? At the moment there 

are few non-stipendiary and bi-vocational ministers and 

Ordained Local Ministry has not yet been fully considered 

by the General Assembly. For a Presbytery to plan to deploy 

people in these roles might appear premature, yet few will 

train for these roles unless there is the likelihood that they 

will be able to serve in them. 

The Ministries Council is currently engaged in a thorough 

review of training. Serious thought is being given to an 

approach to training that would lead to people serving 

not simply as full-time ministers of word and sacrament, 

but also in all the diff erent styles mentioned. It thus makes 

sense for Presbyteries to begin thinking about how their 

3

3/28 

mission might be enhanced if they could use people in 

these roles alongside full-time ministers of word and 

sacrament, and also to begin encouraging people to 

consider off ering themselves for service in these roles. 

1.4.6.4 “It can’t be done!” 

In many Presbyteries there is a belief that it will not be 

possible for charges to continue to serve their communities 

if there is a further reduction in ministries numbers. This 

belief is found from cities to islands. Each Presbytery faces 

particular issues and each Presbytery believes the issues it is 

facing are unique and merit special dispensation. Through 

its contact with Presbyteries the Ministries Council is aware 

of the challenges facing the Church across the country. 

The Council does not believe that the answer is to give 

one Presbytery additional ministries, which can only come 

at the expense of all the other Presbyteries. Instead the 

Council believes that the answer lies in tackling ministry 

using these diff erent models. 

The Council has for some time been casting a vision of 

a diff erent approach to ministries. Rather than having 

a single model of ministry (the full-time, professional 

minister serving a charge whose size is determined by 

the need to be sustainable as a full-time post), the Council 

believes there needs to be a range of ministry models, 

some full-time and some part-time, some paid and some 


not. The proposal to allocate each Presbytery a ministries 

budget based on FTE posts will gradually allow each one 

to determine what patterns of ministry are best suited to 

serve all the communities for which it is responsible. 

1.4.6.5 Continued Vacancy 

As we consider the variety of ministries for the future, it is 

important also to consider existing options. At present the 

Church assumes there are two kinds of charges: those with 

an inducted minister; and those looking for a minister. It 

recognises that there are occasions when a charge neither 

has a minister, nor is able to look for one. It has called this 

‘anomaly’ a Continued Vacancy. 

The Ministries Council believes that there will be an 

increasing number of congregations that will be best 

served by being under the supervision of someone who 

has not been inducted to that charge – a Deacon, a 

retired minister, an elder, or the minister of a neighbouring 

charge. Presbyteries will realise, for example, that for the 

price of one full-time ministry, 12 small congregations 

could continue to function if the only paid ministry they 

required was pulpit supply. Rather than being called a 

Continued Vacancy, a name such as Other Arrangements 

might be adopted. The term vacant would only be used 

for a congregation that was actively seeking a minister in 

accordance with the Presbytery Plan.

1.4.6.6 Strands for Future Ministries of Word and Sacrament (Table) 


Ministry of Word Ministries of Word & Sacrament 

Local Ministries National Ministry 

Strand One Strand Two Strand Three 

Readership Ordained Local Ministry Ordained National Ministry 

• Certifi cate training 

• Local selection to national 

standards 

• Locally deployed with remit in 

worship & preaching 

• Can be ‘Attached’ with a wider remit, 

including pastoral care 

• Always acting under the authority 

of a Strand 3 ministry 

• Non-stipendiary, but possibility of 

pulpit supply fee as appropriate. 

Can also act as a Locum if required 

by Presbytery 

Continuing Education, including 

Personal and Professional Development 

• Attendance at training event within 

a 3-year cycle 

• Move to Strand Three: national 

assessment of leadership potential 

and call to sacramental ministry 

+ training to Degree and relevant 

placements 

• Move to Strand Two: review 

at Presbytery level of call to 

sacramental ministry; training to 

Diploma, including sacramental 

theology 

• Diploma training 

• Local selection to national 

standards 

• Locally deployed with remit in 

worship, preaching and sacramental 

ministry 

• Can also have a pastoral care 

element 

• Always acting under the authority 

of a Strand 3 ministry 

• Part-time or full-time; may receive 

an honorarium, a salary and /or 

pulpit supply fee. Can also act as a 

Locum if required by Presbytery 



• Attendance at training event within 

a 2-year cycle 

• Move to Strand Three: national 

assessment of leadership potential + 

training to Degree and placements. 

• Normally 5 years of experience 

would be required before moving 

to Strand 3 

• Degree training 

• National selection 

• Nationally deployed but with an 

obvious local (largely parish) focus 

• Can be full-time or part-time, 

stipendiary or non-stipendiary. 

Eligible to be inducted to a parish 

in any of these roles 

• Remains eligible for other 

appointments as at present 



• Attendance at First Five Years 

programme 

• Ongoing Study Leave access 

3

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An applicant seeking to enter either Readership or OLM 

training would be assessed locally by national standards 

(as now with Readership). They would indicate their 

chosen route and the OLM candidate would be tested 

more specifi cally regarding call to ordination. 

1.4.6.7 Auxiliary Ministry 

The three Strands of ministry noted above do not contain 

reference to Auxiliary Ministry. If these Strands were to be 

approved, the Auxiliary Ministry would cease to exist. Time 

pressure has not allowed discussion to take place with 

Auxiliary Ministers at the point of writing this report, so the 

Council makes no assumptions here. 

With that caveat, the proposal would be that existing 

Auxiliaries would have two possible routes forward in 

ministry and would be off ered the choice: 

1. To transfer directly to Ordained Local Ministry. 

This would require no further assessment or training. 

It is recognised that they would have completed less 

academic work than would normally be required for OLM 

(180 credits instead of the 240 required for Diploma level). 

Their participation over the years in In-Service training, 

coupled to their experience of ministry, would be taken as 

equivalent. 

2. To transfer into an Ordained National Ministry role. 

This would require no further assessment in terms of call, 

but would involve a training needs assessment and a 

period of further training. By current standards, this would 

mean upgrading their academic work to degree standard 

(ie. completing a degree if they have not already done so) 

and a 15-month full-time supervised placement (paid at 

80% of stipend scale 1). This parallels the existing process 

of transfer from Auxiliary to full-time ministry. 

1.4.7 Planning with Purpose 

If we are planning for variety, we need to do so with purpose 

and vision. This can be achieved by each Presbytery 

engaging in a process that includes the following elements 


before considering the detailed appraisal of each charge 

within its bounds: [1] Vision; [2] Audit; [3] Objectives 

There is evidence that some Presbyteries are already 

beginning to do this. The Presbytery of Edinburgh, for 

example, is undertaking a root and branch review, stressing 

that mission must lie at the heart of each congregation 

and the Presbytery as a whole. 

1.4.7.1 Vision 

In 2006, the General Assembly adopted the following 

statement: 

‘The vision of the Church of Scotland is to be a church 

which seeks to inspire the people of Scotland and beyond 

with the Good News of Jesus Christ through enthusiastic, 

worshipping, witnessing, nurturing and serving 

communities.’ 

An eff ective plan will begin with a sense of vision, with 

some kind of idea of what it is believed God wants the 

church to be like in the area served by the Presbytery. 

1.4.7.2 Presbytery Audit 

The audit will involve comparing the reality of the church 

in the Presbytery with the vision articulated. A variety of 

tools will be utilised to help the Presbytery; 

• Look at the area as a whole and not simply as a collection 

of parishes, so that trends, issues and opportunities can 

be identifi ed. 

• Assess the health of existing congregations, affi rming 

strengths and honestly naming weaknesses. 

• Identify groups and communities who appear to have 

no meaningful connection with any church or Christian 

group. 

While Presbytery plans are particularly concerned with the 

future deployment of ministry from a Church of Scotland 

perspective, the audit is a natural place to recognise the 

part ecumenical partners play alongside the Church of 

Scotland.

1.4.7.3 Objective Setting 

In the diff erence between the vision and the reality 

described by the audit lies the mission facing the Church 

in the Presbytery. In order to address this diff erence 

eff ectively, the Presbytery will be assisted by setting some 

objectives for the Presbytery as a whole. These objectives 

will both inform and be informed by the objectives that 

individual congregations will be formulating through 

using the Future Focus toolbox. In this way the mission 

of the local church will be a fundamental part of the 

Presbytery’s mission. 

These objectives will be suffi ciently challenging and 

inspirational to harness the energy and commitment of 

God’s people, yet at the same time be hard-headed and 

realistic enough to be achievable. In setting objectives the 

acronym SMART (Specifi c, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, 

Time-bound) is useful and 5 or 6 such goals probably a 

sensible number for which to aim. 

1.4.7.4 Linear and cyclical 

This description of Planning with Purpose is linear. In reality 

it is much more of a spiral than a straight line activity. A 

Presbytery begins with some sense of vision. As it takes 

time to listen (to its context, to scripture and to others), 

the vision is clarifi ed and objectives emerge. This is 

then followed by further listening that results in further 

modifi cation. Refl ection and action continue throughout, 

shaping and informing each other. 

1.4.8 Ongoing Planning – Population shifts 

The census in 2011 will provide a snapshot of where 

people live in Scotland. This will inevitably be diff erent 

from the 2001 snapshot on which current Presbytery Plans 

are based. The General Registrar of Scotland publishes 

projected population changes. These suggest that, while 

the population of Scotland is increasing slightly, the 

greater impact results from internal migration. These 

projections suggest that the following local authorities 

are experiencing signifi cant growth: Aberdeenshire, East 

Lothian, Edinburgh, Perth and Kinross, Scottish Borders 


and West Lothian, while Aberdeen City, Dundee City, 

East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire 

and Western Isles are experiencing signifi cant population 

reduction. 

The 2011 census will confi rm the accuracy of these 

projections. The Church however, would do well to 

assume that this factor alone will result in some change 

in the percentage of ministries to which each Presbytery 

is entitled. This in turn will lead to some redistribution of 

ministries fi nance between various Presbyteries by 2014. 

1.4.9 Existing Presbytery Plan numbers 

In presenting proposals for establishing new patterns of 

ministries which are sustainable within a balanced budget, 

it is necessary to note a number of specifi c issues from the 

existing Presbytery Plans: 

• Some Presbyteries, for example Buchan, Jedburgh, 

Wigtown & Stranraer, did not fully utilise all the posts 

they were entitled to under the 2005 Guidelines. The 

2014 projections for these Presbyteries involve little or 

no reduction on existing plan numbers. 

• England. The Church of Scotland does not exercise a 

territorial ministry in England, so in 2005 its ministry 

entitlement was calculated on a diff erent basis. As 

explained above it is proposed that it should now be 

allocated a percentage of the total. It is assumed that 

the 6 posts as agreed by the General Assembly in 2005, 

is a fair starting point. 

• Greenock & Paisley; Glasgow. The plans agreed with 

these two large Presbyteries allowed for signifi cantly 

more ministries than the guideline fi gure. This took 

account of the scale of change facing both Presbyteries. 

However, part of the agreement was that at the point 

of the fi ve year revision, both Presbyteries would 

present plans that fi tted within the guideline fi gure. 

Consequently the fi gure in the 1000 ministries table 

contains no adjustment. 

• Shetland. Arrangements for ministry in Shetland are 

set out in the ‘Shetland Arrangements.’ This allows for 

3

3/32 

8 ministries, a fi gure agreed at the time of drawing 

up the 2005 National Guidelines. While this was less 

than the fi gure a true percentage (0.96%) would have 

allowed, the Council sees no reason to alter the fi gure 

of 8, which adequately meets the terms of the current 

Arrangements. The additional 2.3 FTE posts which 

make up 0.96% are therefore added to the overall 

contingency. 

• Uist. The 2005 National Guideline fi gure for Uist 

should have been 3. However it was considered that 

a Presbytery could not exist with only 3 ministries, so 

Uist was allocated 6 ministries. The Council is no longer 

persuaded by this argument, for two reasons. First, the 

variety of ministries suggests that while the budget 

may only provide for 3 FTE posts, this could be 10 or 

more people, creatively deployed. Second, the Council’s 

responsibility is to resource ministries, not prop up an 

unsustainable Presbytery structure. If 1000 Ministries 

means that Uist can no longer function as a Presbytery, 

the solution is not to increase the ministries budget but 

to reform Presbytery structures. 

1.4.10 The Contingency Budget 

One lesson learned over the last 5 years is that the Church 

requires a small degree of fl exibility in the implementation 

of the National Guidelines. In negotiating and concurring 

plans with Presbyteries, the Council identifi ed the 

following grounds where provision for ministries beyond 

the National Guideline fi gure may be needed. It agreed 

minor variations with various Presbyteries, either for a 

limited or an extended period. 

• Borderline Category. Some Presbyteries are on the 

border between categories (eg Urban/Rural and Rural/ 

Urban). Evidence for this might include the fact that 

they lodged an appeal against their categorisation 

when opportunity was given to do this in 2006. 

• Scale of adjustment. Some Presbyteries must adopt 

signifi cant adjustment to comply with their guideline 

number. The Presbytery will need to demonstrate a 

determination to grasp the adjustment issues and 


indicate the time scale within which it intends to 

incorporate the guideline fi gure into its plan. 

• Population Growth. Data from GRO-Scotland indicates 

that the population of some Presbyteries has increased 

signifi cantly since 2001. 

• Adjustment stalemate. In a particular area where all 

options of adjustment have been exhausted, evidenced 

perhaps by the matter having to be considered by a 

Commission of Assembly, and there is still no agreement 

with local parties, a case could be made for additional 

ministries to allow the dust to settle before the matter is 

broached again. 

• Presbytery Transfer. Two Presbyteries might agree to a 

congregation moving Presbytery in order to be united 

or linked with a congregation in the neighbouring 

Presbytery. Rather than the fi rst Presbytery having 

its number reduced to compensate the second, an 

additional ministry might be considered. 

• Pre guidelines. Act VII came into force in 2003. 

The guidelines were not approved until 2005. Plans 

concurred with before May 2005 may have exceeded 

the guideline fi gure. 

The sixth ground will no longer apply. Where Presbyteries 

present a compelling case under the fi rst fi ve grounds the 

Council will be able to use the contingency fi gure in the 

2010 National Guidelines in its response. 

1.4.11 Planning and Finance 

1.4.11.1 An Organisational Problem 

87% of the money congregations contribute to central 

funds is used to pay for the diff erent kinds of ministries 

deployed to serve those congregations. However 

two separate, unrelated, processes are used to set 

congregational Ministry and Mission contributions and 

patterns of ministerial deployment. These two processes 

are the responsibility of diff erent bodies. Ministry and 

Mission contributions are set by the Council of Assembly. 

Patterns of deployment are determined by Presbyteries 

and the Ministries Council using Act VII 2003.

Some disadvantages of this approach are now evident. 

They include: 

• Rights and responsibilities are out of step because they 

are calculated on a diff erent basis. Each Presbytery 

believes it has a right to a certain number of ministries, 

but does not own a responsibility for funding a certain 

amount of ministry because funding for ministry is 

calculated on a diff erent basis. Every Presbytery is 

allocated a percentage of the total ministry available 

to the Church. Ministries and Mission contributions are 

based on the average of each congregation’s giving 

over three years. Provided each congregation meets 

its contribution, Presbytery is entitled to believe it has 

fulfi lled its responsibilities, whether or not the total 

match the total cost of ministry in Presbytery Plans. 

• The current system contains little incentive to give more. 

Presbytery Plans describe a core level of ministerial 

provision that the Church is committed to fi nancing 

through the Parish Ministries Fund. If a Presbytery has a 

vision to do more than is contained within the Plan it may 

be possible to increase giving. People give in response 

to vision. If a local vision, which resonates with them, is 

articulated it is likely that they will respond generously. 

However the current system prevents this happening. If 

individual congregations or a Presbytery increase their 

giving, that extra cannot easily be directed towards the 

local vision that stimulated it. 

• There is no penalty for a Presbytery or a congregation that 

does not take stewardship seriously. If congregations 

within a Presbytery reduce their giving in real terms, 

their Ministry and Mission contribution will fall, but their 

entitlement to ministry does not. Their slice of cake 

remains the same size, even if what they are contributing 

falls. In some cases this is entirely appropriate, for 

example, where the income of a whole community 

falls. Other times it is simply because stewardship has 

not been taken seriously. 

As Presbyteries begin to Plan with Purpose, money will 

quickly become part of the discussion. Prompted by 

the Holy Spirit, Presbyteries will discern opportunities 


for new initiatives, identifying fresh ways of going about 

mission. Many of these will cost money. Under the current 

arrangements the budget is fi xed. If a Presbytery wants 

to do something new, it must cut something fi rst. While 

there is always a place for this approach, on its own it can 

corrode vision. 

A Presbytery’s vision is more likely to be realised if it is 

given freedom to generate additional fi nance. People give 

to support and realise vision. When a vision is articulated 

to which they can relate, they give. Funding the ministries 

of the Church of Scotland is too nebulous for people to 

relate to in this way. A new worker (a person they can put 

a name and a face to) for a shopping centre (for example, 

a place that they go to regularly) might be a vision that 

would prompt them to give. 

The Council engages regularly with the Finance Group 

of the Council of Assembly and over the coming year 

will continue to bring forward new initiatives relating 

to fi nance which will pave the way for a more focussed 

connection between what a congregation contributes and 

the ministry it receives. In addition, the Ministries Council 

will seek ways in which more incentive can be given to 

Presbyteries and congregations to increase giving in a 

framework where more money can be directed towards 

mission. 

1.4.11.2 Giving Agreement 

The General Assembly 2009 approved the concept of a 

Giving Agreement. A Giving Agreement allows a Presbytery 

and a Congregation to agree that that congregation 

will contribute more than their Ministry and Mission 

Contribution. Any increase forthcoming is then made 

available to the Presbytery in addition to the 3% leeway to 

which it is already entitled. 

The model outlined here is similar. It could be viewed 

as a giving agreement between Presbyteries. That is, 

Presbyteries agree that additional sums generated can be 

kept and used locally. 

3

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1.4.12 Conclusion 

2020 Vision: what is God calling us as a Church to be and 

do in the next ten years? The Ministries Council, along with 

many others in the Church, believes that obedience to 

that call will involve change. The best of what is now being 

undertaken in ministry will continue and be supplemented 

by new things. In the meantime, the Council with the 

support of the whole Church will set about tackling the 

four key areas highlighted in our opening statement about 

where we are in articulating a vision for the future: 

• There is a massive defi cit which must be dealt with 

• We need to prune in order to grow 

• We need to realign the Church for mission through a 

reshaping of ministries 

• We need to revise Presbytery Plans with purpose and 

variety, taking account of fi nance 


Presbytery Planning has the potential to be much more 

than the orderly management of decline. Act VII 2003 

gives power to Presbyteries to shape their own future. The 

mission facing the Church in Scotland is both a challenge 

and an opportunity. The Church through eff ective use 

of the Presbytery Planning Process can respond to that 

challenge and opportunity. It will be helped to do that if it: 

• is clearer about what it is trying to achieve through its 

plans, that is, Planning with Purpose 

• grasps that ministry can be much more than full-time 

paid people, that is Planning for a Variety of Ministries 

• ceases to treat funding and planning as separate 

activities, and instead joins them together so that rights 

and responsibilities are balanced, incentives to give 

more are created and penalties for inaction are clear.

Presbytery 

(alphabetical) 


Appendix 1 – Table of Percentages of Ministries for Presbytery Planning 

A B C D E F G 

Percentage (%) 

of Ministries 

allocated 

to each 

Presbytery 

(remains the 

same as 2010) 

FTE Posts 

by 

2014 

@ £37,900 

Locum 

provision 

for 

vacancies 

(2 days) 

@ £10,800 

Total Posts 

in 2014 

(FTE 

Posts + 

Vacancies: 

Columns 

B+C) 

Presbytery 

Ministries 

Budget 

2014 

(Costs of 

column B 

+ cost of 

column C 

X £000) 

Total Posts 

in current 

Presbytery 

Plans 

(includes 

124 

vacancies) 

Reduction 

by 2014 

from 

current 

plans 

Total 1000 75 1075 £38,710 1234 159 

Aberdeen 3.59% 35.6 3 38.6 1,390 46 7 

Abernethy 0.62% 6.7 0 6.7 240 8 1 

Angus 2.41% 23.9 2 25.9 933 29 3 

Annandale & Eskdale 1.28% 12.8 1 13.8 495 16 2 

Ardrossan 2.28% 22.5 2 24.5 883 29 4 

Argyll 2.97% 29.9 2 31.9 1,150 38 6 

Ayr 2.57% 25.6 2 27.6 995 35 7 

Buchan 2.18% 21.4 2 23.4 844 24 1 

Caithness 0.92% 8.9 1 9.9 356 12 2 

Dumbarton 2.09% 20.5 2 22.5 809 28 6 

Dumfries & 

Kirkcudbright 

2.06% 20.1 2 22.1 797 25 3 

Dundee 2.72% 27.2 2 29.2 1,053 35 6 

Dunfermline 2.10% 20.6 2 22.6 813 27 4 

Dunkeld & Meigle 0.92% 8.9 1 9.9 356 13 3 

Duns 0.62% 6.7 0 6.7 240 8 1 

Edinburgh 6.87% 68.9 5 73.9 2,659 88 14 

England 0.47% 5.1 0 5.1 182 6 1 

Falkirk 2.99% 30.1 2 32.1 1,157 38 6 

3

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Glasgow 12.24% 122.6 9 131.6 4,738 160 28 

Gordon 2.76% 27.7 2 29.7 1,068 34 4 

Greenock & Paisley 3.81% 38.0 3 41.0 1,475 54 13 

Hamilton 5.27% 52.7 4 56.7 2,040 66 9 

Inverness 1.99% 20.4 1 21.4 770 25 4 

Irvine & Kilmarnock 2.07% 20.3 2 22.3 801 27 5 

Jedburgh 1.15% 11.4 1 12.4 445 12 0 

Kincardine & Deeside 1.43% 14.4 1 15.4 554 18 3 

Kirkcaldy 2.41% 23.9 2 25.9 933 30 4 

Lanark 1.44% 14.5 1 15.5 557 18 3 

Lewis 0.70% 6.5 1 7.5 271 9 1 

Lochaber 0.81% 7.7 1 8.7 314 10 1 

Lochcarron - Skye 0.73% 6.8 1 7.8 283 9 1 

Lothian 2.85% 28.6 2 30.6 1,103 37 6 

Melrose & Peebles 1.30% 13.0 1 14.0 503 15 1 

Moray 1.96% 20.1 1 21.1 759 25 4 

Orkney 1.03% 10.1 1 11.1 399 13 2 

Perth 2.08% 20.4 2 22.4 805 27 5 

Ross 1.37% 13.7 1 14.7 530 16 1 

Shetland 0.96% 8 0 8 314 8 0 

St Andrews 1.83% 18.7 1 19.7 708 22 2 

Stirling 3.25% 32.9 2 34.9 1,258 38 3 

Sutherland 0.63% 6.8 0 6.8 244 9 2 

Uist 0.23% 2.5 0 2.5 89 6 4 

West Lothian 2.58% 25.7 2 27.7 999 34 6 

Wigtown & Stranraer 1.03% 10.1 1 11.1 399 11 0 

Contingency 2.43% 28.4 2 28.4 998 0

1.6 Green Travel Plans: Pointers to the Future 


The purpose of a Green Travel Plan is two-fold. Firstly, it is 

to provide for all those involved in ministries a clear set of 

guidelines to help them plan their work-related travel in 

the most eff ective and economical manner; to help reduce 

wastage and unnecessary travel and expense. Secondly, it 

is to help the Church of Scotland deliver its commitment 

to respond to climate change by seeking to reduce the 

carbon footprint associated with work-related travel. 

1.6.2 The Business Case for a Travel Plan 

Over a number of years, those involved in ministries have 

noted the fall in value of the 40p per mile reimbursement 

for the fi rst 10,000 miles of travel per year. This fi gure relates 

to the rate allowable before tax by HM Revenue & Customs 

(HMRC). It is not a fi gure which the Ministries Council has 

discretion to alter. 

Further work needs to be undertaken to lay out the 

business case for a green travel plan, but some elements 

of this would be: 

• The overall cost of travel expenses, which is largely 

made up of the reimbursement of mileage; 

• The acknowledgement that the HMRC rates are highly 

unlikely ever to increase because of the signal this 

would send in encouraging car travel against national 

policies of encouraging alternative means of travel; 

• The rising cost of fuel, which must surely become an 

increasing burden on individuals in the light of the 

previous bullet point. 

1.6.3 The Environmental Case: Responding To 

Climate Change 

In its report to the General Assembly in 2009 the Church 

& Society Council identifi ed the importance of climate 

change to the Church of Scotland. 

The Church of Scotland is concerned that climate 

change poses a serious and immediate threat to people 

everywhere, particularly to the poor of the earth, and that 


climate change represents a failure in our stewardship of 

God’s creation. We accept the need to reduce the emissions 

of greenhouse gases urgently to avoid dangerous and 

irreversible climate change and to promote a more 

equitable and sustainable use of energy. 

The Scottish Climate Change Act 2009 requires the Scottish 

Government to reduce carbon emissions across Scotland 

by 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 – a dramatic and 

challenging target that will aff ect all parts of the Scottish 

economy and Scottish life. The Church is committed 

to responding positively to this challenge and has, for 

example, instructed Presbyteries to produce plans for all 

parishes in their area to measure and reduce the carbon 

footprint of energy use in their buildings. 

Road traffi c is now one of the largest sources of carbon 

dioxide emissions in Scotland, accounting for over ten 

million tons in 2006, out of the Scottish total of 47million 

tons. This is over 20% of the total - and the proportion is 

growing. 

For these reasons a travel plan to manage work-related 

travel and to reduce the Church’s carbon footprint is now 

an essential step. Some key pointers to such a plan are 

listed here. 

1.6.4 Aim of a Green Travel Plan 

To empower those engaged in ministries to manage their 

work-related travel to reduce costs and achieve the lowest 

possible carbon footprint. 

1.6.5 What this Means in Practice 

The plan reinforces the existing rules that are printed 

on expenses claim forms. All those participating in the 

scheme would be expected to abide by the rules and 

expenses would not be paid for trips that fall outwith 

the guidelines, unless by prior agreement. An important 

hierarchy of travel might look light this: 

3

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Most sustainable 

Least sustainable 

Reducing the need to travel 

Walking 

Cycling 

Public Transport 

Multiple occupancy car journeys 

Single occupancy car journeys 

Air Travel 

Guidelines for expenses claims might pose the following 

questions. 

Is your trip necessary? 

Is it possible to fi nd an alternative such as a conference 

call, e-mail or video conference? New technologies such 

as ‘skype’, ‘blogs’ and ‘tweets’ off er alternatives to travel. 

Could these reduce the need for business travel? 

Which is the lowest carbon way to travel? 

If you do have to travel, what are the costs and the carbon 

footprints of the alternatives? The carbon footprint 

associated with diff erent modes of travel can vary widely. 

Walking and cycling have negligible carbon footprints, but 

are not always practical. Comparative fi gures for motorised 

transport are set out below (Source: Highland Council): 

CO2 emissions for a return journey between 

Edinburgh and Inverness (287.6 rail miles/314 road 

miles) 

Train 7.9 kg of CO 2 per passenger 

Small car 59.0 kg of CO 2 per passenger, 1 occupant 

Large car 119.1 kg of CO 2 per passenger, 1 occupant 

Coach 41.2 kg of CO 2 per passenger 

Plane 73.1 kg of CO 2 per passenger 


1.6.6 Alternatives to driving 

Walking and cycling – the healthy alternative for short 

journeys. 

Bus or train – In towns or cities or for journeys between 

towns and cities, public transport is often the best option. 

For example, journeys to 121 George Street can take 

advantage of its proximity to Edinburgh stations making 

train trips an option for all or part of the journey. On line 

resources such as Traveline can help you plan your journey. 

The following websites off er details of planning a trip 

with public transport: http://www.travelinescotland.com; 

http://www.transportdirect.info 

For longer journeys within the UK, train travel is usually 

a practical option. The train will often now off er the 

opportunity to work on a laptop or to use mobile phones 

or other wireless communication, which is not possible 

when driving. 

Consideration should be given to making public transport 

the default mode of travel between areas connected by 

regular rail services, e.g.: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, 

Dundee, Inverness, Perth, Stirling, etc.. 

Ferry travel 

Travel by ferry is a way of life for island communities around 

Scotland and there is often no alterative. Consideration 

should always be given to the use of video conferencing 

facilities or other new communication technologies to 

reduce the number of journeys. 

Air travel 

Sometimes looks the quickest means of travel, but in reality 

this is only true if the rail alternative exceeds the fl ight by 

more than three hours. Budget airlines appear to off er 

lower fares for British or European travel, but when the full 

cost of extras is included the full fare is often the same as 

for rail travel. Air travel has a higher carbon footprint than 

rail or bus travel and for this reason is best avoided if there 

is an alternative. For travel outwith the UK, however, it may 

be the only realistic alternative.

Driving 

Road vehicles powered by fossil fuels will remain 

important for many years to come. In view of this a 

pragmatic approach to managing car travel and its impact 

is recommended. There are questions for each car user 

to address: What vehicle are you driving – is it appropriate? 

What age is it? What are the emission levels? The answers 

to these will inevitably vary with the circumstances of the 

user. 

The carbon footprint of vehicles varies widely. The simplest 

way to assess this is to check the emission-band rating 

of a vehicle. Driving a vehicle in a lower emission band 

saves money and reduces the carbon footprint. From 1 

May 2009, vehicle tax rates for cars registered on or after 

1 March 2001 are split into 13 bands depending on CO2 

emissions. The amount you’ll pay depends on which band 

your car is in. The lower a car’s emissions, the lower the 

vehicle tax payable on it. 

Petrol / Diesel car 

Band CO2 emission 12 months 6 months 

(g/km) rate 

rate 

A Up to 100 Not applicable Not applicable 

B 101-110 £35.00 Not applicable 

C 111-120 £35.00 Not applicable 

D 121-130 £120.00 £66.00 

E 131-140 £120.00 £66.00 

F 141-150 £125.00 £68.75 

G 151-165 £150.00 £82.50 

H 166-175 £175.00 £96.25 

I 176-185 £175.00 £96.25 

J 186-200 £215.00 £118.25 

K 201-225 £215.00 £118.25 

L 226-255 £405.00 £222.75 

M Over 255 £405.00 £222.75 


For further details see the UK Government website: 

http://http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/ 

OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_10012524 

To fi nd out the emissions from any car in the UK go to 

http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/ and click 

on the ‘Vehicle enquiry’ tab and enter the registration and 

make of car. 

Is your driving safe and economical ? It is possible to reduce 

the fuel usage of a car journey by eco-driving. The Energy 

Saving Trust has set out some simple tips to reduce fuel 

consumption and reduce the cost of motoring. Find these 

on the link at: www.ecodrivescotland.com 

Hire Cars: it is worth bearing in mind that, even taking 

into account fuel costs, daily hire cars can often be better 

value than reimbursing staff using their own vehicles 

for journeys of 70 miles or more per day. For example: it 

would cost £32 to cover an 80 mile round trip paying 40p 

per mile compared to car hire from as little as £18 per day 

plus fuel costs. You can also specify a smaller more fuel 

effi cient vehicle when hiring. 

Planning journeys before travelling can save time and 

minimise unnecessarily vehicle mileage. The following 

websites are helpful and can also be used to calculate and 

check vehicle mileage: 

• Transport Direct: http://www.transportdirect.info 

• The AA Route Planner: http://www.theaa.com/routeplanner/index.jsp 

• The RAC Route Planner: http://www.rac.co.uk/routeplanner/ 

Vehicle Mileage Ready Reckoners (example below) can ease 

accurate reporting in mileage claims between locations 

that are frequent origins and destinations for travel. This 

can also be used to highlight where there is a public 

transport option available. For example, there is a regular 

express bus service between Location A and B which 

would be a convenient alternative to travelling by car. 

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Location A Location B Location C 

Location A - 7.9 miles 3.6 miles 

Location B 7.9 miles - 10.5 miles 

Location C 3.6 miles 10.5 miles - 

1.6.7 Compliance with Health & Safety Legislation 

There is an issue to be explored in relation to health and 

safety legislation. Work needs to be done to ensure that 

those engaged formally in ministries are complying with 

the Health & Safety at Work Act. Although procedures are 

in place to ensure this is the case for all employees of the 

Ministries Council, further work needs to be undertaken in 

relation to the position of offi ce holders. 

1.6.8 Rural ministries 

Ministers in rural parishes, particularly in remote rural 

parishes face particular challenges. While in towns 

and cities walking, cycling or public transport may be 

adequate for many everyday travel needs, this will rarely 

be the case in large rural parishes. It is recognised that 

daily car travel is likely to remain necessary for such 

ministries. 

1.10 ACT ANENT THE ORDINATION OF 

PROFESSORS AND LECTURERS OF THEOLOGY 

AND BIBLICAL STUDIES 

Edinburgh, xx May 2010 Sess. yy 

The General Assembly enact and ordain as follows: 

1. A Graduate Candidate (as defi ned in Act X 2004 section 

1(k)) or the holder of a Certifi cate of Eligibility (as defi ned 

in Act IX 2002 section 6(b)) who has been appointed 

to a chair or lectureship in an accredited institution as 

defi ned in Act X 2004 is eligible to be ordained by the 

Presbytery in which the institution is located. 

2. He or she shall be a member of the Presbytery that 

ordained him or her, or may apply to transfer his or her 

membership to the Presbytery within which is situated 


the congregation of which he or she is a member, or 

the Presbytery within the bounds of which he or she 

resides, as he or she may choose. 

3. Upon taking up an appointment defi ned in section 1, a 

minister shall be entitled to membership of Presbytery 

as described in section 2, and the Presbytery may 

hold a service marking the commencement of the 

appointment, which for the avoidance of doubt shall 

not be a service of induction or introduction as defi ned 

in Act VIII 2003 sections 29 or 30. 

4. Act III 1956 anent the Ordination of Church and 

University Professors and Lecturers of Theology and 

Lecturers in Biblical Studies (as amended by Act I 1967) 

is hereby repealed. 

5. Act III 2000 is hereby amended as follows: 

(1) By the addition, in section 11 of a new sub-section 

(9), reading ‘a professor or lecturer in an accredited 

institution as defi ned in Act X 2004’ 

(2) By the addition in section 20, after the word 

‘assistant’ of the words ‘, professor or lecturer’ 

1.13 CONSOLIDATING AND AMENDING ACT 

ANENT DEACONS (incorporating the provisions 

of Acts VIII 1998, IX 2001, VII 2002 and II 2004, 

all as amended) 

Edinburgh, xx May 2010, Session yy 

The General Assembly declare and enact as follows:- 

The Offi ce of Deacon 

1. A Deacon is a man or woman who, under a Call from 

God, has pledged himself or herself to the service of 

Jesus Christ and His Church and has been selected, 

trained and ordained to exercise ministry in terms of 

this Act (or any succeeding legislation) and according 

to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of Scotland. 

The Offi ce of Deacon is recognised by the Church to 

be a distinctive, lifelong status within the ministry of 

the Church and to be agreeable to the Word of God. 

For the avoidance of doubt, this Act does not apply to 

members of Deacons’ Courts.

A. SELECTION, TRAINING AND ORDINATION OF 

DEACONS 

Defi nitions 

2. Section 1 of Act X 2004 shall apply to the Diaconate 

subject to the deletion of sub-sections (h), (j) and (k), all 

for the purposes of that application only. 

Selection and Training of Deacons 

3. Sections 2-11, 18-21 and 23-25 of Act X 2004 shall apply 

to the Diaconate. For the purposes of this Act: 

(i) references to ‘the Ministry of the Church of Scotland’ 

or ‘the full-time ministry’ shall be understood as referring 

to the diaconal ministry of the Church of Scotland 

(ii) references to Universities shall be deemed to include 

any institution of higher education approved by the 

Ministries Council for the training of Deacons. 

For the avoidance of doubt appeals against decisions taken 

in terms of this section shall be subject to the provisions of 

Act VI 2007 anent the Ministries Appeals Panel. 

Academic and Practical Training of Deacons 

4. (a) Each Candidate shall have a Course prescribed 

by the Ministries Council immediately following 

acceptance as a Prospective Candidate. 

(b) The Candidate shall satisfy the Ministries Council of 

competence: 

(i) in all areas of study prescribed from time to 

time by the Ministries Council, which shall always 

include the interpretation and use of Holy Scripture 

(both Old and New Testaments), the development 

and growth of the Church (with special reference 

to the Church of Scotland), the principal doctrines 

of the Christian faith (their interpretation, their 

defence and their application), the constitution 

and laws of the Church of Scotland, the history and 

contemporary understanding of the Diaconate 

in the Church of Scotland and ecumenically, 

practical theology (including mission, evangelism, 

pastoral care and counselling, the worship of the 

Church (especially the Church of Scotland), and 


the contemporary understanding of Church and 

society, and voice and communication skills; 

(ii) in further optional courses approved from time 

to time by the Ministries Council and selected by 

the Candidate; 

(iii) in all areas of practical knowledge required by 

the Ministries Council, by satisfactory participation 

throughout their candidature in such residential 

courses and conferences as are prescribed by the 

Ministries Council; 

(iv) in attendance and participation at the 

Diaconate Council; 

(v) in the practice of the diaconal ministry, by 

completing to the satisfaction of the Ministries 

Council the three placements prescribed below. 

Placements during Training 

5. (a) As part of the Church requirements, three periods 

of placement work shall be undertaken by the 

Candidate, and must be completed to the satisfaction 

of the Ministries Council which shall determine 

the length and content of each placement. The 

placements shall normally include two during 

the academic course (of which one shall be parttime 

and shall last not less than twenty-fi ve weeks 

and one shall be a full-time summer placement 

lasting not less than ten weeks) and one full-time 

placement of twelve months commencing on the 

fi rst day of July, August, September or October in 

the year of completion of the prescribed academic 

course; the Ministries Council shall have power in 

exceptional circumstances to vary this arrangement. 

The candidate will not normally be permitted to 

engage in academic study through a university or 

college or in remunerative employment or offi ce 

during the course of the twelve months full-time 

placement at the conclusion of the academic 

course. 

(b) The supervisor of each placement will be chosen 

by the Ministries Council and shall undertake 

3

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training as specifi ed by the Ministries Council. The 

supervisor shall be responsible for supervising 

the placement according to the guidelines and 

standards established by the Ministries Council and 

University, and shall produce assessment materials 

as required. 

(c) The assessment materials shall be assessed by the 

Ministries Council. It shall be competent for the 

Ministries Council to refuse to sustain a placement 

where it considers that the Candidate has not met 

the required standard or for other relevant reasons. 

Sustaining the Course 

6. (a) The Ministries Council shall obtain from the 

universities lists of those Candidates who have 

satisfactorily completed their prescribed Course, 

whereupon the Secretary of the Ministries Council 

shall inform candidates that they have permission 

to commence their fi nal placement. 

(b) The Ministries Council shall, in consultation with 

the Presbytery, decide whether to sustain the fi nal 

placement after nine months. 

7. The Council shall maintain a list of those who have 

satisfactorily completed their training in terms of this 

Act and Act X 2004. An individual who has completed 

training, who has not been ordained as a Deacon and 

who has not applied to be removed from the above list, 

shall for the purposes of superintendence and discipline 

be treated in the same manner as a Graduate Candidate 

as defi ned in section 22 of Act X 2004 and all Acts and 

Regulations of the General Assembly relating to the 

superintendence or discipline of a Graduate Candidate 

shall apply to such individuals. 

Ordination 

8. (a) Entitlement. It belongs to Presbytery to ordain an 

individual to the Offi ce of Deacon on his or her 

taking up an appointment. However, in order to 

ensure a general standard of qualifi cation and 

training for the Offi ce throughout the Church, a 


Presbytery may ordain a candidate to this Offi ce 

only if it is furnished with a recommendation to 

that eff ect from the Ministries Council. 

(b) Procedure. The procedure leading to the act of 

ordination shall be the same as the procedure 

described in section 29 of Act VIII 2003 for ministers 

of Word and Sacrament, mutatis mutandis. 

(c) Ordained status. A Deacon, on being ordained, 

shall have the authority of the Church to exercise 

his or her appointed ministry. He or she shall be 

entitled to append the letters “DCS” (Deacon of the 

Church of Scotland) after his or her name and to 

wear the Diaconate badge. On being ordained, a 

Deacon shall be admitted into membership of the 

Diaconate Council. 

(d Membership of Presbytery. A Deacon shall be a 

member of Presbytery if he or she occupies a parish 

appointment, or any other post that would entitle 

a Minister of Word and Sacrament to membership 

of Presbytery in terms of sections 11-13 of Act III 

2000, and the provisions of those sections shall 

determine which is the relevant Presbytery. 

Admission and Readmission of Deacons 

9. Act IX 2002 (as amended) shall apply to the diaconate 

mutatis mutandis. 

Transfer 

10. (a) The provisions of Act XIII 2003 anent the Auxiliary 

Ministry (as amended) or of Act X 2004 anent 

Selection and Training for the Full-time Ministry 

and Eligibility for Ordination shall apply to any 

Deacon wishing to transfer to the Ministry of 

Word and Sacrament; in all cases the Ministries 

Council shall determine the nature, content and 

duration of the academic course and practical 

training to be followed by a Candidate. 

(b) Notwithstanding (a) above, any Deacon whose 

candidature for the diaconate was acquired 

in terms of section 3 above (i.e. enquiry, fi eld

assessment and local review) shall not require to 

repeat those elements of the selection process 

(Act XIII 2003 section 6; Act X 2004 section 5), but 

shall proceed directly to national assessment. 

(c) No Deacon who has been not accepted as a 

candidate in training for either the auxiliary or 

full-time ministry on three or more occasions 

may apply for transfer to the Ministry of Word 

and Sacrament (auxiliary or full-time). 

B. FUNCTION OF DEACONS 

The Function of a Deacon 

11. The function of a Deacon is to exercise a ministry of 

an evangelistic, pastoral, educational or social nature, 

including the conduct of public worship as need 

arises, in one or more of the following spheres: 

(a) service in the employment of a Council, 

Committee or Court of the Church; 

(b) service in a Chaplaincy, including University, 

College, School, HM Forces, Prison and Hospital, 

or as a Lecturer or Teacher in Religious Education, 

and in similar spheres; 

(c) other service which is approved by the Ministries 

Council and the Presbytery concerned. 

Deacons and Marriage Services 

12. (1) The functions of a Deacon shall include the 

solemnisation of marriage, subject to the 

provisions of sub-section (3) hereof and to the 

permission and supervision of the minister or 

Interim Moderator of the parish in which the 

marriage takes place. 

(2) For the purposes of the conduct of marriages, 

section 18 of Consolidating Act II 2000 anent 

Ministry (as amended) shall apply to Deacons. 

(3) The Principal Clerk shall authorise Deacons 

to conduct marriage services where that is 

consistent with the provisions of the relevant civil 

law, or with the special permission of the Registrar 

General of Births, Deaths and Marriages. 


Retirement Age 

13. The normal retirement age for Deacons shall be 65 

years. 

C. SUPERINTENDENCE OF DEACONS 

Responsibility for Life and Doctrine 

14. (a) A Deacon shall be responsible for his or her life 

and doctrine to the Presbytery of which he or 

she is a member, or from which he or she holds a 

current Practising Certifi cate. 

(b) A Deacon who is not a member of Presbytery 

and who does not hold a Practising Certifi cate 

is nevertheless subject to the jurisdiction of the 

Presbytery of the bounds in which is situated the 

congregation of which he or she is a member, or 

in which he or she lives, as he or she shall choose, 

and are under obligation to notify the Presbytery 

Clerk of any change of address. 

Responsibility for Service 

15. A Deacon shall be responsible for the due performance 

of his or her service as follows; namely: 

(a) a Deacon, serving under a Council, Committee 

or Court of the Church shall be responsible to 

that body; 

(b) a Deacon, serving outwith the jurisdiction of the 

Church of Scotland, shall be responsible to the 

employer. 

Practising Certifi cates 

16. The provisions of sections 5-15 of Consolidating Act 

II 2000 anent the Ministry shall apply to Deacons 

mutatis mutandis. 

The Roll of the Diaconate 

17. (1) The Ministries Council and Diaconate Council 

shall keep a Roll of the Diaconate containing the 

following lists: 

(a) Deacons who are voting members of 

Presbyteries. 

(b) Deacons holding Practising Certifi cates. 

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(c) Deacons who are neither members of Presbyteries 

nor holders of Practising Certifi cates. 

(2) In cases of doubt as to the list on which a 

Deacon’s name should be placed, the decision of 

the Ministries Council shall be fi nal. In December 

of each year, the Ministries Council shall check 

the Roll with Presbyteries, including the names 

of those to whom Practising Certifi cates have 

been issued. 

The Diaconate Council 

18. (1) The functions of the Diaconate Council, of which 

all Deacons shall be members, shall include the 

representation of the interests of all Deacons to 

the Ministries Council, and the support of the 

Ministries Council in the professional development 

of Deacons. 

(2) The Constitution and Standing Orders of the 

Diaconate Council, and the Constitution of 

Local Associations thereof, are as set out in the 

Appendix, and are subject to the powers of 

alteration contained therein. 

D. REPEALS AND AMENDMENTS 

19. Sections 26 and 27 of Consolidating Act III 2000 anent 

Church Courts (as amended) are hereby repealed, 

and shall be replaced by a note reading “See Act ___ 

2010” 

20. Act II 1988 anent the Judicial Commission (as 

amended) is hereby further amended as follows: 

• by the addition in paragraph 2(a), after the word 

‘Ministers’ of ‘, Deacons’. 

• by the addition in paragraph 2(j), after the word 

‘Ministers’ of ‘, Deacons’. 

21. Paragraph 1(c) of Act XV 2003 anent Scottish Criminal 

Records offi ce Checks of Ministers, Deacons and 

readers in Terms of the Police Act 1997 (as amended) 

is hereby amended to read “Deacon, for the purposes 


of this Act only, refers to all Deacons who are members 

of Presbyteries or holders of Practising Certifi cates. 

For the avoidance of doubt, this Act does not apply 

to members of Deacons’ Courts.” 

APPENDIX A 

CONSTITUTION OF DIACONATE COUNCIL 

Functions 

The Functions of the Diaconate Council hereinafter 

constituted shall be: 

a) To formulate and express the collective views of its 

members 

b) To make contacts with those engaged in like work at 

home and overseas 

c) To provide opportunity for in-service training and 

personal development 

Constitution 

The Council shall consist of: 

(i) All Deacons on the Active List 

(ii) All retired Deacons 

(iii) Deacons with a Practising Certifi cate may attend 

Council at their own expense and be non-voting 

members. 

(iv) Two members appointed by the Ministries Council 

(v) Deacons ordained or commissioned by the Church 

of Scotland who are serving overseas as members of 

another Church shall be entitled when on furlough to 

attend all meetings of the Council as corresponding 

members without the right to vote. 

Offi ce –bearers 

The Offi ce bearers shall be: 

A President, who shall hold offi ce for three years, and not 

be eligible for re-election. 

A Vice President, who shall hold offi ce for three years, and 

not be eligible for re-election.

A Secretary, who shall be appointed for three years and be 

eligible for reappointment. 

A Treasurer, who shall be appointed for three years and be 

eligible for reappointment. 

The President and the Vice President shall be elected by 

the Council in manner specifi ed in the Standing Orders. 

Committees 

Business Committee – a Business Committee to attend to 

business during the meetings of the Council and at other 

times, as agreed, between Councils, may be constituted in 

manner provided in Standing Orders. 

Other Committees 

The Council shall have power to appoint, if it so desires, 

other Committees to facilitate its business and to consider 

various aspects of the service undertaken by Deacons. 

Meetings 

The Council shall meet for one day in January/February of 

each year. 

The Council shall normally meet for two days in June of 

each year or as otherwise decided. 

The Council shall meet in public or in private as the 

Business Committee may decide. 

The Council may in exceptional circumstances meet at 

such other times as the Ministries Council appoint. 

Procedure 

Meetings shall each day be opened, and the Council 

closed with prayer. 

Other procedures shall be as set out in Standing Orders. 

The cost of Council, including the travelling expenses of 

full members of Council, shall be met by the Ministries 

Council. 

The Diaconate Council shall be represented on the 


Ministries Council through its President. 

The administration of the Council shall be serviced by a 

Secretary appointed by the Diaconate Council and an 

admin assistant appointed and fi nanced by Ministries 

Council. 

Local Associations of Deacons 

The Council shall set up Local Associations of Deacons, 

which shall have the following aims: 

a) To provide a fellowship of Deacons 

b) To be a channel through which Deacons may 

communicate to the Business Committee and/or 

Diaconate Council matters concerning Deacons or the 

wider interests of the Church 

c) To give an opportunity to Deacons to express their 

views on matters of public interest 

d) To be the body to liaise with such local groups as are 

related to the interest of the Diaconate 

e) To do all things necessary for or incidental to the 

Constitution 

Local Associations shall be governed by the Constitution 

Alteration of Constitution 

Any alteration to this Constitution may be made only by 

a two-thirds majority of the whole membership of the 

Diaconate Council, upon a motion of which seven days’ 

notice has been given to all members thereof. 

APPENDIX B 

THE DIACONATE COUNCIL – STANDING 

ORDERS 

Standing Orders 

Procedure at Meetings 

The President, or in his or her absence the Vice-President, 

shall preside, whom failing the Council shall appoint its 

own Chairperson. 

Proceedings each day shall be opened with prayer. 

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Business 

The business of the Council shall include:- 

(1) Election of Offi ce-bearers, Committees and 

Representatives on the Ministries Council, such 

election to take place at the meeting of the Council 

in June. 

(2) Reports from Local Associations, Committees of the 

Council, and the Ministries Council. 

(3) Initiation of discussion on any matters which concern 

the Diaconate and the wider interests of the Church. 

Election of Offi ce-bearers 

Nominations for the election of the President and Vice- 

President shall be sent in by Local Associations. Each Local 

Association shall send in a maximum of four nominations, 

selected from the whole membership of the Council, and 

those nominated must have been ordained/commissioned 

for at least fi ve years. The Secretary shall draw up a list 

which shall be sent to all Deacons, both active and retired, 

for their postal vote. 

Business Committee 

The President, Vice-President, Secretary and Presidents of the 

Local Associations shall constitute the Business Committee. 

Other Committees 

Any Committee appointed by the Council by virtue of the 

power conferred on it in the Constitution shall be given a 

special remit, and shall report to the Council. 

Finance 

Members may be required to pay an annual subscription 

fee. 

Any proposal involving fi nance amounting to more than 

the total of Council Funds shall, before action is taken, be 

referred to the Ministries Council. 

Minutes 

The Minutes of Diaconate Council shall be approved at the 

opening session of the next Council. 


Full Minutes of the proceedings of the Council shall be 

circulated to all members. 

Reports 

Reports from Local Associations and Committees of the 

Council shall reach the Secretary at least seven days before 

the meeting of the Council. 

Any Other Business 

Local Associations or individuals may request an item of 

competent business to be placed on the Agenda, giving 

seven days’ notice to the Council. Where shorter notice 

has been given, the mover shall briefl y introduce the item 

and the Council shall, without discussion, decide by simple 

majority to take up the item of business. 

Close of the Council 

When the business set down for the fi nal day of the session 

of the Diaconate Council has been completed, the Council 

shall appoint the date and place of its next meeting. 

Alterations of Standing Orders 

Seven days’ notice having been given, these Standing 

Orders, with the exception of the paragraph on Finance, 

may be altered by a two-thirds majority of the Diaconate 

present at a meeting of the Council. 

APPENDIX C 

LOCAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DIACONATE - 

CONSTITUTION 

1. The name shall be “Church of Scotland Diaconate…….. 

Local Association” 

2. Aim 

(a) To provide a fellowship for Deacons 

(b) To be a channel through which Deacons may 

communicate to the Diaconate Council matters 

concerning the Diaconate or the wider interests 

of the Church

(c) To give an opportunity to Deacons to express 

their views on matters of public interest 

(d) To be the body to liaise with such local groups as 

are related to the interests of the Diaconate 

(e) To do all things necessary for or incidental to the 

Constitution. 

3. The aim shall be reached by:- 

(a) holding at least four statutory meetings each 

year; 

(b) providing an opportunity for corporate worship, 

retreat and help for the devotional life of Deacons 

throughout the year; 

(c) submitting to the Council a report which will 

include matters referred to the Local Association 

by the Council; 

(d) initiating business for the Council. 

4. Membership 

All Active Deacons and retired Deacons, shall be full 

members of the Association. 

All Deacons holding a Practising Certifi cate shall be 

associated but without voting power. 

Deacons serving a probationary period shall be 

associated but without voting power. 

Deacons ordained/commissioned by the Church of 

Scotland who are serving overseas as members of 

another Church may be corresponding members, 

and when on furlough may attend meetings but may 

not vote. 

Deacons of other denominations may be associated. 

5. Offi ce Bearers 

The Association shall appoint its own offi ce-bearers 

and committee in accordance with a procedure 

agreed by the Association in advance. 

6. Subscriptions and meetings 

The Association shall fi x the amount of subscription 

and arrange the time and character of its meetings. 


7. Report for Council 

The adoption of the Association’s Report for the 

Council shall be moved by one of the offi ce-bearers. 

After adoption by the Association, the Report shall be 

dispatched so as to be in the hands of the Secretary 

of the Council seven days before the meeting of 

Council. 

8. Individual Business 

Any business brought forward by an individual 

Deacon, if rejected by the Association, shall if desired 

by the Deacon, be forwarded by the Association with 

full comments to the Secretary of the Council. 

9. Election of President and Vice-President of 

Council 

On the occasion of the election of a President or Vice- 

President of the Council, the Association shall send to 

the Secretary of the Council by the end of February 

not more than four nominations for each offi ce. 

Nominations shall be selected from the whole 

membership of the Council and must have been 

ordained / commissioned for not less than fi ve years. 

10. Change of Constitution 

Any change in this constitution proposed by the 

Association shall be notifi ed to all other Local 

Associations, as each Association is governed by the 

same Constitution, and shall become eff ective only 

when approved by the Council. 

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Task Progress/Update Additional Material Del 

2 PRIORITY AREAS WORK 

2.1 

Engaging Wider Church 

& Society 

Ongoing development 

and delivery of the Poverty 

Truth Commission 

2.2 Development of SCCoTTS 

Buddies 

Over the past year the Poverty Truth 

Commission, co-chaired by Lord Wallace of 

Tankerness (former Depute First Minister 

of Scotland) and Tricia McConalogue 

(Coordinator: Bridging the Gap) has continued 

to meet on a regular basis. Its work has focused 

on: kinship care; promoting alternatives to 

violence; and encouraging positive media 

images of people living in poverty. Regular 

information and updates are available from 

www.povertytruthcommission.org. 

Building upon the impact of Together for a 

Change – its international exchange programme 

– the Committee has worked in partnership with 

the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations 

to develop SCCoTTS Buddies. This will be an 

offi cial legacy programme of the Glasgow 

2014 Commonwealth Games, connecting 

communities in areas of poverty in Scotland 

and other parts of the Commonwealth.



2.3 Ongoing support of 

twinning 

New Models of Church 

Life 

2.4 Eff ective rolling out of 

Priority Areas Worship 

Strategy 

2.5 Support and development 

of ongoing local 

leadership within priority 

area congregations 

In the past year 4 new twinning relationships 

have been established. Work has also been 

undertaken in partnership with Glasgow 

Presbytery where twinning has formed 

part of the Presbytery Plan in the case of 7 


The Committee has built upon work 

undertaken previously on participative worship 

– through Soul Marks (www.soulmarks.co.uk) 

and Bible Study – through Unlock Glasgow 

(www.unlockglasgow.org.uk) and has now 

established a programme which will look to 

provide intensive support to a small number 

(six) congregations over the coming year to 

assist them to develop new models of worship 

appropriate to their local context. 

The Committee has continued to build 

upon its coaching programme – delivered in 

partnership with Auburn Theological Seminary 

[New York] (www.auburnsem.org). Over the 

past year another 12 people involved in a 

range of ministries within priority areas have 

undertaken the programme. 

The Committee has also established 

Transforming Lives and Bereavement Support 

training, two programmes designed to equip 

local people to be more eff ective in supporting 

their neighbours through diffi cult time. 

3

3/50 



2.6 Provision of new church 

buildings in Easterhouse: 

St George’s & St Peter’s and 

Garthamlock & Craigend 

East 

2.7 Establishment of an 

eff ective framework for 

enabling congregations 

in priority areas to develop 

and maintain sustainable 

buildings. 

In November contractors went on site to build 

new church buildings in two of the three 

church extension congregations which fall 

under the responsibility of the Priority Areas 

Committee. It is hoped that these buildings 

will be completed by autumn 2010, providing 

both congregations with valuable facilities as 

they engage with their local neighbourhoods. 

In September, the Council in collaboration 

with the Church & Society Council co-hosted 

Going Through the Roof – a one day conference 

designed to enable priority area congregations 

to respond more eff ectively to the challenge 

of climate change. 

In October, the Committee, in collaboration 

with the General Trustees and Faith in Community 

Scotland (www.faithincommunityscotland. 

org) published Letting It Happen – a handbook 

designed to help all congregations to improve 

upon the maintenance and usage of their 

church buildings. 

In December, the Committee – in partnership 

with the General Trustees – hosted a two day 

seminar under the leadership of One Church 100 

Uses (www.onechurch100uses.org) to explore 

ways in which new and entrepreneurial models 

for developing new church buildings within our 

very poorest communities can be developed. 

Plans are now underway to support the 

development of up to eight new community/ 

church buildings in some of Scotland’s poorest 

neighbourhoods over the next fi ve years. 

15



2.8 Increased levels of staffi ng 

in the areas where they 

are most needed. 

New Models of 

Community Life 

2.9 Support the ongoing 

development of the work 

of Faith in Community 

Scotland. 

The Committee has continued to support 

local congregations to access staffi ng posts 

within existing Presbytery Plans (14 new posts 

have been fi lled over the last year) and to 

encourage applications to the Priority Areas 

Staffi ng Fund (PASF). 

Applications to this fund continue to be 

lower than anticipated (4 in 2009) and in the 

last year the Committee has taken steps to 

increase support for congregations interested 

in making an application. 

Faith in Community Scotland (www. 

faithincommunityscotland.org) has continued 

to develop it portfolio of work over the past 

year. It has: 

• Built upon the ongoing work in Glasgow 

through the Transformation Team (www. 

transformationteam.org) which has, over 

the last four years, worked with over 100 

faith groups across the city. 

• Established Faith in Throughcare (www. 

faithinthroughcare.org) – a small team 

of staff committed to developing local 

networks of support for ex-off enders and 

their families. 

• Launched FiSCAF (Faiths in Scotland 

Community Action Fund) (www.fi scaf.org) 

– a new anti-poverty fund working across 

faiths, building upon the work of the Scottish 

Churches Community Trust. 

Copy of Annual 

Report available at 

www.faithincommun 

ityscotland.org 

3

3/52 



2.10 Development of a Priority 

Areas Youth Strategy. 

• Developed One Place (www.one-place. 

org) – an interfaith Storytelling and 

Participation Centre based in Govanhill 

(Glasgow) designed to increase awareness 

and understanding within Scotland’s most 

diverse neighbourhood. 

• Continued to support the development 

of work in Dundee (Faith in Community 

Dundee) which it is hoped will be launched 

in 2010. 

In February 2010, the Priority Areas Committee 

launched its youth strategy – An Option for 

the Young. The strategy seeks to lay out a 

programme designed to enable local churches 

to do all that they can to support eff ectively 

some of the most marginalized young people 

in Scotland. 

This work is being carried out in partnership 

with a wide range of other organizations 

including the Rank Foundation and the George 

Williams YMCA College. Our aspiration is to 

help to develop the next generation of youth 

leaders from within priority areas. 

Copy of An Option 

for the Young 

available at www. 

churchofscotland.org. 

uk/priorityareas.htm. 

16



3 VOCATION AND 

TRAINING WORK 

3.1 Enquiry & Assessment The Enquiry & Assessment process continues 

to attract strong numbers of people who 

seek to discern the call of God in their lives. 

At the time of writing, around 100 people 

are exploring the recognised ministries lying 

within the remit of the Ministries Council [ie. 

Readership, the Diaconate, and Ministry of 

Word and Sacrament (full-time and Auxiliary)], 

prior to assessment for training. 

The Council remains indebted to all those who 

serve as Church Assessors, Local Assessors and 

Presbytery Representatives. Presbyteries are 

encouraged to continue to nominate those 

people whom they feel have suitable gifts and 

abilities to serve in these roles. An invitation is 

sent out once per year to this eff ect. 

Seven new trainee Church Assessors have 

been appointed: 

Rev Liz Crumlish, Rev Andrew Gardner, Rev 

Brian Hendrie, Rev Rosemary Legge, Rev 

Christine Murdoch, Rev Thom Riddell and Dr 

Dot Weaks. They all now move forward into 

their initial training and probationary periods. 

Comparative Enquiry & Assessment Statistics 

for the years 2005 – 2009 can be found in the 

Table below (3.1). 

Table: Enquiry & 

Assessment Scheme 

Statistics 2005 – 

2009 (3.1) 

3

3/54 



3.2 Candidates’ Training and 

Support 

Various developments have taken place over 

the past year. 

The Ministries Training Network (MTN) is a series 

of regional meetings designed to enable 

Candidates to meet together for worship, 

peer support and learning. It seeks to establish 

good habits of refl ective practice, collaborative 

working and openness to learning, as well as 

giving the opportunity for spiritual growth 

and the development of good leadership 

skills. MTN has been reviewed and evaluated 

after the pilot of last year, and as a result some 

changes have been made to its delivery. 

Candidates meet in small regional groups 

and work with one facilitator throughout the 

year. The work which is required of Candidates 

integrates with and enhances other aspects 

of formation. A further review will take place 

once this year’s MTN has been completed. 

Provision for training for schools chaplaincy has 

been strengthened within the Candidates’ and 

Probationers’ Conference programmes and 

remains under review. Further opportunities 

to off er training in this area are being sought. 

The Candidate Task Group is working 

collaboratively with the Rural Strategy Group. 

The aim is to increase Candidates’ experience 

and understanding of the particular demands 

of rural ministry. 

Table: Statistics 

on Candidates in 

Training 2007 – 2010 

(3.2)



It is acknowledged that, in most cases, 

Candidates suff er considerable fi nancial 

hardship throughout training. Financial 

support is available from the Ministries 

Council in the form of local bursaries (awarded 

once per year) and hardship payments (paid 

as necessary for unexpected hardship). The 

amount paid out this year was considerably 

higher than the previous year, in an eff ort to 

further support Candidates. The Vocation and 

Training Committee is also reviewing the use 

of these types of funds to ensure that support 

is provided as eff ectively as possible. 

Probationers: The Moderator hosted a lunch 

to which all Probationers, and those on 

familiarisation placements, were invited. 

The Rev Dr Robin Hill, Convenor of the HIV/ 

Aids Project, outlined the main issues facing 

the Project and emphasized the importance 

of future church leaders having a fi rm 

understanding of these. Joel Cithinji, Mission 

Partner in Nepal, shared his experiences with 

those present. 

3

3/56 



3.2.1 Admissions and Re- 

Admissions 

Certifi cates of Eligibility have been issued to 

the following: 

Rev Dr Robert Calhoun 

Henley Baptist Church, Texas, USA 

Rev Robert Cleland 

Baptist Union of Scotland 

Rev Aftab Gohar 

Presbyterian Church of Pakistan 

Rev Johannes Groenewald 

Dutch Reformed Church, South Africa 

Rev Geoff rey McKee 

Baptist Union of Scotland 

Rev Dr Lectus Steenkamp 


Rev Jan Steyn 


Rev Jeff rey Tippner 

Presbyterian Church USA 

Conditional Certifi cate for appointments 

made in terms s.19 (4) of Act VIII 2003 (as 

amended) 

Rev John Butterfi eld 

Methodist Church of Great Britain 

Admitted to Status of Graduate Candidate 

Mrs Judith Breakey 

Reformed Church of Switzerland



3.3 Support Training The Ministries Council relies heavily on a 

number of diff erent groups of people who give 

their service willingly and voluntarily in support 

of the assessment and formation processes. 

These groups include National Church 

Assessors, Local Church Assessors, Presbytery 

Assessors, Presbytery Representatives, 

National Psychologist Assessors and Personal 

Development Interviewers. 

Throughout the year, training events take 

place, with the aim of providing suffi cient 

support for each individual confi dently to give 

service in the role to which they feel called. 

This is an area which the Vocation and Training 

Committee would like to expand further. 

Resources available, however, are limited and 

further discussions will take place regarding 

the feasibility of major future development. 

Over the past year the following training 

events have taken place: 

• Initial Training for Local Assessors/Presbytery 

Representatives 

• Group Meeting for Personal Development 

Interviewers (PDIs) 

• 24-hour training event for National Church 

Assessors, National Psychologist Assessors 

and PDIs 

• Training for Supervisors of Candidates (3 

days) 

• In-service Training for Supervisors (2 days) 

• Training Day for Supervisors of Probationers 

• Consultation Day for Supervisors of those 

on Familiarisation Placements (Admissions) 

3

3/58 



A fi ve day intensive training event for 10 

supervisors was held in March. The training 

was delivered by trainers from the Presbyterian 

Church of Canada. It was off ered to those 

who were already supervisors, with a view to 

establishing a pool of trained personnel who 

will then deliver training to new supervisors. 

This group will now develop and deliver a 

training package, based on the intensive 

training which they have received, which will 

be tailored to the needs of our candidates and 

supervisors. 

It is hoped in the future to off er in-service 

training to Local Assessors, Presbytery 

Assessors and Presbytery Representatives. It 

is also hoped to develop appraisal processes 

where they are not already in place, as an 

additional training and support mechanism. 

3.4 Women in Ministry Report The General Assembly of 2007 instructed 

the Ministries Council to report on the 

disproportionately lower number of women 

than men presenting for training for ministry. 

An interim report was received in 2008. Further 

research and analysis has been carried out and 

the full report can be found below (Section 

3.4). 

Numbers of Women 

Presenting for 

Ministry 

(Section 3.4) 

18

3.1 Enquiry and Assessment Scheme Statistics: 2005 – 2009 


2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 

M F Total M F Total M F Total M F Total M F Total 

Applicants for Ministry (all types) 35 26 61 40 23 63 50 31 81 40 32 72 44 22 66 

Entered Local Assessment 34 24 58 39 23 62 49 31 80 39 27 66 41 19 60 

Chose to Withdraw (locally) 4 2 6 5 1 6 11 6 17 15 6 21 3 0 3 

Completed Local Assessment 30 22 52 34 22 56 38 25 63 24 21 45 38 19 57 

Readership (Applicants) 4 3 7 8 8 16 3 8 11 

Readership Accepted 4 3 7 7 7 14 3 8 11 

Attended Assessment Conference 26 19 45 30 15 45 31 22 53 18 18 36 25 9 34 

Full-time Ministry (Applicants) 24 12 36 27 8 35 26 15 41 13 13 26 18 6 24 

Full-time Ministry Accepted 16 8 24 15 6 21 17 6 23 9 7 16 7 1 8 

Auxiliary Ministry (Applicants) 2 5 7 3 7 10 5 7 12 5 3 8 7 2 9 

Auxiliary Ministry Accepted 2 2 4 2 6 8 5 5 10 2 2 4 3 1 4 

Deacons (Applicants) 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 

Deacons Accepted 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 

First Time Applicants 19 20 39 26 15 41 26 18 44 15 15 30 24 9 33 

Accepted 13 10 23 16 11 27 17 10 27 9 10 19 10 2 12 

Returning Applicants 6 1 7 2 2 4 5 4 9 3 3 6 1 0 1 

Accepted 5 1 6 1 1 2 5 1 6 2 1 3 0 0 0 

M = male F = female 

3.2 Statistics on Candidates in Training 

2007 – 2010 

Number of full-time Candidates studying 

theology at University (across all years of study): 

2007 – 2008 2008 – 2009 2009 – 2010 

Glasgow 2 14 8 

Edinburgh 28 32 21 

Aberdeen 8 7 5 

St Andrews 4 3 1 

HTC 3 6 6 

Number of Auxiliary Candidates in Training 20 21 16 

Number of Readers in Training 47 39 41 

3

3/60 


3.2 Statistics on Candidates in Training 

2007 – 2010 

2007 – 2008 2008 – 2009 2009 – 2010 

Number of Readers set apart 

Candidates beginning their formation 

process 

14 17 8 

Full-time 26 15 7 

Auxiliary 11 4 4 

Diaconate 

Courses being followed by new full-time 

Candidates 

0 2 0 

Studying for undergraduate theology degree 17 10 4 

Studying for 2 years on a post-graduate 

programme 

7 2 2 

Tailored academic requirements 

Number of Probationers completing training 

2 1 0 

Full-time 29 30 23 

Auxiliary 4 1 5 

Diaconate 0 0 0 

Gender of Candidates in Training M F Aux Aux M F Aux Aux M F Aux Aux 

M F 

M F 

M F 

First Year 20 6 5 6 7 10 2 2 4 2 3 1 

Second Year 16 5 2 5 20 6 5 6 10 10 2 2 

Third Year 9 7 1 1 10 5 1 4 9 5 3 5

3.4 Numbers of Women Presenting for Ministry 

3.4.1 Background 

The General Assembly of 2007 instructed the Ministries 

Council to report on the disproportionately lower number 

of women than men presenting for training for ministry. 

An interim report was received in 2008 where the Enquiry 

& Assessment processes of the Church were examined to 

ascertain whether women were being “selected out” in 

any inadvertent way. The statistical research and analysis 

carried out confi rmed that women and men were being 

accepted in proportion to the number of applications 

[through the natural working out of the process and not 

by any policy], but did not answer the question of why 

fewer women presented for ministry. 

The 2008 report to the General Assembly agreed to 

continue the research, and raised the question for the 

whole Church as to why fewer women were coming 

forward. Possible factors noted were; 

• lack of fl exible training opportunities 

• a culture of resistance to recruitment and ordination of 

women in some areas [geographical and theological] of 

the church 

Lack of flexibilty in the 

Enquiry and Assessment Process 5% 

Other 26% 

Financial reasons 7% 

I could not pursue the area of Ministry 

in which I was interested due to age limits to training 19% 


• the lack of fl exible working patterns, with the 

overwhelming majority of appointments being fulltime 

and parish based 

• styles of leadership in the Church 

• women being discouraged by coming up against 

discrimination within the Church 

• the encouragement of men rather than women into 

leadership in the local church setting 

• women entering other forms of ministry 

The Ministries Council now reports its fi ndings for the 

interest of the whole Church, and thanks all those who 

contributed, and in particular the Revd. Dr Anne Logan 

for her valuable assistance and willingness to share her 

ongoing PhD research. 

3.4.2 Survey of Enquirers not proceeding into 

Ministry 

Taking the possible factors above, a questionnaire was 

developed and sent out to women who had registered 

to attend an Enquirers’ Conference over the last fi ve 

years. Around one third responded to the questionnaire 

representing around ¾ of Presbyteries. 

Lack of flexible 

training opportunities 4% 

Cultural resistance 0% 

Lack of flexible working patterns 5% 

Styles of leadership in the Church 4% 

Women being discouraged by coming 

up against discrimination in the Church 3% 

The encouragement of men rather 

than women into leadership in 

the local church setting 3% 

Family commitments 9% 

Local church commitments 4% 

Work commitments 11% 

3

3/62 

This was an interesting exercise which highlighted a 

number of reasons why women choose not to apply for 

Ministry, including, but not limited to age limits in place for 

training, local church commitments, family commitments, 

work commitments and other reasons. Only a small 

proportion of respondents noted gender discrimination 

or lack of encouragement due to gender as an issue. 

40 

35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Lack of 

flexibilty 

in the 

Enquiry 

and 

Assessment 

Process 

Lack of 

flexible 

training 

opportunities 

Lack of 

flexible 

working 

patterns 


Reason for not entering enquiry (as a percentage) 

Women 

Men 

Styles of 

leadership 

in the 

Church 

Family 

commitments 

A similar questionnaire was sent to men to fi nd out if the 

main reasons given by women were shared. The responses 

show a similar spread of reasons for not entering the 

Enquiry Process, with the exception of a notable diff erence 

when it came to age limits. Our research has shown that 

women often apply for the ministries of the church at a 

later age, which may account for this diff erence. 

Local 

church 

commitments 

Work 

commitments 

I could 

not pursue 

the area 

of Ministry 

in which 

I was 

interested 

due to age 

limits to 

training 

Financial 

reasons 

Other

When it came to comparing reasons for withdrawing from 

the process, there was a notable diff erence between the 

35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Lack of 

flexibilty 

in the 

Enquiry 

and 

Assessment 

Process 

Lack of 

flexible 

training 

opportunities 

Women 

Men 

Styles of 

leadership 

in the 



Reason for withdrawal (as a percentage) 

Family 

commitments 

male and female respondents when it came to fi nancial 

reasons, work, family and local church commitments. 

Local 

church 

commitments 

Work 

commitments 

Financial 

reasons 

Other 

3

3/64 

It should be noted that the questionnaire was sent only to 

those who registered to attend an Enquirers’ Conference 

and not to the wider Church, therefore missing out women 

[and men] who attend Church on a regular basis but do 

not pursue a Call to one of the recognised ministries of 

the Church. 

From interview research amongst women ministers it 

became evident that if a woman truly feels called to 

the full-time ministry of Word and Sacrament, she will 

overcome considerable barriers. There are women in 

ministry who have trained despite considerable fi nancial 

hardship; who have trained whilst being sole carers for 

children or for elderly parents; who have trained despite a 

lack of previous academic opportunity; who have trained 

despite a lack of support from family or friends. Whilst it is 

likely that men have also overcome some of these barriers, 

this particular piece of research is part of a larger study 

which was only carried out amongst women. 

3.4.3 Women and Eldership 

Recognising that women were admitted to the Eldership 

of the Church of Scotland only one year before the decision 

to allow women to be ordained as ministers of Word and 

Sacrament, it is interesting to note that women make up 

around 50% of the Eldership of the Church of Scotland and 

this is increasing year on year. This percentage is not being 

translated, however, when it comes to women serving as 

ministers of Word and Sacrament. 

It remains of concern to the Ministries Council that there 

are still a number of Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions who 

do not have any women Elders at all. An apparent tacit 

acceptance of this over the years by the Church allows 

such situations to remain unchallenged. 

3.4.4 Women and Ministries 

Using current year book statistics the following is of note:- 

• 21% of Ministers of Word and Sacrament are women 

• 40% of Auxiliary Ministers are women 


• 10% of Chaplains to HM Forces are women 

• 79% of Deacons are women 

• 38% of Presbytery and Parish Workers are women 

• 36% of Readers are women 

3.4.5 Patterns of Ordination of Women and Men 

between 1968 – 2008 

Examination of the patterns of women’s ordination to fulltime 

ministry of Word and Sacrament within the Church of 

Scotland shows a slow beginning. Not until 1988 does the 

number of women being ordained in a year reach double 

fi gures. The numbers peak in 1996 at 22 and thereafter the 

number of women being ordained each year declines. 

However, over the same period, the number of men 

being ordained in each year also shows a steady trend of 

decline. 

60 

50 

40 

30 

20 

10 

0 

Numbers of male and female 

ordinations compared 

-10 

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 

Men 

Woman 

Linear (Men) 

Linear (Woman) 

In 2005, the number of women ordained [9] was the same 

as the number of men [9]. In the following three years, the 

number of men being ordained began to show a slight 

increase while the number of women being ordained 

continued to fall. Whilst it is too early to consider this a 

trend, if seen in conjunction with the graphs below from 

Assessment Conference fi gures, the situation bears further 

watching over the next few years.

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

0 

Male and Female Applicants 

Compared 

Male and Female Acceptances 

Compared 

3.4.6 Areas of concern 

3.4.6.1 A failure of the National Church to Recognise 

Fully the Ordination of Women 

Although the numbers of men and women seeking 

ordination reached parity briefl y in 2005, the fact remains 

that after forty years women represent only 21% of the fulltime 

ordained ministry within the Church of Scotland. From 

recent research amongst women ministers, it becomes 

apparent that they recount stories of increasing change 

and acceptance from within congregations. Congregations 

and individual members, when exposed to the ministry of 

women, often become supporters of women’s ministry (This 

pattern is supported by evidence from USA and England). 1 

1 Lehman, E ‘Women Clergy: Breaking through Gender Barriers’, Transaction 

Inc. New Brunswick. 1985 and Jones, I ‘Women and Priesthood in the 

Church of England’ CHP, London 2004. 


Female 

Male 

Accept F 

Accept M 

Most women ministers, however, also recount ‘war stories’, 

stories of rejection, intolerance, bullying and patronising, 

including from amongst their male colleagues. The rejection 

of women by some male colleagues is generally perceived 

by women ministers to be increasing. There is also a 

perception that attitudes are hardening over the years. 

There is a widespread concern among women ministers 

about the lack of structural change. Theoretically, the 

Church of Scotland supports the ordination of women: 

in reality, it does nothing to confront those ministers and 

congregations who reject it. After forty years, there are 

very few male ministers in parishes who were ordained 

before women’s ministry was accepted in the Church of 

Scotland. There are, however, entire geographical areas 

(including also congregations within the Central Belt) who 

reject women’s ministry, and the Church as an institution 

has done nothing to address the issue. 

The Ministries Council is aware that, although candidates 

are asked specifi cally about their attitudes to the 

ordination of women during the assessment process, a 

number of candidates go on to practice non-acceptance 

after ordination. 

3.4.6.2 Repositioning of the Church 

It has been suggested that the issue of Women’s Ministry 

is an indicator of the place any denomination wishes to 

hold, vis a vis other denominations 2 . It could be argued 

that in 1968, when the Church of Scotland accepted the 

arguments in favour of women’s ministry, it did so, not 

because of demands from women (there were, at the time 

relatively few women seeking ordination in the Church 

of Scotland), but because the denomination wished to 

project itself as a modernising, forward thinking, encultured 

Church. It may be that the perceived hardening of attitudes 

against women’s ministry is an indication that some within 

the Church of Scotland would wish to reposition the 

denomination as a ‘counter cultural’ Church. 

2 Chaves, Mark ‘Ordaining Women: Culture and Confl ict in Religious 

Organisations’ Harvard University Press. Cambridge Mass. 1997 

3

3/66 

3.4.6.3 Women leaving the Church 

All of this must be set in the context of the wider Church. 

Professor Callum Brown of Dundee argues that much of 

the decline in churchgoing in Scotland has been caused 

by the haemorrhage of women from the institutional 

Churches 3 . As the number of women coming forward for 

ordination falls, it would be important to consider that 

against a background of falling female membership of 

Churches in Scotland. This is an area in which the Church 

of Scotland should consider further research. 

3.4.6.4 Age profi le of Ministry 

In carrying out some of the research above, another 

matter of concern was uncovered. Whilst comparing 

the age profi les of male and female ministers it became 

apparent that, whilst there is little of interest in the gender 

comparisons of age, there are issues about the age profi le 

of Church of Scotland ministers in general. 

• 25% of ministers are over the age of 60 

• 66% of ministers are over the age of 50 

• Only 6.4% of ministers are under the age of 40 (of whom 

78.4% male and 21.6% female) 

The following questions should be asked: 

• does an ageing membership encourage an ageing 

ministry? 

• does an ageing ministry encourage an ageing 

membership? 

• does the age profi le of ministry connect readily with the 

age profi le of our communities? 

3 Brown, Callum ‘Religion and Society in Scotland since 1707’ EUP, 

Edinburgh. 1997 


3.4.7 Conclusions 

Considering the fi gures on ordination and Enquiry and 

Assessment it would be diffi cult to conclude at this stage 

that women are presenting in signifi cantly lower numbers 

than men. The fi gures on ordination show a gradual 

convergence of the genders to arrive at parity in 2005. 

Nonetheless, it is notable that only 21% of ministers of 

Word and Sacrament are women. The rise in the fi gures 

for men in the last three years may be the beginning of 

a trend and would bear careful monitoring and further 

research. 

The attitudes of some male ministers, and the lack of a 

complete acceptance across the Church of the ordination 

of women, remain a cause for concern for many women 

ministers interviewed. In particular the de facto sanctioning 

of those who ‘opt out’ of accepting women’s ministry is 

hurtful. 

It would also be in the interests of the Church to engage 

in further research on whether the gender composition of 

the Church as a whole is changing and if so, why. 

The rapidly ageing profi le of the ministry also gives cause 

for concern. The Church would benefi t from further 

research which considers the age profi le of the ministry in 

the context of the age profi le within congregations.



4 Support and 

Development 

4.1 Prepare a brief for 

the appointment of a 

Development Offi cer 

to lead the church in 

a programme raising 

deaf awareness and in 

developing ministry to 

the Deaf Community in 

Scotland. 

Following on last year’s report to the General 

Assembly, the Ministries Council prepared a 

brief for the appointment of a Development 

Worker to lead the church in rolling out a 

programme of raising D/deaf awareness, 

expanding the work of the church amongst 

the deaf community and succession planning 

for future ministry amongst the D/deaf. At the 

time of writing this report the recruitment 

process was underway and the Council 

hopes that it will be able to introduce a newly 

appointed member of staff to the General 

Assembly. 

In addition, the Council supported one 

congregation in a project to test out the 

eff ectiveness of voice activated sub-titling 

within the context of worship. The Council 

looks forward to receiving an evaluation 

report which it will make available to other 

congregations who may be considering this 

kind of development. 

3

3/68 



4.2 Take forward the aims 

of the Guild sponsored 

project A Place for Hope. In 

particular deliver: 

• A launch pad ecumenical 

conference to explore all 

aspects of confl ict in the 

church 

• A team of trained 

mediators to work with 

local congregations 

• A centre for peace and 

reconciliation to serve 

Scotland 

As reported above (section 1.5), the Aviemore 

Conference, “Christianity, Confl ict and the Soul 

of the Nation” proved to be an event which 

more than fulfi lled the expectations of its 

organizers and participants. One immediate 

result of this event has been the opportunity 

quickly to move towards the goal of training a 

cohort of mediators who will be available to 

facilitate early interventions in congregational 

confl icts. Under the auspices of Core Solutions, 

the Council has been able to develop an 

advanced course on mediation which has 

been especially tailored to meet the needs 

of the church. This, together with a further 

programme of training later this year, to be led 

by Professor David Brubaker, will provide the 

team with the highest quality of preparation 

for this vital work. 

One spin off from this event has been the 

development of a website dedicated to 

the project A Place for Hope. At http://www. 

placeforhope.org.uk it is possible to hear 

the Keynote Addresses from the Aviemore 

Conference and share some of the featured 

Workshop materials. 

It is also a matter of great encouragement 

to the Council that the Rev John Christie 

has decided to promote A Place for Hope 

throughout his year as Moderator. With its 

continuing concern about the need for the 

church to fi nd more mature ways to deal with 

diff erence, the Council commends the eff orts 

of A Place for Hope to the whole church.



4.3 Continue to introduce the 

process of Accompanied 

Review for all the 

recognised Ministries of 

the church. 

In the past year the Council has engaged 

in an exercise of raising the profi le of the 

Accompanied Review process. The aim was 

to encourage more people to review their 

ministry and utilise the expertise of our trained 

Facilitators. 

Presentations have been delivered to twelve 

Presbyteries, most of these at full Presbytery 

meetings. Our thanks go to those Facilitators 

who have helped out with this exercise. 

We followed up on these presentations by 

sending out personal invitations, supported 

by a new leafl et describing the process in 

some detail, to all ministers and ministries staff 

in those Presbyteries. As a result, a handful of 

new requests were received to take up the 

process. 

In the last twelve to eighteen months, 

approximately twenty new participants have 

engaged in the process. This is not nearly 

enough, so the aim is to deliver further 

presentations at Presbyteries and various 

training conferences organised by the 


The Council is convinced that the process of 

Accompanied Review is an essential tool for 

engagement in today’s ministry and it will 

continue its consideration of how this process 

might become embedded in the practice of 

ministry. As alluded to below (Section 4.8), the 

Council, in the course of its review of training, 

will turn its mind to the place of regular review 

in the context of continuing education and 

personal development. 

19 

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4.4 Continue to develop 

lines of communication 

between the Ministries 

Council and those working 

in chaplaincies and other 

ministries under other 

employment agencies. 

The Council has continued its commitment 

to arranging regional gatherings for Chaplains 

who work across a range of disciplines outside 

of the confi nes of the church. This year’s 

gathering was held in Edinburgh and was 

addressed by Ann Morisy. As well as this input, 

the event itself provided a real opportunity 

for networking and sharing of ideas. The 

Council will continue to develop this means 

of keeping in touch with those who exercise 

their ministry in various Chaplaincy roles. 

The establishment of a Chaplaincies 

Forum under the aegis of the Support and 

Development Committee is a further step that 

has been taken to widen the group of chaplains 

able to enter into dialogue with members of 

the Council. The Forum is representative of the 

widest range of people working in chaplaincy 

and it gives an opportunity for two-way 

conversations on issues that are of common 

interest.



4.5 Devise a liturgy for a 

Service of Introduction for 

Chaplains. 

4.6 As instructed by the 

GA 2009, undertake a 

review of the chaplaincy 

arrangements in NHS 

Boards and report to the 

General Assembly of 2010. 

Over the past two years, members of the 

Chaplaincies Task Group and Forum have 

discussed the possibility of publishing a 

liturgy which could be used at Services of 

Introduction where a Presbytery was being 

asked to conduct such a service in the context 

of an otherwise secular environment. However, 

the wide variety of possible contexts and the 

need to be particularly sensitive to local needs 

and circumstances has led to the conclusion 

that no one structure or liturgy could be 

applied universally. 

Instead the Council asks Presbyteries who 

are involved in preparing such Services of 

Introduction to be particularly sensitive to the 

way in which these services are put together 

and to ensure that the widest possible 

range of people from the “client group” are 

involved and, where possible, the interests 

of other denominations and faith groups are 

represented. 

Some foundation work has been done by the 

Council and sample resources can be made 

available on request. 

At last year’s General Assembly concerns were 

raised about the way appointments of NHS 

Spiritual Care Advisers are made and the Council 

was asked to engage in a review of procedures. 

The outcome of that Review is reported below 

(section 4.6). As a result, the Council reiterates 

its strong recommendation to Presbyteries 

that they become fully engaged in the work 

of their Local Spiritual Care Committee (LSCC). 

The Council remains willing to assist in making 

contact with the LSCC where such intervention 

is appropriate and helpful. 

Review of NHS 

Spiritual Care 

Chaplaincy 

Appointments 

(4.6) 

20 

21 

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4.7 Continue to review the 

structure of Workplace 

Chaplaincy (formerly 

Scottish Churches 

Industrial Mission) 

Over the past year, the Council has continued 

to work with ecumenical partners towards the 

restructuring and reinvigoration of workplace 

chaplaincy in Scotland. Agreement has been 

reached to draft a new constitution for a single 

body – Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland – to 

replace both the Scottish Churches Industrial 

Mission Council and the Industrial Mission 

Trust. It is hoped that the work of registering 

this new body as a charity in its own right can 

be completed in the coming months. 

Changes in staffi ng over recent years have 

meant that the work has necessarily been 

reduced to a much lower profi le than in the 

past, but as this report goes to print, applications 

are being received for the appointment of 

a new National Director, whose role will be 

signifi cantly diff erent from the current one. 

It will include an element of seeking funding 

as well as a clear management responsibility. 

With the completion of the transfer to the new 

Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland board, the 

Director will relate directly to the new body as 

the policy-making, management group. New 

staff appointments to posts currently vacant will 

follow upon the appointment of the Director.



4.8 Administer and monitor 

current study leave 

schemes. 

4.9 Organise and deliver 

training days, as required, 

for Elders as Interim 

Moderators. 

The Study Leave Scheme continues to provide 

those in the Ministries of the church with a 

vast range of opportunities for further study 

and personal development. During the last 

year the annual Study Leave Allowance was 

increased by £25 to £275. 

The Council is committed to the development 

of this Scheme, but realizes that, as it is more 

than 10 years since it was fi rst introduced, it 

is time to review some of its fundamental 

tenets. In particular the Council will explore 

the potential for a relationship between the 

Accompanied Review process and the choices 

made in relation to personal and professional 

development in ministry. The Council would 

hope to present some initial thinking on this 

matter within its overall review of training and 

formation for the ministries of the church. 

In June 2009, some 12 elders from 6 

Presbyteries were trained in accordance with 

the requirements of Act VIII 2003. The Council 

is currently collecting the names of others 

being submitted by Presbyteries and will 

arrange another training event some time in 

the coming year. 

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4.10 Continue monitoring and 

development of Interim 

Ministry, both regional 

and peripatetic. 

Since last year’s General Assembly, the 

Ministries Council has appointed a further 

two Interim Ministers to the team. At the time 

of writing, the spheres of deployment for 

these new team members, the Rev Eleanor 

McMahon and the Rev Alan Ward, are still to 

be confi rmed. This brings the total number 

of Interim Ministers to 9. They are actively 

involved both in a variety of Charges and also 

in support of the Council’s commitment to 

confl ict resolution through mediation. 

For the fi rst time an Interim Minister has 

been involved in an intervention abroad, in 

Lausanne, within the Presbytery of Europe. The 

work of Interim Ministry is demanding, and in 

some Interim Ministry situations, the Ministries 

Council is becoming increasingly aware both 

of the challenges off ered by buildings which 

are no longer fi t for purpose, as well as of new 

forms of ministry which need to be developed 

to enable congregations to be the Church in 

demanding circumstances. 

It has been a particular pleasure for the Council 

that one of its Interim Ministers, the Rev John 

Christie has been appointed as Moderator 

Designate. The Council is sure that he will 

bring great quality to this offi ce and wishes 

him well in his year as Moderator.



4.11 Establish a broad-based 

approach to the provision 

of the Ministry of Health 

and Healing in the church. 

4.12 Ongoing oversight of 

the regional delivery of 

Occupational Health 

provision and review 

of its benefi ts and cost 

eff ectiveness. 

The Council has been indebted to the Very 

Rev David Lunan for his leadership throughout 

a period of consultation on the place and 

development of the ministry of healing in the 

Church of Scotland. As a result of this work 

the Council is pursuing a number of areas of 

development. As a fi rst step, plans are in place 

to hold three regional conferences on the 

Ministry of Healing in June, in partnership with 

the Christian Fellowship of Healing. 

As this area of interest involves a wide range 

of people, not only those in the recognised 

ministries of the Church, the Council hopes 

to have discussions with the Mission & 

Discipleship Council about developing and 

promoting engagement in this ministry. 

Over the last year the Support and 

Development Committee of the Council has 

reviewed the usage and eff ectiveness of the 

Occupational Health Scheme. In the course of 

this review the Council has been satisfi ed that 

the regional delivery of this service has worked 

well. Ministers and PPW’s have had ready 

access to the service with early appointments 

being made available whenever necessary. 

The costs have been contained well within 

budget, and while the Council will keep a 

watching brief on this service, it has no reason 

to suggest that there should be any changes 

to the current provision. 

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4.13 Organise a pilot scheme 

for the provision of 

supportive supervision 

of Presbytery pastoral 

advisers and chaplains. 

Chaplains and/or Pastoral Advisers from 6 

Presbyteries were introduced in June 2009 

to the concept of confi dential supportive 

supervision. The training sessions for this 

were provided by Scottish Institute for 

Human Relations. This small group now 

constitutes a pilot scheme and the SIHR has 

been contracted to provide those involved 

with regular supervision sessions. The Council 

is committed to expanding the network of 

locally provided pastoral support and believes 

that the provision of supportive supervision 

is another signifi cant step in the process 

of delivering a rigorous level of care. The 

Council will evaluate the eff ectiveness of the 

pilot scheme and if it proves to be eff ective, 

it will seek to expand this service to other 

Presbyteries. 

In connection with the development of 

Pastoral Networks the Council is delighted 

that the Very Rev David Lunan, Mrs Maggie 

Lunan, the Very Rev Andrew McLellan, the 

Rev John MacLean and Mrs Iris MacLean have 

agreed to augment the pastoral services of 

the Council by joining a Pastoral Care Team. 

They will work on an occasional basis for the 

Council and geographically they will be able 

to cover major areas of the country. Presbytery 

Chaplains and Pastoral Advisers should be 

aware of their availability and their willingness 

to be called upon should the need arise.



4.14 Monitor the support made 

available to the recently 

ordained 

In the mid-nineties, when the drop-out rate 

in the early years of ministry was alarmingly 

high, the then Board of Ministry instructed 

Presbyteries to ensure that ministers in the 

fi rst fi ve years of ministry were accompanied 

by a Presbytery-appointed Pastoral Adviser. In 

2001, when the General Assembly affi rmed 

a new structure for Pastoral Advisers and 

Colleagues, it was agreed that ministers and 

Deacons in the fi rst three years of ministry 

should be accompanied by a Pastoral Adviser. 

It was further agreed that, at the latest, by the 

end of that fi rst three year period, all ministers 

and Deacons should have been integrated into 

their Presbytery’s overall pastoral care scheme. 

Unfortunately there have been a number of 

recent reports that local support is not being 

provided by some Presbyteries. The Council is 

acutely aware that some Presbyteries fi nd their 

resources of personnel stretched to the limits. 

However, this is too important an issue to be 

allowed to slip through the net. Accordingly, the 

Council believes that the time is right to remind 

Presbyteries of the instruction to support those 

in the early years of ministry. In addition, given 

the number of new appointments being made 

of Presbytery and Parish Workers, it is appropriate 

to ensure that those who are involved in these 

ministries are also included Presbytery pastoral 

support networks. 

Where Presbytery resources are stretched to 

supply this need it is suggested that Presbyteries 

look beyond their own membership (for example, 

thinking ecumenically), or even beyond their 

own Presbytery boundaries in order to ensure 

that those women and men are properly support 

in the early years of their ministry. 

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4.6 Review of NHS Spiritual Care Chaplaincy 

Appointments 

At the outset it needs to be acknowledged that the Ministries 

Council has no locus to review the procedures adopted by 

NHS Boards with regard to Spiritual Care Chaplains. Over 

several years from 2004 on, the Church of Scotland has noted 

and then approved of steps being taken to transfer all Health 

Care Chaplains into the employ of NHS Boards. It could not 

have been made clearer to the General Assembly that the 

implication of this policy shift was the removal from the 

church of the infl uence it had previously enjoyed in making 

and approving these appointments. At the time, however, 

the General Assembly was convinced that the advantages 

of this shift far outweighed the disadvantages. Subsequently 

this has proved to be the case, with many Chaplains reporting 

that their integration into the structure of local Health Boards 

has strengthened their role within the NHS. 

In its Supplementary Report last year, the Council 

emphasised the need for Presbyteries to become fully 

involved in their Local Spiritual Care Committee (LSCC). This 

is essential if they are to enjoy any kind of real infl uence on 

the making of appointments, or in the establishing of such 

matters as the “good standing” of applicants. Nonetheless, 

the Council was asked to examine matters more thoroughly 

and as a result, the Support and Development Committee 

consulted with Presbyteries, Health Care Chaplains and 

Chief Executives of Health Boards to try to establish how 

eff ectively LSCCs were working and whether suggestions 

for improvements could be made. 

Unfortunately the returns do not point to any conclusive 

results. Only 20 out of a possible 43 Presbyteries responded. 

Half of these reported that they were represented on their 

LSCC and 6 out of those 10 reported that they kept their 

Presbytery up to date with information. One Presbytery 

reported that they felt that rural communities were poorly 

represented while another rural Presbytery reported no 

problems and improved awareness of links. One Presbytery 

detected a “dumbing-down” of Chaplaincy and a widening 

gap between Spiritual Care and the church while another 


spoke in very encouraging terms of there being a “higher 

profi le” for Spiritual Care and more opportunities for training. 

One Presbytery was critical of appointments being made 

of non-ordained Chaplains and was also unhappy that 

Roman Catholic denominational Chaplains were still being 

appointed while specifi cally Church of Scotland Chaplains 

were not. This, however, is a direct result of the policy 

shift deliberately and consciously taken by the General 

Assembly, while the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland 

actively pursued a diff erent course of action. 

In the main, positive statements about developments in 

Spiritual Care come from those who are well represented 

on LSCCs while the more negative perceptions come 

from those who are not, as yet, properly represented. One 

Health Board off ered a very detailed return which appears 

to be a model of how a LSCC, which straddles several 

Presbyteries, might be constituted and the Council will be 

happy to make that model available on request. 

In conclusion the Council does not believe that it has a 

role in infl uencing NHS Boards or LSCCs from a national 

perspective. Instead it believes that active representation 

on LSCCs is of the utmost importance. There are many 

regional variations and micro-cultures across Scotland 

that can only be represented if Presbyteries are prepared 

to be pro-active in their involvement. 

In the light of this, the Council recommends that where 

Presbyteries are already involved as members of LSCCs 

they continue to work hard at making their presence count 

and to work collaboratively with their colleagues across 

the denominations and other faiths who care passionately 

about the provision of Spiritual Care within the NHS. 

For those who are not yet represented on LSCCs, it is of 

the utmost importance that Presbyteries indicate their 

willingness to become actively involved. In this connection 

if an individual Presbytery has any diffi culty in establishing 

contact or in being represented on a LSCC, the Council will 

be happy to assist and support their application.


Task Progress / Update Additional Material Del 

5 PLANNING & 

DEPLOYMENT WORK 

5.1 Maintain the process of 

Presbytery Planning - 

requests for alterations 

to plans, annual reviews 

of plans, fi ve year reviews 

of plans, building 

determinations. 

5.2 Conduct an overview of 

the Presbytery Planning 

process, taking into 

account the need for 

Strategic Planning and 

Mission. Assess the 

applicability of the Future 

Focus project of Mission 

and Discipleship to 

Presbytery Planning. 

During the year the Presbytery Planning 

Task Group has continued to monitor the 

planning system. Alterations to plans have 

been considered and approved, annual 

reviews of plans noted and consultations with 

Presbyteries have been undertaken where 

more diffi cult planning issues have been 

discussed. 

Of the 44 Presbyteries in Scotland and 

England, at 1 February 2010, 9 Presbyteries 

had not complied with the General Assembly 

instruction to submit their buildings 

determinations. The Presbytery Planning Task 

Group will continue to engage with these 

Presbyteries. 

Considerable thinking and work has taken 

place, much of which is refl ected in material 

relating to Presbytery Planning, fi nance and 

numbers above (Section 1.4). 

The proposals presented above were 

prepared in consultation with representatives 

of Presbyteries, who were invited to two 

consultations in November 2009 and February 

2010. These consultations were well received 

and the Council appreciated the input 

received, which went towards shaping what 

now lies before the General Assembly. 

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5.3 Maintain employment 

processes for PPWs - 

opening new posts 

and closing old ones 

as Presbytery Plans are 

altered, fi lling vacancies as 

they arise. 

5.4 Maintain Summer Work 

Experience programme - 

placements, applicants. 


training and appraisal 

systems for PPWs and their 

line managers. 


Despite staffi ng changes and a measure of 

restructuring during the year, employment 

processes for PPWs were maintained and 

developed. The help and support of the staff 

of the Human Resources department was 

much appreciated and the two departments 

work ever more effi ciently together. A new 

recruitment Microsite was developed, 

allowing much clearer information about PPW 

vacancies to be made available. It is hoped 

that this might be extended to congregational 

vacancies in due course. 

The programme was restricted this year to 

Church of Scotland ministries candidates, and 

for the fi rst time placements were made in 

cooperation with the Priority Areas Committee 

of the Council. Four placements were in 

Priority Area parishes and three placements in 

Highland and Island Presbyteries. Those serving 

in Priority Areas had a programme of meeting 

and refl ection built into their experience and 

it is hoped to add this dimension to the other 

placements this year. Because of budgetary 

constraints, numbers will be held at eight for 

the Summer of 2010. 

The appointment of Mrs Anne Law, as MSO on 

the Council staff with a specifi c training focus, 

should see this area of work considerably 

develop in the coming year. In addition to 

her appointment, a more generous budget 

has been allocated, this being considered an 

important priority for the Council. 

An induction process for new PPWs is planned, 

alongside developments in team training, 

appraisal training and line management 

training. Other dimensions of training will be 

planned and introduced through the year.

5.6 Maintain NCD processes - 

regular reviews of all NCD 

charges, appointments to 

Commissions. 

5.7 Process issues of land 

purchase in cooperation 

with ACTS. 

5.8 Revise the NCD Act and 

consider associated legal 

issues. 


The Council supports 13 NCD Charges as 

follows:- 

Edinburgh: Gilmerton 

Dunfermline: St Paul’s East 

Paisley: St Ninian’s Ferguslie 

Perth: Riverside 

Greenock: East End 

Dundee: Whitfi eld 

Glasgow: Robroyston 

Aberdeen: Cove 

Glasgow: Whiteinch 

Aberdeen: New Stockethill 

Glasgow: Wallacewell 

Inverness: St Columba 

East Kilbride: Stewartfi eld 

During the last year, NCD Commissions have 

been established for Glasgow: Wallacewell 

and for Inverness: St Columba. 

An 8-Year Review has been carried out for 

Aberdeen: Cove and a 5-Year Review for 

Paisley: St Ninian’s Ferguslie. 

The Council is pleased to bring the NCD 

charge of Glasgow: Whiteinch to the General 

Assembly for raising to full status. 

The ACTS Being Church Task Group, on which 

the Council is represented, continues to 

explore these issues, in particular becoming 

involved with planning issues over a proposed 

new development in Clackmannanshire. 

Work has progressed with revision of the Act 

covering New Charge Development work. The 

Council present the proposed amendment to 

Act XIII 2000 as outlined below (Section 5.8) 

Charge Moving 

to Full Status – 

Glasgow: Whiteinch 

(5.6) 

and 

Appendix 1: Act 

anent Glasgow: 

Whiteinch 

Revisions of Act 

XIII, 2000 (5.8) + 

Appendix 2 

22 

23 + 

24 

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5.9 Develop learning network 

for NCD/ EM practitioners. 

5.10 Operate the Emerging 

Ministries Fund - 

processing applications. 


A signifi cant conference was arranged in 

November 2009, which was addressed by 

Bishop Graham Cray of Fresh Expressions and 

Stuart Murray Williams of Urban Expression. 

This brought together those involved in both 

New Charge Development and Emerging 

Ministries for the fi rst time, and was widely 

appreciated. 

During 2009, the Fund distributed £280,600 to 

20 Projects:- 

Tulloch Net (Perth) 

Westacres (Newton Mearns) 

The Ark (Newmains) 

Lion Rampant (Glasgow) 

Sanctuary First (Bo’ness) 

The Gateway (Duns Presbytery) 

Connect (Brucefi eld) 

Church on the Move (Eskdale) 

Glasgow Harbour 

Messy Church (Selkirk) 

Fridays in Faith (Annan) 

Sgeul Mor @ Sabhal Mor (Skye) 

Hot Chocolate (Dundee) 

Howard Centre (Kilmarnock) 

Glasgow City Centre 

Connect (Musselburgh) 

Urban Expression (Glasgow) 

Infuse (Inverness) 

Emerge Granton (Edinburgh) 

Andrew’s Place (London) 

Citylife (Edinburgh) 

The Aidan Project (Edinburgh) 

Several other projects are under 

consideration by the Task Group.

5.11 Evolve the strategy for the 

development of Emerging 

Ministries, in cooperation 

with the Mission and 

Discipleship Council. 

5.12 Develop the application 

of the Mission Shaped 

Ministry Course to 

Scotland, in cooperation 

with ecumenical partners. 

5.13 Monitor application of 

video technology for 

worship. 


The Joint Working party on Emerging Church 

has continued its regular Programme of 

meetings. Having reported in 2009 through 

the Ministries Council, it reports this year 

through the Mission & Discipleship Council. 

A very considerable demand for this course has 

become apparent during the year. Ecumenical 

planning meetings took place, with invaluable 

help from Pete and Kath Atkins of Fresh 

Expressions, the Church of England/ Methodist 

project. As a result, Vision Days were, held in 

Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness, which 

were well attended, as were the follow-up 

Mission Shaped Intro courses, also held in 

Glasgow, Edinburgh (121 George Street and 

also Barclay Church) and Inverness. 

Two full year-long courses are now well 

underway in Inverness (42 attending) and 

Glasgow (18 attending). The Council is greatly 

encouraged that so many people have 

expressed a deep interest in church planting, 

and looks forward to further developments. 

In addition, the Invest course, based in Glasgow: 

Whiteinch Church of Scotland, has received 

modest support from the Council, through 

the sponsoring of four students through the 

course in 2009-10. The Vocation and Training 

Committee of the Council has also backed 

participation. 

The Emerging Ministries Fund gave a grant to 

Caithness Presbytery and is pleased to report 

that equipment has been purchased for two 

congregations, with funds for installations 

in a further two congregations being raised 

locally. 

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5.14 Develop peripatetic 

mode of deployment of 

Deacons. 

5.15 Develop Secondment 

opportunities for Ministers 

to long term vacant 

parishes. 

5.16 Assist development of 

Gaelic services at Crown 

Court Church, London. 


the use of GIS Software, 

in cooperation with the 

Statistics for Mission 

group. 


Two Deacons have been deployed in Lochaber 

and Caithness Presbyteries. They started work 

in November 2009. The Deacon in Caithness 

will have prime responsibility for encouraging 

and coordinating an Ordained Local Ministry 

pilot training project, as well as advising and 

supporting congregations Presbytery wide. 

In Lochaber, the Deacon is assigned to three 

congregations recently linked, in order to off er 

support after a long period of uncertainty. 

Secondment was advertised to Ministers in 

December and four have expressed an interest. 

At the time of writing, there is nothing further 

to report. 

Contact continues with the group who make 

arrangements for the Gaelic Services in Crown 

Court, and support has been given through 

small grants. 

The Statistics for Mission Group has met 

through the year and this project is slowly 

developing. It will be expanded as the 2011 

Census approaches, in order to extract 

maximum benefi t to the Church from the 

information that this will make available. This 

will inform the Presbytery Planning process, 

as well as allowing Presbyteries and their 

congregations to understand better the 

context in which the mission of the church is 

undertaken.

5.6 Charge Moving to Full Status – Glasgow: 

Whiteinch 

At the request of the Core Group and the Presbytery of 

Glasgow, the Emerging Ministries Task Group, within the 

Ministries Council, agreed to request the General Assembly 

to erect the congregation of Glasgow: Whiteinch (which 

was constituted as a New Charge in February 2000) to a 

charge in full status. This request has the full support of 

the Ministries Council and of the General Trustees. The 

relevant statistics are as follows: 

Formal Membership 40 (Attendance 150) 

Parish Population 4,800 

Contribution towards Stipend £22,443 

Repayment Liability 0 

Creation of the Charge 2000 

Erection of Church Building N.A. 

Summary of Charge Activity 

The congregation is committed to an incarnational 

model of mission, which sees it seeking to enter the 

culture of those sections of the community that are 

currently not part of the faith community. This has led to 

the multi-congregational approach, focused on children 

(Revolution), youth (Encounter) and families (Sunday 

congregation). Each section of the congregation has its 

own form of leadership team, worship, discipleship and 

outreach. The congregation worships in rented premises 

and has a manse situated at 65 Victoria Park Drive South, 

Glasgow. There is also a joint initiative with Partick South 

congregation in Glasgow Harbour. 

An Act empowering the raising of this charge to full status 

is presented for approval by the Assembly in Appendix 1. 

APPENDIX 1 

ACT ANENT GLASGOW: WHITEINCH 

Edinburgh ** May 2010 Sess. 

The General Assembly enact and ordain as follows: 


1. Disjoin an area from the Parishes of Scotstoun, 

Balshagray Victoria Park and Partick South in the Presbytery 

of Glasgow, the boundaries of which being as more 

particularly described in the Minute of the said Presbytery 

dated 8 th May 2001, namely on the North: commencing 

at the junction of Dumbarton Road and Henrietta Street, 

thence running east along the Clydeside Expressway to the 

Thornwood Roundabout; on the East: running south along 

Sawmill Road and by a projection of this line to the River 

Clyde; on the South: running west along the River Clyde to 

a point opposite Henrietta Street and on the West: running 

north-east by a line to Henrietta Street and along Henrietta 

Street to the point of commencement, the said area having 

thereafter had an additional area added to include the 

Glasgow Harbour area, said area being as more particularly 

described in the Minute of the said Presbytery dated 9 th 

December 2008, namely, the parish boundary to extend 

east from Thornwood Roundabout along the Clydeside 

Expressway then, south at Castlebank Place and on to the 

Clyde, then west to the existing boundary, provided always 

that the Presbytery of Glasgow shall have power to revise or 

alter the boundaries of the said area from time to time. 

2. Erect the said area so disjoined into a Parish of the 

Church of Scotland to be called the Parish of Glasgow: 

Whiteinch having as its legal name Whiteinch Church of 

Scotland, Glasgow (Scottish Charity Number SC030362). 

3. Declare the said Parish of Glasgow: Whiteinch to 

be wholly within the jurisdiction of the Presbytery of 

Glasgow. 

4. Find and declare that the Minister and Elders of the 

said Church and Parish, as so erected, shall have and enjoy 

the status and have all the powers, rights and privileges of 

a Parish Minister and Elders in connection with the Church 

of Scotland and shall form together the Minister and Kirk 

Session of the said Parish. 

5. Provide and declare that any existing rights of the 

Ministers of the surrounding parishes shall in no way be 

3

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aff ected by the erection of the said Parish of Glasgow: 

Whiteinch. 

6. Appoint as a Constitution for the said Parish, the form 

of the Deed of Unitary Constitution as applicable to the 

new Parish and remit to the Delegation of the General 

Assembly to execute and deliver the same, after it is 

satisfi ed as to the vesting of the Manse and endowment 

for stipend and fabric, all in terms of Act XIII 2000; provided 

always, as is hereby specially provided and declared, that 

this Act shall not come into operation until the date of 

issue of the said Deed of Constitution. 

5.8 Revisions of Act XIII, 2000 

The New Charge Development (NCD) work of the 

Emerging Ministries Task Group (EMTG) is governed by 

Act XIII, 2000, which has been amended on two previous 

occasions. The Council believes that Act XIII is in need of 

further revision in the light of: 

• the changes in Council structures, stipend structure and 

nomenclature; 

• the ongoing development of Presbytery Planning, 

which includes NCDs; 

• the need to develop closer links with Presbyteries in 

supporting NCDs; 

• experience of how the Act works in practice, particularly 

in relation to an exit strategy. 

The following revisions are put forward under two separate 

sections of the Deliverance (Del 23 and 24). The revisions to 

Sections 1 – 25 of the Act are presented for straightforward 

consideration and approval by the General Assembly. The 

revision to Sections 26 – 37, however, contain the proposal 

that the Ministries Council should in future be responsible 

for raising NCDs to full status, rather than the General 

Assembly. The reasoning for this is outlined below. The 

Council presents this to the Assembly in the knowledge 

that some may opine that such a change should require 

the use of the Barrier Act. The Council raises this issue 

for discussion, accepting fully the right of the Assembly 

to decide the right course of action. By presenting the 


changes in this way, the relatively straightforward revisions 

of Sections 1 – 25 can be treated separately and not lost 

in the meantime, should the Assembly agree to their 

enactment. 

Discussions are taking place with the General Trustees, in 

relation to the responsibilities the EMTG has for maintaining 

NCD buildings, and any changes to these responsibilities 

will be brought to a future Assembly. 

The Revisions. 

5.8.1 New Charge Commissions 

There are times and places where it is not possible to fi nd 

the requisite number of people to serve on New Charge 

Commissions. The Council proposes accordingly that this 

number be variable (5-7) and that the EMTG works in close 

consultation with the Presbytery in the appointment 

of all Commission members, rather than several being 

nominated by each party. The Council also proposes that 

EMTG appoint the Convener fi rst, to ensure quality of 

leadership, rather than the Convener being appointed by 

the Commission from those nominated to it. 

5.8.2 Appointment of Ministers 

A new clause has been added to enable the Presbytery to 

review the NCD within its plan at the point of a vacancy, 

under Acts VII and VIII 2003. The EMTG views its entire NCD 

work within the framework of enabling Presbyteries to 

fulfi l their plans, where NCDs are appropriate and have 

been agreed with the Presbytery Planning Task Group. 

5.8.3 Review Procedure 

A new clause has been added to enable the Presbytery to 

request, but not insist on, a special review of the charge to 

assist it in the updating of its Presbytery Plan. The shape of 

this section has also been revised to improve the fl ow of 

thought, and to set aside the use of the term ‘viable,’ which 

is diffi cult to defi ne. The revisions make the process of 

returning a charge to the Presbytery more straightforward, 

in the event of the EMTG deciding, after review, that it 

should not continue as an NCD.

5.8.4 Full Status 

The second stage of these revisions proposes that the 

Ministries Council should be responsible for raising NCDs to 

full status, rather than the General Assembly. The argument 

to support this is purely practical. Raising an NCD to full 

status involves a number of parties engaging in discussion, 

the preparation of documents and the inspection of 

properties. Should meeting dates not coincide suffi ciently, 

or one party not provide the required information timeously, 

then, at present, the opportunity is lost until the following 

year’s General Assembly. More importantly, the proposed 

change would allow an NCD to be raised to full status 

at an appropriate point of the year in relation its own life 

cycle, rather than waiting for the General Assembly in May. 

Such events will be reported to the General Assembly in 

the Council’s annual report and may be celebrated by the 

Assembly in an appropriate way at that point. 

The Council believes that these revisions will help all 

concerned parties work together more closely and 

eff ectively for the benefi t of New Charges, as they journey 

towards maturity in Christ, serving the communities to 

which they belong. 

APPENDIX 2 

ACT AMENDING ACT XIII 2000 ANENT NEW 

CHARGE DEVELOPMENT (AS AMENDED BY 

ACTS V AND VIII 2003 AND ACT VII 2004) 

Edinburgh, ** May 2010, Session ___ 

The General Assembly hereby enact and ordain that Act 

XIII 2000 anent New Charge Development (as amended 

by Acts V and VIII 2003 and Act VII 2004) shall be further 

amended to read as follows: 

Interpretation 

1. For the purposes of this Act, the following terms shall 

be deemed to have the meanings hereby assigned to 

them: 

”The EMTG” shall mean the Emerging Ministries Task 


Group of the Ministries Council. 

“The PPTG” shall mean the Presbytery Planning Task 

Group of the Ministries Council. 

“The Presbytery” shall mean the Presbytery of the 

bounds of the New Charge or charge concerned. 

“A New Charge” shall mean a new or newly established 

sphere of pastoral duty which shall be subject to 

the special legislative arrangements herein set out, 

which shall be a charge on reviewable tenure and 

which shall (except where the context indicates 

otherwise) include (a) a New Charge where there 

has been no previous congregation in existence and 

(b) a changed status New Charge. The New Charge 

may or may not have responsibility for a territorial 

parish area, but, in the event that the New Charge 

is not assigned a parish area, the entitlements and 

responsibilities of the congregations and ministers of 

any parishes in which the New Charge is operating 

shall not be aff ected, except by a regular process of 

adjustment in terms of Act VII 2003. 

“A changed status New Charge” shall mean a New 

Charge where, prior to its constitution as such, there 

has been a congregation having full status (“the parent 

congregation”) which has resolved at a Congregational 

meeting called for that purpose, that it shall adopt 

the status of, and be constituted as, a New Charge, 

whether in the same or a diff erent place, and whether 

or not involving a change of parish boundaries or a 

transportation to a new parochial area. 

“A New Charge congregation” shall mean a company 

of persons associated together for Christian worship, 

fellowship, instruction, mission and service in a 

New Charge parish whose names are on the Roll 

of Communicants and Adherents kept for the 

congregation, and who are under the pastoral 

oversight of a minister or ministers appointed as 

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herein provided and under the pastoral and temporal 

oversight of a New Charge Commission. 

“A New Charge Commission” shall be a body 

constituted in terms of Sections 7 and 8 hereof, and 

having the powers and duties therein provided. 

“The New Charge Core Group” shall be a group 

constituted in terms of Section 9 hereof, and having 

the powers and duties therein provided. 

A “New Charge Mission Design” shall mean the 

written plan to be worked up by the New Charge 

Commission, to set out the steps to be taken initially to 

develop the New Charge, but which shall not include 

matters relating to the provision or maintenance of 

buildings. 

Preliminary Steps 

2. At the request of the Presbytery of the bounds, or 

of the EMTG, or on its own initiative, the PPTG shall 

determine whether a New Charge is needed and 

should be constituted. Prior to determining fi nally to 

constitute a New Charge, the PPTG shall consult with 

and obtain the concurrence of: 

(a) the Ministries Council, with respect to any 

required re-allocation of endowments; 

(b) the Church of Scotland General Trustees, in the 

event of any property or funds vested in or held 

by the Church of Scotland General Trustees being 

aff ected, or in the event of any property being 

subject to the control of the General Assembly; 

(c) the Council of Assembly and the Ministries 

Council, in the event of any question arising with 

regard to accumulated shortfalls to central funds, 

to the extent that these had been declared by 

the Presbytery to be unjustifi ed. 

3. Thereafter a detailed Basis of New Charge 

(appropriately adapted to fi t the circumstances 

applicable) shall be drawn up by the Presbytery. 


In the case of a changed status New Charge, the 

terms of the Draft Basis shall be negotiated with the 

offi ce-bearers of the congregation or congregations 

concerned, and afterwards presented to meetings 

of the congregation or congregations, and then, if 

thereat approved, to the Presbytery for its concurrence, 

declaring that no Basis aff ecting the rights of a 

minister shall be presented to his or her, or any 

other, congregation, without his or her prior written 

consent. The Presbytery, with the concurrence of the 

PPTG, may resolve that a Church Extension Charge 

adopts the status and is constituted as a New Charge, 

provided that this has been previously approved at 

a Congregational meeting called for that purpose, 

and that the Minister of the Charge has given his or 

her approval; it being declared that no formal Basis of 

New Charge will, in such a case, require to be drawn 

up and approved. 

4. The Presbytery, following upon approval of the Basis 

by it and by the PPTG, shall then proceed to delimit 

the bounds of the New Charge, and the EMTG shall 

proceed to appoint the New Charge Commission 

and, if a name therefore has not yet been selected, 

shall name the New Charge. Where the New Charge 

is vacant, the EMTG shall further proceed to appoint 

the Minister. 

5. In the case of a changed status New Charge, it is 

declared, for the avoidance of any doubt, that on the 

New Charge being constituted, the legal identity of its 

parent congregation (notwithstanding the dissolution 

of the Kirk Session and the Financial Board thereof ) 

shall be continued within the New Charge, which 

shall, except in so far as otherwise provided for herein 

or in the Basis of New Charge, assume all rights and 

responsibilities of the parent congregation, and to 

which shall continue to belong all property and funds 

belonging to, or held for, the parent congregation. 

6. It is further declared that New Charges are constituted

and shall operate and function in accordance with the 

settled law and practice of the Church, except where 

any provision or arrangement herein cannot be so 

construed and which shall accordingly be deemed 

an exception thereto and be interpreted as such. 

New Charge Commission 

7. (1) The New Charge Commission shall consist of fi ve 

(5) to seven (7) members, appointed by the EMTG 

in consultation with the Presbytery. The New 

Charge Commission may co-opt other members 

who shall be entitled to speak, but not to vote. 

(2) The charge shall be deemed to have been 

constituted at the point at which the New Charge 

Commission is constituted. 

(3) The EMTG shall appoint the Convener of the 

Commission. 

(4) At its fi rst meeting the Commission shall: 

(a) appoint a Secretary; 

(b) ensure that the Presbytery has provided 

adequate arrangements for (i) the continuing 

Church membership of members of the prior 

congregation and (ii) the provision of the 

ordinances of religion within the territorial 

area (if any) of the New Charge until the 

establishment there of a new ministry. 

8. (1) The purpose of the Commission shall be: 

(a) to off er to the New Charge, strategic 

oversight appropriate to its formation and 

the development of its mission; 

(b) to off er to the minister and other members 

of staff , pastoral support and a mechanism 

of accountability. 

(2) The remit of the New Charge Commission shall 

be: 

(a) to plan, in consultation with the EMTG and 

the Minister of the New Charge, its initial 

development; 

(b) to form the New Charge Core Group provided 


for in Section 9 hereof; 

(c) to provide pastoral support to the Minister 

and pastoral oversight of the New Charge 

congregation and undertake the functions 

exercised by a Kirk Session and a Financial 

Board in a congregation having full status, 

until such time as any such functions are 

delegated or transferred by the Commission 

to the New Charge Core Group; such 

delegation or transfer to occur as and when 

the Commission considers it appropriate, 

and in the case of the administration of 

Congregational and other funds, only 

following upon the appointment by the 

New Charge Core Group of a Treasurer to 

be responsible for the keeping of detailed 

accounting records and the preparation of 

annual accounts; 

(d) to supervise the New Charge Core Group in 

relation to such fi nancial and other matters 

as may have been entrusted to it by the 

Commission, and to appoint annually, 

auditors to inspect the accounts; 

(e) to review its work on a regular basis, at 

least twice per annum, and to report to the 

EMTG and to the Presbytery through the 

appropriate Presbytery Committee; 

(f ) to carry out such other functions as may 

from time to time be delegated to it by the 

EMTG. 

The New Charge Core Group 

9. The New Charge Core Group shall be formed from 

members of the New Charge congregation, and 

shall be entitled to appoint one of its number to 

the Presbytery, such person having the status of 

being a corresponding member thereof. Vacancies 

shall be fi lled and new appointments made by the 

Commission from time to time as may be required. The 

New Charge Core Group shall have such powers and 

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shall undertake such duties as are from time to time 

delegated or transferred to it by the Commission. 

Appointment of Ministers 

10. (1) The appointment of the Minister of a New Charge 

where no congregation exists or has yet been 

gathered, shall be made by the EMTG in terms of 

Appendix A. In all such cases, the appointment 

shall be made only after the name of the minister 

nominated by the EMTG has been submitted to 

the Presbytery and it has agreed to sustain his or 

her appointment. 

(2) In the event of the Minister nominated being 

unacceptable to the Presbytery, the EMTG 

shall nominate another Minister and the same 

procedure shall be followed as with the fi rst 

nomination. 

(3) Should the second nominee also prove 

unacceptable to the Presbytery, the Presbytery 

shall appoint a small sub-Committee to consult 

directly with the EMTG; the two bodies to act 

jointly in selecting a suitable minister who shall 

be appointed to the Charge. 

(4) On the occurrence of a vacancy, the provisions of 

Acts VII and VIII 2003 shall apply, mutatis mutandis. 

11. The Presbytery shall induct the Minister to the New 

Charge on the basis of reviewable tenure. 

12. In the case of ministerial appointments where a 

congregation exists or has been gathered, the 

procedure set out in Appendix B shall apply. 

13. In the event of the Minister appointed being a 

probationer or Graduate Candidate, the Presbytery 

shall take the necessary steps for ordination, if 

required, and induction to the New Charge. 

14. The Minister shall be responsible to the EMTG for 

the development of the Charge. The EMTG shall be 

responsible for the provision of learning opportunities 


and professional development for ministers in 

New Charges, and shall report the development or 

alteration of such provision to the General Assembly. 

15. He/she shall have a seat in Presbytery and shall be 

responsible to the Presbytery for matters of life and 

doctrine. 

Financial Arrangements and Responsibilities 

16. The stipend payable to the minister of a New Charge 

shall be the stipend to which he or she would be 

entitled under the prevailing stipend structures. 

17. The EMTG may, if appropriate, fi x a budget annually 

to meet the cost of developing the mission of the 

New Charge, and shall remit the amount concerned 

to the New Charge Commission. The Commission 

shall be responsible for administering this, together 

with other Congregational funds held locally, until 

such time as the Commission deems it appropriate 

to delegate said administration to the New Charge’s 

Core Group. 

18. It is the expectation that a New Charge congregation 

shall, as soon as possible after its constitution, start to 

assume responsibility for meeting regular expenses. 

A Financial Plan setting out a planned programme for 

the meeting by the New Charge congregation of its 

fi nancial obligations shall be agreed by the Ministries 

Council and shall be reviewed every three years. The 

said fi nancial obligations shall include: 

(a) the remitting to the General Treasurer the agreed 

contribution to the Ministries and Mission Funds; 

(b) the funding of the Missionary Outreach of the 

congregation; 

(c) the repayment of the proportion, as fi xed by the 

Ministries Council, of the cost incurred by it in 

providing buildings for the New Charge. 

19. Until such time as the outstanding liabilities of the New 

Charge or former New Charge to the EMTG have been

epaid, the New Charge or former New Charge shall 

submit a copy of the Annual Statement of Accounts, 

as submitted to the Presbytery, to the EMTG. 

20. Review Procedure 

(1) Reviews of the operation of the New Charge shall 

be carried out by the EMTG in consultation with 

the PPTG and the Presbytery. 

(2) An interim review shall be carried out at the 

beginning of the third year of the life of the 

charge, so as to establish clear goals for the 

review conducted in terms of sub-section (4). 

(3) To assist it with the fulfi lment of its duties under 

Act VII 2003, the Presbytery may request the 

EMTG to initiate a review, the review to be carried 

out at the discretion of the EMTG. 

(4) It shall be normal for both the charge and the 

tenure of the minister to be reviewed six months 

prior to the fi fth and tenth anniversaries. 

(5) All reviews shall be carried out by two 

representatives of the EMTG, one minister with 

New Charge experience (not from within the 

same Presbytery as the New Charge under review) 

and one Presbytery representative who is not 

otherwise involved with the charge under review. 

(6) The reviews will focus on recognising the 

establishment of: leadership, mission initiatives, 

training and nurturing, functional growth 

structures and a sense of community building. 

(7) The report of any review shall be issued to the 

EMTG to consider the future of the charge. It 

shall be the responsibility of the EMTG to decide 

whether or not the New Charge under review 

should continue. 

(8) If it is considered that the New Charge should 

continue, an extract shall be submitted to 

the PPTG requesting its concurrence for the 

continuation of the appointment and charge. 

(9) If it is considered that the New Charge should 

not continue, unless otherwise determined 


in consultation between the EMTG and the 

Presbytery, the charge shall be returned to the 

Presbytery. Thereafter the terms of Act VII 2003 

shall apply. 

Provision of and Arrangements for Buildings and 

Facilities 

21. Where the New Charge has no suitable existing 

place of worship or manse, the EMTG shall take steps 

to provide suitable buildings for the New Charge, if 

appropriate. Any building contract relating to the 

erection of a new building shall run in the name 

of the EMTG and the title to all heritable property 

acquired or pertaining to the New Charge shall be 

vested in, or transferred to, the Church of Scotland 

General Trustees. 

22. The EMTG shall be entitled to sell any redundant 

heritable property of the New Charge and to apply 

the sale proceeds towards the acquisition costs of any 

new buildings, with the balance, if any, to be held and 

applied by the EMTG as a fund for the maintenance 

of the properties of the New Charge (“the Building 

Fund”). Where there are funds credited for the benefi t 

of a parent Congregation of the New Charge in the 

Consolidated Fabric Fund, the Church of Scotland 

General Trustees shall transfer these to the EMTG to 

be amalgamated with or to form ‘the Building Fund’. 

In the event of the EMTG, with the concurrence of 

the Presbytery and the Church of Scotland General 

Trustees, determining that the Building Fund is in 

excess of the fabric requirements of the New Charge 

and if the stipend of the New Charge is considered by 

the EMTG to be inadequately endowed, an appropriate 

allocation will be made from the Building Fund to its 

stipend endowment. Any surplus remaining shall be 

the subject of discussion with the General Trustees 

and may, subject to the General Trustees’ concurrence, 

be allocated to the ordinary funds of the EMTG and 

used in connection with its general work. 

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23. Regulations 7 1995, applicable to the Consolidated 

Fabric Fund, shall be amended to facilitate the 

provision of section 22 hereof. 

24. The EMTG shall be responsible for the maintenance 

and insurance of all the heritable properties of the 

New Charge and for all other outgoings with respect 

thereto. 

25. The EMTG shall commission and obtain professional 

reports on the condition of the ecclesiastical 

properties of each New Charge fi ve years after its 

constitution and thereafter at intervals of not more 

than fi ve years from the date of the previous report. 

Copies of the said reports, which shall be similar in 

form and content to principal reports commissioned 

in terms of the Section 8 of the Act anent the Care 

of Ecclesiastical Properties (Act IX 1979) shall be 

forwarded to the Presbytery and the Church of 

Scotland General Trustees. 

Application for Full Status 

26. It shall be open to a New Charge to apply for full status 

at any time, normally after it has been in existence 

for fi ve years, and in any event before the eleventh 

anniversary of its constitution. It shall be open at any 

time to the Presbytery (with the agreement of the 

Emerging Ministries Task Group and the Ministries 

Council) to take the initiative towards the erection to 

full status of any New Charge within its bounds. 

27. An application by a New Charge for full status shall be 

submitted, in the fi rst instance, to the Presbytery of 

the bounds and the EMTG. If the Presbytery is of the 

opinion that the application merits consideration at 

that time, it shall forward to the Committee such other 

information regarding the life and witness of the New 

Charge as it considers relevant. Said application shall 

normally require to be lodged with the EMTG by 30 

November if it is to be submitted to the next General 

Assembly and shall require to be transmitted by the 


EMTG to the Delegation of Assembly on or before 31 

January. 

28. The EMTG, on receipt of the Application, shall consult 

with the Church of Scotland General Trustees so 

that the General Trustees may inspect the buildings 

of the New Charge to establish whether they are in 

a satisfactory state of repair. The Application for full 

status shall proceed only once the General Trustees 

have indicated their satisfaction with the buildings. 

The EMTG shall provide the sum of £2,000, or such 

other sum as it, in consultation with the Church of 

Scotland General Trustees, may from time to time fi x, 

to provide the nucleus of a Fabric Fund to which sum 

shall be added (i) an equivalent amount from the 

Congregation; (ii) such sum as the Baird Trust may 

make available; and (iii) the Building Fund (if any). 

29. The EMTG shall further consult with the Ministries 

Council, the concurrence of which shall be required 

in the proposed stipend arrangements. 

30. There shall be transmitted thereafter by the EMTG 

to the Delegation of Assembly the following 

documents: 

(a) A Report from the EMTG containing such 

information regarding the Charge as shall enable 

the General Assembly to make a judgement as 

to whether it is appropriate that it should be 

granted full status, which Report shall further 

include as a draft Deliverance a paragraph in the 

following terms: 

“The General Assembly resolves to raise the New 

Charge(s) of XXXXXXX into (a) Parish(es) and to 

pass (an) Act(s) thereanent in terms of the draft 

set out in the Appendix to the Report”. The 

proposed Act shall be in the style of the draft Act 

set out in Appendix C; 

(b) Extract Minute of the Church of Scotland General

Trustees concurring with the proposals; and 

(c) Extract Minute of the Ministries Council 

concurring with the stipend arrangements. 

31. The Solicitor of the Church shall, under the direction 

of the Delegation, then proceed with the preparation 

of the necessary documents, including the proposed 

new Deed of Constitution of the Charge, so that they 

may be ready for signature immediately after the 

passing of the Act of Assembly. In all cases, the New 

Charge, on obtaining full status, shall be constituted 

either in terms of the Model Deed of Constitution 

or the Unitary Constitution, as determined by the 

EMTG in consultation with the Kirk Session and the 

Presbytery. 

32. The Delegation shall thereafter issue the new Deed 

of Constitution. The Act of Assembly shall (unless 

otherwise provided in the Act itself ) take eff ect at the 

date of issue of the Deed of Constitution. 

33. The whole procedure shall, if possible, be completed 

by 1 July, immediately following upon the passing 


of the Act of the General Assembly. The whole 

expenses incurred shall be borne in equal shares by 

the congregation and by the EMTG. 

34. On the New Charge attaining full status, the EMTG’s 

responsibilities and rights of oversight of the 

Congregational properties shall cease, except for 

any existing fi nancial obligations in respect of new 

buildings. The Presbytery shall make formal intimation 

of the change of status to the congregation and shall 

take such other steps in connection therewith as may 

seem to the Presbytery appropriate. 

35. For the avoidance of doubt, this Act shall apply to 

New Charges constituted on or after 11 May 1999. 

36. The EMTG will be responsible for formulating and 

updating guidelines for all areas of its work. 

37. Regulations 3 1999 are hereby repealed. 

Appendices A, B and C, as referred to in this Act, can be found 

in the original version of Act XIII 2000 as printed in the Acts 

and Regulations of the General Assembly. 

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Task Progress / Update Additional Material Del 

6 FINANCE 

6.1 Budget Defi cit As will be evident from Section 1.4 above, 

the Council is urgently working towards 

the reduction of its budget defi cit. In order 

to enable a clear picture of the reasons for 

this defi cit, a section is added to this report 

outlining the main budget headings, the 

direct and indirect costs of ministry across the 

Church, the main roots of the defi cit problem 

and a brief summary of actions being taken by 

the Council (reported in more detail in Section 

1.4) to address the issues. It is hoped this will 

provide readers with a quick guide to the 

decision-making process. 

6.2 Allowances and Expenses Rates for allowances and expenses for 2010 are 

published below. As with stipends and salaries 

for 2010, no increases have been applied to 

these rates for this year. 

Pensions Report Over the past year, the Council has worked 

together with the Trustees of the Pension Funds 

in preparation for outcome of the triennial 

valuation of the funds at the end of 2009. The 

Council appreciates the close cooperation 

which is maintained with the Trustees and 

looks forward to continuing conversation 

as the implications of the outcome of the 

valuation are worked through. 

Budget Defi cit (6.1) 25 

Allowances & 

Expenses Rates (6.2)

6.1 Budget Defi cit 

6.1.1 Summary of Ministries Council 2010 Budget 

£000 

Income 

Parish Ministries Fund 37,571 

Endowments and Glebe 3,118 

Other 3,208 

Total Income 43,897 

Expenditure 

Ministries Staffi ng 44,402 

Administration 1,466 

Planning & Deployment 653 

Priority Areas 860 

Support & Development 770 

Vocation & Training 1,464 

Total Expenditure 49,615 

Net (defi cit) (5,718) 

In 2010 the Council is budgeting for a defi cit of £5.7M. At 

one stage it was anticipated that the defi cit would be as 

high as £6.2M, but the Council is assuming that steps to 

reduce the supply of ministers and other costs will already 

produce savings of £0.5M by the end of the year. 

6.1.2 Direct Ministry Costs 

Congregations contribute in two ways to the cost of the 

ministry they receive. 

• Parish Ministries Fund: this is the portion of Ministry and 

Mission contribution the Council receives. This amounts 

to £37.6M 

• Endowment and Glebe income is the income individual 

congregations earn on their investment that goes to 

help pay for their ministry. This amounts to £3.1M. 

Total congregational contribution towards the direct cost 

of Parish Ministry is £40.7M. 


Ministries Staffi ng Expenditure is all the direct costs 

of paying ministers’ stipends and PPWs’ salaries. This 

amounts to £44.4M. The primary reason that the Ministries 

Council is running a large defi cit is that the direct cost of 

Parish Ministry is £3.7 m a year greater than the amount 

congregations are currently contributing. 

6.1.3 Indirect Ministry Costs 

Ministries Staffi ng accounts for 90% of the Council’s 

spending. All the other costs of the Council are also related 

to the provision of ministries in parishes. 

• Vocation and Training, that is providing ministers for the 

future, accounts for 3% of expenditure. 

• Priority Areas, that is off ering specifi c support to the 

poorest parishes in the country, accounts for 2%. 

• Support and Development, that is providing support 

for ministers and PPW’s, accounts for 2%. 

• Planning and Deployment, which includes Emerging 

Ministries, accounts for 1%. 

• Administration, that is the cost of employing Council 

staff and providing an offi ce in which they work, is less 

than 3% of the total budget. 

6.1.4 Other income 

The Council receives a small amount of other income. This 

is mainly income on investments, and grants for specifi c 

purposes. The Council is happy to use this income to 

supplement the contributions from congregations. It will, 

however, only ever be a small proportion of the total. The 

fact is that sustainable ministry in the Church of Scotland 

is only possible if income from congregations is paying for 

both the direct and indirect costs of ministry. 

6.1.5 The Roots of the Defi cit 

The National Stipend Scheme, approved by the Assembly 

in 2003, was intended to raise signifi cantly the stipends 

of ministers. There was an assumption that this would be 

accompanied by a signifi cant reduction in the number 

of ministers. In the event, ministry numbers have barely 

reduced, while those in Church of Scotland ministries are now 

amongst the highest paid ministries personnel in the UK. 

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Congregational Contributions. The Council of Assembly 

has had a policy of holding congregational contributions 

at or below the level of infl ation in recent years, while at the 

same time as stipends have increased beyond infl ation. 

The Pension Defi cit. To address the large defi cit in the 

Church’s Pension Funds, the Council took a deliberate 

decision to use some of its reserves. Over a ten year period, 

£26M will be put into the Pension fund. This accounts 

for some £2.4M of the 2010 defi cit. A similar fi gure will 

continue to be paid until 2017. 

Reduced income from investments. The value of the 

Council’s investments has fallen because some have been 

used to fund the Pension shortfall and stock market values 

have also fallen. This has reduced the income from this 

source. 

Standardising conditions of service. At the request of 

the General Assembly, the Council has addressed some of 

the inequalities that existed between Ministers and PPWs 

– eg salary scales; housing allowance, etc.. 

Implementing Presbytery Plans. Some Presbyteries 

have created new posts in their plans on the basis that in 

due course another post will end when someone retires. 

The Council has had a policy of permitting the new post to 

be created without waiting for the retirement to happen. 

6.1.6 The defi cit in a nutshell 

• Once the contribution to the pension fund is removed, 

the ongoing annual defi cit is £3.3M. 

• The main reason for the defi cit is that the costs of 

ministering in the parishes of the Church have increased 

more rapidly than congregational contributions towards 

their payment. 

• The Council is using its reserves to meet the costs of the 

defi cit, which also reduces income. 

• Unless the defi cit is eliminated in the next fi ve years, the 

level of reserves will reach a critical level. 

• The Council believes that, if painful but manageable 


action is taken now, it is possible to achieve a balanced 

budget within fi ve years. 

6.1.7 Achieving a balanced budget 

6.1.7.1 Ministries numbers. The Council is declaring to 

the General Assembly this year that on current levels of 

congregational contribution, the Church can aff ord 1000 

FTE ministries. Currently there are 1097 people on the 

Ministries payroll. The Council is, therefore, taking steps to 

reduce the number by 25 a year. It will do this by: 

• Setting a ceiling on the number of PPW full-time 

equivalent posts at 130 for the duration of the transition 

period to 2014. 

• Limiting the number of people accepted through the 

Admissions process. Given the relative numbers coming 

through the enquiry and assessment process, and 

those retiring, it is anticipated that in 2010, about fi ve 

people will continue to be able to be admitted through 

the Admissions process. This fi gure will be revised up or 

down annually on the basis of other relevant statistics. 

The Council recognises that, disappointing though this 

may be for some who have already made application 

for Admission, consideration of some applications may 

have to be put on hold for a period of time. 

6.1.7.2 Stipend and Salaries policy. The Council 

invites the Assembly to approve a new policy for stipend 

and salaries. Stipends and salaries will be tied to the level 

of increase in congregational contributions. They will 

not rise by a fi gure greater than the increase in income 

coming to the Ministries Council from congregations. This 

will be a matter for the Council of Assembly, which now 

approves stipend and salary rates, to implement on the 

recommendation of the Ministries Council. 

6.1.7.3 Other costs. Ministries numbers will decrease by 

10% by 2014. The Council is also committed by 2014 to 

reduce by at least 10% indirect ministry costs. 

6.2 Allowances and Expenses Rates for 2010 

Stipend Scale 2010

Year 1 £23,139 Year 6 £27,187 

Year 2 £23,948 Year 7 £27,997 

Year 3 £24,758 Year 8 £28,807 

Year 4 £25.567 Year 9 £29,617 

Year 5 £26,377 Year 10 £30,426 

PPW Scale 2010 

Year 1 £22,220 Year 6 £24,657 

Year 2 £22,707 Year 7 £25,143 

Year 3 £23,195 Year 8 £25,631 

Year 4 £23,682 Year 9 £26,119 

Year 5 £24,170 Year 10 £26,605 

Island Allowance 

The inner and outer island allowances are held at 2009 

levels: 

Outer Island Allowance £1,566 

Inner Island Allowance £616 

Travel Expenses 2010 

Rates are held at 2009 levels for those providing their own 

car: 

a) reimbursed to ministers and PPWs providing 

their own car for pastoral duties 

40p per mile for the fi rst 10,000 miles 

25p per mile for all additional mileage 

Ministers and PPWs also receive capital reimbursement of 

£80 per month 

b) reimbursement of travel expenses for students, 

probationers, auxiliary ministers and locums: 

40p per mile for the fi rst 10,000 miles 

25p per mile for all additional mileage 

c) reimbursement to ministers and PPWs providing 

their own motor bike for pastoral duties 

24p per mile travelled per annum 


d) reimbursement to ministers and PPWs providing 

their own pedal bike for pastoral duties 

20p per mile travelled per annum 

e) housing allowance 

The housing allowance rate for PPWs for 2010 is 

£3,600 

Recommended Pulpit Supply Fee and Expenses 

The Council agreed the continuance of 2009 rates from 1 st 

April 2010 

One diet of worship on a Sunday at £50 and for any 

additional diets of worship on a Sunday £10. Travel 

expenses at 25p per mile. 

Recommendation on Funeral Fees 

Where a retired minister or other suitably qualifi ed person 

not in the employ of the Church (or currently serving as a 

Parish Minister) is asked to offi ciate at a funeral service and 

a fee is deemed appropriate, the Council recommends 

this be set at £50. Such fees are the responsibility of the 

congregation where the service takes place and should 

not be charged to the bereaved family. 

Disturbance Allowance 2009 

The Council agreed that the level of disturbance allowance 

should be held at the 2008 level of £1,740. 

Removal and Disturbance Allowance 

The Council agreed that the removal and disturbance costs 

of all charges which have an average income base below 

£30,000 will be met from Council fi nances, and to give 

assistance depending on assessment to charges which 

have an income base between £30,000 and £60,000, by 

way of a loan in the fi rst instance. A grant may be available 

to such charges on application to the Finance Committee 

of the Ministries Council. 

3

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Vacancy Allowance 2009 

The Council agreed the continuance of the 2008 rates. 

The vacancy allowance should be £580 per month during 

the vacancy, £630 for linked charges. Vacancy Allowance 

is deducted directly from each charge’s Ministries and 

Mission Allocation. 

In the name of the Ministries Council: 

Graham Finch (Convener) 

J H A Dick (Vice-Convener) 

Neil Dougall (Vice-Convener) 

Lezley Kennedy (Vice-Convener) 

Muriel Pearson (Vice-Convener) 

Martin Scott (Secretary) 

MINISTRIES COUNCIL

MISSION AND DISCIPLESHIP COUNCIL 

May 2010 

The Mission and Discipleship Council 

resources Christ’s mission through the whole Church 

for witness, worship and discipleship 

Tha Comhairle na Teachdaireachd agus na Deisciobalachd 

a’ cur air adhart teachdaireachd Chrìosd, tron Eaglais air fad 

airson fianais, adhradh agus deisciobalachd 

CONTENTS 

Proposed Deliverance 4/1 

Introduction 4/3 

Worship and Doctrine 4/6 

Education and Nurture 4/6 

Mission and Evangelism 4/12 

Church Without Walls 4/18 

Publishing 4/18 

Church Art and Architecture 4/19 

Rural Scotland 4/23 

Scottish Storytelling Centre 4/27 

‘Why Believe?’ 4/28 

Life and Work Review Group 4/29 

Appendix I: Education and Nurture – Analysis of the National Leadership and Pastoral Care Questionnaire 2008 4/36 

Appendix II: Mission and Evangelism – Mission 21 Conference 4/40 

Appendix III: Rural Scotland - How rural is that parish? 4/42 

Appendix IV: Committee on Church Art and Architecture Meeting Dates 4/59 

Appendix V: Co-opted members on Task Groups and Committees 4/59 



1. Receive the Report and thank the Council, Task Groups, Committees and those members retiring at the General 

Assembly. 

2. Thank all Council staff and volunteers, including those who have left the service of the Council in 2009, and extend 

a welcome to all new members of staff. 

4

4/2 


3. Encourage congregations to make use of all of the resources produced by the Council, in particular the new pastoral 

care DVD, Encounter, and the Scottish Emerging Church DVD Seeds (Sections 3.3.7.2 and 4.4.3.1). 

4. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, Section 1.3) and commit the Mission and Discipleship 

Council, in partnership with others, to its effective delivery over the next seven years. 

Education and Nurture 

5. Encourage the Youth Strategy Working Group to prepare its recommendations and proposals for consideration by 

the General Assembly 2011 (Section 3.3.1.1). 

6. Urge Kirk Sessions to reflect on ‘All Who Can In Faith?’, and consider how people with learning disabilities can play a 

full part in the celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion (Section 3.3.6.4). 

Mission and Evangelism 

7. Invite Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions to note and access resources and skills available through the Council for mission 

planning and development (Section 4) 

8. Invite Presbyteries to consider running, in sequence, the Fresh Expressions ‘Vision Day’, the six week ‘Mission Shaped 

Introductory’ course and the ‘Mission Shaped Ministry’ course (Section 4.4.4). 

Publishing Committee 

9. Note the performance of Saint Andrew Press and Life and Work in the current difficult trading environment (Section 6). 

Committee on Church Art and Architecture 

10. Remind congregations of the importance of early consultation with the Committee when any new proposal is 

being considered (Section 7.5). 

11. Instruct the Presbytery planning process in each Presbytery to include consultation with the General Trustees 

and the Committee on Church Art and Architecture to ensure that all proposals for alterations to the number of 

buildings will reflect the important opportunity for development and preservation of the assets of the church for 

mission and worship (Section 7.6). 

12. Note the insights of the National Youth Assembly into the contribution and importance of our church buildings. 

(Section 7.7). 

13. Encourage all Commissioners and Presbytery Clerks to support the campaign for full compensation by the 

Government of all costs involved in the replacement of microphone systems as a result of the sale of the airwaves 

(Section 7.11.2). 

Rural Scotland 

14. Welcome the publication of the research into ‘How rural is that parish?’ and encourage all agencies of the church, 

nationally, regionally and locally, to use its findings in their work, ministry and planning (Section 8.6). 

15. Encourage Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions to send representatives to the Rural Church Conference in October 2010 

(Section 8.8). 

Life and Work Review Group 

16. Affirm the necessity for the Editor of Life and Work to be able to exercise editorial independence, as has been 

traditionally agreed by the General Assembly since the foundation of the magazine. 

17. Commend the current Editor for her willingness to listen attentively to various voices and groups in the Church and 

reflect these in the content of the magazine.

MISSION AND DISCIPLESHIP COUNCIL 4/3 

18. Encourage Council and Committee Secretaries to ensure that the Editor is made aware of current topical issues of 

individual Councils and Committees in the fulfilment of their remit. 

19. Encourage the continuation of sensitive reflective and balanced expressions of personal opinions in the magazine 

in order to enable the Church to explore theological questions with insight and knowledge. 

20. Instruct the Mission and Discipleship Council to seek ways of enabling the magazine to be published in other forms 

in addition to the current printed media, and to review this after an appropriate period. 

21. Instruct the Mission and Discipleship Council to instigate a process of promotion and development of the magazine, 

and report on the progress made to the General Assembly of 2013. 

22. Resolve that an Editorial Advisory Panel of seven to assist the Editor, with a Convener independent of other 

communication groups within the Church, be appointed by the General Assembly on the Report of the Nomination 

Committee. 

23. Instruct the Advisory Panel to meet regularly (at least twice per year), and be consulted by the Editor on other 

occasions by the most convenient means possible as and when questions or issues arise. 

24. Instruct the Mission and Discipleship Council to prepare guidance notes for the Advisory Panel members and the 

Editor which ensure that their distinctive roles are clarified in relation to editorial independence while emphasising 

their collaborative function in offering guidance and opinion to the Editor. 

25. Commend the magazine to the attention of the membership of the Church as a whole and encourage a wider 

audience to purchase copies so that the diversity and range of the issues it reflects upon may have a wide 

circulation. 


1.1 John Aurelio tells a tale of a working man making his 

weary way home when he encounters a lady selling unusual 

flowers. The sight and smell of the flowers are enough to 

completely change his state of mind and he is invited by 

the flower lady to take as many as he wants and is amazed 

when he finds that the price is simply for him to be grateful 

for them. 

1.2 When he arrives home his wife and children are 

stunned by the flowers and find their souls refreshed. The 

man plants the flowers in his back garden and with a little 

sun and moisture the flowers remain strong. Unfortunately 

news of the flowers spread and soon many people want to 

come and see the flowers. The man becomes anxious and 

begins to restrict access to them – first he builds a wall and 

then in time he develops other more sophisticated means 

REPORT 

to determine who is or is not worthy to see the flowers. 

Meanwhile he ensures the flowers continue to receive 

enough sun and moisture to survive. The end result of all 

of this was that people saw less and less of the flowers 

and some people began to go and look for the flower lady 

themselves and the story ends with the note that she was 

still out there still giving away her amazing flowers. 

(The Flower Lady, John Aurelio, from A World of Stories for 

Preachers and Teachers by William J Bausch, 1998, Twenty- 

Third Publications, Mystic, CT) 

1.3 Perhaps this tale tells us something of where we are as 

a community or something about how we feel about where 

we are? Have we obscured the very thing that gives us life and 

enriches our souls? Has it become easier for people to find it 

outside ‘the church’ rather than inside it (Matthew 20:30)? 

4

4/4 

1.4 We are at a time of great change. World markets, 

national economies, unemployment, social change – 

all of these things have affected all of us in some way. 

Familiar names have disappeared from our high streets, 

the value of homes has decreased, it is harder to find 

good jobs, it is difficult for younger people to get on the 

property ladder – these were situations less challenging 

even only three years ago. We have learned that our 

security cannot be in these things but needs to rest 

elsewhere (Matthew 6:21). 

1.5 The Mission and Discipleship Council has also been 

wrestling with change (Luke 14:28). Facing an acute 

financial problem the decision was taken at the 2009 

General Assembly to conduct a ‘root and branch’ review 

of our priorities. We recognised we had run out of money 

and at the same time, and just as importantly, we had 

no real clear focus to our work. Instead we had a series 

of disconnected and very discrete pieces of work each of 

which, important by itself, had little to do with the others. 

1.6 Facing this challenge was not easy and the months 

that have ensued have been difficult – particularly for 

our staff team whose commitment and value were never 

questioned through this process. 

1.7 At the end of the review process the Council charged 

with holding mission before the whole church decided 

to affirm that we should continue to be about resourcing 

worship, witness and discipleship but in a more coherent, 

focussed and cost-effective way. In a time when many 

congregations and church members are having to tighten 

their belts it is only right that the Council does the same. 

1.8 What we will not do is narrow the focus of our vision 

and so we have drawn up a new statement of purpose that 

will drive our work and help us to be strategic in the years 

to come. We also have faith in the Church of Scotland. We 

believe it is not simply an organisation or an institution, but 

a movement. It is a movement for fairness and justice, it is 

a movement for service in all of Scotland’s communities 


and it is a movement that holds out the possibilities of 

faith in Jesus Christ in all the ways that can mean. 

1.9 So we work within the walls and we work outside. 

In 2009 we welcomed the Church Without Walls Working 

Group into the Council and since then the ideas of the 

Church Without Walls report and the 10 years of experience 

of the working group have helped to inform the process 

of change. Now that work is clearly integrated into the life 

of the Council and we affirm the need to be a church that 

answers the call of Jesus to follow him. 

1.10 In addition to the three main drivers of worship, 

witness and discipleship, we will judge every future project 

against four key criteria: 

• Congregational resourcing – will it encourage growth in 

faith and discipleship? 

• Outreach – does it equip congregations and/or 

individuals in the public square and does it make the 

Gospel message clear? 

• Leadership development – does it promote spiritual 

growth in congregational leaders and does it create 

confidence within members and build capacity for 

leadership growth in the local church? 

• Re-imagining – does it enable creativity relevant to the 

local community in response to God’s activity? 

1.11 By the time of the General Assembly we will 

have taken decisions to help us gain the strategic focus 

we require to serve the church in the best way possible. 

This does not come easily and there will be many painful 

decisions taken along the way. But change is necessary and 

if these decisions are not taken now then harder choices 

will face us in the near future. Throughout this process we 

have been inspired by the example of Peter, taking a step 

out of the safety of the boat as he tries to walk towards 

Jesus (Matthew 14.29). 

1.12 We believe that mission is shaped by Christ’s 

mandate to love others as ourselves. Therefore, it can be 

an encounter with the person of Christ or it can also fulfil

the call to feed the poor and clothe the naked. In short, we 

believe that mission in this post-modern, post-Christian 

and post-church 21 st Century is about performing the 

most loving act possible in any given context. 

1.13 So our statement of purpose reads: 

Resourcing Christ’s Mission: 

To enable and empower people to engage in Christ’s 

mission through resourcing worship, witness and 

discipleship in the context of the changing contemporary 

culture of Scotland and beyond. 

Specifically we will: 

• Stimulate critical reflection and development of places 

and practice of worship 

• Communicate Christ’s message lovingly, effectively and 

relevantly 

• Nurture and develop learning and growth within 

congregations and communities 

1.14 We know we do this in partnership with the 

whole church and with partner churches in other parts 

of Scotland and beyond. We also realise that we want to 

identify and use expertise that already exists in the church 

and we want to move away from being the resource, to 

stimulating resourcefulness in others. Often we have run 

successful events that people enjoy but which struggle 

to create resourcefulness in the local congregations they 

come from. Our focus will be entirely on the local church 

and providing support, resources, toolkits – whatever a local 

church needs to extend its mission in its community. 

1.15 We have been guided by the Vision Statement for 

the Church of Scotland: 

The vision of the Church of Scotland is to be 

a church which seeks to inspire the people 

of Scotland and beyond with the Good 

News of Jesus Christ through enthusiastic, 

worshipping, witnessing, nurturing and 

serving communities. 


1.16 The Mission and Discipleship Council realises it 

is unable to achieve this by itself but seeks to help local 

churches find ways to do this and be this. 

1.17 In the year of the 450th anniversary of the 

Reformation and the 100th anniversary of the Edinburgh 

World Missionary Conference there are many reasons 

to look back. However, we want to suggest it is time for 

the Church of Scotland to take stock and then to look 

forward with a growing confidence. We have a message 

that people want to hear but we need to communicate 

it in different ways. We have a message of fairness and 

justice that will inspire those who struggle to see these 

values come into being. We have a concern for our planet 

and the environment that can allow us to get alongside 

those who share that same concern. We have a desire to 

be good neighbours so that the fragrance of Christ will 

move around our communities. 

1.18 The Mission and Discipleship Council in its new 

shape affirms its role to stimulate mission in the Church 

of Scotland and be an effective agent for worship, witness 

and discipleship within local congregations. 

1.19 Vincent Donovan, in Christianity Re-discovered, 

suggests that the time for endless meetings and seminars 

about missionary strategy is over and instead resolves 

that he will ”just go and talk to people about God and the 

Christian message”. 

1.20 This is not a time for introspection, fearfulness or 

retreat. This is not a time for despair or endless conversations 

about decline. This is not a time for standing behind battle 

lines and tearing each other apart. This is not a time to play 

it safe or fall victim to a compliance culture or see energy 

dissipate through complacency or indifference. 

1.21 This is a time for imagination, for hope, for 

resourcefulness. It is a time for renewed thinking through 

a refreshed encounter with the living Christ and a new and 

clear mandate for mission. 

4

4/6 

1.22 The Council presents the following reports at a time 

of transition. By the time of this year’s General Assembly, 

the Council’s proposals for change will be in the process 

of implementation and so these sections of our report 

should be read in that context. 

2. Worship and Doctrine 

2.1 Working Group on Issues in Human Sexuality 

This group, which has recently been augmented by a 

broad range of new members, is currently taking up 

consideration of a new remit, reflecting theologically on 

marriage in the light of contemporary society and church 

life. We are consulting with Ministers and members 

of congregations to obtain a wide understanding of 

contemporary experience of marriage and weddings, 

and to be clear as to the particular questions facing 

the Church today. We are receiving input from scholars 

in the field. Given the complexity and depth of these 

issues, we hope not to be too hasty in our deliberations, 

and intend to report fully to the General Assembly of 

2012, with an interim report in 2011 to give a clearer 

indication of the direction we are going, and to allow 

for further informed contributions by the Church as a 

whole. 

2.2 Scots Language 

The Council has been so absorbed with the setting of new 

priorities and the review of its work it has not yet been 

possible to introduce any proposals in the light of the 

deliverance of last year’s General Assembly relating to the 

promotion of Scots throughout the Church. 

‘Welcome the production of resources by the 

Scots Language in Worship Group, and instruct 

the Council to formulate a strategy to promote 

the wider use of Scots throughout the Church to 

be reported to the General Assembly in 2010 and 

made available on the internet.’ 

2.2.1 The website has continued to publish resources for 

various services and festivals on a regular basis which are 


used by a number of people. Some discussion of the issue 

has taken place in the Scots Language in Worship Group 

of the issue highlighted in the deliverance, and it is hoped 

that some suggestions will be presented on the website 

and reported in 2011 to the General Assembly. 

3. Education and Nurture 

(All of the resources mentioned in this section of the report 

are available to purchase from www.madstuff.biz.) 

3.1 Introduction 

The Task Group continues to operate with a strong sense of 

the importance of the discipleship process to the Church 

of Scotland’s missional life. Congregations today find 

themselves living and sharing their faith in an increasingly 

diverse range of contexts, making the education and 

nurture of their members crucial to the success or 

failure of our endeavours in this respect. In attempting 

to support this work of education and nurture, the Task 

Group seeks to listen carefully to the voices of individuals 

and congregations, allowing what we hear to shape the 

nature of the initiatives and resources which we produce 

to assist work amongst children, young people, adults and 

those who take on the responsibilities of leadership within 

the church. 

3.1.1 Many educational resources have been produced, 

eg the Child Friendly Church, Baptism DVD, Sing Out, Rite!, 

Cosycoffeehouse, Cosy Youth Work Kit, Threads DVD and 

Encounters DVD – all providing learning resources to a 

wide spectrum of ages within the church. 

3.1.2 Sometimes, the quietest voices are those who 

often find themselves on the margins of congregational 

life, such as those with learning disabilities and the young. 

We believe the extent to which these people find a home 

within our congregations is a measure of how much our life 

together reflects the character of God. As a consequence, 

the Task Group has given particular attention to these 

groups during the course of the year.

3.2 Ministry to and with children and younger teens 

3.2.1 Fischy Music and The Music and Worship 

Foundation 

The start of the year saw us working with the Music and 

Worship Foundation and Fischy Music to offer a series 

of workshops for people working with children. We 

recognised that there is a need to provide more good 

material for children to sing. We travelled widely to a variety 

of locations: to Cumnock, Oban, Dumfries, Aberdeen and 

Dalkeith. Suzanne Butler of Fischy Music wrote: 

“In 2009, we were delighted to work in partnership 

with the Church of Scotland, in offering a series 

of training sessions and all-age concerts across 

Scotland. The training sessions were designed 

for adults working with children in churches, 

and aimed to enhance their skills and confidence in 

using music as well as offering fresh new material 

from our ‘Down to Earth’ album. Each session was 

followed by an evening concert, open to the local 

community. We enjoyed meeting all the children’s 

leaders and were impressed by their dedication 

and willingness to try out new ideas! It was good to 

offer input in parts of the country that often get left 

out due to their location.” 

3.2.2 Sing Out! 

To stimulate the production of good worship material 

for children and congregations to sing together, we 

launched ‘Sing Out!’ in the hope of finding new music from 

congregations and a CD is planned. 

3.2.3 Child Friendly Church and Rite! 

At the General Assembly last year we launched two 

new resources, Child Friendly Church and Rite! The Child 

Friendly Church guide is a six to eight month consultation 

for congregations to consider how we might welcome 

children fully into the lives of our faith communities. Rite! 

is a 30 week programme for young people in secondary 

school. This resource is specifically designed for the Kirk 

and may be adapted for older people too. 


3.2.4 Visit to Malawi 

In July we took ten children who had been at two National 

Children’s Assemblies to Malawi. This was no mean feat 

and we are indebted to Carol Finlay and Audrey Grahame 

of the World Mission Council who worked so hard on our 

behalf. Our welcome was exceptional and the people of 

Livingstonia were thrilled because this was the first time 

a group of children had visited them. Here are comments 

from two of the children. 

“On my trip to Malawi I made great friends and 

met some people with big faiths. Their generosity 

and ability to rely on God for their needs is amazing 

and I wish we all had the same faith.” William 

(aged 11) 

“When I was in Malawi last year I had a tremendous 

time. We all met loads of friends. We visited loads 

of lovely churches and it was nice to see how they 

worship in comparison to how we worship. Parts of 

our trip were very hard to take in but we all helped 

each other and that helped us. We also visited 

schools which were very different from the schools 

we have in Scotland. All the Malawians are so kind 

and cheery, it always put a smile on our faces.” 

Rebecca (aged 11) 

3.2.4.1 It is very hard to quantify how much these 

children received from their visit to Malawi. One of the 

parents emailed recently to say that her son remembers 

an experience every so often ‘out of the blue’ and shares 

it with her. This kind of experience needs a long time to 

unravel and our staff team have been deeply moved by 

some of the reflections the children shared with us. 

3.2.5 National Children’s Assembly 

In October the National Children’s Assembly went 

to Iona. We welcomed 100 children from Scotland, 

Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Hungary, New Zealand and 

England. Children from Scotland came from as far apart 

as Orkney and Jedburgh. Our time together was truly 

4

4/8 

wonderful and as the children led us in worship we 

were offered a glimpse of heaven! This quote from one 

of our delegates might show why we offer an assembly 

to our children. 

“When it came time to say goodbye, despite my 

sadness, I knew I was happier than I was when I first 

stepped foot on Iona. I not only made new friends, 

but got to know God better than I knew before and 

I give thanks to the team for all they have done to 

help this.” Micah (aged 12) 

3.2.6 Happy Hallowe’en! 

In partnership with the Boys’ Brigade we invited children on 

31 st October to gather in the Leisure Centre, Perth, where 

we celebrated the Communion of Saints. Children arrived 

in fancy dress and proceeded to play. We stopped playing 

for a while and joined together in songs and prayers. We 

heard from people in South Africa, Zambia and India 

about how they celebrated their identity in Christ and 

their life in the world. Then play was the order of the day 

until exhausted but very happy children left for home. Rev 

Dr Martin Fair comments: 

“If ever the phrase ‘fun-packed day’ was appropriate, 

then it was so for the Hallow’een event held in 

Perth! The children from Arbroath’s St Andrew’s 

Church had a fantastic day. How brilliant that the 

Church was able to re-claim the festival in such a 

positive way. A huge ‘well done’ to organisers, for 

their vision and enthusiasm!” 

3.2.7 Godly Play 

The Godly Play method of exploring the key Bible stories 

and traditions of worship is one resource which embodies 

creative, imaginative and inspired new ways of being 

church. Margaret Grant, Edinburgh Presbytery Children’s 

Ministry Co-Ordinator, is the main source of support for this 

initiative in Scotland, and can be contacted on telephone 

number 0131 220 6509 or via www.edinburghpresbytery. 

org.uk/children.htm 


3.3 Work with young adults and adults 

3.3.1 National Youth Work Strategy 

Following on from the report delivered to the 2009 

General Assembly, the Mission and Discipleship Council 

was instructed to continue the process of developing the 

National Strategy for Youth Work. 

3.3.1.1 A Working Group has been established to fulfill 

this instruction and has initiated a consultation process 

which seeks to gather insights about the current context 

and practice of youth work, and the future needs of young 

people, from a wide cross-section of both individual 

practitioners and youth work organisations. 

3.3.1.2 It has quickly become apparent that the 

complexity of the current and future context of youth work 

requires a more thorough examination than is possible 

within the timescale originally proposed. In addition, the 

Working Group believe it is important to explore, and learn 

from, the diverse range of situations where successful work 

is taking place, in order to try and maximise the benefit of 

these often hard-won successes for the whole church. As a 

result, the Working Group requests permission to continue 

with the consultation process during 2010 with a view to 

presenting its proposals to the 2011 General Assembly. 

3.3.2 National Youth Assembly 

The National Youth Assembly moved to Stirling University. 

The University campus provided a spectacular backdrop 

to the theme ‘Field of Dreams’, where delegates were able 

to explore and deepen their faith through worship, debate, 

conversation and encounter. 

3.3.2.1 The 2010 National Youth Assembly will be held at 

Stirling University from Friday 3 to Monday 6 September. 

The theme for this year ‘To Boldly Go ….’ will be exploring 

the theme of mission. 

3.3.3 Threads – weaving faith and life in the local 

church 

Last year we held the official launch of the adult learning

DVD Threads. The Very Rev David Lunan described Threads 

in these words: 

“What these DVDs have is the story of several 

people who have responded to God, and are 

finding a way of expressing their faith to meet 

the needs of the people around them - ordinary 

people, with an extraordinary calling to bear 

witness to the Kingdom of God. People who are 

doing what they are doing, not in order to impress, 

but because Christ has made an impression on 

them, an indelible impression, and their lives have 

never been the same. They are learning, without 

realising, and they are teaching, without realising, 

what it means to be a saint. 

And so our hope is that this material will help 

adults, young and not so young, to grow into a 

mature faith, into what St Paul calls ‘the full stature 

of Christ.’ 

It is my privilege to express our gratitude to everyone 

involved in the making of ‘Threads’; to thank God 

for your gifts, and for using your gifts in this way, 

and to ask God to bless all the material that is in 

‘Threads’, that it might be a blessing to others.” 

3.3.3.1 Threads has been bought by many parishes 

and used with the Guild and at training events around 

the country. Every time it is used people comment on its 

accessibility, telling the stories of ordinary people who 

could be recognised as ‘someone I know in our church’. 

3.3.4 ICAN 

The Church Adult Network continues to provide a focus for 

adults who are interested in asking questions about God 

and exploring issues of faith and life. A day event ‘Dreaming 

of Eden’ was held in the summer with people exploring 

what kind of church and world they want to belong to. A 

retreat held in Pitlochry provided a time of renewal and 

refreshment. We are grateful to the input from the Very 


Rev David and Mrs Maggie Lunan. Further information 

about the network is available from the Council. 

3.3.5 NiteKirk 

Following the success of the NiteKirk during the Edinburgh 

Fringe Festival, it is now happening every third Friday of 

the month, 8pm to midnight at Greyfriars Kirk Edinburgh. 

This event is run in partnership with Greyfriars Kirk. 

3.3.6 People with Learning Disabilities 

3.3.6.1 Training 

Members of the Group have developed a training 

programme looking at issues of disability in the church. 

They have run workshops at a variety of events throughout 

the year. 

3.3.6.2 Presbytery Disability Advisors 

The Working Group is starting to train Presbytery Disability 

Advisors. The purpose of a Presbytery Disability Advisor is 

to be a first point of contact for congregations on matters 

to do with all aspects of disability. We are not looking 

for ‘experts’, but rather people who have a passion and 

interest in this area. Training will be given in a variety of 

areas exploring the needs of people who may have, for 

example, a physical disability, sensory impairment, mental 

illness, dementia, as well as exploring the needs of people 

with learning disabilities. 

3.3.6.3 A Spiritual Home? 

The Group, which includes membership from the Ministries 

and Social Care Councils, ran a two day conference last year 

with Tony Phelps-Jones, Director of Mission and Ministry 

for Causeway Prospects, as the lead speaker. Tony used the 

conference title ‘A Spiritual Home?’ to explore the inclusion 

of people with learning disabilities in the life of the church 

and how worship might be shaped to meet their needs. 

3.3.6.4 All who can in faith? 

The discussion about the inclusion of people with learning 

disabilities at Holy Communion arose out of the ‘A Spiritual 

Home?’ conference. Many people with learning disabilities 

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are clearly welcomed wholeheartedly into the life of the 

church but for some, the experience has not been so 

positive, as Joe said: 

“They widnae let me take communion, ye know” 

3.3.6.4.1 Articulation/Understanding 

In the church, and especially in churches of the Reformed 

tradition, we have a tendency to look for the articulation of a 

faith position as evidence that faith exists, and many, for fear 

of ‘defiling’ the Lord’s Table, would refuse the sacrament to 

anyone who cannot verbally articulate faith in Jesus Christ, 

including children and people with learning disabilities. Even 

when the ability to make this verbal confession exists, there 

can be resistance on the grounds of limited understanding, 

so those who may be perfectly capable of having faith in, 

or affirming love for, Jesus, are denied the sacrament on 

the grounds of their limitations of understanding as this 

is perceived by others. The question for the Church is: “is a 

lack of articulation or cognitive understanding the same as a 

lack of faith, or even the same as a lack of understanding?” In 

other words, does faith equal, or depend upon, the ability 

to articulate belief and commitment, whether verbally or 

otherwise, and if not, what implications does this have for 

the celebration of the sacraments? 

3.3.6.4.2 Education 

This refers to education of the congregation, not to those 

who have a learning disability. There may be those who 

would deny access to the table to people with learning 

disabilities due to a misunderstanding or ignorance, either 

of disability or theology or both. There is scope therefore, 

to embark on a programme of education and discussion of 

the issues which may lead to a greater degree of openness 

to people with learning disabilities and an acceptance 

that there is a place at the table for all who would wish to 

respond to the invitation of Jesus to “Take, eat”. 

3.3.6.4.3 Inclusion and Belonging / Believing 

These two issues seem to sit comfortably together. Our 

faith can tend towards the cerebral and great emphasis 


is placed on being able to understand, repeat and agree 

to vows of faith; to repeat, with what others might 

suggest is ‘full understanding’, the Apostles’ Creed; to 

engage in worship which is constructed to favour those 

who can read and respond in prescribed ways. However, 

faith as described in the New Testament is inclusive and 

welcoming to children, and the image of the body of 

Christ is an image where all have a part and a part to play. 

Also we may further consider whether the ‘understanding’ 

of any of us is complete, or our ability to articulate the faith 

we affirm sufficiently ‘complete’. 

3.3.6.4.4 Grace of God and Mystery and Symbolism 

These two issues also seem to sit together well. We have only 

two Sacraments in the Church of Scotland. In our tradition, 

it is acknowledged and affirmed that the first, baptism, 

depends wholly on the grace of God for its efficacy. Indeed 

in the current orders of Infant Baptism, while parents are 

asked to affirm faith and the congregation confess the faith 

of the Church in saying the Apostles’ Creed prior to the act 

of baptism, we do not expect parents or sponsors to take 

vows until after the baptismal act. What, then, is the role 

of grace in inviting the learning disabled to participate in 

the celebration of communion, especially as the Church 

of Scotland now affirms the place of children at the Lord’s 

Table? Do we demand understanding and response for one 

sacrament but not the other? And in terms of the mystery 

and symbolism of communion, none of us truly understand 

the nature and means of grace in communion, but we seem 

reluctant to allow it to remain a mystery, rather seeking 

always to explain and demand understanding, where the 

symbolism might be best left to speak for itself. Most now 

accept that the symbolism communicates powerfully to 

children in our congregations who may still be unable to 

articulate their faith in an ‘adult’ fashion. Where people with 

learning disabilities have had the opportunity to explore 

their faith and the symbolism of communion in ways 

appropriate to them, and share in the sacrament, there is 

ample anecdotal evidence to suggest a very rich and deep 

understanding of the meaning and significance of the act.

3.3.6.4.5 Power of Sacrament and Need for Healing 

Lastly, we believe in the sacrament as a means of grace 

so why then would we not admit people with learning 

disabilities to the table? There is in all of us a deep need 

for healing, which the act of communion symbolises as 

the breach between God and humanity, and neighbour 

to neighbour, is restored. This ultimately is the reason why 

people with learning disabilities should be admitted to 

the table along with all of us whose faith, understanding 

and commitment is yet to be perfected. As part of the 

community of faith we all belong in that place where 

our faith is affirmed, described and enacted, and so we 

become the Body of Christ. 

3.3.7 Adult Training 

3.3.7.1 Leadership Development 

2010 saw the launch of a new Leadership Development 

programme building on and incorporating the existing 

programme of Eldership Training and taking into account 

the outputs of the National Questionnaire in Leadership 

and Pastoral (see Appendix I). 

3.3.7.1.1 As well as training offered for Elder Moderators, 

Session Clerks, bereavement visitors and those wishing to 

lead funerals, 2010 will see the introduction of four new 

events: 

(a) A conversation around ‘Emerging Eldership’: The idea 

of Emerging Eldership brings together our traditional 

model of recognised local leadership; governed by 

Elders through the Kirk Session, and new ways of 

being church, described as that which is ‘emerging’. 

The question that needs honest debate is how these 

two aspects of church relate together. Can their 

leadership models merge, and if so how? Where 

will this merging take place, or will they always be 

consigned to running as parallel tracks? One possible 

example of merging will be in the mentoring of new 

leaders. 

Emerging church will always need some form and 

structure, including that of leadership. We need 


to maintain ‘good order’ and accountability, but 

to whom, and how will any significant change in 

leadership affect the Kirk’s identity and practices? 

It is the issue of balancing continuity, a stable form 

of government, with required change. In doing this, 

will it involve revolution, reformation or some form 

of ‘translation’? In the church of the future, what will 

need to remain from our leadership structures of 

today? 

Emerging church crosses significant cultural 

boundaries, so how do we do that appropriately, 

and ‘load’ new faith communities with structures 

that are required and effective? In this reflection 

on the leadership of emerging church, we might 

better enable the ministry of the whole people of 

God. 

This is only the beginning of a process looking at the 

local leadership of the Kirk, and will also need to be 

related to developments in the ordained ministry. 

In times of continuous change, it is a conversation 

we cannot be afraid of. 

(b) A series of Leadership Forums facilitated by MODEM, 

a national and ecumenical Christian network 

which seeks to initiate authentic dialogue between 

exponents of leadership, organisation, spirituality 

and ministry in order to aid the development of 

better disciples, communities, society and world. 

The forums in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and 

Inverness sought to answer the question, ‘What 

should leadership look like for the church in 21st 

century Scotland?’ 

(c) A residential conference entitled “Empowering 

Leaders through Coaching” to be led by Ian Hamilton 

of Church Resource Ministries, responding to the 

statement “The most critical need facing the Church in 

the opening of the new millennium is the identification 

and development of godly, effective, mission-minded 

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leaders.” In our context, what genuine leadership 

opportunities do we offer people, in particular 

potential younger leaders, beyond the Eldership? 

This event will look at understanding empowerment, 

holistic development of character and skills, using 

coaching to develop and empower leaders, and 

coaching using a simple framework. 

(d) The final event (13 to 15 September) focuses on 

Missional Leadership and will be led by Alan Roxburgh 

further information is available within the report from 

Mission and Evangelism at 4.2. 

3.3.7.2 A new resource 

The new pastoral care DVD, “Encounters: meeting people, 

sharing Christ” will be launched at this year’s General 

Assembly. This new resource, including a workbook, costs 

£15, and offers six sections in ‘mini documentary’ format 

looking at: 

• the pastoral care of young people 

• models for pastoral care 

• life limiting illness 

• living with dementia 

• children and young people in hospital 

• learning disabilities 

3.3.7.2.1 This resource is ideal for Kirk Session conferences, 

pastoral care team training and for anyone involved in 

pastoral care in the life of their congregation. 

4. Mission and Evangelism 

The Mission and Evangelism Task Group has been involved, 

directly or indirectly, in the following activities in the course 

of the past 12 months. 

4.1 Future Focus: A resource for congregational 

development 

“Future Focus is a ‘toolbox’ of ideas intended to help 

congregations understand their situation better, to 

read the signs of the times, and to answer the call 

of God to be all that God wants us to be in these 

challenging times. 


Diff erent congregations will need to address 

diff erent issues. Some will be tentative while 

others will want to take a longer and more 

comprehensive look at their current life and 

future shape. The tools help us look at who we 

are, where we are and how we tick. We will begin 

to imagine God’s future for us and to take steps 

into that future together, drawing on the wisdom 

of those who know how to navigate change and 

transition.” (Peter Neilson) 

4.1.1 Following its initial launch at the 2008 General 

Assembly, and the lunchtime meeting at the 2009 

Assembly, the Future Focus working group ran three 

Future Focus roadshows in November 2009, in Glasgow, 

Edinburgh and Inverness. 

4.1.2 The purpose of these meetings was to introduce 

people to the materials as a local congregational resource, 

to hear how Future Focus has been used to review five 

yearly visitations (Panel on Review and Reform) and some 

thinking about the relationship between Future Focus and 

Presbytery Planning (Ministries Council). 

4.1.3 Any congregation considering, or experiencing 

change, should explore the possibility of using Future 

Focus. The time scale for using the material ranges from 

an introductory ‘core’ set of materials, taking two evenings 

and a weekend, which will be published by Saint Andrew 

Press in 2010, to a long term engagement that could 

last a couple of years. To enable local congregations to 

partner with Future Focus over this extended period of 

time, a network of trained facilitators will be available 

to congregations who wish to be accompanied on this 

journey of faith. Further information on this resource is 

available through the Council. 

4.1.4 We cannot predict what the end is before we begin, 

but by the end of this journey of discovery, we hope that 

you will be able to:

• say who you are and what you value most as a church. 

• understand the context in which your congregation is 

working. 

• recognise the inner dynamics of your congregational 

culture (‘the way we do things here’). 

• agree on a common vision, strategic thrusts, priorities 

and goals. 

• understand different models of change which will bring 

about a culture shaped by God’s mission. 

• appreciate and apply the processes of change and the 

psychology of transition. 

4.2 Visit of Alan Roxburgh 

In September 2010 Alan Roxburgh, at the invitation of 

the Mission and Discipleship Council, is visiting Scotland 

to work with church leaders through a programme of 

events. 

4.2.1 From 13 to 15 September 2010, at the Apex Hotel, 

Dundee, Alan will lead a residential conference entitled 

‘Surfi ng the Edge: Cultivating Mission-Shaped Life in a New 

Space’. This will be based on ‘Dwelling in the word: Luke 

10:1-12’ and will ask: 

• mapping our time – where are we? 

• where have we encountered this before? – the Biblical 

frame work 

• how do we respond? 

• resources for leadership in a new space 

• next steps – where do we go from here? 

4.2.2 During the period of his visit other activities will 

include meeting with Conveners and executive staff of 

the Mission and Discipleship and Ministries Councils, and 

he will also spend time with those involved in emerging 

ministries. 

4.3 Developing the local church 

In 2009 the General Assembly instructed the Council 

‘to conduct a representative study of congregations where 

growth is unusually high and share their findings with the 

wider Church’. This instruction has been considered by the 


Task Group but because of the wider context in which the 

Council finds itself, no progress has been made on this 

issue at this time. 

4.3.1 In the meantime, the Task Group draws attention 

to the series of Reflections booklets produced by the 

Council. This series of three tells the story of selected 

congregations that have embraced change as a means of 

relating more closely to their local communities and offers 

reflective comment on the strategies adopted by each in 

responding to parochial contexts that are highly specific. 

The booklets highlight some broad principles, while at 

the same time emphasising that local circumstances vary 

widely, and hence the importance of responding to local 

needs as opposed to importing ready made or off the shelf 

solutions. It is interesting, too, to note that Life and Work 

is now presenting as an occasional series the showcasing 

of some local churches that are ‘bucking the trends’ and 

developing new models of ministry and mission. 

4.3.2 Suitable Resources for community profi ling include 

the following: 

• SCROL Website – the official website of the Scottish 

Census results – 

http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/common/home.jsp 

• Up My Street – Information about your local community 

amenities, etc, http://www.upmystreet.com/ 

• Faithworks Community Audit Pack – downloadable 

resource - www.faithworks.info 

4.4 Development Offi cer (New and Emerging 

Ministries) 

4.4.1 Emerging Ministries Conference 

At the Emerging Ministries Conference in November 2009 

Bishop Graham Cray, the Director of the ‘Fresh Expressions’ 

initiative, offered an overview of contemporary culture 

and addressed the question: What exactly is a fresh 

expression of church? Stuart Murray Williams, founder of 

Urban Expression, explored the issues involved in starting 

and sustaining such new models. For the first time, 

Ministers from New Charge Development churches and 

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those working in new models of church, funded by the 

Emerging Ministries Task Group, had the opportunity to 

come together. 

4.4.2 Mission 21 

Bath: November 2009 – ‘Planting Life!’ - Sharing the Struggle 

and Celebrating the Success of Church Planting 

This conference offered a unique opportunity to network 

with people from all over the UK who are leading alternative 

models or fresh expressions of church, and to be informed 

about the programmes and agencies which have been 

found to be offering most effective training and support. 

4.4.2.1 Over the three days of the conference there 

was a thought-provoking and creative mix of challenging 

speakers (among them, Martyn Atkins, General Secretary 

of the Methodist Church) and helpful workshops (From 

Plan to Plant, Supporting the Planters, Taking Planting to 

the Next Level, etc). 

4.4.2.1.1 In particular, the summary of Martyn Atkins’ 

opening talk at Appendix II (reproduced with permission) 

was thought to be most pertinent to the situation in 

the Church of Scotland at this time when there is a real 

determination to encourage what has been referred to 

as a ‘mixed economy’ of church (traditional churches and 

new models accepting the necessity of both forms and 

prayerfully supporting each other). 

4.4.2.1.2 This excellent contribution was concluded 

with a call for greater diversity, and faithful risk-taking 

which should encourage the Church of Scotland at this 

time as the Ministries and Mission and Discipleship 

Councils support those working in new models of church 

in different parts of Scotland. 

4.4.3 New Models in Scotland and DVD 

With a fairly steady flow of requests from applicants from 

all over Scotland, the Emerging Ministries Fund now 

supports 20 projects or new models of church. 


4.4.3.1 The Church of Scotland emerging church DVD, 

Seeds, is launched at this General Assembly and one copy 

will be sent to each charge to encourage discussion and 

to help Kirk Sessions discern if it is necessary to plant an 

alternative form of church in a neighbourhood, network 

or community where there is little or no connection with 

traditional church. 

4.4.4 Partnership with Fresh Expressions 

The ‘Fresh Expressions’ Team, comprising of members of 

the Church of England and Methodist Church, have given 

tremendous support in the past year in the process of 

launching Scottish training courses and materials, which 

can be accessed at three levels: 

• Vision Days are basic one-day introductions to fresh 

expressions and mission-shaped thinking. Following a 

successful trial in Glasgow, a small team is now available 

to put on this day-event for any Presbytery, area grouping 

or Kirk Session which may be interested. Contact the 

Development Officer for more information. 

• Mission-Shaped intro is a six-session freely-downloadable 

course (http://www.missionshapedministry.org/) 

exploring mission-shaped thinking in more detail. The 

Emerging Ministries Task Group now holds several 

‘resource packs’ for this course – including all DVD clips, 

Scottish endorsements, etc (contact the Development 

Officer for more info). After holding two training days 

for interested leaders, it is expected that courses will 

be run in – Inverness, Perth, Aberdeen, the Borders, 

Dumfries area, St Andrews, Dunfermline, Ayrshire, 

West Lothian, East Lothian, Glasgow, Hamilton and 

Edinburgh. 

• Mission-Shaped Ministry is a one-year part-time course 

for those leading or thinking of starting a fresh expression 

of church. (Note – the 10 sessions, six evenings, three 

Saturdays and one weekend, can be completed in less 

than one year.) The ecumenical Scottish MSM Steering 

Group decided to pilot two courses in Glasgow and 

Inverness, both commencing January 2010.

4.4.4.1 A further course is planned for Edinburgh, 

commencing Saturday, 4 September 2010, until June 

2011, and possible follow-on courses in 2011 and 2012 for 

Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, Stirling and 

Dumfries. 

4.5 The Well 

For several years The Well has worked closely with 

Govanhill Free Church to provide English Classes (the only 

place where men and women can have separate classes, 

which is so important in the community that we work 

with) and a Mother and Toddler group, called ‘Bubbles’. 

Both of these services have been greatly used and much 

appreciated by many otherwise very lonely and isolated 

people. Having built up relationships over many years with 

the local community, it was decided to hold a mini Holiday 

Club for children from age three to seven. Mothers were 

asked to come with their children and the programme 

was structured in such a way as to highlight the Bible. Over 

the two days of the club more than 30 children and their 

mums came, the majority of them from the local Asian 

Communities. Both the church and all involved at The 

Well were really excited by the enthusiasm of the children 

attending it – with many asking if it could be made to last 

a bit longer! 

4.5.1 During 2009 The Well ran parenting classes. 

Ten women in three different groups from six different 

nationalities testified to the huge difference that the 

parenting class made, not just to their families but to them 

too in terms of their own individual development. 

4.5.2 2009 proved to be a very difficult year financially 

for The Well, and by the end of the year there had been 

a significant depletion of the reserves held locally, the 

consequence of seeking to maintain a busy programme of 

events and to develop it still further. Sustainable funding 

for The Well is hugely important, if it is to continue to be 

a centre for information and advice to the local Asian 

communities. 


4.5.3 Outreach to women in the community has been 

a particularly strong part of our programme, with many 

women benefiting from this area of our work. Due to the 

current financial situation, it has not been possible to 

continue funding the post of Women’s Outreach Worker 

and new ways to do this work will have to be found. 

4.5.4 The Well does not seek to proselytize, and yet 

one of the consequences of being there and practising 

unconditional love is that people do ask questions about 

the Christian faith. The Well does make a difference, and 

though financial matters are a perpetual concern, the 

commitment of staff and volunteers to this demanding 

ministry remains as firm as ever. 

4.6 Inter-Faith 

Increasing numbers of churches are seeking support and 

advice on how to engage in inter-faith dialogue. Work 

in this area includes the continued production of the 

monthly online article ‘Relations With Other Faiths’ (RWOF) 

which promotes greater understanding and relationships 

between faiths, and highlights opportunities where 

Christians can meet with other religious traditions. A DVD 

entitled ‘The Ground We Share’ has been produced and 

its accompanying booklet highlights current inter-faith 

work being undertaken and offers advice and support to 

congregations keen to engage in dialogue. 

4.6.1 A booklet entitled ‘Children of Abraham’ has been 

produced for schools and seeks to promote greater 

understanding and respect between the three faiths of 

Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It examines the similar 

origins of the traditions and explains some of the key 

differences. It is also expected that this booklet will help 

young Christians to identify ways in which they can talk 

about Christianity in such a way that it makes sense to 

people from these other faiths. 

4.6.2 Inter-faith dialogue is no longer recognised as the 

sole concern of inner city parishes living on the doorsteps 

of large multi-cultural areas. For example, in Shetland, 

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Rev Tom Macintyre presented an extensive inter-faith 

programme during Scottish Inter-Faith Week in November, 

covering the Presbytery, primary and secondary schools, 

College and Rotary. 

4.6.3 In Irvine, the success of the inter-faith programme 

at Mure Parish Church is such that it has been extended 

to included speakers of other faiths. As highlighted in ‘The 

Ground We Share’, this programme has not only educated the 

congregation about other faiths, but has also caused people 

to ask deep questions about their own faith, which has been 

both an enriching and reaffirming experience. Initiatives 

such as the Question of Faith event held at Galashiels Trinity 

Church in May by Rev Morag Dawson, or the Christian/ 

Buddhist ‘Question Time’ event held in Langholm in 

September, in conjunction with local Churches, Sam Yeling 

and the local inter-faith group, that help to break down the 

barriers of ignorance and prejudice, and encourage more 

community cohesion, are increasingly being recognised as 

important to the well-being of all neighbourhoods. 

4.6.4 A highlight in the Inter-Faith Support Worker’s year 

was being asked to put together a ‘faith programme’ as 

part of a Scout Jamboree at Auchengillon, near Glasgow, 

in August 2009, which was attended by 1,200 Scouts from 

all across Scotland and the UK. The Scout Association is 

keen for young people to have a faith in God and to reconnect 

with the religion of their family, which for the 

vast majority is Christianity. Young people were given the 

opportunity to meet with representatives of the churches 

and of other faiths. 

4.6.5 Inter-faith engagement does not require any 

surrendering of beliefs we hold dear. Instead, it requires 

Christians to be strong in their own faith and, as other 

churches have discovered, the engagement can enrich 

and reaffirm the faith we hold and open up opportunities 

to share it respectfully with others. 

4.7 iMPACT 

iMPACT, with its predecessors Seaside Mission and 


Summer Mission, celebrated 75 years of family-friendly 

evangelism with a special service of worship in Perth 

North Church on 15 th November 2009. Led by Very Rev Dr 

Sandy Macdonald, with the Moderator, the Right Rev Dr 

Bill Hewitt preaching, more than 200 people worshipped 

God and gave thanks for what has been achieved through 

dynamic mission. An original 1934 Seaside Mission team 

member, Alan Hutcheson of North Berwick, was present 

alongside team members, leaders and participants from 

all years of operation and more than 50 centres. Other 

former iMPACT members such as Rev Dr Ian Doyle, Rev Bill 

Shannon and Rev Douglas Nicol were also present. 

4.7.1 The 2009 programme of iMPACT missions 

comprised 10 centres stretching from Lossiemouth in the 

north-east to Ayr in the south-west, and involved some 

60 young people working with congregations of various 

denominations to develop evangelism methods and 

strategies. 

4.7.2 Under the supervision of the Council, an iMPACT 

Task Group comprising a Regional Development Officer, 

with four experienced iMPACT volunteers, plan each 

year’s activity, provide training for new leaders, monitor 

safeguarding and health and safety issues, liaise with 

congregations seeking to run family friendly missions with 

iMPACT assistance and offer resourcing and advice. 

4.7.3 While regulations regarding safeguarding policy 

may be perceived by some to have limited the work of 

iMPACT and congregational family-friendly evangelism, 

iMPACT has not found this to be so, and welcomes the 

idea of helping congregations to raise standards, to adopt 

best practice, and to develop confidence and local gifts. 

4.7.4 iMPACT’s main concern presently is changes in 

Church of Scotland Insurance Company’s practice of not 

allowing team members to be accommodated in church 

halls for more than two nights. This can present volunteers 

with a whole series of practical and planning difficulties.

4.7.5 Members of the iMPACT group encourage 

participants to develop their spiritual life and their 

relationships through events and activities throughout the 

year. A divinity student, Donald Pritchard wrote an iMPACT 

Bible Study book for the 2009 teams, which was well 

received. There is a monthly prayer and catch-up meeting 

in Glasgow. A quarterly e-mail newsletter and prayer focus 

is distributed. A dedication service for forthcoming summer 

activities takes place in June, with a thanksgiving service in 

August at the end of summer activities. We are grateful to 

the many people who give of their time, experience and 

commitment to enable this to happen. 

4.7.6 In 2009/10 five young adults underwent training to 

be Mission Leaders. This involved two residential weekends 

and included seminars on working as an effective team; 

avoiding and resolving conflict; worship leadership; and 

team management. A supervised weekend where trainees 

organised and arranged a weekend ‘mission’ to a parish, 

applying principles in practice and including a share in 

Sunday morning worship, proved to be an extremely 

useful experience, not least for the benefit derived from 

a full evaluation of the experience during and afterwards. 

iMPACT records its appreciation to the Ministers and kirk 

sessions of St Boswell’s and Broxburn for enabling this to 

happen. 

4.8 Faith-sharing and Evangelism 

The concept of caféchurch is being explored by an 

increasing number of churches and its various forms 

are outlined in a useful article from Anglican Church 

Planting Initiatives (http://tinyurl.com/ljbbod). The most 

high profile of these is the work done by the caféchurch 

network (www.cafechurch.net) primarily in partnership 

with the Costa Coffee chain. There are almost 60 churches 

in Britain now hosting events at their local Costa, including 

seven Scottish churches at various stages of planning and 

holding events. It is encouraging to note, however, that 

this sort of creativity is not confined to the caféchurch 

network, or major high street coffee shops. A number of 


Church of Scotland congregations are creatively exploring 

opportunities to supplement their church programmes by 

holding informal, café style events in a variety of locations. 

These include their own church halls, local cafés, pubs 

and other public spaces, and in doing so the churches are 

often able to engage with parts of the community that 

currently have no connection with the church. 

4.8.1 The 2009 General Assembly report included a 

reflection on evangelism, and to develop this further 

a short series of studies based on the report have been 

prepared. The four sessions look at the why, what and how 

of evangelism in our current environment, and encourage 

reflection on how this might affect our congregations. 

4.8.2 Further information is available from the Council 

for churches who want to explore faith-sharing and 

evangelism on a variety of issues such as: 

(a) Outreach in Dormitory Communities 

The nature of community has radically changed in 

many areas over recent years. Many areas witness a daily 

exodus of residents who travel to work elsewhere, and 

consequently rarely engage with the local community 

or church. This workshop looks at some of the issues this 

creates for the church, and participants explore together 

some of the practical ways in which the church can more 

effectively engage with the community – both those who 

spend a lot of their time away, and those who do not. 

(b) Reaching Out in Body, Mind and Spirit 

One of the fastest growing areas in religion and 

spirituality is amongst those who are exploring new or 

emerging spiritualities (sometimes referred to as ‘new age’ 

spirituality). These are people who are genuinely pursuing 

greater spiritual wholeness but, almost without exception, 

they have no concept of the church as a place where 

this wholeness might be found or explored. This can be 

a difficult area for many Christians to engage with and 

this session can be tailored to the needs of the individual 

congregation. 

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(c) Introduction to caféchurch 

Approximately 8% of adults in Britain attend church regularly, 

but over 50% regularly visit coffee shops. This ‘third space’ 

(eg somewhere other than home or work) is becoming 

increasingly important as a place where people engage 

with others and there are distinct possibilities for the church 

to use this environment to connect with the community 

around it. This session provides an introductory overview to 

the theology and cultural of ‘caféchurch’, explored through 

group discussion, ideally in a relaxed, informal environment 

which emulates a caféchurch setting. 

5. Church Without Walls 

5.1 This past year could best be described as a year of 

transition for the work of Church Without Walls. Following 

the invitation from the General assembly of 2009 for the 

Mission and Discipleship Council to form a new Task Group 

in order to carry forward the work of the Church Without 

Walls within the revised priorities of the Council, a year of 

engagement with this process of prioritisation has been 

undertaken. 

5.2 Early on it was recognised that to form a Task Group and 

then, following the pattern of the review and prioritisation 

exercise, to only call upon the Convener to engage in the 

process as an elected member of the Council, would have 

been somewhat unproductive. Once the future shape and 

role of the Council is established a clearer picture would 

emerge of how the work of the Church without Walls 

group would impact and influence the Council and this, 

we believe, would be the most appropriate time to draw 

together a Task Group made up of individuals with gifts 

and abilities appropriate to the task ahead. 

5.3 At present the Council is in the final stages of 

consultation over the future shape and structure of the 

work and the role that the ethos and inspiration of the 

Church without Walls vision has brought to the Church 

over this past decade will we hope be evident within the 

new work of the Council. 


6. Publishing Committee 

The Publishing Committee supports the Church’s 

publishing house, Saint Andrew Press, the finances of Life 

and Work and the production of Ministers’ Forum. 

6.1 Saint Andrew Press 

Saint Andrew Press publications not only provide spiritual 

sustenance and worship resources to those who attend 

Church, but also reach out to the wider community in 

Scotland and beyond. Its publications aim to empower 

people from all backgrounds to discover, explore and 

deepen their faith. As part of the five-year business plan, 

Saint Andrew Press was expected to produce more titles 

than ever before in 2009. This was achieved successfully 

with many excellent reviews, good responses from the 

congregations and sales in this country of over 33,000 

copies, with rights sales around the world in several 

languages exceeding 160,000 copies 

6.1.2 Sales performance in 2009 was positive, with an 

increase of 10% over the 2008 figure. In a year that saw 

dramatic change in the publishing environment, this is 

commendable. Despite the increase in sales, Saint Andrew 

Press missed its business plan target in 2009. In the light 

of the review being undertaken by the Council, this has 

necessitated the production of a new business plan which 

will see Saint Andrew Press operate within much tighter 

financial boundaries in the future. 

6.1.3 Some of the highlights for Saint Andrew Press in 

2009 are: 

• Insights Easter: What the Bible Tells Us About the Easter 

Story by William Barclay; foreword by Diane Louise 

Jordan 

• Reformation: the Dangerous Birth of the Modern World by 

Harry Reid 

• Teachings of Jesus by Alicia Batten 

• New Daily Study Bible 6-volume Gospel set new edition 

• Be With Me Today: Prayers of Encouragement and 

Celebration

• Sacred Places series of three titles by Scotland’s Churches 

Scheme; foreword by Princess Anne 

• Iona CD by Kenneth Steven 

• Pray Now 

• But I Say To You: Exploring the Gospel of Matthew by Leith 

Fisher 

• Insights Joy: What the Bible Tells Us About Christian Joy by 

William Barclay; foreword by Ron Ferguson 

6.1.4 William Barclay’s New Daily Study Bible series is being 

re-launched with each book given a strong identity of its 

own in the marketplace and the new covers have been 

well received. The popular new Insights series is designed 

to provide fascinating insight into the Bible in short books 

that provide great inspiration. It was described in The 

Good Bookstall review as ‘very special’. 

6.1.5 A number Saint Andrew Press publications, 

including many of those above, and their authors were 

featured in newspapers, periodicals, radio, television 

and literary and Christian festivals, raising the profile 

of the Church’s Christian message. Reformation was 

selected by both The Scotsman and The Herald as one of 

the books of the year and the author’s appearances at 

The Edinburgh Book Festival and Edinburgh’s New Year 

were sold out. 

6.1.6 The Publishing Committee welcomes approaches 

from all parts of the Church in order to fulfil its remit from 

the Council of Assembly as the first point of contact for 

all those agencies of the Church seeking to have work 

published. 

6.2 Life & Work 

The Church’s magazine remains the best-selling monthly 

religious periodical in the UK and has once again returned 

a significant surplus. Advertising continues to perform well 

in a challenging marketplace. Life and Work is an important 

part of the Church’s communication strategy in promoting 

the Church’s work among congregations and the wider 

world and consistently meets the challenges offered by a 


broad and changing Church with a 60-page format which 

continues to challenge, inform and resource readers. 

6.2.1 Life and Work Advisory Committee 

The Editor’s Advisory Committee met only once in 2009, 

but continues to be utilised on a regular basis as necessary. 

The Editor remains deeply grateful for the support, advice 

and counsel of this important Committee. 

6.2.2 Awards nominations 

The magazine was again short-listed in three categories at 

the Scottish Magazine Awards in 2009 with commendations 

in Member Magazine of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year 

and Columnist of the Year categories. 

6.3 Ministers Forum 

Ministers’ Forum continues to provide a means for 

Ministers to debate issues of concern, as well as sharing 

resources and ideas which may be helpful to others. It is 

distributed to people in all types of full time Ministry, as 

well as to retired Ministers who request it. Many Ministers 

have contacted the Editor, John Ferguson, to express their 

appreciation of the fact that they can discuss the highs 

and lows of ministry, along with various theological and 

ecclesiastical issues, through the pages of the magazine. 

The importance of editorial independence is appreciated 

by the Committee and it will continue to support this. 

7. Committee on Church Art and 

Architecture 


Advertisers frequently promote items offered for sale on 

the basis of “value for money”. This concept affects all sectors 

of society, government and private firms seeking contracts 

and individuals looking for investment opportunities. The 

Church exists in this world, and in temporal ways also seeks 

value for money but in addition it is important that the 

Church clearly articulates a message about other forms of 

values. 

7.1.1 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be 

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also” are familiar words from the gospel, reflecting the 

teaching of Jesus. It is an invitation to think about the 

values we express as a Church. In relation to the work of 

this Committee, it challenges us to discover what values 

might govern, influence, or even dictate our choices and 

selections. A church building in a very visual way expresses 

a great deal about what a congregation values. 

7.2 Theology of Buildings 

The Committee recognises that there are important 

theological considerations involved in what any 

congregation does in relation to its building. Whether 

it is a major refurbishment and re-ordering project, a 

simple alteration to allow better access, a new stained 

glass window, or the creation of an area for congregations 

to meet after worship, every development indicates 

something about what congregations believe and the 

values that are treasured. 

7.2.1 The Committee exists to encourage congregations 

to make appropriate choices and to think sensitively 

and theologically about the values which the proposed 

alterations may be articulating. A variety of values are 

involved, which may be explored by asking the following 

questions: 

• Is this the best possible design for this situation? 

• Is the proposal congruent with the agreed aim of the 

Committee that any change should contribute towards 

making the building more fit for purpose and therefore 

appropriate for the worship and mission of the present and 

future congregation? 

• Are the best qualities of aesthetic sensitivity reflected in 

these proposals? 

• Does the alteration acknowledge the historical heritage 

and tradition of the building and if so, how will this be 

affected? 

• Will any new eco friendly development be cost effective 

and assist the congregation in diverting funds into mission 

activities rather than buildings maintenance? 

• Can a non-permanent alteration be considered which 


may be adapted according to the liturgical year and 

congregational activities without massive expense and 

destruction of an important aspect of a historical building? 

The Committee believes that many creative additions 

to the environment of worship may be introduced on 

a seasonal basis, allowing for the use of glass, paper 

and material in window alcoves, and at the front of 

churches. The work of ‘Soul Marks’, www.soulmarks. 

co.uk, is also commended. The Committee are always 

keen to see pictures of experiments which would assist 

other churches develop such temporary additions to 

the environment of worship. 

7.3 Buildings as a ‘Tool for Mission’ 

It is obvious to the Committee that while our buildings 

may not be perfect, or suited to the current demands of 

the worship and mission of a congregation, they do serve 

as an important agency and tool for mission. They ought 

therefore to be heated adequately and lit appropriately, 

and able to be used by the congregation in a way that 

allows the membership to engage with the worship and 

mission of the church in a post modern and largely post- 

Christian age. 

7.3.1 The values enshrined in our buildings are often 

the first stage of an encounter with those who are on the 

fringes of the Church. First impressions are often the lasting 

ones. Any extravagant and unnecessary expenditure 

on what appears to be peripheral or self indulgent will 

have a detrimental impact, just as poor maintenance 

and antiquated or shabby furnishings can be equally offputting. 

7.4 Visualisation of the Impact of an Alteration 

The Committee believes it is important for members 

of congregations to be able to observe the impact of 

proposed changes before they are put into practice. In 

particular, it is usually helpful if a model or ‘mock up’ of any 

development is prepared to allow the congregation to 

make comment and offer their insights before extensive 

developments are undertaken.

7.5 The Committee’s Role 

The Committee serves the Church by offering the 

enthusiastic expertise of its membership to congregations 

and seeks to give objective perspectives on proposals 

made by congregations. In co-operation with the General 

Trustees, alongside Presbytery Property Committees, the 

Committee attempts to ensure that congregations are 

enabled to make the best decisions possible regarding 

the interior presentation of the Church building. Exterior 

noticeboards and other alterations to the exterior are also 

concerns which the Committee attempts to offer advice 

and guidance for congregations to achieve the best 

possible impact. 

7.5.1 Some of these discussions will be dictated by a 

variety of values, not least, in these times, the financial 

aspect. The biblical principle, highlighted in the Old 

Testament story of King David’s desire to build a house for 

God in Jerusalem is important. When he is offered the site 

for the future temple as a gift, he responds “I will not offer 

unto the Lord that which costs me nothing”. 

7.5.2 Each congregation, however stressed and hard 

pressed financially, makes decisions based on some values, 

whether implicitly, or explicitly, acknowledged. It is the 

privilege of the Committee to participate in the exploration 

of what a particular congregation wishes to express in its 

building about its purpose and mission. The Committee 

wishes to record its awareness and appreciation of the 

enormous efforts made by many to create, preserve and 

beautify, places which reflect the glory of God. 

7.6 Pro Active Involvement of the Committee and 

General Trustees with Presbytery Planning 

The Committee has been extremely perturbed by 

the negative reactions, complaints and expressions of 

frustration and difficulty which have sometimes resulted 

from the implementation of the decisions of the Arbitration 

process. The Committee believes that this should be a 

final step on a journey which is based on negotiation, 

information sharing and objective guidance. 


7.6.1 It is the suggestion of the Committee that in the 

Presbytery planning process, there needs to be some 

consideration of the buildings which will be involved in 

any alteration of the provision of worship opportunities 

in a geographical area. The Committee has been 

involved in some pro-active work and believes that this 

should be made obligatory and the General Trustees 

with the Committee should be asked to give guidance 

and reflect on the implications of alterations in the 

number of buildings before any decisions are made and 

congregations are faced with the possibility of losing a 

building. The Committee would offer objective advice 

and guidance to the congregations and Presbyteries 

regarding the possible advantages and disadvantages 

of various options so that these would be part of the 

consideration before a final decision was made. It is only 

with the provision of information and the possibility of 

transformation of buildings that congregations may be 

encouraged to forward harmoniously into union. 

7.7 Consultation with the National Youth Assembly 

The Committee also wishes to report to the General 

Assembly that it took the opportunity to undertake a 

consultation with the members of the National Youth 

Assembly in September. The Committee was impressed by 

the sensitive and challenging responses of these younger 

members of our Church to questions that engage and 

perplex the Committee. The National Youth Assembly 

members reflected on the principles and values which 

shape and influence their understanding of what our 

buildings should represent. 

7.7.1 Issues of Concern in Relation to Buildings 

It would be impossible to rehearse all of them in this report, 

but the Committee is certain that some of the values in 

our Church Buildings which the delegates identified are 

bound to be of interest to the Commissioners. Among the 

issues highlighted were the importance of stained glass 

as it contributes to the atmosphere of a Church building. 

There were other comments relating to the importance 

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of respecting the history of a building and seeing the 

present generation as curators of an inheritance past, with 

a responsibility for good stewardship, on behalf of the 

future. The delegates also stressed the need, which they 

recognised as often difficult to achieve, of the balance 

between the traditional and the contemporary. 

7.7.2 Church Hall Accommodation 

The concerns of the delegates were echoed by the 

Committee regarding the provision of Church hall 

accommodation. It seems to both groups that the 

accessibility and appropriate environment of halls 

connected with churches is a matter of both mission to the 

community and care of the congregation. This connected 

with the other issue highlighted by the delegates that the 

outside appearance of a church building stated much to 

the wider community about the congregation within and 

its presentation of the gospel message. The National Youth 

Assembly was also sensitive to the possibility of the use 

of moveable artistic objects and colourful fittings which 

could create a variety of imaginative and creative settings 

for worship. 

7.7.3 Environmental Issues 

High on the list of values, as might be expected, were 

the environmental issues associated with buildings. 

The delegates were keen to ensure that congregations 

planned to meet the ecological targets set by the General 

Assembly of 2009. They reminded the Committee, and of 

the Church, of the need for seating to be comfortable and 

acoustics appropriate to allow congregations to participate 

fully in worship. While the National Youth Assembly was 

concerned about the buildings of the Church, they also 

issued an important warning that all expenditure on our 

buildings must be undertaken in the light of our awareness 

of how many in the world do not have any kind of building 

to shelter them. 

7.8 Learning from Congregational Experience 

The Committee has resolved to undertake a series of 

intentional visits to churches where it has collaborated 


with congregations to create a renewed environment 

for worship and mission. As it has done with the National 

Youth Assembly, the Committee is keen to listen and learn 

from the experience of others, reflecting on what was 

helpful, what might have been done differently, and how 

the changes are working out with use. The benefits gained 

from these visits will be used to ensure that wisdom and 

observations of a practical nature are conveyed to a 

congregation about to embark on similar projects. 

7.9 The Importance of Early Involvement of the 

Committee 

The Committee hopes that the General Assembly will 

support its work by encouraging all congregations to 

contact the Committee and involve the Committee in 

the early stages of any consideration of alteration or 

development of church buildings. The Committee wishes 

to celebrate the work which has been undertaken by 

congregations and the welcome accorded by so many 

congregations to Committee visitors. 

7.10 Recognition of the Contribution of the Gifts of 

the Members 

The Committee’s members bring a wide variety of gifts 

and expertise to the service of the church through their 

discussions and visits to congregations. It is appropriate 

that the General Assembly should note the huge amount 

of voluntary effort which allows the Committee to function 

as a national resource. 

7.11 Radio microphones 

Commissioners may be aware that Channel 69 is going 

to cease to be available for radio-microphone use from 1 

January 2012. There may be a short extension to this, but 

the loss is now a certainty – and churches and charities 

will face bills to replace sound equipment rendered 

useless by the change. A new dedicated channel will be 

provided, but older equipment will need to be retuned by 

technicians or, more probably, replaced completely. This is 

potentially very expensive: the Church of England alone 

calculates that it is facing an extra cost of £1 million.

7.11.1 The Government appears to have agreed in 

principle that existing users whose kit is rendered useless 

should be compensated, but the terms of the compensation 

have not yet been announced. Attempts have been made to 

ensure that a full compensation package: the cost of buying 

new equipment, plus the cost of installing it, is offered to all 

congregations who will be affected. 

7.11.2 The Committee would encourage Commissioners 

and all Presbyteries to support the Save Our Sound 

UK campaign – www.saveoursounduk.com - which 

is a consortium of theatres, entertainment and event 

production companies and technical trade bodies formed 

to lobby Government for full compensation that meets the 

real cost. A deliverance to this effect has been attached to 

this report so that congregations might be aware of the 

possible impact of this alteration, and its financial cost. 

7.12 Concluding Expression of Hope 

The Committee trusts that in all its work that its membership 

is open to the direction of the Holy Spirit who leads the 

Church into new ways and new expressions of faith. 

8. Rural Strategy Team 


The Scottish Government policy regarding Rural Scotland 

has changed markedly in recent years. Whilst the 

government is committed to supporting rural life, rural 

communities and the rural economy in Scotland, it has 

recognised that the best way so to do is to ‘mainstream’ 

the needs of rural Scotland within all of its policies. 

8.1.1 The government hopes that this move will 

encourage all policy makers to take the needs of rural areas 

seriously and to adapt their policies to meet local needs 

and circumstances wherever possible. The government 

has initiated a number of bodies and mechanisms to 

oversee and co-ordinate this approach and ensure that all 

policies are sensitive to the needs and circumstances of 

rural communities. 


8.1.2 Throughout the past four years, the Rural Strategy 

Team has seen a similar shift in the way it operates. The 

team has moved to a much more collaborative way of 

working to ensure that all Councils with an interest in 

rural life in Scotland are aware of the impact their policies 

could have on fragile communities. Within the Church, 

the voice of rural communities has been heard louder 

than ever before through Commissioners raising issues of 

importance at the General Assembly in previous years. 

8.1.3 The Rural Strategy Team is grateful for the 

opportunity to build relations throughout the Church to 

ensure that those living and working within rural Scotland 

gain benefit from the work and mission of the Church of 

Scotland. 

8.2 Rural Study Leave Course 

The Rural Strategy Team, in collaboration with the 

Ministries Council, organised and ran a very successful 

Rural Ministry Study Leave Course which took place in the 

Balmoral Estate in November 2009. During the course, 20 

participants took time to consider issues of ministry within 

rural Scotland. As part of the process, learning outcomes 

were developed and it was hoped that by the end of the 

conference participants would have developed: 

• A sense, as a rural practitioner, of being refreshed, fed 

and nourished, both spiritually and intellectually. 

• A deeper understanding of the breadth of rural ministry 

and a sense of what being ‘rural’ means for the Church 

of Scotland as a Presbyterian Church. 

• A sense of the socio-economic realities of rural life, an 

appreciation of rural housing issues and a knowledge 

of what partnership working means within the rural 

context. 

• Knowledge of resources and strategies for ministering 

in remote areas. 

8.2.1 The course encouraged participants to address 

these learning outcomes through a range of discussions, 

taught sessions and field trips. Whilst engaging with 

people who lived and worked in the rural community, 

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participants were encouraged to reflect theologically on 

the rural church as a priestly, prophetic and evangelising 

presence. Sessions on: church size theory as it affects rural 

congregations; personality type and what it means for 

rural ministry; and an awareness of team ministry within 

a rural context, helped participants to reflect on their own 

ministry. 

8.2.2 Participants commended the course as very 

useful to their ministry and it is hoped that the successful 

partnership with Ministries Council can enable more 

courses with an emphasis on rural ministry to be offered 

in the future. As one participant wrote in their evaluation 

of the course: 

“It was said several times that a small church is not 

a failed big one. Likewise a rural Minister is not a 

failed urban one. Rural ministry is as vital and as 

needed as UPA, city or whatever. This course is an 

important step on the way to affi rming this.” 

8.3 Training for Ministry 

The Rural Strategy Team has been working closely with 

the Ministries Council with regard to how best the need of 

rural parishes can be communicated to those in training 

for the ministry. For many years, students have had the 

benefit of voluntary summer placements in a scheme 

established by the then Board of National Mission and 

now operated by the Ministries Council. Many Ministers 

may recall the stories of colleagues living in a manse in 

the middle of nowhere with little running water (although 

this is perhaps not a fair picture to paint of typical rural 

parishes!). 

8.3.1 It has been recognised that students in these 

placements can feel very isolated and require support. The 

Rural Strategy Team, in collaboration with the Ministries 

Council, will be seeking to help provide students with 

that support. It is hoped that before students leave for 

‘their parish’ they will meet in a central location to discuss 

hopes (and fears) for their placement. At the end of the 


placements, before university begins again, those who 

have served the church in rural parishes over the summer 

will come together again to share their experiences and 

learn from others through theological reflection. When 

students are in the parish they will also be given a mentor 

who they can make regular contact with by telephone 

and email throughout their placement. 

8.3.2 The Rural Strategy Team also recognises the 

difficulties faced by the Ministries Council in placing 

candidates in rural parishes as part of the term time 

placement scheme. Many find it difficult to travel, and 

impossible to relocate during university term time. 

Discussions are ongoing to ascertain if there are possible 

opportunities for candidates to experience ministry within 

a rural parish as part of the 10 week summer placement 

or indeed as part, or all, of the final placement. It could be 

possible, for example, for a candidate to be seconded to 

a rural parish for a number of weeks within his or her final 

placement. It may be further possible that a candidate 

may serve their final placement in a group of parishes in a 

rural setting. 

8.3.3 The Rural Strategy Team is grateful to the Ministries 

Council, and in particular the Candidate Training and 

Supervision Task Group, for their willingness to look at these 

important issues in the future training of our Ministers. 

8.4 Royal Highland Show 

2010 will mark 15 years of the Church having a presence at 

the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston in Edinburgh. Over 

the years the presence has moved from a small table in the 

shopping area to a large scale ecumenical event run by the 

Rural Strategy Team and supported by the ACTS Scottish 

Churches Rural Group. Increasingly the Church of Scotland 

presence is growing, owing to collaboration between 

the Mission and Discipleship, Church and Society, World 

Mission, Social Care Councils and the HIV/AIDS Project. 

8.4.1 2009 saw a significant expansion of the church’s 

presence at the Show. With the now traditional ‘church

tent’ at the heart of the Show providing a welcome 

coffee, conversations and information for the visitors, the 

team had to be expanded as the work amongst children 

and families increased. The Children’s Discovery Centre 

marked their 10 th anniversary year with a variety of stands 

and exhibitions to showcase work and initiatives within 

rural Scotland. The Rural Strategy Team was pleased to be 

included in this venture, which enabled more seminars 

and interactive displays to be shared with a huge number 

of visitors over the four day event. 

8.4.2 To mark the increased church presence within 

the show, a church leaders visit was arranged, with the 

Moderator representing the Church of Scotland. Without 

exception, all of the church leaders commented on the 

good work the church was able to do at the show. At 

the visit the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the 

Environment, Richard Lochhead MSP, spoke on the work 

of his department, and in conversation with many of the 

church leaders he acknowledged the impact churches had 

within rural Scotland. The Rural Strategy Team was pleased 

that a number of politicians from all political parties came 

to visit the stand to find out about the church presence, 

not only within the show but throughout rural Scotland. 

8.4.3 The 2010 Royal Highland Show takes place in 

Ingliston from 24 to 27 June and the Rural Strategy Team 

would be pleased to welcome people from churches 

across Scotland to learn of and to share from each other 

the work the churches do in rural Scotland. The church’s 

tent is located in Avenue O, a short distance from Ingliston 

House. 

8.5 Church Presence at Local Agricultural Shows 

Whilst the Royal Highland Show as a national event is 

supported by the national churches, there is a significant 

number of local shows which take place throughout 

Scotland. It is recognised that in more localised shows 

a church presence is best served by local churches and 

indeed, over the years, a number of local congregations 

have staged church stands of varying size and 


significance. It is accepted, however, that there are many 

local agricultural shows where there is either no church 

presence, or there is a presence but it has limited impact 

due to modest support and/or resources. 

8.5.1 In 2009, an opportunity arose for the Rural Strategy 

Team to support a church stand in Perth that would serve 

as a ‘pilot project’ of collaboration with a number of local 

agencies. Such a project prompted the Rural Strategy 

Team to consider supporting similar ventures across the 

country. 

8.5.2 The experience of the stand in Perth allowed the 

Rural Strategy Team to look at ways in which local churches 

can facilitate a church presence. The stand proved to be a 

success in view of the following: 

• through collaboration, a significant number of 

volunteers were recruited; 

• the different partners brought different areas of 

expertise; 

• the involvement of local people attracted more visitors 

to the stand; 

• thorough planning allowed for a smooth operation; 

and 

• the stand was busy and a number of positive comments 

were received. 

8.5.3 Such positive outcomes have provided the impetus 

for supporting further local initiatives, assuming there are 

potential partners and resources. It must be stressed that 

local shows can only succeed with local support. The 

role of the Rural Strategy Team must be a supportive one 

and not one of management or ownership. There are, 

however, significant ways in which such support can be 

given including support of the Regional Development 

Officer, providing materials, networking and co-ordinating 

resources and training. 

8.5.4 Through this initiative the Rural Strategy Team 

hope that many more agricultural shows can benefit from 

having a church presence at the heart of the event. 

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8.6 Rural Research Project 

As was reported at last year’s General Assembly, the Rural 

Strategy Team has been engaged in a research project 

to determine the number and character of rural parishes 

within the Church of Scotland. This project, with the 

working title ‘The Church of Scotland Rural Project’, allows for 

consultation with rural churches to take their perspectives 

into account and to determine where the priorities ought 

to lie in responding to the challenges that those churches 

face. Whilst it is accepted that there is no ‘typical rural 

parish’, such research nevertheless provides data that may 

determine aspects of a particular parish which can be 

considered ‘typically rural’. 

8.6.1 The chief aims of the project are: 

• to ascertain the size and scope of rural parishes in 

Scotland; 

• to define traits of parishes that are ‘typically rural’; 

• to determine levels of disadvantage in rural parishes; 

• to target those parishes in need of priority help; 

• to determine the critical issues that will require focus for 

the Rural Strategy Team; and 

• to assist future consultations. 

8.6.2 The very first task of the project was to define the 

term ‘rural’. To avoid protracted discussion, it was agreed to 

use the Scottish Government’s definition, which, according 

to its urban/rural classification, reads as, ‘settlements of less 

than 3,000 people’. There are further sub-classifications 

of ‘accessible rural’ and ‘remote rural’ depending on the 

settlement’s proximity to a population of 10,000 or more. If 

a rural settlement is within a 30-minute drive of the larger 

settlement (10,000+), it is classed as ‘accessible’, but if it is 

beyond such a threshold, it is then classed as ‘remote’. 

8.6.3 The next task was to identify those parishes that 

would fit into such rural classifications. This meant a 

vast number of parishes that may be considered rural in 

nature not being listed, since they fitted into ‘small town’ 

classifications (populations between 3,000 and 10,000). 

From Ordnance Survey grid references, the postcode 


data of the churches were fed into Scottish Government 

software known as ‘Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics’. 

Each was analysed and given an urban/rural classification 

that corresponded to its level of ‘rurality’. In what was a 

labour-intensive undertaking, 609 rural parishes were 

identified from the 1,448 parishes listed in Scotland. (See 

Appendix III). 

8.6.4 An inevitable issue during the identification 

process was that of parishes whose boundaries ‘bridged’ 

the different classifications. Not all parishes neatly fitted 

into ‘accessible rural’ or ‘remote rural’ areas. Some fitted 

into both, whilst some others crossed over from rural into 

non-rural areas. In all of these cases, the classification that 

fitted the majority of the parish population was the one 

selected. 

8.6.5 A key stage in the project was to identify a partner 

to create a GIS (Geographic Information System) software 

package that would first create maps of the 609 rural 

parishes and, in so doing, allow for further manipulation 

of the maps, using statistical input. Such input would 

include the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). 

The Statistics for Mission, first produced in 2004, contains 

such information, but as it only provides postcodes for 

parishes; they lack the precision of maps, where a number 

of postcodes are bisected. Work on the GIS software 

could not begin until maps were obtained from relevant 

presbyteries and in many cases this proved a difficult 

task, as presbyteries discovered that such information 

was not readily available. By the end of November 2009, 

a sufficient number of maps were obtained to tender for 

the work, with the Statistics for Mission postcode listings 

providing ‘blurred’ boundaries for those maps remaining 

outstanding. 

8.6.6 Stage one of the research, ‘mapping’ rural parishes 

has now been completed. The next stage of the research 

is currently underway and seeks to measure disadvantage 

within the church’s rural parishes. It is hoped that this 

stage will be completed within a year, and that once

complete will provide significant benefit to rural parishes 

in helping them understand their parish, as well as the 

national church taking rural disadvantage into account 

when determining policy. 

8.7 Rural Support Network 

Ever since the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2001, when the 

Church of Scotland seconded Rev Richard Frazer as Rural 

Chaplain to support those Scottish farmers affected, there 

has been a call to continue such support. 

8.7.1 The Rural Strategy Team has been exploring ways 

of developing this support to include not just farmers, but 

all those working in a rural environment (forestry, fishing, 

tourism, etc). The intended support would be in the shape 

of a network that would, in partnership with local churches, 

help provide free pastoral support across Scotland 

consisting of an initial response, followed by potential 

referrals to outside agencies. As part of this development, 

discussions have been held with Farm Crisis Network and 

other support agencies to seek a practical and integrated 

way forward. These discussions are ongoing but, already, a 

number of welcome responses to the initiative have been 

received. 

8.8 Rural Church Conference 

The Rural Strategy Team encourages all presbyteries to send 

representatives to the Rural Church Conference to take 

place in the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan, Kincardine, 

from 29 to 30 October 2010. Previous conferences have 

been influential in encouraging new initiatives and 

collaborations, most notably with the Ministries Council in 

regard to training and resourcing rural ministry. 

8.8.1 This year’s conference will focus on the issue of 

realising the potential of churches in rural Scotland. As well 

as Presbytery representatives, local churches can support 

Ministers and church members to attend the conference 

at a reduced cost. For more details of the conference, 

please contact the Council. 


9. Scottish Storytelling Centre 

2009 was a landmark year for the Storytelling Centre and 

its work across Scotland. 

9.1 In January and February the Centre took a leading 

role in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the 

birth of Robert Burns. In addition to public events and 

school visits, the Director’s book ‘God, the Devil and the 

Poet: Robert Burns and Religion’, published by Saint Andrew 

Press, proved a major talking point, and a source of further 

events throughout the year. The importance of Christianity 

in the life of Scotland’s national poet, and the relevance 

of Burns to our present religious situation were both fully 

explored. 

9.2 The Storytelling Centre also mounted a series of 

Homecoming events culminating in the St Andrew’s Day 

weekend. Ideas and event themes were widely shared 

across the Church, and many congregations held Open 

Days, exhibitions, ceilidhs, guided tours, accompanied by 

new websites and publications. The Scottish International 

Festival in October was entitled ‘Homelands’, and 

welcomed visitors from Australia, the Caribbean, New 

Zealand, Canada and the USA among others. The festival 

celebrated Scotland’s ties of culture and faith across the 

world, while acknowledging parts of our inheritance 

such as the treatment of aboriginal peoples and the slave 

trade which brought shame rather than credit to our own 

homeland. 

9.3 This Homecoming effort arose directly from Mission 

and Discipleship’s Church Visitor and Tourism strategy. The 

Council, and then in turn the Storytelling Centre, were 

delighted to play a full part in the national and international 

initiatives undertaken by Scotland’s Churches Scheme for 

the Year of Homecoming. These include the new Sacred 

Scotland website (www.sacredscotland.org.uk) and the 

Sacred Places Guides mentioned elsewhere in the Council’s 

report. Over 1200 churches have so far signed up to be part 

of this collective effort to highlight Scotland’s distinctive 

religious heritage as a contemporary missionary asset. The 

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Council was greatly encouraged by the involvement and 

enthusiasm of so many local congregations in the Year of 

Homecoming. 

9.4 In 2009 the Centre also began a three year 

development of its business model. Under the heading 

‘Scotland’s Culture: Our Resource’, the Centre seeks to 

combine earned income, external grants and Church 

support in a way that maximises national impact while 

providing services of real relevance to every parish. Over 

400,000 people across Scotland participated in the Centre’s 

programmes in 2009, while the premises on Edinburgh’s 

Royal Mile attracted approximately 120,000 visitors. 

9.5 At the close of the year the Storytelling Centre 

was delighted to begin commemoration of the 450th 

anniversary of the Scottish Reformation as part of 

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Festival. John Knox proved that, 

like Burns, he can still draw crowds, while providing a 

suitably reflective gateway to 2010. 

10. ‘Why Believe?’ Inter-denominational 

Apologetics Group 

This inter-denominational apologetics group endeavours 

to resource, equip and encourage Christians of all 

denominations across Scotland to confidently express their 

beliefs as an increasingly aggressive atheistic and secular 

section of society voices its opinions across the massmedia 

and in the community. The group has members 

from the major denominations in Scotland, who are also 

experts in their own field of study, including a recently 

retired professor of Philosophy, a present professor of 

Physics the chaplain to Heriot-Watt University and the 

director of Edinethics. 

10.1 There is an abundance of excellent apologetics 

literature available for both academic readers and the 

casual enquirer. Unfortunately little of it reaches the local 

library or High Street bookseller. In 2009 ‘Why Believe?’ 

provided twenty carefully selected books ranging from 

‘Christian Prayer for Dummies’ to Timothy Keller’s ‘The Reason 


for God’ to five very different libraries across Scotland, 

urban and rural, and will monitor their usage over the 

next three years, with the aim of showing a high interest 

in such literature, and hoping to encourage congregations 

to supply their libraries and schools with such books. The 

five chosen libraries include Peebles Secondary School, 

Argyll and Bute library (Oban – which includes a travelling 

library service to islands) Perth and Kinross Library (City 

of Perth), Glasgow University and Dundee University 

Chaplaincy Centre. (There is a Charitable Trust which helps 

congregations to purchase Christian literature to donate 

to local libraries - www.christianbookpromotions.org.uk). 

10.2 During 2009 the group produced two apologetics 

leaflets for use by Church people and others. ‘Has science 

buried God?’ looks at where faith and science converge 

rather than conflict, and argues the case for theism from 

a position of knowledge and offers resources for those 

wishing to delve deeper into the subjects. ‘What can I say?’ 

is a redeveloped and updated leaflet providing brief and 

considered responses to negative comments on the topic 

of theism and religion, frequently made in conversations. 

Both leaflets are available free of charge through Mission 

and Discipleship Offices. 

10.3 ‘End of life’ issues are being debated across British 

society at present, and questions being asked as to what 

makes humanity different from all other living beings, the 

place of morality as a defining factor of being human and 

arguments regarding the enhancement of our physical 

and mental abilities through the use of drugs, training 

and implants. ‘Why Believe?’, partnering with the Church 

and Society Council, held it’s bi-annual conference in 

Linlithgow in January 2010 asking the question ‘What is 

a person?’, with Elaine Storkey, John Wyatt and Thomas 

Torrance addressing the topic while all participants were 

enabled to voice opinions in one of four workshops: Ethics 

and genetics, Killing with kindness, Smarter, stronger faster 

or Keeping our humanity. 

10.4 ‘Why Believe?’ continues to communicate with

and co-operate with Universities, churches of various 

denominations, Christian support organisations (eg 

Christians in Science), respond to critics (eg British 

Secular society) and to monitor, and, if wise, comment or 

contribute to debates and reports in the media. 

10.5 There is continued need for apologetics (credible 

Christianity) to be developed and explained as a vital 

work of the Christian church in Scotland, to resource 

congregational members, encourage academic study 

and support Christians to have confidence to live and 

express their Christian faith. One ongoing aspect of ‘Why 

Believe’s?’ resourcing for the church is the website www. 

godsearchscotland.org.uk. 

11. Life and Work Review Group 

11.1 Formation of the Review 

This review was initiated by the General Assembly of 

2009 when concerns were raised regarding an editorial 

in the May 2009 edition of the magazine of the Church 

of Scotland, Life and Work. These concerns had been 

expressed in a number of areas prior to the General 

Assembly and had been considered by the Mission and 

Discipleship Council, which proposed to the Assembly 

that a review of the practice and status of “an editorially 

independent” magazine and the support structures for the 

Editor be instigated. 

11.1.1 The particular sections of the deliverance were; 

Instruct the Mission and Discipleship Council 

to undertake an extensive review, to include 

consultation with the Council of Assembly 

Communication Committee, to: 

a) investigate the meaning and place of an 

editorially independent Life and Work in 

relation to the mission work of the Church; 

b) examine and review the role of the Life and 

Work Advisory Committee as part of an 

investigation into the support systems which 

are in place for the Editor to ensure that they 


are fi t for purpose given the pressures and 

isolation of the post and report back to the 

General Assembly of 2010 

11.1.2 The particular issue which had provoked the 

questions related to an editorial, by the Acting Editor of the 

magazine, regarding a case which in the process of being 

considered by the General Assembly in 2009, following 

the Commission of Assembly which had referred the 

matter to the General Assembly of 2009. Strong protests 

were expressed regarding the editorial, with fears that it 

could be prejudicial and distort the hearing of the case by 

the Commissioners during the General Assembly. 

11.1.3 The Mission and Discipleship Council, under 

whose ambit Life and Work operates, took these 

concerns seriously, and also considered the fact that the 

Editor, on her return from maternity leave, had raised 

important questions regarding the support structures 

which were designed to assist her in the exercise of her 

responsibilities. 

11.1.4 The General Assembly accepted the deliverance 

and this Group was formed by the Mission and 

Discipleship Council and instructed to bring a report on its 

investigations. It was also agreed that the Review Group 

should bring any recommendations on the magazine and 

its operation to the Council and the General Assembly for 

discussion. 

11.1.5 The Review Group focussed its attention 

particularly, in the light of the terms of the Deliverance, 

on the contribution of Life and Work to the mission of the 

church in its broadest sense. The Review Group, therefore, 

did not embark upon a complete and unrestricted 

evaluation, assessment and analysis of the magazine as a 

whole. 

11.2 Membership 

The Group was convened by the Convener of the Mission 

and Discipleship Council, The Rev Mark Johnstone and 

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consisted of Rev Bryan Kerr, the Very Rev Dr Andrew 

McLellan, Rev Peter Johnston, Rev Gordon Kennedy, Mr 

John Hawthorn, member of the Mission and Discipleship 

Council and Mr Richard Williamson, Journalist, with Rev 

Nigel Robb, Secretary for Worship and Doctrine in the 

Mission and Discipleship Council, as Secretary of the 

Review Group. Ms Lorna Finley, Communications Officer 

and Editor of the magazine of the Scottish Episcopal 

Church, acted as a corresponding member and made 

contributions to the group. 

11.3 A Brief History of Life and Work 

Life and Work was founded in 1879 by one of the great 

figures of the Church of Scotland in Victorian times, Dr 

Archibald Charteris. This distinguished churchman was 

also responsible for the foundation of the Women’s Guild 

(now The Guild) and the introduction of the Diaconate. 

He became the first Editor of the magazine, envisaging 

a magazine which would offer a forum for debate, and a 

means of the Church of Scotland commenting upon and 

engaging with the changes in Victorian Society. 

11.3.1 From the beginning of the magazine, it appears 

that the Editor was independent in his choice of articles 

and particular approach to the content of the magazine. 

The editorial independence of the magazine appears 

to have been assumed for a number of years, and was 

clarified by a special Commission of the General Assembly 

in 1972. 

11.3.2 The need for this Commission had its roots 

in a conflict between the Editor of that time and the 

contemporary Publications Committee, which appeared 

to be based upon a breakdown in communication. The 

Editor believed that he had been removed from his office 

inappropriately, and the Commission decided in his 

favour. 

11.3.3 The Commission’s report, which was accepted 

by the General Assembly, clearly articulated the need for 

the Editor to exercise freedom in relation to the content 


of the magazine. In one particular statement this is 

expressed with particular clarity, “……..an Editor must be 

independent….(s)he is expected to produce a paper which 

is readable, informed and balanced, and to express what 

(s)he conceives to be the Church’s attitude towards current 

issues as they arise from time to time”. This statement is one 

which the current review believes is of strategic value and 

importance in the current situation. 

11.3.4 The Commission’s report also emphasised the 

importance of a Consultative Committee being set up to 

assist the Editor in the preparation of the contents of the 

magazine, and able to express perspectives, based on their 

knowledge and awareness of issues within the Church, for 

the information and guidance of the Editor. While it did 

not have had the means of insisting upon the direction 

of the Editor, it was designed to avoid any decisions by 

the Editor which might damage the reputation of the 

Church of Scotland, or alienate a significant number of its 

membership. 

11.4 Processes 

A number of historical and current documents relating to 

the history and background of the development of the 

magazine were considered by the Group, with a particular 

focus on the question of “editorial independence” and the 

support structures for the Editor. The Group also undertook 

a wide ranging survey of former Editors and others with 

particular competences within and beyond the Church of 

Scotland, to gain their expertise and insights. 

11.4.1 The Group also invited the readership to offer 

their perspectives on the magazine with particular 

concern towards the issue of “editorial independence”. 

Face to face consultations with the Council of Assembly 

Communications Group, the Publishing Committee, 

the Editorial Advisory Committee and the Mission and 

Discipleship Council also took place, in addition to 

submissions and conversations with the current Editor. An 

overview of the financial picture relating to Life and Work 

was contributed by the General Treasurer’s Department.

11.4.2 The Review Group wishes to express its 

appreciation of all those who took the time to engage 

with the issues and offer personal and collective opinions 

and insights. These have all assisted the Review Group 

in its deliberations. Many helpful comments were made 

which developed, for the Review Group, a picture and an 

understanding of the reality of the demands of the task of 

editing such a magazine and the particular expectations 

and challenges which he or she must encounter. 

11.5 Record of Deliberations 

11.5.1 Readership Perceptions 

It is clear from the submissions to the Review Group by the 

readership of the magazine that the current Editor exercises 

her responsibilities with appropriate care and attention to 

the challenges of her appointment. Many of the comments 

in the responses from readers, indeed the vast majority, 

were positive and affirming of the current position. They 

expressed the belief that the Editor presents a wide range 

of articles which are engaging, helpful and insightful on 

topics of interest to church members and those who are 

acquainted with the Church of Scotland. Some readers have 

particular preferences and offered some suggestions and 

comments for the interest of the Editor. What was obvious 

was that the current readership is, on the whole, satisfied 

with the way in which the Editor handles the responsibilities 

with which she has been entrusted. 

11.5.1.1 The Review Group also referred to the readership 

survey which had been undertaken in December 2008, 

prior to the issue which has created the demand for the 

review. In that survey, a satisfaction rate with the magazine 

and its content and presentation of over 94% was 

recorded. This appears to support the contention that the 

magazine is capable of providing the kind of materials and 

perspectives by an editorially independent Editor which 

meet the requirements of its readership. 

11.5.2 Former Editors 

Throughout all the responses received from the former 

Editors, it is evident that the task of being the Editor of Life 


and Work is challenging and requires particular skills and a 

high degree of awareness of the current Church attitudes 

to various social and theological issues. 

11.5.3 Journalists 

From the comments of the professional journalists 

within the Review Group and the experience of the 

former Editors, it appears that for the magazine to retain 

its appeal, it is vitally important that the Editor’s role is 

not restricted to that of becoming the mouthpiece of a 

committee. The Review Group is persuaded that, if the 

magazine is to maintain a degree of integrity and employ 

an Editor of competence and capacity, the Editor requires 

the freedom to gather opinion and consult, but must have 

responsibility for the content of the magazine free from 

outside interference. 

11.5.4 Current Editor 

The current Editor, in her submissions, expressed to the 

Review Group her enjoyment of the work involved and her 

sense of responsibility as part of the ‘family’ of the Church 

to ensure that the magazine reflected the values of the 

gospel and the wide and diversity of the character of the 

Church of Scotland. She had serious concerns regarding 

the reaction to the editorial, and the repercussions which 

followed. However, through her interchange with the 

Review Group, it became evident that she welcomed the 

opportunity to have an objective outside examination 

of the magazine, and would anticipate that the Review 

would assist the magazine achieve its potential. 

11.5.4.1 She expressed the hope that the recommendations 

of the Review Group would enable the 

magazine to develop new ways of serving the Church. 

The Review Group believes that the magazine will only 

survive and fulfill its original intention by development 

and promotion. Only through appropriate investment, in a 

variety of ways, will Life and Work remain a means whereby 

the membership of the Church would become more aware 

of the variety of expressions of mission and ministry within 

and beyond local congregations, and understand the role 

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the Church played in shaping and influencing Scotland. 

11.5.5 Other Consultations 

From the extensive processes of consultation with the 

Council of Assembly Communications Group, the Publishing 

Committee and the Editorial Advisory Committee, it was 

asserted repeatedly that Life and Work is seen as a valuable 

and important part of the communications strategy of the 


11.5.6 Communications of the Church of Scotland 

It was also important, in the reflections of the Review 

Group, to assert and admit that it would be unwise for 

the Church to expect Life and Work to be the sole means 

of communication and the omni-competent part of the 

communications’ strategy of the Church. Instead, the 

Review Group would affirm the role of Life and Work as a 

contributing factor in the process of encouraging creative 

and wide ranging communication of theological opinions 

and reflections on the work of the Church. This must 

take place, in the view of the membership of the Group, 

alongside other developments which seek to engage with 

society and its questions on the nature of faith and the 

character of the Church of Scotland. 

11.5.6.1 The Review group examined the Co-ordinated 

Communications Strategy of the Church of Scotland 

which was agreed by the General Assembly some time 

ago. In that strategy several strategic aims were identified 

as critical in the Church’s wish to communicate beyond its 

boundaries. It is the belief of the Review group that Life 

and Work, in various ways fulfills these remits to a certain 

extent. Once again it must be emphasized that Life and 

Work cannot be expected to be the only means whereby 

these aims are achieved. 

11.5.6.2 In relation to the fi rst strategic aim: 

To see beyond ourselves, to be more accessible to 

those who are not engaged with the Church, to 

encourage the enquirer in ways which are direct 

and inclusive. 


11.5.6.3 The Review Group believes that Life and Work, 

in its wide ranging articles touching on the variety of 

expressions of admission in Scotland and overseas, and 

its articles which highlight the faith journeys of particular 

individuals, and the discussion of news from the General 

Assembly and particular congregations and groups who 

are involved in projects and developments, distinguishes 

itself in relation to this specific aim. 

11.5.6.4 The Review Group believes that the magazine, 

while attempting to fulfill a missionary goal in its articles 

and presentations, may need to develop this aspect 

of its work further and attempt to engage those who 

are, at present, not members of the Church with issues 

and concerns central to the Christian faith. While this 

may generate publicity in the secular press, the Review 

Group is concerned that the magazine should not evade 

engagement with controversial and challenging material 

which conveys to the public the fact that the Church is 

very much concerned with contemporary, moral and 

social issues. 

11.5.6.5 The Review group would argue that in its 

content and engagement in reflection upon the Church 

of Scotland’s distinctive witness, and ecumenical articles, 

that the magazine does indeed participate in the work 

identified by the second strategic aim: 

To celebrate our life as part of the whole Church of 

Jesus Christ, within these islands and throughout 

the world and be mindful of the impact of what we 

say and do on other churches. 

11.5.6.6 The Review group would also suggest to the 

General Assembly that the strategic aim identified in the 

communication strategy in relation to communication 

within the Church of Scotland which reads: 

To achieve and maintain eff ective communication 

within the Church of Scotland and to encourage 

understanding and respect.

11.5.6.7 Is also one which the magazine contributes 

towards in a positive manner through news items from 

parishes, summaries of important points in General 

Assembly reports and the publication of materials which 

inform the wider Church of the work of the Councils. 

11.5.6.8 The Review Group believes that the Editor 

is assisted in the task of ensuring that a wide range of 

material is available regarding the wider work of the 

Church through the contact she has with the Secretaries of 

the various Councils. While the Review group appreciates 

that the Editor is at liberty to decline articles which are 

prepared by Councils, the Review Group believe that the 

Councils should seek regular meetings with the Editor to 

ensure that the Editor is aware of the important current 

issues within the remit of a particular Council. 

11.5.7 Editorial Advisory Committee 

In order for the Editorial Advisory Committee to function 

appropriately, it appears necessary for it to be elected by the 

General Assembly, through the report of the Nominations 

Committee. This would ensure transparency and create 

confidence in the Editorial Advisory Committee and 

express clearly to the Church that it reflected the breadth 

and diversity of the ethos of the Church of Scotland. It 

would allow the membership to be regularly refreshed by 

the including of new members with varied perspectives, 

theological outlooks and experiences to enrich the work 

of the Committee. The Nominations Committee would, 

of course, take account of the particular skills, talents and 

experiences required for its membership to contribute 

appropriately. 

11.5.7.1 The Review Group also believes that the 

Mission and Discipleship Council should be invited to 

prepare guidelines for the Editor and the members of the 

Advisory Committee to clarify their distinctive roles and 

functions, and clearly identify the Editor’s collaboration 

with them and consultation, without the Editorial Advisory 

Committee exercising control over the content of the 

magazine. 


11.5.7.2 It is also recommended that while the regular 

consultation of the Editorial Advisory Committee ought to 

continue to take place by electronic means, it is important 

that the Committee meet together with the Editor on at 

least two occasions per year to discuss general matters of 

interest and particular policy concerns which the Editor 

may wish to reflect upon. 

11.5.7.3 It is also the strong recommendation of the 

Review Group that this Editorial Advisory Committee ought 

to have a chairperson appointed who is not a member of 

any other of the groups concerned with communication 

in the Church to ensure his or her complete independence 

and remove any awkwardness or perceived conflict of 

interest. The current situation where the Editorial Advisory 

Committee is convened by the chairperson of the Council 

of Assembly Communications Group is unsatisfactory and 

could place the individual in an invidious position, and 

ought to be changed immediately. 

11.5.8 Relationship with Mission and Discipleship 

Council 

As a result of the discussions, it is the opinion of the 

Review Group that the line management staff structure of 

the magazine is appropriate and ought to remain within 

the Mission and Discipleship Council. The magazine is 

certainly seen as an important resource for congregations, 

and therefore belongs within the remit of the Council 

whose remit primarily is to resource the congregations of 

the Church. 

11.5.8.1 The Stewardship and Finance Department 

made it clear to the Review Group that though the profit 

margin on the magazine has declined considerably due 

to the decreased sales, over a period, to the current level 

of 30,000 per issue, it still generates a substantial amount 

of money for the Mission and Discipleship Council and 

therefore for one of the two stated funding priorities for the 

Church of Scotland, namely Congregational Resourcing. 

11.5.8.2 While it is obvious that the print medium is 

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effective in reaching part of the church membership and 

beyond, there may be value in exploring as an experiment 

and in addition to the printed version, other media of 

communication (eg on line subscription processes). This 

clearly was highlighted by Publishing Committee, and the 

Council of Assembly Communications Group, and would 

be supported by the Editor. 

11.5.8.3 The Review Group believe that, while the 

strategic importance of the relationship between the Editor 

and the Editorial Advisory Committee is of prime concern, 

it would be invaluable for the Mission and Discipleship 

Council to examine the relationship of the various groups 

concerned with communication in the Church and Life 

and Work to ensure that all the expectations of each party 

are known and appropriate. 

11.5.9 Development of Life and Work 

In the light of this expression of enthusiasm for change 

and development, and the fact the magazine has not 

had any intentional investment in promotion in recent 

years, the Review Group is convinced that these should 

be priorities for the Mission and Discipleship Council. If 

the magazine is to survive and to supply the needs of the 

Church in future it must be able to be flexible and utilize 

a number of new and appropriate means of publication. 

Similarly, the magazine would benefit from the input of 

planned promotion and research, discovering ways in 

which it can broaden its appeal and include a wider age 

group in its readership. 

11.5.9.1 The Review Group believe that the Mission and 

Discipleship Council should investigate what appropriate 

staffing and support may be necessary to ensure the 

development of the magazine in future. 

11.5.9.2 While it is not the remit of the Review Group to 

dictate ways in which this ought to be developed, it is the 

conviction of the Review Group that this developmental 

work in alternative additional media production and 

promotion are now an urgent necessity and should be 


incorporated in the planning and development of the 

Council’s work during the next three years. 

11.6 Recommendations 

There should be no change in policy and no further 

restriction of editorial independence regarding Life 

and Work. The Review Group believe that it is essential 

for editorial independence to be affirmed, as has been 

recommended and accepted by the General Assembly in 

all other reviews throughout the history of Life and Work. 

11.6.1 The Editorial Advisory Committee should be 

appointed directly by the Nominations Committee of the 

General Assembly, with appropriate membership reflective 

of the skills required of the membership. A membership of 

seven including the Convener, seems appropriate and the 

Principal Clerk should be an ex officio member in addition. 

11.6.2 The Editorial Advisory Committee should be 

convened by a person appointed directly as Convener 

by the General Assembly. The person appointed should 

not be involved in any other of the Communication or 

Publication Groups of the Church. 

11.6.3 The Review Group believe that the magazine’s 

relationship to Mission and Discipleship should be 

affirmed as important. Life and Work is perceived as one 

strand of the overall strategy and remit of the Council 

relating to ‘Resourcing Congregations’. The magazine is 

part of the family of the Mission and Discipleship Council 

and continues to serve the Church as a whole by focusing 

on the width and diversity of the Church’s involvement in 

Scotland and beyond its shores. 

11.6.4 The Council of Assembly Communications 

Group should be encouraged to perceive the positive 

contribution of Life and Work to the Communications 

Strategy of the Church. It is the hope of the Review 

Group that the Assembly will encourage and affirm the 

necessity of a number of means of communication. Life 

and Work must be seen as a part, but not as the whole,

of the strategy of communication for the Church. The 

magazine has a distinct role and should not be turned into 

a ‘propaganda vehicle’, but rather continue to be as broad 

and representative in opinion and issues as the church of 

which it is a part. 

11.6.5 The Review Group believe that the Mission and 

Discipleship Council should explore the possibility of an 

experimental development of an ‘on-line’ version of the 

magazine for a limited period to supplement the current 

printed medium. This developmental work would require 

to be supported appropriately, and the Mission and 

Discipleship Council would therefore need to consider 

the implications for the current staffing structure. 

11.6.6 It is the belief of the Review Group that the 

Mission and Discipleship Council should consider the 

designation of funds from the profit of the sales of the 

magazine (which are the property of the Mission and 

Discipleship Council) for the appropriate process of 

investment in and promotion of the magazine, ensuring 

that steps are taken designed to address the decline in 

readership. 

11.6.7 It is important that all the Councils and 

Committees of the Church are encouraged to engage 

with the Editor and enable the Editor to be fully aware of 

their particular current work. This will enable the Editor to 

ensure that, when appropriate, the magazine may reflect 

something of their work to a wider audience. 


APPENDIX 

MEMBERS OF THE LIFE AND WORK 

REVIEW GROUP 

Rev Mark E Johnstone, Convener 

Rev Bryan Kerr 

Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan 

Rev Peter Johnston 

Rev Gordon Kennedy 

Mr John Hawthorn 

Mr Richard Williamson 

Rev Nigel Robb, Secretary 

Ms Lorna Finley, corresponding member 


MARK E JOHNSTONE, Convener 

ALAN D BIRSS, Vice-Convener 

LINDA DUNNETT, Vice-Convener 

NEIL PRATT, Vice-Convener 

DAVID CAMERON, Vice-Convener 

STEVEN MALLON, Council Secretary 

NIGEL J ROBB, Associate Secretary 

ALEX MILLAR, Associate Secretary 

In the name of the Committee on Church Art 

and Architecture 

ELEANOR MACALISTER, Convener 

PETER GARDNER, Vice-Convener 

NIGEL J ROBB, Associate Secretary 

In the name of the Publishing Committee 

JOHN MACGILL, Convener 

KENNETH P FORREST, Vice-Convener 

ANN CRAWFORD, Head of Publishing 

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APPENDIX I 

EDUCATION AND NURTURE 

ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND PASTORAL CARE QUESTIONNAIRE 2008 

Purpose 

The questionnaire asked Kirk Sessions how they were organised for Leadership and Pastoral Care. The purpose of the exercise 

was to: 

(a) inform the Eldership Working Party that has been given the responsibility to develop the work of the Eldership; 

(b) enable the Eldership Working Party to have an overview of how Kirk Sessions are working; 

(c) assist the Eldership Working Party in developing new resources for the future; and 

(d) share examples of good practice with others 

Number of Returns 

Over 650 completed forms were returned, with only one mainland Presbytery having no congregations responding. This 

gives the analysis the credibility of a national geographical spread. It is approximately a 43% response rate of the total 

number of congregations in the Church of Scotland [approximately 1500]. 

Responses by Presbytery 

Edinburgh 48 (7.4%) West Lothian 14 (2.1%) 

Lothian 27 (4.1%) Melrose & Peebles 14 (2.1%) 

Duns 12 (1.8%) Jedburgh 8 (1.2%) 

Annandale & Eskdale 10 (1.5%) Dumfries & Kirkudbright 24 (3.7%) 

Wigtown & Stranraer 11 (1.7%) Ayr 32 (4.9%) 

Irvine & Kilmarnock 19 (2.9%) Ardrossan 17 (2.6%) 

Lanark 13 (2.0%) Greenock & Paisley 36 (5.4%) 

Glasgow 72 (11%) Hamilton 48 (7.4%) 

Dumbarton 18 (2.8%) Argyll 18 (2.8%) 

Falkirk 22 (3.4%) Stirling 19 (2.9%) 

Dunfermline 7 (1.1%) Kirkcaldy 11 (1.7%) 

St Andrews 10 (1.5%) Dunkeld & Meigle 8 (1.2%) 

Perth 18 (2.8%) Dundee 7 (1.1%) 

Angus 12 (1.8%) Aberdeen 14 (2.1%) 

Kincardine & Deeside 10 (1.5%) Gordon 7 (1.1%) 

Buchan 10 (1.5%) Moray 8 (1.2%) 

Abernethy 3 (0.5%) Inverness 10 (1.5%) 

Lochaber 7 (1.1%) Ross 6 (0.9%)


Sutherland 4 (0.6%) Caithness 0 (0%) 

Lochcarron & Skye 3 (0.5%) Uist 2 (0.3%) 

Lewis 2 (0.3%) Orkney 5 (0.8%) 

Shetland 1 (0.2%) England 5 (0.8%) 

Europe 0 Jerusalem 0 

Leadership (only one option was chosen) 

There was approximately a 50:50 split between those congregations who had either an executive group, ‘Core group’ 1 or 

‘leadership team’ 2 and those who indicated no other group meeting prior to the Kirk Session. This is based on the 47% 

return for ‘none of the above’. 

Executive group 228 35% 

Core group 56 8.6% 

Leadership team 46 7.1% 

None of the above 308 47.2% 

No answer 14 2.1% 

Management of meetings (more than one option could be chosen) 

It is encouraging that 63% of congregations that responded have occasional or regular discussion as part of Session, as 

well as 31% indicating that prayer arises out of the Session discussions and reports, and not just at the time of constituting 

the meeting. A high percentage (67%) prepare agendas in advance and 39% prepare their reports in advance. In relation 

to ‘worship’, there was obvious confusion as to what was meant in the questionnaire. Some used the term only associated 

with constitution of the meeting, whereas the question sought to determine if there was an extended form of worship 

over and above this. It is also not possible to tell if the answers related to only worship, or worship and a meal. 

Occasional/regular discussions 410 62.9% 

Worship/meal prior to some meetings 86 13.2% 

Worship/meal prior to most meetings 22 3.4% 

Worship/meal prior to all meetings 203 31.1% 

Prayer 158 24.2% 

Agenda in advance 439 67.3% 

Reports in advance 254 39% 


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Frequency of meetings (only one option was chosen) 

As would be expected, this ranged from monthly to ‘as and when required’ and ‘as determined by business’, and everything 

in between. Having said that, the vast majority of Kirk Sessions have ‘regular’ meetings. Factors that influenced the frequency 

of meetings were linkages, parish groupings, vacancies and the size of the Session (small). Further work would need to 

be done to see if there is any link between the pastoral care / leadership balance and amount of training offered, with the 

notion that the Kirk Session is primarily for business. 

Monthly 171 26.2% 

Every 2 months 265 40.6% 

Quarterly 110 16.9% 

Other 100 15.4% 


Percentage of Kirk Session with specific leadership responsibilities 

This question was not understood, so no figures are able to be given. For example, some indicated that they operated 

with 100% of Elders with specific tasks, yet still operated a traditional Elders district system. What is clear is that for some 

respondents all Elders, irrespective of their roles, have leadership responsibility. There is no way to establish, without further 

research, the Elders who carry both district and other specific responsibilities. What this question was trying to establish 

was how many Elders had leadership responsibility for specific tasks and had no district to visit. 

Balance between Leadership (1) and pastoral care (6) (only one option was chosen) 

This table indicates that there is a leaning towards pastoral care. 

1 10 1.5% 

2 36 5.5% 

3 139 21.3% 

4 204 31.3% 

5 115 17.6% 

6 28 4.3% 


This should not come as any surprise to us, due to the emphasis on the link between the Eldership and the district system 

over many years. The fairly high figure of 18% who gave no answer probably indicates that some people did not understand 

what was being asked. Another factor was clearly the size of the Kirk Session. The smaller the Session, the more difficult to 

differentiate between leadership and pastoral care - this is not in situations where people chose to have smaller Sessions, 

but in smaller congregations.


Pastoral management (more than one option could be chosen) 

By far the largest response was the traditional system of one Elder, one district (85%). Other responses include districts 

with some done by Elders and others by ‘visitors’ (19%), and Elders doing their districts supported by others (14%). Some 

congregations operate a non-district system but this is probably in small rural charges, but not exclusively. Again more 

work would need to be done to establish this link. It is encouraging to see pastoral teams (39%), hospital teams (12%) and 

bereavement teams (6%) as part of the pastoral care within local congregations. 

One Elder…. 552 84.7% 

A system of…. 47 7.2% 

A non-district system 39 6.0% 

Elders not involved 7 1.1% 

Mixture 1 126 19.3% 

Mixture 2 92 14.1% 

Bereavement team 37 5.7% 

Hospital team 77 11.8% 

Pastoral team 256 39.3% 

Other 78 12.0% 


Pastoral training of Elders (only one option was chosen) 

The picture here is mixed. 

Annually 119 18.3% 

Quarterly 18 2.8% 

Monthly 6 0.9% 

Other 388 59.5% 


The table shows a variation from monthly to annual but the figures are very low. The total percentage is only 22%. In the 

section marked ‘other’, the responses are also interesting. There is no percentage break down but some of the responses 

are ‘occasionally’, ‘as required’, when a course is run by Presbytery or a trainer, or when new Elders are being ordained. It is 

therefore ‘needs based’. What is worrying is the ‘no answer’ option that got nearly 19% and some congregations whose 

response was ‘seldom’ or ‘never’. It raises the question of people’s desire or motivation for training. 

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Training materials used (more than one option could be chosen) 

This is grouped under four headings. ‘Ministers’ own’ (36%), that suggests that Ministers are more comfortable using materials 

that fit their own thinking, or it is simply easier to do it yourself, rather than bring someone else in to do it. However, it is 

encouraging for the Eldership Working Party that 29% of respondents have used Elder training materials. These responses 

should be further collated to see what issues congregations are seeking training in. The third section is bought or adapted 

resources. Some specific examples are, Christian Listening (Acorn Trust), workshops by Association in Christian Training and 

Connect 4 bereavement training. It is again worrying that 43% gave no answer! 

Minister’s own 233 35.7% 

Elder trainer materials 189 29% 

Bought or adapted 74 11.3% 


Congregations worth following up 

As one of the specific aims of the questionnaire was to share examples of good practice, several congregations have been 

identified as worth following up. 

i A ‘Core Group’ is one set up under “Contract church” and is attended by work group conveners, Minister, Session Clerk 

and an outside facilitator. 

ii Leadership Team denotes a smaller Kirk Session where not all the Elders are currently active by attending Session 

meetings but may still have pastoral responsibilities. 

APPENDIX II 

MISSION AND EVANGELISM 

MISSION 21 CONFERENCE 

The following is a summary of the talk by Rev Dr Martin Atkins at the ‘Planting Life!’ - Sharing the Struggle and Celebrating the 

Success of Church Planting Conference, held in Bath in November 2009: 

Importance of Greater Variety of Ecclesial Groupings by Rev Dr Martyn Atkins 

Churches can be located on a continuum in the following way: 

more Indigenous more Pilgrim 

being ‘of the soil’ characterised by diff erence and distinction 

(eg national churches of the reformation) (eg the early church)

Some observations on this continuum: 


• The tension between these poles seems God-designed. 

• The balance between them creates variety and health. 

• Both embody core gospel principles (both based on John 1). 

• At each major point of renewal one model takes the lead to produce ‘fresh expressions’. 

• In times of change, both models undergo change. 

• The most emphatic pilgrim models have deep indigenous principles. 

As we enter the future we need new models of both indigenous and pilgrim church communities to serve the present 

diverse society. 

However, there is a timely warning here. It is when we are working at the experimental edge, breaking new ground, 

exploring new frontiers, attempting to be incarnational in a variety of contexts, that we have to be most aware of the everpresent 

danger of syncretism. Christianity has been hugely varied, as have models of church, so what holds it all together? 

What is at the heart of Christianity? – the person of Christ, Scripture, a rule of life/lifestyle, a community of faith and practice, 

models of discipleship. 

Let’s look at just two of these strands – 

1. Disciple-making. Being disciples, making disciples, nurturing disciples who change the world for good – this is the 

‘acid test’ for fresh expressions of church and church plants. 

2. Varied communities: 

i. Communities of place – people gathering for worship from the same neighbourhood or area (ie Parish church). 

ii. Communities of practice – people who have a stake in a shared enterprise, common networks, etc. 

‘Place’ is still crucial for whole rafts of people, so some new models or fresh expressions of church need to be communities 

of place. But there is also huge potential for exploring the possibility of developing and sustaining church around 

communities practice. And ‘Institutional’ church is essential here – working from a reasonably strong centre with partners 

who are prepared to permit and support experiments on the edge. The need for variety is missional, but also political – 

increasing the recognition of Christians for ‘bridging and building capital’. 

(Ann Morisy) 

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APPENDIX III 

RURAL SCOTLAND - HOW RURAL IS THAT PARISH? 

Introductory Notes 

As part of the commission to ‘map rural parishes in Scotland’, the Rural Strategy Team needs to begin by documenting 

pre-determined definitions of ‘accessible rural’ and ‘remote rural’. The current (2008) rural classifications according to the 

Scottish Government website are thus: 

• Rural – ’settlements with a population of less than 3,000’ 

• Accessible Rural – ‘settlements of less than 3,000 people and within a 30-minute drive of a settlement with a population of 

10,000 or more’ 

• Remote Rural – ‘settlements of less than 3,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement with a 

population of 10,000 or more’ 

One difficult issue is that of whether to include in this analysis ‘accessible small towns’ and ‘remote small towns’ where 

many of the respective residents may consider themselves to be in a rural area. In the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National 

Park, Callander is surrounded by fields, farms, lochs and glens, attracting tourists and enjoying a reputation for a rural 

idyll. However, it has a population of over 3,000 people and according to the aforementioned website, is classified as 

an ‘accessible small town’ (‘accessible’ due to its proximity to Stirling.). To avoid endless argument, this analysis is strictly 

adhering to the population size of the settlement. Thus Callander, along with other seemingly rural settlements such as 

Peebles, Dingwall and even Wick, are not included. This in no way precludes such settlements from rural issues (or indeed, 

from being viewed as rural in character) and there will be occasion when such places may feature in the project. However, 

for the purposes of this initial task, an accepted starting point is necessary and since government classifications provide us 

with such an opportunity, it is these classifications that are, therefore, used in this particular exercise. 

Another, but minor, issue is that of parishes whose boundaries may ‘bridge’ the different classifications. Not all parishes may 

neatly fit into ‘accessible rural’ or ’remote rural’. Some will fit into both, whilst others may cross over from rural into nonrural 

areas. In all of these cases, the classification that fits the majority of the parish population will be the one selected for 

listing. 

Methodology 

The relevant parishes are listed alphabetically within presbyteries. The presbyteries are themselves listed in the usual 

Church of Scotland numberings. Therefore West Lothian Presbytery, being number 2, is high up on the list, with Shetland 

(46) coming at the end. 

From Ordnance Survey grid references, the postcode data of the churches are fed into software on a Scottish Government 

website known as ‘Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics’. Each is analysed and given a classification number that corresponds 

to its level of ‘rurality’. This is then transferred onto the list. 

Please also note that only those strictly fitting the aforementioned classifications are included in the list, so, for example, 

there are no entries for the Edinburgh and Glasgow presbyteries and entries for the Falkirk and Hamilton presbyteries are 

relatively few.


RURAL PARISHES (from listings in 2008/9 Year Book) 

Presbytery Accessible Rural 

Abercorn 

Avonbridge 

Remote Rural 

West Lothian 

Blackridge 

Kirknewton 

Pardrovan, Kingscavil & Winchburgh 

Torphicen 

Lothian 

Melrose & Peebles 

Aberlady Athelstaneford 

Bilston Dirleton 

Bolton & Saltoun Dunglass 

Borthwick Gullane 

Cockpen & Carrington Spott 

Cranstoun, Crichton & Ford Traprain 

Fala & Soutra Whitekirk & Tyninghame 

Gladsmuir Yester 

Glencourse 

Humbie 

Longniddry 

Ormiston 

Pencaitland 

Roslin 

Ashkirk Broughton, Glenholm & Kilbucho 

Bowden & Melrose Channelkirk 

Caddonfoot Skirling 

Carlops Stobo & Drumelzier 

Earlston Tweedsmuir 

Eddleston 

Ettrick & Yarrow 

Kirkurd & Newlands 

Innerleithen 

Lauder 

Lyne & Manor 

Maxton & Mertoun 

Newtown 

St Boswells 

Selkirk 

Stow: St Mary of Wedale & Heriot 

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Duns 

Jedburgh 

Annandale & Eskdale 


Ayton & Burnmouth Greenlaw 

Bonkyl & Preston Langton & Lammermuir Kirk 

Chirnside Westruther 

Coldingham & St Abb’s 

Coldstream 

Duns 

Eccles 

Edrom: Allanton 

Fogo & Swinton 

Foulden & Mordington 

Gordon: St Michael’s 

Grantshouse & Houndwood & Reston 

Hutton & Fishwick & Paxton 

Ladykirk 

Legerwood 

Leitholm 

Whitsome 

Ale & Teviot United Kelso Country Churches 

Cavers & Kirkton Linton, Morebattle, Hownam & Yetholm 

Hobkirk & Southdean 

Oxnam 

Ruberslaw 

Teviothead 

Applegarth, Sibbaldie & Johnstone Hoddam 

Brydekirk Hightae 

Canonbie United Kirkpatrick Juxta 

Dalton Langholm Eskdalemuir Ewes & Westerkirk 

Dornock Liddesdale 

Gretna: Old, Gretna: St Andrew’s & Half Morton 

& Kirkpatrick Fleming 

St Mungo 

Kirtle-Eaglesfi eld Tundergarth 

Lochmaben Wamphray 

Middlebie Waterbeck

Dumfries & 

Kirkcudbright 

Wigtown & Stranraer 


Caerlaverock Auchencairn & Rerrick 

Closeburn Balmaclellan & Kells 

Corsock & Kirkpatrick Durham Buittle & Kelton 

Cummertrees Balmaghie 

Dunscore Borgue 

Irongray, Lochrutton & Terregles Carsphairn 

Kirkgunzeon Colvend, Southwick & Kirkbean 

Kirkmahoe Crossmichael & Parton 

Kirkmichael, Tinwald & Torthorwald Dalry 

Lochend & New Abbey Durisdeer 

Mouswald Gatehouse of Fleet 

Ruthwell Glencairn & Moniaive 

Thornhill Kirkconnel 

Urr Penpont, Keir & Tynron 

Sanquhar: St Bride’s 

Ervie Kirkcolm Glasserton & Isle of Whithorn 

Inch Kirkcowan 

Kirkmaiden Kirkinner 

Leswalt Kirkmabreck 

New Luce Mochrum 

Old Luce Sorbie 

Portpatrick Whithorn: St. Ninian’s Priory 

Stoneykirk Wigtown 

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Ayr 

Irvine & Kilmarnock 

Ardrossan 


Annbank Ballantrae 

Catrine Barr 

Coylton Dailly 

Craigie Lugar 

Crosshill New Cumnock 

Dalmellington St Colmon (Arnsheen Barrhill & Colmonell) 

Dalrymple 

Drongan: The Schaw Kirk 

Dundonald 

Fisherton 

Kirkmichael 

Kirkoswald 

Muirkirk 

Ochiltree 

Patna: Waterside 

Straiton: St Cuthbert’s 

Sorn 

Stair 

Symington 

Tarbolton 

Caldwell 

Crosshouse 

Dunlop 

Fenwick 

Hurlford 

Kilmaurs: St Maur’s Glencairn 

Fairlie Brodick 

Fergushill Corrie 

Cumbrae 

Kilmory 

Lamlash 

Lochranza & Pirnmill 

Shiskine 

Whiting Bay & Kildonan

Lanark 

Greenock & Paisley 

Hamilton 

Dumbarton 

Argyll 


Black Mount Biggar 

Cairngryff e Symington 

Carnwath 

Carstairs & Carstairs Junction, The United Church 

of 

Coalburn 

Crossford 

Culter 

Forth 

Glencaple 

Kirkfi eldbank 

Law 

Libberton & Quothquan 

Lowther 

The Douglas Valley Church 

Inverkip 

Langbank 

Lochwinnoch 

Glassford 

Kirk o’ Shotts 

Quarter 

Baldernock Arrochar 

Cardross Craigrownie 

Garelochhead Rosneath: St Modan’s 

Kilmaronock Gartocharn 

Luss 

Appin 

Ardchattan 

Ardrishaig 

Coll 

Colonsay & Oronsay 

Connel 

Craignish 

Cumlodden, Lochfyneside & Lochgair 

Gigha & Cara 

Glassary, Kilmartin & Ford 

Glenaray & Inveraray 

Glenorchy & Innishael 

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Argyll 


Innellan 

Iona 

Jura 

Kilarrow 

Kilberry 

Kilbrandon & Kilchattan 

Kilcalmonell 

Kilchoman 

Kilchrenan & Dalavich 

Kildalton & Oa 

Kilfi nan 

Kilfi nichen & Kilvickeon & the Ross of Mull 

Killean & Kilchenzie 

Kilmeny 

Kilmodan & Colintraive 

Kilmun 

Kilninver & Kilmelford 

Kyles 

Lismore 

Lochgilphead 

Lochgoilhead & Kilmorich 

Muckairn 

Mull, Isle of, Kilninian & Kilmore 

North Knapdale 

Portnahaven 

Sadell & Carradale 

Salen & Ulva 

Skipness 

Southend 

South Knapdale 

Strachur & Strathlachlan 

Strathfi llan 

Strone & Ardentinny 

Tarbert 

Tiree 

Tobermory 

Torosay & Kinlochspelvie 

Toward 

The United Church of Bute

Falkirk 

Stirling 

Dunfermline 

Kirkcaldy 

Airth 

Blackbraes & Shieldhill 

Carriden 

Muiravonside 

Slamannan 


Balfron Aberfoyle 

Buchannan Ardeonaig 

Buchlyvie Balquhidder 

Cowie & Plean Gartmore 

Dollar Killin 

Drymen Port of Menteith 

Fallin 

Fintry 

Gargunnock 

Glendevon 

Killearn 

Kilmadock 

Kincardine-in-Menteith 

Kippen 

Menstrie 

Muckhart 

Norrieston 

Strathblane 

Aberdour: St Fillan’s 

Cairneyhill 

Dunfermline: Townhill & Kingseat 

Limekilns 

Saline & Blairingone 

Auchtertool 

Kennoway, Windygates & Balgonie: St Kenneth’s 

Kinglassie 

Kinghorn 

Wemyss & West Wemyss 

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St Andrews 

Dunkeld & Meigle 

Abdie & Dunbog 

Auchtermuchty 

Balmerino 

Boarhills & Dunino 

Cameron 

Carnbee 

Ceres, Kemback and Springfi eld 

Crail 

Creich, Flisk & Kilmany 

Dairsie 

Edenshead & Strathmiglo 

Elie 

Falkland 

Freuchie 

Howe of Fife 

Kilconquhar & Colinsburgh 

Kingsbarns 

Largo & Newburn 

Largo: St. David’s 

Largoward 

Monimail 

Newburgh 

St. Monans 

Strathkinness 


Alyth Aberfeldy 

Ardler, Kettins & Meigle Amultree & Strathbraan 

Bendochy Blair Atholl & Struan 

Caputh & Clunie Braes of Rannoch 

Coupar Angus: Abbey Dull & Weem 

Dunkeld Fortingall & Glenlyon 

Kinclaven Foss & Rannoch 

Grantully, Logierait & Strathtay 

Kenmore & Lawers 

Kirkmichael, Straloch & Glenshee 

Pitlochry 

Rattray 

Tenandry

Perth 

Dundee 


Abernethy & Dron & Arngask Comrie 

Almondbank Tibbermore Dundurn 

Ardoch Muthill 

Auchtergaven & Moneydie 

Blackford 

Cargill Burrelton 

Cleish 

Collace 

Dunbarney & Forgandenny 

Errol 

Fossoway: St Serf’s & Devonside 

Fowlis Wester, Madderty & Monzie 

Gask 

Kilspindie & Rait 

Methven & Logiealmond 

Orwell & Portmoak 

Redgorton & Stanley 

St. Madoes & Kinfauns 

St. Martins 

The Stewartry of Strathearn 

Trinity Gask & Kinkell 

Abernyte 

Auchterhouse 

Fowlis & Liff 

Inchture & Kinnaird 

Longforgan 

Lundie & Muirhead of Liff 

Monikie & Newbigging 

Murroes & Tealing 

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Angus 

Aberdeen Newhills 

Kincardine & 

Deeside 

Aberlemno 

Arbirlot 

Barry 

Carmyllie 

Colliston 

Dun & Hillside 

Dunnichen, Letham & Kirkden 

Eassie & Nevay 

Edzell Lethnot Glenesk 

Farnell 

Fern Careston Menmuir 

Fern Newtyle 

Friockheim Kinnell 

Glamis, Inverarity & Kinnettles 

Guthrie & Rescobie 

Inchbrayock 

Inverkeilor & Lunan 

Oathlaw Tannadice 

The Glens & Kirriemuir: Old 

The Isla Parishes 


Aberluthnott Aboyne & Dinnet 

Arbuthnott, Bervie & Kinneff Birse & Feughside 

Banchory-Devenick & Maryculter/ Cookney Braemar & Crathie 

Drumoak & Durris Cromar 

Mearns Coastal Glenmuick (Ballater) 

West Mearns Mid Deeside

Gordon 

Buchan 


Barthol Chapel Cushnie & Tough 

Belhelvie Howe Trinity 

Blairdaff & Chapel of Garioch Noth 

Cluny Strathbogie Drumblade 

Culsalmond & Rayne Upper Donside 

Daviot 

Echt 

Fintray Kinellar Keithhall 

Foveran 

Insch-Leslie-Premnay-Oyne 

Meldrum & Bourtie 

Methlick 

Midmar 

Monymusk 

New Machar 

Tarves 

Udny & Pitmedden 

Aberdour Auchaber United 

Crimond Auchterless 

Cruden Fordyce 

Deer King Edward 

Fyvie Macduff 

Gardenstown Marnoch 

Longside Monquhitter & New Byth 

Lonmay Ordiquhill & Cornhill 

Maud & Savoch Whitehills 

New Deer: St. Kane’s 

New Pitsligo 

Pitsligo 

Rathen: West 

Rothienorman 

St. Fergus 

Sandhaven 

Strichen & Tyrie 

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Moray 

Abernethy 

Inverness 


Aberlour Cullen & Deskford 

Alves & Burghead Dyke 

Bellie Edinkillie 

Birnie & Pluscarden Findochty 

Dallas Keith: North, Newmill, Boharm & Rothiemay 

Duff us, Spynie & Hopeman Knockando, Elchies & Archiestown 

Kinloss & Findhorn Mortlach & Cabrach 

Raff ord Portknockie 

Rothes 

St. Andrew’s-Lhanbryd & Urquhart 

Speymouth 

Ardersier 

Cawdor 

Croy & Dalcross 

Culloden: The Barn 

Daviot & Dunlichity 

Dores & Boleskine 

Kilmorack & Erchless 

Kiltarlity 

Kirkhill 

Moy, Dalarossie & Tomatin 

Petty 

Urquhart & Glenmoriston 

Abernethy 

Alvie & Insh 

Boat of Garten & Kincardine 

Cromdale & Advie 

Dulnain Bridge 

Duthil 

Grantown-on-Spey 

Kingussie 

Laggan 

Newtonmore 

Rothiemurchus & Aviemore 

Tomintoul, Glenlivet & Inveraven

Lochaber 

Ross 

Sutherland 


Acharacle 

Ardgour 

Ardnamurchan 

Duror 

Fort Augustus 

Glencoe: StMunda’s 

Glengarry 

Kinlochleven 

Nether Lochaber 

North West Lochaber 

Strontian 

Avoch Contin 

Ferintosh Cromarty 

Fortrose & Rosemarkie Fearn Abbey & Nigg 

Killearrnan Fodderty & Strathpeff er 

Knockbain Kilmuir & Logie Easter 

Resolis & Urquhart Kiltearn 

Urray & Kilchrist Lochbroom & Ullapool 

Tarbat 

Altnaharra & Farr 

Assynt & Stoer 

Clyne 

Creich 

Dornoch Cathedral 

Durness & Kinlochbervie 

Eddrachillis 

Golspie 

Kildonan & Loth Helmsdale 

Kincardine Croick & Edderton 

Lairg 

Melness & Tongue 

Rogart 

Rosehall 

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Caithness 

Lochcarron & Skye 

Uist 

Lewis 


Bower 

Canisbay 

Dunnet 

Halkirk & Westerdale 

Keiss 

Olrig 

The North Coast Parish 

The Parish of Latheron 

Watten 

Applecross, Lochcarron & Torridon 

Bracadale & Duirinish 

Gairloch & Dundonnell 

Gleneig & Kintail 

Kilmuir & Stenscholl 

Lochalsh 

Portree 

Snizort 

Strath & Sleat 

Barra 

Benbecula 

Berneray & Lochmaddy 

Carinish 

Kilmuir & Paible 

Manish-Scarista 

South Uist 

Tarbert 

Barvas 

Carloway 

Cross Ness 

Kinloch 

Knock 

Lochs-Crossbost 

Lochs-in-Bernera 

Uig

Orkney 

Shetland 


Birsay, Harray & Sandwick 

East Mainland 

Eday 

Evie 

Firth 

Flotta 

Hoy & Walls 

North Ronaldsay 

Orphir 

Papa Westray 

Rendall 

Rousay 

Sanday 

Shapinsay 

South Ronaldsay & Burray 

Stenness 

Stromness 

Stronsay: Moncur Memorial 

Westray 

Burra Isle 

Delting 

Dunrossness & St Ninian’s inc Fair Isle 

Fetlar 

Lerwick & Bressay 

Nesting & Lunnasting 

Northmavine 

Sandsting & Aithsting 

Sandwick, Cunningsburgh & Quarff 

Tingwall 

Unst 

Walls & Sandness 

Whalsay & Skerries 

Yell 

4

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Statistical Analysis 

Of the 609 rural parishes, 327 are ‘accessible rural’ and 282 are ‘remote rural’. This equates to 53.7% and 46.3% respectively of 

the whole rural total. The overall number of rural parishes (609) is 42% of the total number of parishes in Scotland (1,448). 

The Presbytery with the most number of rural charges is Argyll with 51. The next three highest are Dumfries & Kirkcudbright 

with 29, and Ayr and Buchan both having 26. The Edinburgh and Glasgow presbyteries have no rural parishes, whilst 

Aberdeen Presbytery has just one. 

Total Parishes in Scotland 

Edinburgh 86 St Andrews 38 

West Lothian 27 Dunkeld & Meigle 21 

Lothian 50 Perth 38 

Melrose & Peebles 26 Dundee 39 

Duns 22 Angus 35 

Jedburgh 16 Kincardine & Deeside 21 

Anandale & Eskdale 24 Aberdeen 37 

Dumfries & Kirkcudbright 40 Gordon 30 

Wigtown & Stranraer 21 Buchan 36 

Ayr 50 Moray 30 

Irvine & Kilmarnock 28 Abernethy 12 (100% Rural) 

Ardrossan 31 Inverness 25 

Lanark 24 Lochaber 16 

Greenock & Paisley 57 Ross 21 

Glasgow 142 Sutherland 14 (100% Rural) 

Hamilton 84 Caithness 14 

Dumbarton 35 Lochcarron – Skye 9 (100% Rural) 

Argyll 59 Uist 8 (100% Rural) 

Falkirk 36 Lewis 11 

Stirling 47 Orkney 21 

Dunfermline 24 Shetland 14 (100% Rural) 

Kirkcaldy 29 TOTAL 1,448 

APPENDIX IV 

COMMITTEE ON CHURCH ART AND ARCHITECTURE - MEETING DATES FOR 2010 

6 May 

24 June 

2 September 

7 October 

2 December


APPENDIX V 

CO-OPTED MEMBERS ON TASK GROUPS AND COMMITTEES 

Education and Nurture Mission and Evangelism Worship and Doctrine 

Jen Zielinkski None Rev Karen Watson 

Allan Ramsay 

Scott McCarthy 

Fiona McKibbin 

Rural Strategy Team Publishing Committee Committee on Church Art and 

Architecture 

Rev Alex Currie Mr John S Brown Mr Campbell Duff 

Mr Bill Harvey Mr John Henderson Mr Neil Taverner 

Rev Kenneth McKenzie 

Rev Lorna Murray 

Rev Brian Ramsay 

Mr Lewis Rose 

Rev Dr Adrian Varwell 

Scottish Storytelling Centre Executive ‘Why Believe?’ Group 

Rev Fraser Penny Church of Scotland: Rev Dr Alistair Donald, Prof Joe 

Rev Kenneth Petrie Houston, Rev Pauline Steenbergen. 

Jean Findlater Mrs Alison Carter, Rev Jock Stein, 

Nansie Blackie Mr Mark Stirling, Rev Andy Campbell 

Rev Dorothy Purnell United Free: Rev Stephen Matthews 

Margaret Grant Salvation Army: Mr John Coutts 

D Colin Mackay Scottish Episcopal: Prof Wilson Poon 

Rachel Smillie Free Church: Rev David Robertson 

Rev Linda Bandelier Baptist: Rev Andy Scarcliffe 

David Campbell Methodist: Rev Gerald Bostock 

Senga Munro Scripture Union: Mr Stephen Hall 

Rev Russell McLarty 

Rev Alex Millar 

Dr Donald Smith 

4

Deliverance 

Introduction 

Our Remit 

Our Services 

Our Staff 

Our Past Year 

1. Services to Older People 

1.1 Housing Support Model 

1.2 Day Opportunities 

1.3 Flexible Models of Care 

1.4 Rubislaw Park 

2. Children & Families 

3. Adult Care 

3.1 Learning Disabilities 

3.2 Counselling & Support 

3.3 Criminal Justice Services 

3.4 Substance Misuse 

3.4.1 Ronachan House 

3.4.2 Beechwood House, Inverness 

3.5 Mental Health Services 

3.6 Homelessness Services 

4. Central Services 

5. Financial Performance 

SOCIAL CARE COUNCIL 

May 2010 

CONTENTS 


Our Governance 

Our Achievements & Anniversaries 

1. 2009 CrossReach Achievements 

1.1 Quality – Care Commission Inspections 

1.2 Qualifi cations 

1.3 Scottish Care Awards 

1.4 The Great British Care Home Awards 

1.5 COSLA Excellence Awards 

1.6 Schools 

1.7 Carers’ Conference 

2. Services Anniversaries in 2009 

Our Plans 

1. Strategic Planning 

2. Fit for Purpose 

3. Financial Strategy 

4. Priority Areas Action Plan 

5. Christian Homelessness Consortium 

6. Second International Dementia Conference 

7. Eurodiaconia 

8. Wellhall Home for Older People 

9. Allarton House – Mental Health 

10. Shared Services 

Our Support 



2. Commend the Corporate Management Team for their management of the organisation throughout a period of 

signifi cant change and express appreciation to those staff who, as a result of the restructuring exercises, are no 

longer employed by CrossReach. 

3. Welcome the appointment of Peter Bailey as Chief Executive Offi cer of CrossReach and Secretary of the Social Care 

Council. 

5

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4. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (see Ministries Council Section 1.3) and commit the Social Care Council in 

partnership with others to its eff ective delivery over the next seven years. 

5. Commend Tayside and Lothian Health Boards for their funding contributions to the Counselling Services and 

encourage other Health Boards to do likewise. 

6. Thank the Guild for its past and ongoing support of the Council. 

7. Note with regret the services that have had to close, as a result of the fi nancial situation, and express the Assembly’s 

regret at the Highland Alcohol and Drug Partnership’s decision to withdraw funding from the Designated Place in 

Inverness, a service renowned for its success and early intervention in the area of substance misuse. 

8. Thank the whole Church for its support through prayer, volunteering and through donations from local churches 

and encourage the Church to continue its support at a time of major challenge for the Council. 

9. Encourage the Council to continue to develop partnerships particularly with other ecumenical partners. 

10. Encourage the Council to continue its work on its strategic plan and welcome the initiatives in 2010 to create an 

organisation ‘fi t for purpose’ to face the challenges of the developing social care environment. 

Fit For Purpose 

Introduction 

Worship has always been and is central to the life of 

CrossReach! Signifi cant observers believe this synergy is 

refl ected in the quality of care. 

During the year, on a notable occasion, the daily worship 

was led by President Kenneth Kaunda [at his own request] 

on the fi rst day of a visit to Scotland. The singing continued 

till he got to his car! Kaunda is the son of a Church of 

Scotland missionary and fi rst President of independent 

Zambia. It was in response to the activities of Kaunda and 

others that 50 years ago in February Prime Minister Harold 

Macmillan made famous the observation that there was 

a wind of change blowing. Always committed to being 

reformed and reforming CrossReach has this year been 

led by the Spirit, not so much by a wind of change but 

through a force 9 gale of change requiring skilled change 

management. 

The report acknowledges that the challenge to prioritise 

the front line sustainable services has had to take place at a 

fast pace. Like a roller coaster at times! Central services have 

been reviewed, reduced and refocused on a partnership 

oriented model to ensure eff ective sustainable support of 

front line services. The report also recognises the need for 

change in the Council’s governance resulting in changing 

seven governance groups to three with more involvement 

of Council Members. 

Despite major changes, the report shows we have had 

some notable ACHIEVEMENTS: 

• 94% of services graded good or higher for Quality 

of Care and Support. 

• Over 67% of staff qualifi ed. 

• 171 staff gained qualifi cations in 2009. 

• 2 fi nalists for the Scottish Care Awards. 

• Great British Care Homes Awards – Adams House - 

fi nalist. 

• COSLA Excellence Award – Bronze Award to Oasis 

Centre, Garelochhead. 

The Church depends on the confi dence of central 

and local government bodies in society. Despite the 

economic challenge the outstanding quality of care 

is evidenced by the relevant independent regulatory 

bodies and stakeholders alike. The vast proportion of our 

income comes from outside the Church and working in

partnership with CrossReach is mutually valued by local 

authorities and ourselves. 

Donation from Central 

Church Funds 1% 

Income from 

Service Delivery 93% 

Income 

Legacies and 

Investment Income 5% 

The Council is grateful for the commitment of its Senior 

Management Team to eff ect and manage change. We 

also acknowledge the co-operation of staff and the 

Advisory Consultative and Negotiating Group (ACNG). 

The report acknowledges the contribution of staff who 

have retired or taken voluntary redundancy. We were 

delighted to appoint Peter Bailey as Chief Executive from 

1 January 2010. We also hope to complete our Senior 

Management Team by the appointment of two further 

Directors by the Assembly meeting. Peter has headed 

up our HR section for 18 years and was previously HR 

Principal Offi cer for the largest Social Work Department 

in Europe. His eff ective leadership is rooted in both his 

faith and his experience. 

We are proud to care in Christ’s name as the caring arm 

of the Church of Scotland and we have sought to draw 

closer to other departments and our ecumenical partners 

in joint working. We wish to involve service users more 

SOCIAL CARE COUNCIL 5/3 

Fundraising (incl trusts) 

and Grants 1% 

strategically in our future planning. We are grateful for the 

support and advice of other Councils and in particular the 

Assembly Finance Committee. We want to strengthen 

our links with congregations in mobilising the resources 

of buildings, volunteers, prayer and support. Free copies 

of our Prayer Diary and the Circle of Care paper may be 

obtained from Charis House. 

Three hundred and sixty fi ve days a year, you will fi nd social 

care services being provided across Scotland in Christ’s 

name and in the name of the Church of Scotland. This is 

an achievement of which the Church can feel justifi ably 

proud as many lives are touched through the day-to-work 

of this area of ministry. The Social Care Council (operating 

as CrossReach) is proud, but most of all privileged to be 

involved in this challenge. We hope that in this report 

readers might capture some of the privilege, challenge 

and pride. 

Our Remit 

• as part of the Church’s mission, to off er services in 

Christ’s name to people in need; 

• to provide specialist resources to further the caring 

work of the Church; 

• to identify existing and emerging areas of need, to 

guide the Church in pioneering new approaches to 

relevant problems and to make responses on issues 

arising within the area of the Council’s concern through 

appropriate channels such as the Church’s Church and 

Society Council, the Scottish Government and the like; 

• to conduct an annual review of progress made in 

discharging the remit and provide an annual written 

report to the General Assembly; 

• to oversee an appropriate corporate management and 

support service to deliver the above and be responsible 

for funding all salaries and related costs; 

• to set and review terms and conditions of staff and 

establish appropriate internal governance systems. 

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Our Services 

We provide services, through three main sections, Services to Older People, Adult Care and Children & Families, to over 

3,000 people every day. 

No of Homes/Projects 

Services to Older People Residential Homes 17 

Housing Support Services 4 

Day Care Services 7 

Dementia Homes 6 

Care at Home 1 

Adult Care Services 

Learning Disabilities Day Centre 1 

Autism 1 

Supported Living Services 5 

Residential Services 4 

Epilepsy 1 

Short Breaks Services 1 

Criminal Justice 2 

Substance Misuse 11 

Counselling & Support 7 

Mental Health 4 

Homelessness Residential Units 3 

Supported Accommodation 2 

Children & Families Schools 2 

Residential Unit for Children with Disabilities 1 

Total 80

Our Staff 

Over 2,000 committed and enthusiastic staff and relief staff 

are employed. Service Managers, Deputies, Senior Project 

Leaders, Project Leaders, Project Workers, Care Workers, 

Domestics, Cooks, to name but a few, provide the vital 

front line services. The quality of the services provided is 

closely linked to the qualities of our staff . All staff are given 

development opportunities, the majority are qualifi ed and 

many more are in the process of gaining qualifi cations. 

Front line services cannot achieve success without the help 

of professional support services. Staff with responsibilities 

for Estates and Health & Safety, Human Resources, People 

Development, Business Development, Finance, IT and 

Income Generation provide vital support services which 

complete the team of staff off ering services in Christ’s 

name. 

Staff Employed by CrossReach 


As an ethos and values driven organisation our staff strive 

to ensure that our following values are refl ected in our 

service delivery but also in the ways in which they work 

together: 

• We will accept and respect everyone for their own 

individual worth 

• We will consult with and involve individuals and/or their 

representatives in issues that aff ect them 

• We will ensure that the reasons for our actions are 

transparent and that we act with integrity 

• We will treat everyone with fairness and consistency 

and be accountable for our actions 

• We will seek to serve and support everyone in a spirit of 

grace, humility and compassion 

Full-time 

1-Feb-2010 Full-time Part-time Total 

Equivalent 

2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 

Operations Staff 606 608 877 866 1483 1474 1185.96 1176.88 

Executive, Offi ce 

Support Staff 

& 

62 86 11 17 73 103 68.37 95.95 

* 1556 1577 1254.33 1272.83 

*In addition there are 636 people employed as Relief Care Workers (130 full year whole time equivalent). This compares to 

625 at 31 January 2009. 

5

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Our Past Year 

The past year has had its share of challenges and 

opportunities in equal measure. Like many other social 

care providers the challenges have been fi nancially driven 

in view of the global fi nancial crisis which has aff ected us 

through rising costs but also through reduced funding 

from our funders. It is to the credit of all our staff that, 

whilst having to address fi nancial challenges, they have 

continued to provide continuity and quality of service to 

our many service users. 

1. Services to Older People 

Whilst continuing to provide much needed residential 

care services for older people, the Services to Older People 

team continue to develop alternative models of care in a 

range of diff erent ways, primarily designed to be personcentred, 

often in partnership but maintaining the high 

quality for which this area of service is renowned. 

1.1 Housing Support Model 

There have been considerable successes in developing 

housing support models where older people are 

supported to maintain their tenancy and care packages 

are delivered according to individual assessment. Some 

excellent partnerships between Glasgow City Council, 

Shettleston Housing Association, the West of Scotland 

Housing and CrossReach deliver services to people in 

their own fl ats giving them the ideal opportunity to be 

self-contained but with 24 hour staff on hand. 

1.2 Day Opportunities 

The Day Opportunities Service seeks to break the cycle of 

isolation and exclusion for older people within the main 

areas of Glasgow. Staff take the older person on outings or 

sit and chat with them in their own home or participate in 

an activity with them. Often this is the only time that the 

older person is out or in company. 

1.3 Flexible Models of Care 

The Oasis in Garelochhead, a Day Care Service attached to 


a medical centre supports older people with dementia and 

mental health problems. This project is another example of 

partnership, this time with Argyll and Bute Council. Having 

been awarded a bronze COSLA award for innovative 

practice and a Grade 6 Excellent Standard from the Care 

Commission, this is a highly successful quality initiative. 

A similar service is provided within the Perthshire area 

at Bankfoot. The new church building was designed to 

cater for the needs of the community and our Day Care 

Service is run from a purpose-built area within the church 

and is strongly supported at local level by the church 

community. 

1.4 Rubislaw Park 

Following a major capital investment of over £6m, the 

64-place unit at Rubislaw was opened during 2009. A 

purpose-built unit designed over six wings it provides care 

in a modern environment but with the same emphasis on 

person-centred care. Many of the people who have been 

assessed as requiring specialist dementia care will receive 

this service in a dedicated unit within the building. 

2. Children & Families 

Throughout 2009 the Council has continued its commitment 

to children exhibiting diffi cult behaviour through both 

Ballikinrain and Geilsland Schools. Through these services 

Council supports the children (and their families) seeking to 

help them to build their resilience by introducing structures 

and routines where they experience consistent care 

and acceptance. The Schools are heavily biased towards 

experiential learning using art, drama, adventure activity, 

vocational training and through its Forest School. The 

emphasis is to provide high quality education and care on 

a residential day basis to children who have not fl ourished 

in normal education systems, helping them to control their 

behaviour and grow in confi dence. 

In view of the nature of the service, the costs of delivery 

are high and the Schools operate in a challenging 

fi nancial environment. This challenging environment

esulted in the Council commissioning a major review 

of costs and funding in order to seek to achieve longterm 

sustainability of these services. The review, chaired 

by Alastair MacNish O.B.E, immediate past Chair of the 

Accounts and Audit Commission Scotland and previously 

Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council, made some 

major recommendations which were implemented 

throughout the course of the year. As a result of the 

review, signifi cant savings have been achieved in all areas 

of the operation but sadly 17 members of staff were made 

redundant as a result of a major restructuring exercise. 

The year has seen a major focus on effi ciencies within the 

service, major marketing initiatives and a revision to the 

charging structure for services. This focus must continue 

in 2010 in order to seek to maintain crucial services to 

vulnerable children. 

To further enhance life opportunities for pupils, CrossReach 

and the National Fostering Agency formed a partnership 

“The Best of Both Worlds”. This provides better opportunities 

for children resident at either school, for whom a return 

home is not an option, to be placed within a foster family 

either as a full or part time solution. 

Renovation work at the Mallard, a unit for children with 

disabilities has created a further three respite beds. This 

has provided additional opportunities for families and 

their children to have a well earned rest. 

3. Adult Care 

The Adult Services Section has continued over the past year 

to provide vital services across a number of client groups. 

Again, in many areas they operate within a challenging 

fi nancial environment and this has resulted in the Council 

carrying out a review of this area of work. Following the 

review some diffi cult decisions have been taken which are 

covered in this section. 

3.1 Learning Disabilities 

As a result of reduced funding levels, increased costs, 

and demands from purchasers for cost eff ectiveness, 


the Council reluctantly agreed to close the Florentine 

Service, a residential service for people with learning 

disabilities, review the staff structure in the Threshold 

Glasgow project and withdraw from providing the service 

in Threshold Leven. These decisions have impacted 

heavily on service users and staff . Senior managers of this 

service have continued to liaise with local authorities and 

commissioners to ensure the best possible outcomes for 

service users. However, services continue to be provided 

for people with learning disabilities across a wide number 

of projects and despite the fi nancial tensions, considerable 

advances have been made in striving to empower those 

who are disempowered through a programme of service 

user involvement and infl uence. The service user forum, 

with the support of external advocates is now part of 

the fabric of the service and the issues it raises infl uence 

matters both locally and nationally, contributing to such 

documents as the Learning Disabilities Strategy Plan. 

3.2 Counselling & Support 

The Counselling Services have continued over the year 

to provide approximately 16,000 counselling sessions to 

individuals who are depressed, grieving, have post natal 

depression, suicidal, experiencing fi nancial problems, 

relationship diffi culties and people who have a range of 

other mental health needs. Although 80% of our clients are 

referred directly from health services, with the exception 

of contributions from Tayside and Lothian Health Boards, 

the vast majority of funding is met from the Council’s own 

resources. Almost always the client’s condition aff ects 

others such as family and friends. The success, therefore, of 

these services is not only measured in the improved health 

of clients but also in diffi cult to quantify areas such as the 

long-term impact on family and friends resulting, in some 

cases, in reduced need for other intervention services. 

Over a number of years the Council has sought to increase 

income for Counselling Services and Counselling staff , 

along with their primary responsibilities for counselling, 

have had some major successes in the area of fund raising. 

5

5/8 

However, it has not been possible to generate income to 

continue all services and as such the Council reached the 

diffi cult decision that it could no longer fund Counselling 

& Support from its resources to the previous levels. 

Accordingly, this has sadly resulted in the closure of Post 

Natal Depression Services in the Borders, in CrossReach 

Counselling Services in Skye and a reduction in CrossReach 

Counselling in Edinburgh. However, the majority of the 

work remains and the overall reach of support to those 

with post natal depression continues to be extended 

through the notable success of the telephone helpline. 

We acknowledge the contribution of the Guild in making 

this telephone service possible along with the core PND 

service which will continue.. 

3.3 Criminal Justice Services 

The Prison Visitors’ Centre in Perth provides support to 

families visiting their relatives in prison. The service has 

seen an increase in use by prisoners’ family members with 

over 300 adults and 45 children visiting the centre each 

month. The service was commended by HM Inspector 

of Prisons and plays a major role in maintaining positive 

contact between family and prisoners, thus reducing reoff 

ending. 

The Council is delighted that the Guild has adopted the 

Visitors’ Centre as one of its projects for the next three 

years. The project, entitled “On the Other Side”, will greatly 

assist the sustainability of the project which operates with 

a small staff team but is dependent on volunteers for 

additional support. 

3.4 Substance Misuse 

3.4.1 Ronachan House 

In many areas the focus of substance misuse work is 

changing, moving away from residential rehabilitation 

to more community based models working with drug 

and alcohol addictions. This has, over the past year, had a 

major impact on sustaining the current service provision, 

particularly in the project at Ronachan in Argyll. Ronachan, 

despite receiving the highest possible Care Commission 


gradings for excellence has had a very low occupancy over 

the past year as a result of limited referrals for addictions 

rehabilitation by Argyll & Bute and other local authorities. 

A signifi cant amount of work has been carried out by 

managers of the substance misuse service to identify 

alternative areas of referrals including private referrals 

to seek to achieve sustainability for this highly regarded 

service. This work is ongoing but the Council, in view of its 

current fi nancial position will require to monitor referrals 

very closely over coming months to determine whether 

or not the service is sustainable. 

3.4.2 Beechwood House, Inverness 

For over 17 years the Council has run the Designated 

Place in Inverness as part of the Beechwood complex. The 

project has provided a “drying out facility” for drunk and 

incapable people across the Highlands as an alternative 

to custody or hospital emergency admission. Despite the 

fact that the centre has received the highest praise from 

Scottish Government Ministers, being widely known to 

save many lives each year, the Highland Alcohol and Drug 

Partnership have indicated that they will no longer fund 

this service but will develop replacement services. In view 

of this, the Council has been left with no alternative but to 

reluctantly agree to the closure of the designated place. 

Unfortunately, this also has an impact on the residential 

rehabilitation project within the Beechwood complex 

resulting in the capacity being reduced from 15 to 6 

places. 

3.5 Mental Health Services 

The past year has seen each of the services working hard 

to adapt the way in which it works with service users to 

ensure that the outcomes that are now demanded by 

central Government and purchasing authorities have 

been adopted with minimal disruption to service users. 

The Recovery ‘Star’ Approach has been adopted as a 

widely accepted measure of outcomes for monitoring 

the productivity and quality of service provision within a 

recovery context.

At Tynepark, a resource centre for adults living in East 

Lothian who experience a variety of mental health 

diffi culties, service users took the initiative to submit a 

proposal to the People’s Millions. As a result, they were 

awarded a grant of £50,000 which will enhance the garden 

and café facilities and become a community mental health 

resource. 

3.6 Homelessness Services 

As in many other areas the fi nancial stability of homelessness 

services has proved to be challenging. However, the 

Whiteinch Supported Accommodation Project which 

was under threat of closure has now changed direction to 

become an addictions housing support resource and as a 

result has secured funding for the next year. This provides 

a greater cohesiveness for the support of those moving 

out of addiction behaviours into their own tenancies, 

employment and societal acceptance. 

4. Central Services 

The Council’s report in 2009 highlighted the level of central 

costs and indicated that this area would require further 

review. In order to bring central costs in line with the level 

recoverable through our contracts and also to achieve the 

Council’s aim of maximising resources to front line services, 

a major review of central support was carried out. The 

recommendations from the review were implemented 

in 2009 and resulted in a reduction of 18 posts which, 

along with other cost saving measures, achieved a full 

year reduction in expenditure for 2010 of £800,000. As a 

result of this exercise, eight staff were made redundant. In 

reviewing the Central Services structure the opportunity 

was taken to consider and propose a structure which 

would meet the needs of the organisation in the current 

social care environment. The revised structured, therefore, 

is built around a concept of business partnering in both 

the Finance and Human Resources and Organisational 

Development areas. The aim of this initiative is to ensure 

closer working between central support and operations 

enabling business objectives to be met through a team 


approach throughout the organisation. The period of 

review and implementation has been a major time of 

change and transition for Central Services staff and they 

are to be commended for the way in which they have 

co-operated with the process and ensured “business as 

usual” during a time when many colleagues have left the 

organisation or been appointed to new roles. 

5. Financial Performance 

The fi nancial challenges over the past year have been 

signifi cant, which are sadly refl ected in the higher 

operating defi cit for the year. However, the eff ect of the 

reviews of service areas and central services are expected 

to be refl ected in the 2010 budgetary performance. The 

Council wish particularly to acknowledge the support and 

guidance of the Council of Assembly Finance Group during 

a year where diffi cult decisions have been necessary in 

order to address long-term sustainability. 

Our Goverance 

Having reviewed its governance structure, the Council 

implemented the following three new governance 

committees to replace the previous seven Committees: 

• Business Committee 

• Finance & Resources Committee 

• Quality & Standards Committee. 

These Committees meet between full Council meetings 

ensuring that the Council meets its responsibilities in terms 

of effi cient governance. A recent Trustees Training Course 

enabled Council members to consider their responsibilities 

as Trustees and address ways of improving, along with 

Management, the governance of the organisation 

The Council has moved signifi cantly from meeting at its 

HQ to meetings in 121 George Street, Bankfoot Church 

Centre, Carberry Tower and was hosted in Glasgow Parish 

Halls by the Lord Provost with an invitation to return to the 

City Chambers for at least one meeting a year. 

5

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Our Achievements & Anniversaries 

1. 2009 CrossReach Achievements 

1.1 Quality - Care Commission Inspections 

Care Commission inspect on four key areas on a grading 

structure of 1 (Unsatisfactory) to 6 (Excellent). Gradings 

achieved between 1 April to 31 December 2009 are as 

follows: 

Quality of Care and Support 

94% of our registered services inspected on this theme 

achieved a grading of 4 (good) with 43% achieving 

very good or excellent. 

Quality of Environment 




Quality of Staffi ng 




Quality of Management and Leadership 




1.2 Qualifi cations 

A fully qualifi ed workforce is not only one of the key aims 

of the Council but is a major contributor to the provision 

of high quality services. In Services to Older People the 

percentage of staff qualifi ed aff ects the level of funding 

received. Over 67% of our staff are now appropriately 

qualifi ed and the following numbers of staff gained 

qualifi cations over the past year. 

Scottish Vocational Qualifi cations Level 2 6 




Registered Managers Award 1 

Verifi er & Assessor Awards 5 

HNC in Social Care 12 

Other Awards 13 

Total 171 

1.3 Scottish Care Awards 

The Scottish Care Awards recognises the time, eff ort and 

commitment put in by social service workers in delivering 

high quality services. We had two fi nalists in 2009: 

1. The Care Achievement Award 2009 

Marlene Smith 

Regional Director West and Older People Services, 

CrossReach 

2. Service Manager of the Year 

Eileen McKay 

Oversteps Residential Home 

1.4 The Great British Care Home Awards 

A series of regional awards throughout the UK, celebrating 

excellence across the care sector. Adams House Older 

People’s Service in Renfrewshire was a fi nalist for this award 

in 2009 in the area of Dementia care. Adams House also 

featured in the Care Commission Magazine as an example 

of good practice. 

1.5 COSLA Excellence Awards 

Excellence in Scottish local authorities is recognised in 

COSLA’s Excellence Awards ,which showcases outstanding 

quality in service to the public by councils across Scotland. 

The Oasis, Garelochhead received the COSLA Bronze 

award for excellence in service delivery and partnership 

working with Argyll and Bute. 

1.6 Schools 

Pupils at both Schools achieved record passes in national 

examinations. They also demonstrated their responsibility

as good citizens through a variety of fund raising events 

including Red Nose Day, the Great Scottish Run, and many 

others, raising money for children worse off than they are. 

Experiential learning continued to be a top priority on both 

campuses. At Ballikinrain this has developed further and 

pupils’ eff orts to “save the planet” resulted in the School 

being the fi rst residential special school in Scotland to be 

awarded the Eco School Green Flag. 

1.7 Carers’ Conference 

On 10 June 2009, in the company of carers and caring 

professionals, CrossReach and Carers Scotland co-hosted 

the Caring Costs Conference in the Westpark Centre, 

Dundee, to mark Carers’ Week. Chaired by CrossReach’s 

Convener, the Conference addressed the needs of unpaid 

carers who, according to keynote speaker Isobel Allan M.B.E, 

account for one in eight people in Scotland. Representing 

the Scottish Government, Moira Oliphant’s keynote 

speech focused on the forthcoming Carers’ Strategy (due 

Summer 2010), while Anne Conlan introduced “Learning 

for Living”. Following a series of workshops, the afternoon’s 

plenary session gave rise to fi ve questions being asked 

in the Scottish Parliament by Sara Boyack MSP and one 

question asked in the UK Parliament by Mark Lazarowicz 

MP. Answers from the Scottish Government indicate that 

the Carers’ Strategy will attempt to address the issues that 

were raised here. Meanwhile, the UK Government’s revised 

National Carers’ Strategy intends to improve the fl exibility 

of carers’ benefi ts by 2018. We are very grateful to Sara 

Boyack and Mark Lazarowicz for tabling these questions 

on behalf of CrossReach and Carers Scotland. 

2. Services Anniversaries In 2009 

The following services have celebrated anniversaries over 

the past year: 

*Ashley Lodge, Aberdeen: 13th May - 50 years 

Kinloch Day Services, 

Auchtermuchty: 7th June - 10 years 

Ballikinrain School near Balfron: 20th June - 40 years 


South Beach House, Ardrossan: 30th June – 50 years 

Walter & Joan Gray, Shetland: 5th August - 40 years 

Gaberston House, Alloa: 13th October - 20 years 

* Ashley Lodge residents transferred to the new Rubislaw 

Park in May/June 2009. 

Our Plans 

1. Strategic Planning 

At its February 2010 meeting the Council held a two-day 

residential meeting to consider the strategic direction of 

the organisation. Presentations from Rory Mair (COSLA), 

David Wiseman (Care Commission) and Muriel Pearson 

(Priority Areas Forum) stimulated discussion and enabled 

the Council to outline its strategic direction over the next 

three to fi ve years. Work is currently underway to convert 

this strategic direction into a detailed Strategic Plan for 

consideration and approval by the Council at their June 

meeting. 

2. Fit for Purpose 

There are many challenges being faced in the social care 

environment and it is important that the organisation 

becomes “fi t for purpose” to face these challenges. A 

major initiative in 2010 will, therefore, be to address this fi t 

for purpose agenda. Some of the main areas that will be 

addressed under this initiative are: 

1. Service user involvement/personalisation. 

2. The production of sound reliable and relevant 

management information. 

3. The development of a performance management 

framework. 

4. The appointment of key personnel to the revised 

Central Services structure and the building of a strong 

professional team. 

5. Exploring partnership opportunities and opportunities 

to work with other Councils of the Church. 

6. A major review of all costs. 

5

5/12 

7. Continuation of the initiatives to achieve fi nancial 

monitoring and tight budgetary control. 

8. The establishing of a Business Development Section. 

9. Horizon Gazing to anticipate emerging issues. 

3. Financial Strategy 

For some time now the Council has, as a means of 

maintaining services, run with an operating defi cit which 

has been met from fundraising, legacies and other income 

as well as sale of assets. The Council has approved a 

fi nancial strategy to achieve a break-even budget by 2011 

without reliance on sale of assets. This is a major challenge 

but one which must be addressed in order to achieve 

long-term sustainability of core services provided in the 

name of the Church. This initiative will require the Council 

to look at all areas of spending and, if necessary, to make 

further decisions in relation to the long-term viability of 

services, structures and models of service delivery. 

4. Priority Areas Action Plan 

The Council welcomes the Priority Areas Action Plan and is 

committed to working with the Priority Areas Committee, 

Councils and Committees of the Church and other partners 

to deliver the Plan over the next seven years. A joint group is 

being convened to take forward areas of common interest 

between the Council and Priority Areas Committee. 

5. Christian Homelessness Consortium 

In order to respond to the challenges presented in 

terms of local authority tendering of services an exciting 

initiative for partnership is underway with the Salvation 

Army and Bethany Christian Trust in Edinburgh. The three 

organisations will, by working in partnership, be more able 

to respond to the challenges presented by the current 

tendering environment. Other appropriate ecumenical 

partnerships will be explored. 

6. Second International Dementia 

Conference 

Following the success of the fi rst International Dementia 


Conference, a second conference will take place at the 

end of October in Glasgow’s Crowne Plaza Hotel with the 

title of “See Me”. 

7. Eurodiaconia 

CrossReach is hosting the Eurodiaconia AGM & Conference 

for 2010. This event coincides with 2010 the European Year 

for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, The conference 

entitled “Digging Deeper: Delving below the Surface of 

Poverty” gives CrossReach and the Church of Scotland the 

opportunity to be at the forefront of raising awareness of 

the key poverty and social exclusion challenges facing 

Scotland, the UK and the wider European communities 

in the 21st century. CrossReach will facilitate showcasing 

some of the organisations in Scotland addressing the 

issues of poverty. The conference is privileged to have a 

variety of speakers and workshop leaders who will explore 

the issues and give insight into what is being done to 

combat poverty. The delegates will hear from people who 

are experiencing poverty and there will be an opportunity 

for policy makers to outline the progress and determine 

some of the barriers to that progress. It is hoped that this 

conference will provide opportunities to develop stronger 

networks across communities and ensure that resources 

are appropriately targeted. 

8. Wellhall Home for Older People 

Work will commence during 2010 on the building of a 

purpose-built replacement unit for the current Well Hall 

Home for Older People. The state of the art building with a 

capacity of 38 is scheduled to open in April 2011. 

9. Allarton House – Mental Health 

Allarton House has been asked to respond to a client group 

with more complex mental health needs. Work has begun 

on making this transition which will involve a premises 

upgrade and will secure further long-term funding. 

10. Shared Services 

The past year has seen a closer working with other

Councils of the Church particularly in relation to shared 

services. A separate report to the Assembly will cover the 

Council’s involvement in the proposals to form a single 

Safeguarding Department and discussions are at an 

advanced stage with agreement having been reached in 

principal to establish a shared IT service. 

Our Support 

The Council and its staff are very aware of the support 

which is received from the whole Church through prayer 

support, volunteering, from The Guild and donations from 

local churches. We face a time of challenge but of real 


opportunity to continue the Church’s witness through 

the provision of social care services. To achieve success 

we appeal for a continuation of this support as we seek to 

help many people throughout Scotland. 


SYDNEY S GRAHAM, Convener 

SALLY BONAR, Vice-Convener 

RAMSAY SHIELDS, Vice-Convener 

PETER BAILEY, Chief Executive Offi cer & 

Secretary of the Social Care Council 

5

ASSEMBLY ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE 

May 2010 

1. The Very Rev William C Hewitt 

Bill Hewitt came to the Moderator’s chair from a background 

in parish ministry in Elderslie and Greenock. He also 

brought to the office his experience as convener of the 

General Assembly’s Business Committee. These two factors 

served him well in what was predicted to be a difficult and 




2. Approve the Order of Business for the first two days (Order of Proceedings). 

3. Appoint Mr Roy Pinkerton to edit the verbatim record. 

4. Encourage commissioners intending to move amendments and counter-motions to arrange to have these printed 

in the Assembly papers. 

5. Resolve that with effect from 2011 the General Assembly should revert to the pattern of convening on the third 

Saturday of May and continuing until the following Friday. 

6. Approve the proposal that with effect from 2011 the Committee should arrange for background and reference 

material relating to reports to be placed on the Church’s website with an option to commissioners not to have such 

material printed in their Volume of Reports; always provided that such material shall be made available in printed 

form for those who require it and bound up with the reports for archive purposes; further instruct the Committee 

to report on the implementation of these arrangements to the General Assembly of 2011. 

7. Thank Very Rev Dr Finlay Macdonald for his distinguished service to the General Assembly as Principal Clerk since 

1996. 

Scottish Bible Society 

8. Gratefully acknowledge the generosity of congregations and members in support of Bible projects. 

9. Recognise the Scottish Bible Society’s creative initiatives in making the Bible message better known in 

Scotland. 

10. Commend the holistic response to human need in Brazil and other areas of the world. 

11. Welcome the opportunity provided by the 400th anniversary of the 1611 version to focus afresh on the Bible as the 

Church’s primary text 

12. Appoint Rev Andrew Anderson, Rev Sandy Gunn, Rev Lynn McChlery and Rev Dr Norman Maciver to SBS’s Council 

of Church Representatives. 

REPORT 

potentially divisive Assembly. The fact that commissioners 

were able to debate controversial matters of human sexuality 

and ministry with grace, dignity and mutual respect was 

thanks in no small measure to the skilful and dispassionate 

chairmanship of the Moderator, something which has 

earned him the gratitude and respect of the Church. 

6.1

6.1/2 

From the General Assembly Bill Hewitt, ably supported by 

his wife Moira, embarked upon a busy and demanding 

year of office with a range of engagements and visits 

at home and overseas. A main building block of every 

moderatorial year consists of the Presbytery visits. Last year 

it was the turn of Caithness, Dundee, Lanark and Inverness 

and Bill and Moira engaged in the various tasks asked of 

them by these Presbyteries with commitment and energy. 

Visits to partner churches overseas also lie at the heart 

of the moderatorial year and, at the request of the World 

Mission Council, the Hewitts brought greetings to partner 

churches in South Africa and South India. The India visit 

included time in Chennai to share in celebrations marking 

the centenary of the birth of Bishop Lesslie Newbigin. In 

March the Moderator also visited Jerusalem where he 

signed a concordat between the Church of Scotland and 

the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy 

Land. 

The Church is grateful to Bill and Moira Hewitt for all that 

they have done on its behalf over the past year. 

2. Presbytery Representation 

The Presbytery returns show that there are in all the 

Presbyteries 1,156 Charges, whether vacant or not, and that 

there are 185 other ministers (excluding retired ministers) 

who are members of Presbyteries. Representation is 

calculated for each Presbytery in accordance with Act III, 

2000, and the total number of Commissions is made up as 

follows: 367 Ministers, 367 Elders and 33 Deacons. 

3. Business Committee 

In terms of Standing Order 15 it is proposed that 

the Convener and Vice-Convener of the Assembly 

Arrangements Committee, respectively the Rev David 

Arnott and the Rev Janet Mathieson, act as Convener and 

Vice-Convener of the Business Committee. The names 

of others nominated to serve on this Committee will be 

found in the Order of Proceedings. 


4. 450th Anniversary of the Scottish 

Reformation 

The Committee has arranged for a special session of 

the General Assembly to be held in the Assembly Hall 

on Sunday 23 May from 4 pm to 6 pm. This will allow 

commissioners, Assembly delegates and visitors, invited 

guests and members of the public to share in a celebration 

of the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation. 

5. Assembly Services 

The Assembly Service has been arranged in St Giles’ 

Cathedral on Sunday 23 May at 10 am with the Gaelic 

Service that day at 12.30 pm in Greyfriars Tolbooth and 

Highland Church. The Assembly Communion Service will 

be on Friday 21 May at 9.30 am in the Assembly Hall. In view 

of the Sunday afternoon Reformation event there will be no 

evening worship in the Assembly Hall. 

5. Notices of Motion and Assembly Papers 

The Committee again draws attention to the fact that 

commissioners wishing to move amendments or 

counter-motions to deliverances can have these printed 

in Assembly papers. As a courtesy to other commissioners, 

and for the convenience of the Assembly, the Committee 

asks that this be done wherever possible. Clearly situations 

can arise in the course of a debate where someone wishes 

to make a motion and such spontaneity is part of the life 

of the Assembly. However, where people have considered 

and prepared texts, particularly if these are substantial, 

it is extremely helpful to have them in the order paper. 

Certainly, the availability of the screens means that motions 

can fairly quickly appear in writing and the “behind scenes 

team” work hard to provide this service. However, when 

something complex (and clearly considered) suddenly 

appears it can take time to get it up on the screen and 

further time for reading and assimilation. There will again 

be four sets of papers – covering (1) Thursday and Friday, 

(2) Saturday and Monday, (3) Tuesday and (4) Wednesday. 

For the first set of papers notices of motion should be sent 

to the Principal Clerk’s Office at “121” by Friday 14 May. For

the second and subsequent sets they should handed in 

to the Clerks’ table by 12 noon on the Friday, Monday and 

Tuesday of the Assembly. 

6. Duration of the General Assembly 

The 2007 General Assembly, on the recommendation 

of the Committee, agreed to move from a Saturday to 

Friday meeting to a Thursday to Wednesday pattern. For a 

number of years dissatisfaction had been expressed over 

the fact that, despite opening on a Saturday, the Assembly 

never really seemed to get underway until Monday. The 

main point of the change was to enable the Assembly to 

get straight down to business and that certainly has been 

achieved. However, it is already evident that this new 

arrangement is resulting in an Assembly of two halves with 

numbers of commissioners going home for the weekend. 

One of the main features of the weekend on both models 

has been the Lord High Commissioner’s Garden Party. 

There has also been a reluctance to have normal business 

on the Sunday. 

One solution might be to dispense with the weekend 

altogether and hold the Assembly from Monday to Friday. 

It is doubtful, however, whether this would allow sufficient 

time for the business. It would also require commissioners 

from the highlands and islands to travel on a Sunday. 

Furthermore, something which many commissioners value 

would be lost, namely the coming together of church and 

state in Sunday worship in which the Moderator preaches 

and where the Lord High Commissioner as representative 

of the Sovereign is present. 

Having reviewed the matter the Committee now 

recommends that from next year the Assembly revert to 

meeting on the third Saturday of May and continuing until 

the following Friday. The discontinuation of the Garden 

Party means that a full day’s business can be undertaken 

on the first day. The Sunday would be devoted to worship 

along with more celebratory business such as the 

welcoming of delegates and visitors from other churches 

ASSEMBLY ARRANGEMENTS COMMITTEE 6.1/3 

and the opportunity to hear from the retiring Moderator 

about his or her year of office. Many Edinburgh church 

goers have appreciated this opportunity of joining with 

commissioners in the Assembly Hall for this. 

In so recommending the Committee will continue to keep 

matters under review and is always pleased to receive 

feedback from commissioners on all aspects of the General 

Assembly. 

7. The Blue Book 

For some time the sheer length of the Volume of Reports 

to the General Assembly (affectionately known as the “Blue 

Book”) has been a matter of concern to the Committee. 

Last year’s Assembly specifically instructed all Councils and 

Committees to ensure that their Assembly Reports were 

“accessible to commissioners and designed to facilitate 

informed decision making”. Councils and Committees, 

particularly the larger ones, were also instructed to devise 

systems whereby they report on the totality of their work 

over a period of years. 

In following through on these matters the Committee, in 

consultation with Councils and Committees and with the 

printer, proposes that from next year commissioners with 

web access should have the option of receiving a slimmed 

down Blue Book containing core material which is essential 

for informed decision making, with background, reference 

material which often appears as appendices to reports, being 

placed on the Church’s website. By way of illustration the kind 

of material which under this proposal would be placed on 

the web is marked accordingly in this year’s book. 

Mindful of the fact that not all commissioners may have 

web access the Committee is advised that it would be 

possible to produce all the material in a printed volume 

for those who require it, as at present. This would be done 

anyway for archive purposes, since the value of reports 

lies not only in their immediate usefulness for the General 

Assembly which considers them but as a valuable historic 

record and research resource for the future. 

6.1

6.1/4 

8. Commissioners’ Subsistence and 

Travelling Expenses 

The Board recommends the following rates for payment 

of expenses: 

Overnight subsistence 

Not exceeding £50.00 for each night 

Daily out-of-pocket Expenses: 

Not exceeding £15.00 per day 

Mileage rate, when no public transport is available 25p per 

mile. 

9. Assembly Hall 

The Assembly Hall Sub-Committee was established in May 

2008 to advise the Assembly Arrangements Committee 

on matters relating to its remits to be responsible for (a) 

the care and maintenance of the Assembly Hall and (b) all 

arrangements in connection with the letting of the Hall. 

Maintaining the Assembly Hall, due to its historic and rather 

complex construction, presents the Sub-Committee with 

some very interesting challenges, as it continues to ensure 

that the building is kept in good condition but at the same 

time by making certain that all expenditure is scrutinised 

to provide maximum value for money. 

In addition to the routine maintenance work the Sub- 

Committee now seeks to identify several cost-effective 

ways by which improvements can be introduced on an 

annual basis to enhance the overall appearance of the Hall, 

not only for the benefit of those attending the General 

Assembly but, of equal importance, to those viewing it as 

a possible venue suitable for hiring. 

The Sub-Committee continues to work very closely 

with Edinburgh First who, acting on behalf of the Sub- 

Committee, continues to organise the letting of the 

Hall outside the period when it used for the General 

Assembly. 


Although the net revenue from letting increased during 2009, 

as a result of several high profile but non-recurring events, the 

same level of income is not expected during 2010 due to the 

general economic downturn which has particularly impacted 

upon those types of organisations that would normally be 

attracted to holding events in the Hall. 

The Assembly Hall, due to its historic significance in such 

a prominent position in the centre of the city, should be 

an extremely attractive venue for major events being 

held in Edinburgh; however it compares poorly with the 

increasing number of alternative venues offering more 

modern and relevant facilities. As was highlighted in last 

year’s report, the Sub-Committee is in ongoing technical 

discussions with Edinburgh First and other experts to 

produce cost-effective proposals focussed towards 

improving the stage and lighting. Unfortunately, although 

the current configuration is ideally suited for the General 

Assembly, it is very far from ideal for hosting events other 

than those of a very restricted nature; such as lectures, 

small conferences and graduation ceremonies. Currently 

larger events such as concerts, plays and choirs are put 

off because of the added costs of introducing additional 

staging when such facilities are readily available without 

cost at other venues. It is hoped that proposals, to improve 

the staging and lighting, will be available for presentation 

to the Assembly Arrangements Committee in the near 

future. The fundamental purpose of this exercise is to 

generate added revenue to reduce, as far as is possible, 

the overall costs of maintaining the Hall. 

10. Rev Dr Marjory A MacLean 

The Committee is grateful for the service given to it by 

the Rev Dr Marjory MacLean and associates itself with 

the fuller words of appreciation included in the report 

of the Legal Questions Committee, in whose work she 

has been most particularly involved. From an Assembly 

Arrangements perspective the Committee is grateful for all 

that Marjory has contributed as Depute Clerk to its work. 

The Committee also acknowledges the able manner in

which she served as Acting Principal Clerk in the General 

Assemblies of 2002, 2003 and 2009. We join readily with 

the Legal Questions Committee in wishing Marjory every 

blessing for the future. 

Rev A David K Arnott 

In the name of the Committee 


A DAVID K ARNOTT, Convener 

JANET S MATHIESON, Vice-Convener 

FINLAY A J MACDONALD, Secretary 

ADDENDA 

David Arnott retires as Convener of the Committee and 

of the General Assembly’s Business Committee after this 

year’s General Assembly. When he took on these roles two 

years ago he made the decision that he would step down 

from Assembly committee work when he retired from 

parish ministry, an event which occurs this year. Over these 

two years, and the four years preceding when he served 

as Vice-Convener of the Business Committee, David has 

brought his considerable knowledge and experience of 

the Church and its courts to facilitating the business and 

ensuring an efficient stewardship of the Assembly’s time. 

Last year he oversaw a major consultation with Presbyteries 

on the Church’s expectations of the Assembly, no easy 

task when faced simultaneously with those who cherish 

tradition and those who yearn for change. Opportunity 

was given for all opinions to be expressed and the fruit of 

this consultation will continue to guide the Committee’s 

thinking in the coming years. The Committee is grateful 

for David Arnott’s leadership and wishes him well in his 

forthcoming retirement. 



FINLAY A J MACDONALD, Secretary 

Retirement of the Principal Clerk The Very Rev Dr 

Finlay A J Macdonald 

The Committee pays tribute to the Very Rev Finlay 

Macdonald Principal Clerk to the General Assembly, and 

Secretary to the Assembly Arrangements Committee, who 

retires in June. 

Finlay Macdonald who graduated MA BD from the 

University of St Andrews after a secondary education at 

Dundee High School was ordained in 1971 in Menstrie 

Parish Church, having served a probationary period 

at Bo’ness Old. In 1977 he was translated to Glasgow: 

Jordanhill where he remained till his appointment as 

Principal Clerk in 1996. Prior to that he had been Convener 

of the Board of Practice and Procedure and Depute Clerk 

to the General Assembly. This year is Dr Macdonald’s 25th 

year in the “play pen”. In 2001 he was appointed Chaplain 

to the Queen and the Kirk recognised his contribution 

to church life when it appointed him Moderator of the 

General Assembly in 2002. In 1983 he graduated PhD with 

a thesis entitled Law and Doctrine in the Church of Scotland 

with particular reference to Confessions of Faith. His alma 

mater honoured him with the degree Doctor of Divinity 

in June 2002. 

In his role as Principal Clerk Dr Macdonald has been an 

active member of Action of Churches Together in Scotland, 

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the European 

Ecumenical Commission on Church and Society and the 

Scottish Interfaith Council. He edited volume 11 of The 

Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae and has authored several articles 

and two books Children at the Table and Confidence in a 

Changing Church. 

In addition to his considerable burden of church duties 

over the years Dr Macdonald has served as a Governor of 

Jordanhill College of Education and was the Chairman of 

Jordanhill School PTA when it campaigned successfully to 

continue as a local primary and secondary school within 

the public sector. From 1993-96 he served as a lay member 

6.1

6.1/6 

of the Court of Strathclyde University where he chaired 

the Education Faculty Advisory Committee. In 2002 he 

was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Strathclyde 

University. 

The door to Dr Macdonald’s office has always been open 

and many ministers, elders and others have found there 

a sympathetic ear coupled with sound legal advice. His 

diplomatic and sensitive handling of issues, people and 

committees has been appreciated. His clerkship of the 

Board of Practice and Procedure, followed by the Assembly 

Arrangements Committee, has been of the highest order, 

with great competency linked to a light touch, coupled 

with good humour. The General Assembly, too, over the 

years has often had cause to be grateful for the advice 

offered in the midst of the heat of a debate. 

Dr Macdonald’s knowledge of the ways of the Kirk, its 

practice and procedure and its personnel, coupled with 

a broad understanding of our national life, has served the 

church well. The Church of Scotland has been enriched by 

his tenure of office. 

Fuller tribute will be paid at the closing session but the 

Committee wishes to place on record its own indebtedness 

and to wish Dr Macdonald, and Elma his wife, a long, 

healthy and happy retirement. 



A DAVID K ARNOTT, Convener 


APPENDIX A 

REPORT OF THE SCOTTISH BIBLE SOCIETY 

‘Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink – 

even if you have no money! 

Come, take your choice of wine or milk – 

it’s all free! 

Why spend your money on food that does 

not give you strength? 

Why pay for food that does you no good? 

Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that 

is good for the soul!’ 

Isaiah 55: 1-2 (NLT) 

Following on from last year’s bicentenary of the Scottish 

Bible Society, the Church is in 2010 emphasising other 

significant anniversaries: the Reformation of 1560 and the 

1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference. 

There is a connection! The new Kirk wanted people not 

only to hear the Bible, but also to learn to read it and 

experience first-hand its invitation to life. As education 

progressed over time the demand for affordable copies 

became a key reason for establishing Bible Societies. 

Later still, ‘Edinburgh 1910’ reflected vast opportunities 

to spread the gospel worldwide, a task in which Bible 

Societies had already been playing a major role for 

decades. 

Christians are well aware – often painfully so – how much 

our land and world have changed over these long timespans. 

For that reason the Scottish Bible Society chose to 

mark its bicentenary in contemporary and proactive ways 

including Edinburgh Fringe shows, modern (Christian) art, 

conversation-provoking mugs and a Glasgow Gospel DVD 

free with The Herald, all aimed at projecting the good news 

into the wider community. 

It’s a far cry from 1579 when both the General Assembly 

and the Scots Parliament took steps to improve access to 

the Bible in church and at home. Last September the work 

of SBS was highlighted in the present Parliament, followed 

by a notable reception; December saw acts of thanksgiving 

at St Giles’ and Edinburgh City Chambers. 

Brazilian guests at these latter events voiced deep 

gratitude for our major bicentenary effort to fund a 

multi-purpose vehicle that is now delivering medical

services, civic advice and Scripture resources to deprived 

communities in the north-east of the country. Some 

£250,000 has been raised for this exciting holistic care 

venture. 

SBS’s contribution to the life and outreach of the Church 

overseas has also involved channelling much-appreciated 

donations towards - 

• Bible vans with medical equipment in China; 

• translation in several countries, from Malawi to 

Cambodia; 

• distribution of a revised Bible in Vietnamese; 

• physical and spiritual relief for disaster victims in the 

Philippines, Haiti and Peru; 

• Scripture-based literacy development across Africa. 


These and many more projects are co-ordinated through 

the United Bible Societies, which will be represented at 

the ‘Edinburgh 2010’ global conference in June. 

Looking further ahead, preparations are in hand to mark 

the King James (Authorised) Version’s impact after four 

centuries, in ways that bring the Bible alive for today’s 

generation. 

None of us is immune from concern about pandemics, 

natural catastrophes, terrorism, climate change and 

economic uncertainty; according to one commentator 

many people display a ‘lack of trust … in anything’. God 

can be trusted and we are eager to continue our work in 

making the amazing invitation of the gospel available and 

accessible to people in Scotland and beyond. 

6.1


1.1 The Central Services Committee’s remit relates 

primarily to managing the Church Offices in George Street, 

overseeing the delivery of central services to departments 

within these Offices and operating as one of the employing 

agencies of the Church. 

1.2 Meetings have been held twice per annum between 

the Executive Committee and Heads of Department. These 

meetings have provided a welcome opportunity to discuss 

matters of joint interest and concern on a regular basis. 

2. Human Resources (HR) 

2.1 Pay and Grading 

Last year, the Committee reported on the introduction of a 

new pay and grading structure which was implemented in 

April 2009. It is recognised that a number of staff members 

have not been happy with the outcome for them, which 

is not unusual in an exercise of this nature. The Committee 

listened carefully to all those with concerns, off ering to 

meet with them in October 2009, following which the 

appeals process began. Whilst the Committee would have 

liked to have provided something that pleased everyone, 

the reality is that we need to ensure that we have a system 

that is fair and minimises risk to the Church in terms of 

equal pay. The staff should, however, be commended 

for continuing to perform as they do, at such a time of 

CENTRAL SERVICES COMMITTEE 

May 2010 




2. Note progress in the implementation of the General Assembly’s instruction of 2009 to produce a plan in relation to 

measuring energy consumption. (Section 4) 

REPORT 

change. At the time of writing we continue through the 

appeals process which was always an essential part of the 

process. We would like to place on record our thanks to 

those people who have given of their time as members 

of the appeals panels. Their fairness and undoubted 

professionalism greatly aided the process. 

2.2 Pay 

As in the case of the Ministries Council, the Committee did 

not consider a pay award appropriate for 2010 thus further 

ensuring a consistent approach across the Church. 

2.3 Policy 

Policy Development has continued over the past twelve 

months with the following being implemented: updated 

Redundancy Policy; Code of Conduct; updated Grievance 

Procedure. 

2.4 Recruitment of Senior Staff 

There has been recruitment to a number of senior positions 

over the past twelve months. The Committee now has a 

well established practice in place for these significant posts, 

usually involving a two-staged recruitment process of 

external assessment and interview. The Human Resources 

Department continues to enhance its links with CrossReach 

and was pleased to assist with the appointment of its new 

Council Secretary/Chief Executive Officer. 

6.2

6.2/2 

2.5 Staffing Levels 

We close on a difficult subject for us all. The central 

administration continues to review its performance and 

staffing levels remembering always our role in aiding 

congregations. This has been seen no more acutely than in 

the Mission and Discipleship Council which, with reluctance, 

has had to reduce staffing levels significantly, following 

an in depth review of its structure, use of resources and 

services. Whilst these are not decisions for the Central 

Services Committee, the HR Department is heavily involved 

in supporting staff at all levels during this difficult time. 

2.6 Learning and Development 

This has now seen a year on year expansion over the last 

three years. The 2010 programme will, as a minimum, 

deliver a total of eighty events with fifteen being 

management related. In addition to the above, 360 degree 

appraisals will be undertaken with all members of the 

newly formed Senior Management Team in the autumn of 

2010. 

2.7 This has been an exceptionally busy and challenging 

period for the HR team and we would like to thank them 

for their continued commitment and professionalism in 

their work with staff in the CSC, World Mission Council and 

the parish staffing structure of the Ministries Council. 

3. Information Technology 

3.1 Over the last year the IT Department has made 

substantial progress in building a consolidated and stable 

IT infrastructure which will allow sustainable IT growth in 

the future. These changes have resulted in a significant 

reduction of the Department’s carbon footprint, as well as 

enhancing security of data. This work is continuing, with 

further improvements to be introduced this coming year. 

This has all been achieved while the team has carried one 

vacancy and assisted CrossReach on a part-time basis 

for several months. The Committee acknowledges the 

Department’s work during this period. 

3.2 Highlights of the work carried out and planned 

include: 


• The successful upgrade of the data network in the 

George Street Offices, increasing speed and capacity, 

and providing additional resilience. 

• The completion of the server consolidation exercise, 

reducing the number of servers required to deliver the 

existing IT services and improving system performance 

and availability. A project to implement server 

virtualisation is now being started. 

• Network security has been upgraded, allowing a number 

of enhancements such as the provision of secure email 

outside the George Street Offices to be implemented. 

Access to email is now available by three additional 

methods: 

(i) Outlook Web Access is available to all remote users; 

(ii) Presbytery Clerks now access e-mail direct from the 

Offices with a consequent reduction in spam. 

(iii) E-mails and calendar functions are now available on 

mobile phones, eliminating the need for a laptop 

connection. So far, this facility has been provided to 

a limited number of users from whom we plan to 

gather feedback on the service. 

• Printer consolidation is being planned to reduce the 

number of printers located within the Offices. 

• Development of phase one of the Consolidated 

Information System has been completed, replacing the 

Contacts database. The system went live in February 

2010 for users within the George Street Offices and will 

be made available to external users in the coming year. 

• The provision of wireless internet access for visitors to 

the George Street Offices. 

4. Energy Consumption 

4.1 Last year’s General Assembly instructed the 

Committee to “produce a plan for 121 George Street and 

the Regional Development offices, setting out how they will 

measure energy consumption in the buildings, ascertain 

their carbon footprint and achieve a year-on-year reduction 

of 5% of their carbon footprint; and instruct the Committee 

to report to the General Assembly of 2010 on the progress of 

implementing this instruction.” The Committee can report

that, in consultation with the Climate Change Project 

Steering Group, a programme of work to reduce the 

carbon footprint of the offices is being developed. An 

initial plan was agreed by the Committee in October 2009, 

with a view to reducing energy consumption by 5% per 

annum commencing in 2011. 

4.2 In the regional offices, the energy performance of 

properties has been assessed and recorded. In the George 

Street Offices, monitoring of energy consumption has 

been taking place since September 2008. Figures are being 

analysed and realistic targets set. The following steps have 

already been taken: 

• the replacement of a hot water cylinder to a more 

efficient type and the installation of a boiler step control 

unit which allows greater control of office heating 

temperatures; 

• air handling unit controls have been fitted to provide 

more comfortable temperatures in the committee 

meeting rooms; 

• water efficiency controls, energy saving light fittings 

and a recycling regime for paper, cardboard, fluorescent 

tubes and aluminium cans. It is the intention to run an 

awareness campaign for staff to highlight these issues 

again. 

4.3 A report by the Carbon Trust, which was commissioned 

by the Committee in 2008, highlighted a number of 

recommendations and key actions which would bring 

about reductions in energy consumption. Whilst there 

are significant cost implications to many aspects of the 

work recommended by the Trust, it is expected that these 

would attract long term savings. 

4.4 The Committee acknowledges that there is much to 

be done to achieve a year-on-year reduction of 5% and that 

a strategic approach is essential. The ongoing advice and 

support of the Climate Change Officer on these matters 

is appreciated, as the Committee continues to implement 

this instruction. 

CENTRAL SERVICES COMMITTEE 6.2/3 

5. Central Properties Department 

5.1 The Central Properties Department has continued to 

develop its wide ranging brief, including the health and safety 

aspects of the work. The Department has three full time and 

one part time staff member who bring the expertise of the 

following disciplines through qualification and experience: 

construction; property management; facilities management; 

housing management; and health and safety. 

5.2 Arbitrations 

The Department has responsibility for managing the 

administration of the Arbitration process in the case of 

readjustment. Since the last report, the Department has 

attended to one arbitration. 

5.3 Property 

The Department has responsibility for the management 

of 100 properties, the delivery of new build projects and 

major refurbishment programmes, the management of 

facilities and procurement of work equipment, and health 

and safety for the Central Services Committee and other 

Councils of the Church. During the last year contracts 

were let for the following projects which are progressing 

on site and are due for completion in the summer of 2010: 

construction of new church buildings for the congregations 

at Glasgow: Garthamlock and Craigend East and at Glasgow: 

Easterhouse St George’s and St Peter’s. At the time of writing 

work is progressing on a number of projects including 

concluding the negotiations for a site for a church building 

in Dunfermline: East St Paul’s, and identifying a site for a New 

Charge on the west side of Inverness. 

5.4 Health and Safety 

5.4.1 The Committee has an obligation, as an employer, 

to comply with Health and Safety legislation. The staff of 

the Department includes a Chartered Safety Practitioner 

and a Health and Safety Technician. The development of 

the health and safety strategy continues with advances in 

both policy and training. The Committee can report that 

the core strategies highlighted in last year’s report have all 

been implemented. The Safety Committee, which consists 

6.2

6.2/4 

of six members of staff, meets regularly; its role is to 

oversee the implementation of Health and Safety policies. 

The Committee encourages and promotes a positive 

approach to health and safety issues, and significant 

advances have been made over recent years in ensuring 

compliance with legislation. The Committee is committed 

to working in partnership with staff, the union, Councils 

and departments in continuing the development of the 

policy which will deliver a healthy and safe environment 

for all staff, volunteers, visitors, contractors and others. 

5.4.2 There are many strands to the health and safety 

process, but the following in particular are to be noted: 

training, workstation and fire safety risk assessments, 

emergency evacuation procedures and lone working. 

5.4.3 Accidents 

In the period covered by this report, one accident required 

to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive. A number 

of non-reportable accidents occurred but these were of 

a minor nature and, where necessary, were dealt with in 

conjunction with the appropriate Council/Department. 

6. Facilities Management 

6.1 Health and Safety 

All statutory obligations have been met over the past year 

in respect of lifts, boilers, fire extinguishers, fire alarm checks, 

fire drills, emergency lighting checks, access equipment 

and water tests. In addition, an Environmental Health and 

Safety Audit has been undertaken in the kitchen area of 

the Café Lounge. 

6.2 Maintenance Works 

The Church Offices continue to be well maintained and 

meet the requirements of our Insurance Policy. Various 

works have been carried out throughout the year including 

decoration, carpeting, window repairs, roof repair and tank 

re-lining. 

6.3 Security 

Essential work was carried out to upgrade the intruder 


system in order to comply with ‘British Standard’ in relation 

to an automatic police response. 

6.4 Catering 

Albacore continues to provide an excellent catering 

service. Staff and visitors welcome the use of fresh local 

produce. Now into the second year of the contract, the 

partnership approach adopted by Albacore is working 

well and it is very much in tune with our requirements. 

6.5 Design Services 

At the time of preparing this Report, the Committee is 

reviewing the options for the provision of design services, 

following the resignation of the Senior Graphic Designer. 

6.6 Work In Progress 

The Facilities Management Department is currently 

looking at potential efficiency savings in photocopier 

and print devices and is reviewing the existing telephone 

system. 

7. 117-119 George Street, Edinburgh 

The Committee learned with considerable regret about 

the financial difficulties being experienced by the Wesley 

Owen book chain which resulted in the company going 

into administration in December 2009. As a result the 

tenancy of the bookshop at 117-119 George Street was 

prematurely ended with a consequent loss of rental 

income. At the time of preparation of this report, the 

Committee is taking steps to re-let the premises. 

8. Media Relations 

Last year’s General Assembly instructed the Council 

of Assembly “to undertake a full review of present 

arrangements for delivering the Communication Strategy 

and the relationships between the various departments 

which contribute to the process”. The Council’s Report to 

this year’s Assembly advises that a new Head of Media and 

Communication is now in post and will report direct to the 

Council of Assembly and be line managed by the Council 

Secretary. The Committee welcomes this new arrangement

which eradicates an area of duplication which had existed, 

whereby the Central Services Committee had oversight 

of the Media Relations Department, but the Council of 

Assembly had a remit to oversee the implementation 

and development of the Co-ordinated Communication 

Strategy across the Church. 


STEWART ROY, Convener 

PAULINE WEIBYE, Vice-Convener 

DOUGLAS PATERSON, Vice-Convener 

PAULINE WILSON, Administrative Secretary 

ADDENDUM 

Convener and Vice-Conveners 

Stewart Roy completes his term as Convener of the Central 

Services Committee at this General Assembly. Stewart has 

been a member of Jordanhill Parish Church in Glasgow 

since 1977 and an elder since 1981. He served as Clerk to 

the Congregational Board from 1983 to 2001. Stewart took 

CENTRAL SERVICES COMMITTEE 6.2/5 

early retirement in 1999 following a career in University 

administration, first in Glasgow University, then Warwick, 

and finally Strathclyde. The Committee’s workload has 

been particularly heavy during the period of Stewart’s 

convenership and the Church has cause to be indebted 

to him for the time and experience which he has devoted 

to its work. 

Pauline Weibye and the Rev Douglas Paterson complete 

their terms as Vice-Conveners of the Committee. Their 

contributions in the areas of HR and property matters 

respectively have been significant and have impacted 

positively on the central administration. The Committee 

wishes Douglas well as he continues his ministry at 

Edinburgh: St Colm’s, and offers its encouragement to 

Pauline as she takes up her new position as Secretary to 

the Council of Assembly. 


PAULINE WILSON, Administrative Secretary 

6.2

COMMITTEE ON ECUMENICAL RELATIONS 

May 2010 

REVIEW OF THE ECUMENICAL POLICY: THE 

EVENTS OF THE PAST FIVE YEARS 


In 2005, the General Assembly approved a “churches 

together” policy and asked that it be reviewed in five years’ 

time. As we reported last year, the ecumenical climate is 

not the same as it was five years ago. The picture is both 

complex and shifting and there is a feeling of fragility and 

vulnerability in areas that have been taken for granted. It is 

now time to note the events of the past five years, to assess 

the strengths and weaknesses of the “churches together” 

model and to set our course for the next few years. 




2. Approve the continuation of the Churches Together Ecumenical Policy as reaffirmed in the Report and as detailed 

in the Commitments set out in section 16 of the Report. 

3. Encourage Presbyteries to seek the inclusion of United Free Church Congregations in Parish Groupings. 

4. Encourage the use of the Liturgy for the Renewal of Baptismal vows on appropriate ecumenical occasions as part 

of the fruits of the Joint Commission on Doctrine’s study on Baptism. 

5. Note the report of the Joint Working Group between the Church of Scotland and the Church of England, Our 

Fellowship in the Gospel, commend it for study throughout the Church and approve the practical steps set out in 

Appendix I. 

6. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, Section 1.3) and commit the Ecumenical Relations 

Committee, in partnership with others, to its effective delivery over the next seven years. 

7. Approve the delegates to Assemblies, Synods and Conferences of other Churches as detailed in Appendix II. 

8. Approve the appointments to ecumenical bodies as detailed in Appendix III. 

9. Approve the contributions to ecumenical bodies as detailed in Appendix IV. 

REPORT 

… making every effort to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

(Eph 4:3, NRSV) 

2. The events of the past five years 

2.1 It is worth remembering that the policy adopted in 

2005 was triggered by the Church of Scotland’s pulling out 

of the Scottish Churches Initiative for Union. A clear signal 

was given that other ways needed to be found to express 

the unity which is Christ’s gift to the church. Much was 

made of local ecumenical activity as the energising source 

for the national and international ecumenical movement. 

In response, the Ecumenical Relations Committee brought 

to the Assembly an ecumenical policy which committed 

the Church to a “churches together” model. This model 

is described in the constitution of Action of Churches 

6.3

6.3/2 

Together in Scotland (ACTS) as “uniting in pilgrimage 

those churches which acknowledge God’s revelation 

in Christ, confess the Lord Jesus as God and saviour 

according to the Scriptures and in obedience to God’s will 

and in the power of the Holy Spirit, commit themselves 

to seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and 

with one another in the Church, and to fulfi l their mission 

to proclaim the Gospel by common witness and service 

to the world to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and 

Holy Spirit” (quoted in “Our Ecumenical Policy” para 8.1). As 

“churches together”, each denomination is asked to “hold 

out what is important to them in the expectation that this 

will be respected.” (para 8.2) It was emphasised how, in this 

model, the churches are responsible for the agenda and 

for advocating the ecumenical principle locally, nationally 

and internationally. The churches retain their own voice 

and use the ecumenical bodies as an expression of their 

commitment to one another. (para 8.2) In adopting 

“Our Ecumenical Policy”, the General Assembly made a 

commitment in fi ve key areas: 

• A commitment to supporting and resourcing the 

UK and International ecumenical structures, through 

fi nancial contributions, participation in conferences, 

councils and assemblies, appointing of delegates 

and a commitment to rationalising the European and 

International ecumenical bodies. 

• A commitment to and resourcing of Action of Churches 

Together in Scotland through the ACTS Members’ 

Meeting, participation in ACTS Networks and through 

bilateral and multilateral discussions and agreements 

with other denominations, thus maximising the use of 

resources and strengthening our capacity to provide 

“the ordinances of religion” (Declaratory Articles, Article 

III) across the whole of Scotland. 

• A commitment to and support of local ecumenism 

through Presbyteries, parishes and chaplaincies 

supported by a network of Presbytery ecumenical 

contacts. 

• A commitment to and support of the National 

Sponsoring Body for Local Ecumenical Partnerships and 


its Advisory Groups as the channel to address matters 

of legislation, practice and procedure which can make 

such partnerships difficult. 

• A commitment to ecumenism within the revised central 

structures of the Church of Scotland through the role 

of the Ecumenical Officer and the way in which the 

Ecumenical Relations Committee relates to the Councils 

of the Assembly. 

2.2 Within the past five years, in seeking to implement 

the policy, the following events can be identified as having 

a bearing on the ecumenical landscape. 

3. Commitment to supporting and 

resourcing the UK and International 

ecumenical structures 

3.1 Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) 

has undergone radical change. In 2002, a “common pot” 

arrangement was devised whereby CTBI administered the 

disbursement of the membership contributions for CTBI, 

Churches Together in England, ACTS and Cytûn, (Churches 

Together in Wales) according to an agreed formula. As the 

“pot” decreased over the ensuing years due to financial 

constraints in the member churches, CTBI absorbed the 

cuts, often through redundancies, in order to protect the 

work of the national instruments. By 2009, it was clear that 

CTBI could take no more cuts and a radical restructuring 

was approved. Member churches have been asked to 

contribute a modest, fixed amount for the next three years. 

The staff has been reduced to 6.5 full-time equivalents who 

work mainly from home. (There had been 37 members of 

staff in 1997.) The lease on the offices in London has not 

been renewed and desk space has been made available in 

the offices of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of 

England and Wales. A new Board of Trustees met for the 

first time in October 2009. The new CTBI will provide space 

for consultation at four nations’ level. It will continue to 

adapt and publish for the UK churches the material for the 

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and initiate Lent study 

material in addition to producing web-based resources

for creation-tide, Remembrance Day, Racial Justice Sunday 

and material for the General Election. Ecumenical work 

on mission, faith and order matters, international affairs, 

racial justice and interfaith relations is now done mainly 

through networks which bring together those with 

particular expertise in the member churches, a key feature 

of a “churches together” model. There is now an annual 

gathering for all those involved in CTBI Networks. Also 

annually is the Senior Church Representatives Meeting 

which provides an opportunity for the Trustees to consult 

with the member churches. Rev Douglas Nicol served as 

a Trustee until 2009 when Very Rev Dr Sheilagh Kesting 

was nominated as a Trustee from Scotland. The Principal 

Clerk and the Ecumenical Officer have attended the Senior 

Church Representatives Meeting. 

3.2 The Conference of European Churches (CEC) held 

its Assembly in July 2009 in Lyon. This Assembly marked 

the 50th anniversary of CEC. The Assembly welcomed the 

process of integration of the Churches’ Commission for 

Migrants in Europe (CCME). However, the final steps of 

the integration process have been put on hold until the 

results of a review process are adopted by the churches 

at an Assembly to be held in 2013, provided money is 

available. A committee has been set up to review the legal 

documents and structure of CEC. The newly elected Central 

Committee will take forward two urgent concerns: the 

return of the Russian Orthodox Church to full membership 

and the need to address the financial deficit accrued by 

the Lyon Assembly. Sheilagh Kesting was elected to the 

Central Committee in Lyon. 

3.3 The Community of Protestant Churches in Europe 

(CPCE) is the name by which the Leuenberg Fellowship of 

Churches is now known. It brings together into “altar and 

pulpit fellowship” Lutheran, Reformed, United and Methodist 

churches in Europe. It meets in Assembly every six years and 

receives the work of its doctrinal working groups, which have 

already been amended in the light of comments received 

from the member churches. It has become apparent 

COMMITTEE ON ECUMENICAL RELATIONS 6.3/3 

in recent years that once a text is approved by the CPCE 

Assembly, it is assumed that it becomes authoritative for the 

member churches and can then be used as a building block 

in subsequent pieces of work. This implicit assumption is 

proving problematic for some member churches, including 

the Church of Scotland. The General Assembly has never 

been asked to adopt these texts as statements of the 

Church of Scotland’s doctrinal position. We have seen 

them, rather, as stages in an ongoing discussion between 

mainly Lutheran and Reformed theologians. This issue is 

being raised with the CPCE Council. The Church of Scotland 

continues to participate in the work. Rev Dr John McPake 

has been involved in a continuing study of Episcope and 

has been attending Council meetings as an alternate for 

the UK member. A small working group drawn from the 

Worship and Doctrine Task Group, the Church and Society 

Council and the Committee on Ecumenical Relations 

will draw up responses to two draft reports: “Stand up for 

Justice: Ethical Concern and Social Commitment of the 

Protestant Churches in Europe”, and “Scripture-Confession- 

Church”. These documents are set to be revised in the 

light of responses received from member churches before 

presentation for adoption at the next Assembly which is 

to be held in Florence in 2012. In the meantime, the CPCE 

Council will meet in Edinburgh in May 2010. 

3.4 The World Council of Churches (WCC) held its 

Assembly in Porto Alegre in February 2006. Since then the 

Central Committee has overseen a process to clarify the role 

of the WCC within the ecumenical movement. This has led 

it to seek stronger co-operation with its member churches 

on the basis of complementary roles. It has identifi ed four 

aspects to its role, each of which is being addressed by 

the Continuation Committee on Ecumenism in the 21st 

Century, which produced an Interim Report in 2009 which 

is being studied by member churches. The four identifi ed 

aspects are: 

• A convening role – to bring different actors round one 

table to discuss difficult and divisive issues eg in relation 

to doctrine, climate change etc. 

6.3

6.3/4 

• Providing potential for a common voice eg in the area of 

human rights. 

• Ensuring ecumenical co-operation – encouraging 

different partners to work together. 

• Fostering coherence – challenging one another 

(affirmation and admonition). 

In line with this, the WCC sent a team to Scotland in 

December 2009. Council Conveners and Secretaries 

(Council of Assembly, Church and Society, Ministries and 

Mission and Discipleship) were given the opportunity 

to see where there are areas of synergy; where our work 

can benefit from being put in contact with others in 

the fellowship of churches and where our work can be 

shared with others. In this way, not only is the profile of 

the WCC within the Church of Scotland enhanced, but 

we also ensure that we receive greater value from our 

membership. 

The Rev Dr Olav Fykse-Tweit, formerly Ecumenical Officer of 

the Church of Norway, was elected new General Secretary 

of the WCC in September 2009 and took up his post at 

the beginning of January. The Committee welcomed his 

appointment and assured him of the prayers and support 

of the Church of Scotland as he took up a very challenging 

task. 

The Church of Scotland continues to have members 

actively involved in the work of the WCC. Rev Graham 

McGeoch serves on the Central Committee and its 

Executive Committee. Rev Dr Peter Donald is a member of 

the Plenary Commission on Faith and Order. 

3.5 All work of the World Alliance of Reformed 

Churches (WARC) has been focused on the forthcoming 

General Council in Grand Rapids, Michigan in June 2010. 

The work of the Alliance in the field of global economic 

justice has continued to dominate the agenda together 

with the merger with the Reformed Ecumenical Council. 

The Europe Area Council met in Wuppertal in October. 

Here, senior representatives of the European member 


churches met to discuss the role of WARC, both in building 

the fellowship of Reformed churches across the Continent 

and in presenting a European voice in the global body. The 

Area Council set a date for the briefing of the leaders of the 

delegations from the European churches in preparation 

for the General Council. Rev Alexander Horsburgh was 

appointed Secretary of the Europe Area Council until after 

the General Council. He will retire from the Executive at 

Grand Rapids. The Committee takes this opportunity to 

thank him for the way he has represented the Church 

of Scotland to WARC and for his frank reports to the 

Committee throughout the past six years. A name is being 

sought for consideration from the Presbyterian Church in 

Ireland, following recent practice of rotating representation 

round the member churches in Britain and Ireland. 

However, with the reduction in the size of the Executive in 

the new body, to be renamed the World Communion of 

Reformed Churches (WCRC), it is possible that there will 

be no-one from the United Kingdom, far less the Church 

of Scotland, on the Executive Committee following the 

General Council in Grand Rapids. This will mean that the 

role of the European Area Council will become more 

important as a channel of communication. 

3.6 Not mentioned in the ecumenical policy document of 

2005 is the development of bilateral relations with churches 

in Europe – and potentially beyond. In the past five years 

relations with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria 

and the Evangelical Church of Westphalia have developed 

as bilateral relations within the overall fellowship of the 

Conference of European Churches and the Community of 

Protestant Churches in Europe. Already, the relationship 

with the Westphalian Church has led to invitations to attend 

consultations and conferences in each other’s church. These 

new relationships are filled with energy. 

3.7 Throughout the last five years, the Committee has 

continued to give encouragement to people, often 

young people, to attend international conferences and 

consultations of the above named bodies as participants

or stewards by giving small grants from the Duncan 

McClements Trust. 

4. Commitment to and resourcing of Action 

of Churches Together in Scotland 

Within the UK, where the focus on ecumenical activity 

has prioritized the work of the national instruments, our 

membership of ACTS is of particular significance. 

4.1 Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) 

undertook an ecumenical audit which focused on three 

areas of Scotland: Inverness, Paisley and St Andrews. The 

findings identified “addressing the needs of the local 

community together” as the most vital ingredient for 

building good local relations and “the desire to worship 

ecumenically” as the most desirable activity. It drew no 

conclusions about the connection between these two. 

It highlighted the need for ecumenical formation of 

ministers, elders and members, a key component of which 

is encounter. The Committee on Ecumenical Relations 

reported the findings to the General Assembly in 2007. 

4.2 ACTS has reviewed its structure in the light of 

charity legislation. Since 2008, the Members’ Meeting has 

provided a forum in which designated representatives of 

the member churches are consulted by the Trustees of 

ACTS. The use the churches make of the Networks now 

needs to be looked at and the Committee on Ecumenical 

Relations met with Church of Scotland representatives 

on the ACTS Networks early in 2010 to evaluate the way 

these relate to the ongoing work of the Councils of the 

Assembly. This gives the Committee an opportunity to 

hear how the Church of Scotland uses the Networks and 

to ensure that clear channels of communication and 

accountability have been established with each of the 

Councils. Altogether, there are 25 people from the Church 

of Scotland, nominated by Councils and Committees, who 

serve on the ACTS Networks. 

4.3 The change in financial arrangements was discussed 

by the Ecumenical Relations Committee. It was recognised 


that if ACTS was to be able to continue the level of its work 

following the restructuring of CTBI, the Church of Scotland 

would need to give to ACTS the balance of what it had 

previously given to the “common pot” out of which the 

ecumenical instruments in Scotland, England, Wales and 

CTBI had been funded. In the current economic climate 

there are no plans to increase this amount for at least 

two years. This will mean that the churches will need to 

examine closely the priority they give to ecumenical work 

as much as to work they do on their own. It was one of 

the fundamental principles of the ecumenical instruments 

that in times of hardship it made economic sense, as well 

as theological sense, to do as much together as is possible, 

thus building on the Lund Principle of 1952, that “the 

churches should act together in all matters… except those 

in which deep differences of conviction compel them to act 

separately.” 

4.4 Scottish Churches House has struggled to find a role in 

the 21st century that will allow it to break even. The House 

continues to be owned by ACTS and slow progress has 

been made towards the setting up of a separate operating 

company for the day to day management of the House. 

The bedrooms in the main house were upgraded during 

2008-9 to offer en-suite accommodation. This has greatly 

enhanced the standard of overnight accommodation. The 

Ecumenical Relations Committee continues to encourage 

use of the House by Councils and Committees. 

5. Bilateral and Multilateral discussions 

5.1 The Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodist 

Church and the United Reformed Church continued to 

hold discussions after the demise of the Scottish Church 

Initiative for Union and agreed a Statement of Partnership 

in 2009, committing themselves to sharing resources, 

financial and human, as much as possible. The Statement 

of Partnership was signed by the leaders of these Churches 

at an ecumenical service in Perth during the Week of 

Prayer for Christian Unity in January 2010. This has an 

impact on those Church of Scotland congregations which 

6.3

6.3/6 

have united with United Reformed Church congregations. 

The Committee will explore the implications of this for the 

Church of Scotland. 

5.2 The Covenant with the United Free Church of 

Scotland was signed in September 2006. A small group 

continues to oversee the implementation of the Covenant. 

A survey of neighbouring congregations revealed that 

there is much going on by way of co-operation but little 

of it is identified with the national Covenant. Through 

promotion of the Canonbie DVD in congregations where 

it could be most beneficial and advice given in vacancies, 

greater local co-operation is encouraged. Two United 

Free Church congregations are in negotiation with 

neighbouring Church of Scotland congregations about the 

possibility of a local covenant. The Ecumenical Relations 

Committee also recommends that consideration be given 

to including United Free Church congregations in parish 

groupings, wherever possible. There has also been a move 

to look together at training for ministry. Contact has been 

made between the Ministries Council and the United Free 

Church Ministry Committee. 

5.3 The Joint Commission on Doctrine (Church of 

Scotland – Roman Catholic Church) published a joint 

report on baptism as a study guide for local congregations 

in 2008. This booklet could not have been written 20 years 

ago and harvests the fruits of decades of faith and order 

discussion within the World Council of Churches and 

between the WCC and the Vatican in the Joint Working 

Group. Though some may dismiss this important aspect of 

the ecumenical movement as “old fashioned”, the faith and 

order agenda continues to provide the platform on which 

local developments can grow. The Joint Commission has 

followed up its study on Baptism by producing a PowerPoint 

presentation that gives the framework out of which the 

study has come and by commissioning the production of 

a joint liturgy for the reaffirmation of baptismal vows. All 

three resources belong together as the fruit of the Joint 

Commission’ study on Baptism and it is hoped that they 


will be widely used. The liturgy has been drawn up by a 

small group that included representation from the Scottish 

Episcopal Church. This liturgy is now available for general 

use on appropriate ecumenical occasions. 

In addition, the growth of trust and understanding that 

has built up over the years within the Joint Commission 

can also be seen in the Symposium that marked the 

quincentenary of the birth of John Calvin in 2009. Rev 

Dr Stephen Robson gave a paper on the influence of the 

thinking of Bernard of Clairvaux on Calvin, Rev Dr Henry 

O’Brien spoke about Calvin’s understanding of the Holy 

Spirit in particular in relation to Holy Communion, Rev 

Prof David Fergusson explored Calvin’s use of the term 

“the Church as Mother” and Rev Dr Alan Falconer gave a 

paper on Hebrews as the hermeneutical key for Calvin. 

The Joint Commission is planning a second Symposium 

in November 2010 to mark the 450th anniversary of the 

Scottish Reformation. It is expected that this will include 

input from the Scottish Episcopal Church. It is to be held 

in the Scottish Storytelling Centre and will be followed by 

a service in St Giles Cathedral. Co-operation on both these 

issues with the Roman Catholic Church is a way of saying 

that our churches are in a different place than they were 

all these centuries ago. It is also a way of revisiting painful 

parts of our history in a way that can lead to a healing of 

memories. 

5.4 Talks with the Free Church of Scotland continued 

with an increasing sense of goodwill. A high point was 

reached in 2007 when a joint report was received by the 

two General Assemblies and the Conveners of the two 

Ecumenical Relations Committees were invited to address 

each others’ Assembly. However, shortly after last year’s 

Assembly, the Convener of the Free Church’s Ecumenical 

Relations Committee indicated that a decision had been 

taken to suspend the talks with the Church of Scotland until 

at least 2011 when the Special Commission anent Same Sex 

Relations and Ministry will make its report. They took into 

consideration the spirit of harmony that had been a feature

of the talks and asked for a face-to-face meeting. This took 

place last September. The meeting was respectful, with 

careful listening. The meeting closed with an expression 

of regret that the series of issues which had been open for 

discussion between the two churches had been reduced to 

one. It was agreed that channels of communication should 

remain open and that, wherever possible, co-operation at 

local level should continue to be encouraged. 

5.5 The Faith and Order Working Group with the Church 

of England began an exploration of the biblical phrase 

“partnership in the Gospel”. This discussion has taken the 

two Churches into areas that can no longer be justified 

as a discussion between two national churches without 

the presence of the Scottish Episcopal Church, our closest 

Anglican neighbour. The working group has therefore 

drawn this part of its work to a conclusion with a report, Our 

Fellowship in the Gospel. The respective governing bodies 

require different styles of report. The result has been the 

production of a lengthy document which could not be 

incorporated into the Blue Book. A summary is given in 

Appendix I of this report and the full text can be found on 

the Church of Scotland’s website: www.churchofscotland. 

org.uk/councils/ecumenical/erresources.htm. In bringing 

this round of discussion to an end, it is now possible to 

begin a new series of discussions which will include the 

Scottish Episcopal Church as a full participant. The concept 

of “partnership in the Gospel” will continue as the focus for 

the new discussions, thus allowing the two traditions to 

explore means of deepening our unity without holding to 

an agenda for union. 

6. Commitment to and support of local 

ecumenism 

6.1 Co-operation between congregations continues to 

be the bed-rock of the ecumenical movement in Scotland. 

Opportunities for joint prayer and worship, particularly 

during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Lent and Holy 

Week, continue to sustain and develop relationships. The 

local ecumenical movement is driven by many informal 


partnerships through which congregations address local 

needs and seek opportunities to worship together. 

Formal Local Ecumenical Partnerships (LEPs) remain few 

in number but those that exist remain committed to the 

joint expression of their life together. It is recognised that 

ecumenical partnerships develop best when they are 

underpinned by an agreed structure. In the past year, the 

Barrhead Church has continued to explore the possibility 

of moving beyond being a covenanted partnership to a 

union. Livingston Sponsors’ Council has been overseeing 

a revision of the constitution for the Ecumenical Parish, 

as the existing legislation has proved too ambiguous. St 

Andrew’s, Irvine has taken the necessary steps to sign a 

covenant with the Scottish Episcopal congregation that 

shares its building. Under the umbrella of the Covenant 

with the United Free Church, some congregations are 

beginning a process of discernment that could lead to 

the sharing of ministry. The congregation in Mosspark 

has begun to explore its relations with the existing 

Methodist-United Reformed Church partnership in its 

parish. The city centre churches in Edinburgh continue 

to seek a way of witnessing together at the heart of the 

Capital. 

6.2 The commitment to set up a network of Presbytery 

ecumenical contacts has not been pursued but each 

Presbytery continues to be invited to an autumn 

conference which continues to be opened up to 

participation from ACTS contacts and churches together 

groups. Up to 70 people have attended the conference. 

Local stories are shared. In recent years, the conference 

has provided an opportunity to hear reports from Scottish 

delegates who attended the WCC Assembly in Porto 

Alegre and the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in 

Sibiu, Romania. There has been reflection on how to read 

the bible together, a presentation on the ecumenical 

nature of the work of the Priority Areas Working Group, 

updates on the plans to mark the Centenary of Edinburgh 

1910, a paper by the Rev Dr David Cornick, General 

6.3

6.3/8 

Secretary of Churches Together in England, on “Calvin on 

Unity” to mark the quincentenary of Calvin’s birth, and 

an opportunity to hear about and try out some of the 

material suggested by the Scottish drafting group for the 

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. 

7. Commitment to and support of the 

National Sponsoring Body for Local 

Ecumenical Partnerships (NSB) 

ACTS has continued to provide the churches with the 

services of the National Sponsoring Body for Local 

Ecumenical Partnerships. The NSB seeks agreed 

processes for setting up and reviewing local ecumenical 

partnerships. Rev Bill Brown, a former convener of the 

Committee on Ecumenical Relations, was appointed the 

new Convener of the NSB and takes up the position in 

March 2010. The setting up of Regional Advisory Groups 

has proved cumbersome in most areas and a new, more 

flexible process has been devised which will ensure that 

ecumenical reviews of LEPs are properly related to the 

denominational review processes. 

8. Commitment to ecumenism within the 

revised central structures of the Church of 

Scotland 

The Committee has continued to be linked with each of 

the Councils of the Assembly in an attempt to monitor 

and encourage greater ecumenical co-operation across 

the work of the Church of Scotland. Within the past fi ve 

years a number of things have happened which have 

directly aff ected the way in which the Church of Scotland 

works ecumenically. 

• Charity law has meant a change in how we do 

ecumenical work. It is no longer possible to do a piece 

of denominational work ecumenically which does not 

have a Church of Scotland member as convener and 

a majority of Church of Scotland members on the 

governing body. This has led to the restructuring of 

how the Church of Scotland does its work, sadly, in 

a manner that has proved damaging to ecumenical 


relations. Mainly, it has meant that the Church of 

Scotland has acted as “lead church” and invited others 

to join it in doing its work. In such a set up other 

churches are always guests and the degree to which 

the work can be owned by their parent denominations 

is inhibited. “Lead church” is always attractive to a 

large church like the Church of Scotland because it 

maintains the highest degree of overall control. It is 

often the least attractive to other churches, unless 

they request it, because it is harder for them to own 

the work that is done. 

• In some cases, the Church of Scotland has withdrawn 

from a piece of ecumenical work because negotiations 

have failed to find an ecumenical way forward. This has 

in every case caused hurt and has damaged ecumenical 

relations in Scotland and in Britain and Ireland. The 

Church of Scotland is then left to renegotiate a way 

back into the ecumenical community. 

• There have been cases when work has been handed over 

to ACTS so that a task group formed from among the 

churches does the work for all the denominations that 

opt to associate themselves with the work. Experience 

has shown that this is not the quickest way of working 

but it can have the satisfaction at the end of the process 

of being accepted at least by the majority of churches 

involved in the process. The ACTS publication, Talking of 

the Trinity, was an example of this. 

• Feedback from other churches suggests to us that 

there is still some way to go in the Church of Scotland’s 

willingness to move from doing its own work 

ecumenically (with invited participants from other 

churches) and working ecumenically which now means 

either working under the auspices of ACTS or setting up 

a separate company limited by guarantee. 

THE LESSONS LEARNED - STRENGTHS AND 

LIMITATIONS 

9. Supporting and Resourcing UK and 

International ecumenical structures 

9.1 The Church of Scotland’s commitment has been

maintained both financially and in terms of active 

participation in consultations, conferences, assemblies and 

working groups. There is regular sharing of information 

between some of the Councils and the ecumenical structures. 

It is now almost inconceivable that a Council would begin a 

significant piece of work without checking out which other 

churches have done work in a similar area. This seems set to 

develop in new and exciting ways in relation to the World 

Council of Churches and there is no reason to suppose it 

cannot be applied to the other ecumenical instruments of 

which the Church of Scotland is a part. 

9.2 The multilateral, inter-denominational model of 

ecumenism has been under some pressure in recent years. 

Churches by and large have remained unchanged by the 

encounter with other churches and have continued to 

take decisions without heed to the effect on the wider 

fellowship as a whole. At the same time, concern to 

maintain the fellowship has meant that there is now little 

space for round table discussion on the really contentious 

issues that churches find difficult to talk about. There is 

a tendency among the churches to pick and choose the 

relationships that suit them. This approach is predisposed 

to bilateral rather than multilateral relations. In this, the 

ecumenical bodies become vulnerable and the valuable 

work they do in specific areas, not least in enabling smaller 

churches to engage with the ecumenical movement, is 

not always appreciated. 

10. Commitment to and resourcing of ACTS 

10.1 Our commitment to ACTS has remained strong. 

However, the reconfiguration of the funding of the 

ecumenical instruments in Britain and Ireland, so that there 

is no longer a common pot, has left the Church of Scotland 

by far the largest funder of ACTS. This is not a healthy 

situation to be in but it is one that reflects the reality of 

the churches in Scotland. The current ecumenical model, 

both within Scotland and beyond, is very vulnerable to the 

ability of a few larger contributors to continue the level of 

their support. 


10.2 One major problem with ACTS is that it does not 

have a high profile. As with all “churches together” bodies, 

it has a convening and facilitating role, but the churches 

need to acknowledge more the added value it offers to us 

in our commitment to do more of our work ecumenically. 

There is some evidence that our representatives on the 

ACTS Networks do not regularly report to the Council 

they represent and some key members have never 

attended a Network meeting. The aim of the “churches 

together” model is that people with appropriate expertise 

are involved and not ecumenical enthusiasts. Part of 

the difficulty is that the optimum time of year to feed in 

information is after Assemblies and Synods have met ie in 

mid to late September, a time which is particularly busy for 

our Councils and working groups. It is not easy to see a way 

round this. The model cannot work without the sharing of 

knowledge and expertise from each denomination. 

10.3 Another limitation of the “churches together” model 

within the Scottish context is the difficulty in reaching 

local level. Across the country local “churches together” 

groups seldom feel they relate to ACTS. ACTS, however, 

is trying to rebuild connections with local groups and to 

resource them. 

10.4 It is interesting to note that the one place where 

there has been substantial movement has been in the 

bilateral discussions with the Roman Catholic Church. Here, 

the fruits of the traditional, conciliar model of ecumenism 

have borne fruit and in such a way that a difference can 

be noted right down to local level in the use that can be 

made both of the baptism booklet and the joint liturgy for 

the reaffirmation of baptismal vows. 

11. Local Ecumenism 

11.1 The strength of the “churches together” policy 

certainly lies in the encouragement given to churches to 

co-operate more closely at all levels. It allows churches 

to set aside their differences and concentrate on what 

they share, particularly on what they can do together. 

6.3

6.3/10 

Not everything that contributes to the local ecumenical 

movement is formal in nature. There are many informal 

initiatives that help to drive the movement forward, 

building on an openness to one another and a deepening 

of understanding of one another that was scarcely 

dreamed of 50 years ago. 

11.2 Under the “churches together” policy it is 

acknowledged that the local ecumenical movement 

can develop to a point where more formal structures are 

required for good governance. Here, the churches are 

co-operating well in finding sensible ways of reviewing 

formal local ecumenical partnerships so that they are 

not subjected to multiple reviews for each denomination 

involved. However, it would seem to be of limited effect 

in encouraging new, committed relations that can be 

supported by the agreed ecumenical processes. 

12. The Church of Scotland structures 

12.1 The encouragement to follow through the 

ecumenical commitment that is at the heart of each 

Council’s remit has been uneven. It takes time for a 

representative from the Committee on Ecumenical 

Relations to build up experience and expertise in the 

field of the ecumenical movement. The model requires 

good ecumenical formation which, to date, has not been 

done, not necessarily because of a lack of will on behalf of 

those responsible for training but because the structures 

of training in all denominations have proved particularly 

difficult to change. 

12.2 The Committee has also been greatly hampered 

in not having direct access to the Council of Assembly. It 

has proved impossible, as anticipated, that the Ecumenical 

Officer would be able to attend the Councils of the 

Assembly regularly enough to make a difference. The 

Council of Assembly is bringing a proposal to the General 

Assembly which would rectify. 

12.3 Inevitably with a “churches together” model and 

in a context in which we do not necessarily need to 


collaborate with anyone, the Councils pick and choose 

what they will do ecumenically and side-step the more 

difficult ecumenical tasks which would involve us in 

significant change. Ecumenical formation of ministries 

remains elusive, so that it is no wonder that it is seldom 

part of the formation programmes within congregations. 

REAFFIRMING THE BIBLICAL IMPERATIVE FOR 

ECUMENICAL RELATIONS 

The Ecumenical Movement would not exist without the 

churches’ commitment to the search for visible unity and 

a common witness in the world. This commitment was 

and continues to be a task the churches cannot choose 

or reject. (John 17:21). Churches are called to participate 

in the reconciling and healing mission of God who ‘was 

pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on 

earth or in heaven’ through Jesus Christ (Col 1:20/Eph 

1:10). The goal for which the churches are striving is first 

of all a gift of God’s love for creation and all humanity. 

The fellowship among the churches (koinonia) and 

the sharing of the gifts they have received reflect the 

relational reality of the triune God, the Father, the Son 

and the Holy Spirit. 

Interim Report of the Continuation Committee on 

Ecumenism in the 21st Century, Belem, WCC 2009 

13. The historical imperative 

13.1 The commitment to ecumenical relations as a 

fundamental part of the church’s identity comes as a 

biblical imperative. In the Second Letter to the Corinthians, 

the Apostle Paul speaks of Jesus as the one who creates 

the space and the environment for the exchange that 

allows reconciliation with God and with one another. 

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself 

through Christ, and has given us the ministry of 

reconciliation. (II Cor 5:18, NRSV)

13.2 By becoming human, God stands where we are, 

accompanying our journey, taking into himself our story. 

To emphasise this, Paul speaks of Jesus as the one who 

reconciles. For such a depiction of the work of Jesus, he 

invents a new word – reconciliation. At its root the word 

simply means “the way of exchange”. It is to stand in the 

footsteps of the other, making of our story “his-story” – 

history – accepting, forgiving, leading us to a new reality 

of wholeness. 

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: 

everything old has passed away. (II Cor 5:17) 

13.3 Through this experience, we are then charged with 

the responsibility of being reconcilers, of pursuing this 

important and startling ministry. 

13.4 For the early Christians this was no abstract 

philosophy. This word “reconciliation” described an 

experience of relationship which set them free to be open 

to God and to people with whom they had never imagined 

it possible to form a new community. Here, ancient enemies 

became a community of the new creation in Christ – Jews 

and Greeks, Samaritans and Romans. Here too men and 

women, slaves and masters, government officials and 

outcasts shared bread and wine. The pattern for creating 

and restoring these new relationships in the early church 

was the pattern of Christ. It is no coincidence that when 

John Calvin explored the nature of the Christian life in the 

Institutes of the Christian Religion and stated as his intention 

to try to give some guidance whereby the Christian might 

be helped to order his or her life, he wrote: 

God is reconciled to us in His Christ and has in Him 

established for us pattern and patron to which we 

must conform. 

(Book 3, Chapter 6:3, First Edition 1559). 

13.5 For Calvin, reconciliation was the heart of the 

Gospel. Arising out of Christ’s gift of reconciliation 

came the imperative to live according to this pattern of 


reconciliation. What inspired the early church and Calvin 

should also inspire the life of our Church. Christianity 

centres on the event of reconciliation in Jesus Christ, 

defined by his life, ministry and death. To be a Christian is 

to live according to this pattern. The church or community 

of those who have been set free in Christ continue his 

ministry, becoming a sign or sacrament of his grace, of his 

being-with-others. The Church, exhibiting this reconciling 

love in its own life, is able to challenge with integrity the 

destructive and divisive forces in the world about us. 

13.6 Furthermore, the Bible speaks of baptism as dying 

and rising with Christ. 

Do you not know that all of us who have been 

baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his 

death? Therefore we have been buried with him 

by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was 

raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so 

we too might walk in newness of life. 

(Romans 6:3-4 NRSV) 

13.7 Baptism implies new life. It is as we arise together, 

seeking to exercise discipleship in our time and place, 

that we are changed in the encounter with one another 

and so are enabled to let go of our preconceptions and 

preoccupations as we forge together a common vision and 

understanding. This is to go beyond being merely Christians 

together to a much deeper sense of Christian unity. 

There is no alternative route to the making of the Church, 

than the route of baptism. There is no way to fuller unity 

other than the way of our baptism; the way of dying to 

our egos – our fears, our grievances, our sense, perhaps 

even, of what God has entrusted to us – so as to make 

room for Christ and for one another. There is no way of 

discerning the forms of our dying outside of the process 

of prayerful engagement, and little likelihood that 

we will envisage the forms of our rising ahead of the 

process of dying. There is no rising without dying, but 

6.3

6.3/12 

from dying, expressions of the risen life cannot fail to 

come, because Christ by his Spirit is able more to dwell 

in us, and we in him. The very dying promises new life in 

God’s kingdom, which, in its fi nal expression, will be a 

life of perfect unity. 

(Our Fellowship in the Gospel: Report of the Joint Study 

Group between the Church of Scotland and the Church 

of England, 2010) 

14. Reaffi rming the constitutional basis of our 

ecumenical commitment 

14.1 As a church shaped by the Word of God in the 

Scriptures and by the doctrines of the Reformation, 

this biblical imperative is to be found within the very 

constitution of the Church of Scotland. The Church of 

Scotland still holds within its constitution a commitment 

that is both biblical and which draws on the insights 

of the Reformers in the Scots Confession. The Church 

of Scotland, believing it to be the will of Christ that His 

disciples should be all one in the Father and in Him, that 

the world may believe that the Father has sent Him, 

recognises the obligation to seek and promote union with 

other Churches in which it finds the Word to be purely 

preached, the sacraments administered according to 

Christ’s ordinance, and discipline rightly exercised; and it 

has the right to unite with any such Church without loss of 

identity on terms which this Church finds to be consistent 

with these Articles. (Declaratory Articles, Article VII) 

14.2 Behind this Article is a vision and a commitment: a 

vision of a catholic or universal church reconciled through 

Christ, exercising a reconciling ministry in obedience 

to Christ’s example and for the sake of the world. It is in 

continuity with Paul’s teaching in Second Corinthians 

and, in this year of the 450th anniversary of the Scottish 

Reformation, having just marked the 500th anniversary 

of the birth of John Calvin, it is in continuity with the 

teachings of Calvin and the Reformers. 


WHERE THEN DO WE GO FROM HERE? 

15. The Committee does not feel this is the moment 

to depart from the “churches together” model, despite 

its evident weaknesses. What it does ask is that we try 

to minimise the risks and maximise the opportunities to 

promote a vision of Christian unity through our working 

together with others. But it asks too, that as we engage 

with others, we are prepared to be changed, to be shaped 

by our encounters and to seek the common identities that 

proceed from our bondedness in Christ in Baptism. Only 

then can we put aside our separate histories and idealisms 

and find that in our shared, Christ-given identity we are 

given a reconciling ministry that is forever new. 

16. Areas for future work: 

16.1 Supporting and Resourcing UK and 

International Ecumenical Structures 

• Continue to find people to participate in working 

groups and consultations. 

• Maintain our financial support, insofar as budgetary 

constraints allow, returning to a cost of living increase 

as soon as possible. 

• Increase the opportunities for young people to attend 

ecumenical gatherings, both as participants and as 

stewards, as a means of ecumenical formation. 

• Continue to give support through the Duncan 

McClements Trust. 

• Develop the bilateral relationships with the Evangelical 

Church of Westphalia and the Evangelical Lutheran 

Church of Bavaria. 

16.2 Commitment to and Resourcing of ACTS 

• Maintain our commitment to share our work with our 

partners in ACTS. 

• Ensure robust reporting structures in each Council of 

the Assembly for feedback from ACTS and for briefing 

sessions in preparation for ACTS meetings. 

16.3 Commitment to Bilateral Conversations 

• Continue doctrinal conversations with the Roman

Catholic Church in Scotland through the Joint 

Commission on Doctrine. 

• Take forward the new conversation on Faith & Order 

with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal 

Church, exploring the concept of “fellowship in the 

Gospel”. 

• Welcome the reopening of discussions with the Free 

Church of Scotland in 2012, should that prove possible. 

• Encourage greater use of the Covenant with the United 

Free Church in parish groupings and local partnerships 

• Monitor the impact of the Statement of Partnership 

between the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Methodist 

Church and the United Reformed Church on the Church 

of Scotland. 

16.4 Commitment to and Support of local ecumenism 

• Explore ways in which the experience of people who 

have participated in ecumenical events can use their 

experience in a way that builds up the ecumenical 

capital of the Church of Scotland. 

• Continue to seek ways of encouraging a deepening of 

local commitment. 

16.5 Commitment to and Support of the National 

Sponsoring Body 

• Ensure the rolling out of the ecumenical review process 

is tied in to Presbytery reviews. 

• Continue to monitor LEPs in order to learn from their 

experiences. 


16.6 Commitment to Ecumenism within the central 

structures of the Church of Scotland 

• Encourage greater use of the expertise to be found 

within the membership of the ecumenical bodies 

• Open up new avenues of participation in order to 

highlight the value of our membership of the ecumenical 

bodies, both bilaterally in church-to-churches relations 

and multilaterally through the offices of the ecumenical 

instruments themselves. 

• Work with the Councils on ways to incorporate 

ecumenical formation into courses and conferences 

for those training for ministries and for work with elders 

and members. 

• Support and assist in the ecumenical delivery of the 

Priority Areas Work Plan (Ministries Council Section 1.3) 

in the next seven years. 

• Explore the ecumenical formation of ministerial 

candidates with the Ministries Council and other 

churches in Scotland. 


ALAN D FALCONER, Convener 

LINDSAY SCHLUTER, Vice-Convener 

SHEILAGH M KESTING, Secretary 

6.3

6.3/14 

APPENDIX I 

OUR FELLOWSHIP IN THE GOSPEL 

REPORT OF THE JOINT STUDY GROUP 

BETWEEN THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND AND 

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 

The Council for Christian Unity 

of the Church of England 

The Committee on Ecumenical Relations 

of the Church of Scotland 

Résumé 

Note: The governing bodies of the two churches 

require a different style of report. The result has 

been the production of a lengthy document that 

could not be incorporated into the book of Assembly 

Reports. The full report is posted on the website: 

www.churchofscotland.org.uk/councils/ecumenical/ 

erresources.htm. 


The report begins by noting the significance of the 

quincentenary of Calvin’s birth in 2009 and the centenary 

of the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh. Both 

of these have been a focus on both sides of the Border. 

It also acknowledges the added significance of 2010 

for the Church of Scotland as the 450th anniversary of 

the Reformation Parliament. The two churches are near 

neighbours and, while each being a distinctive expression 

of the Christian Church, have worked well together in 

the cause of Christ. There is already a sense of fellowship, 

which both churches value, but there is the belief that this 

could be strengthened and developed. The purpose of 

the report is to propose that deepening of fellowship and 

to make some modest but concrete suggestions about 

how it might be put into practice. 

A list is given of some of the things we hold in common: 

the faith of the Church through the ages confessed in 

worship, teaching and witness; the treasuring of the 

Scriptures as containing the Word of God, read and 


expounded in worship, seeking guidance in the ordering 

of church affairs; territorial churches with a national 

mission and ministry and a commitment to bring the 

ministry of the word, the sacraments of the gospel, and 

the exercise of pastoral care to every community of the 

land. Both churches have as their centre of gravity parishes 

and the local community. Both face similar challenges in 

the delivery of mission and both are influenced by the 

phenomenon of “emerging church” and “fresh expressions 

of church”. Both are recognised in law, though in different 

ways: the Church of Scotland describing itself as a national 

Church, while the Church of England is the established 

Church in England. 

The histories of the two churches are intertwined and 

both are involved in the ecumenical movement and 

have signed significant doctrinal agreements with other 

churches. Both send a representative to the governing 

body of the other, the General Synod and the General 

Assembly. 

The current report is the fruit of seven years of faith and 

order discussion which began informally and evolved into 

the present Working Group which set as its goal that of 

strengthening and enhancing the existing “fellowship 

in the gospel”. It was recognised that this enhanced 

fellowship required a sound theological basis and that 

it should be expressed in as many practical and realistic 

ways as possible. The report seeks to encourage the 

public recognition of the strengthened and enhanced 

relationship between the two churches. 

2. Who are we? Introducing our Churches to 

each other 

First, the Church of Scotland is introduced as: an ancient 

Church, a Scottish Church, a Reformed Church, a 

Presbyterian Church, an established Church, a national 

Church, an ecumenical Church, and a Church in transition. 

The Church of England, likewise, is introduced as: an 

ancient Church, an English Church, a reformed Church,

an established Church, a comprehensive Church, and a 

Church committed to mission and unity. 

3. Where do we find ourselves today? 

The context of our fellowship 

The broader context is traced, first for Scotland and then 

for England. In this section the impact of changing political, 

industrial, scientific and technological, economic and 

sociological factors on church and society are assessed. 

Mention is made of how the churches have grappled with 

increasing secularisation, pluralism and multiculturalism. It 

notes the shared concern with issues relating to families, 

the place of women in church and society and human 

sexuality. And it notes the development and challenges 

of ecumenism. 

4. What have we said to each other in 

ecumenical dialogue? Conversations between 

the Church of England and the Church of 

Scotland 1932-1966 

This section gives a full summary of the various phases 

of dialogue involving the two churches, bilaterally and 

multilaterally, in the earlier part of the 20th century. In 

addition, there is a section which gives details about 

wider ecumenical developments since 1966. Mention is 

made of the Anglican-Reformed International Dialogue 

in which both churches participated and its report God’s 

Reign and Our Unity (1984). There is also an interweaving 

of relations in the Church of Scotland’s involvement in 

the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe as a 

signatory of the Leuenberg Concordat and the Church 

of England’s agreements with the Evangelical Church 

of Germany (Meissen), the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran 

Churches (Porvoo) the French Lutheran and Reformed 

Churches (Reuilly) and the Anglican-Methodist Covenant. 

In addition to these bilateral relations, the two churches 

are also engaged together in the work of the Conference of 

European Churches and of the World Council of Churches, 

including the Faith and Order Commission. 


This section ends by stressing that the purpose of the 

current talks is not to put the clock back by revamping 

earlier proposals for unity. The report does not make any 

proposals for structural change, but encourages the two 

churches to work together in mission, study and witness 

on the basis of the extensive theological agreement that 

clearly already exists. (page 49) 

5. Living out our common baptism: being 

made one 

“Baptism is the making of the Church. On this, our 

communions are agreed: “Baptism, by which Christ 

incorporates us into his life, death and resurrection, is 

… in the strictest sense, constitutive of the Church. It is 

not simply one of the Church’s practices. It is an event in 

which God, by engaging us to himself, opens to us the 

life of faith and builds the Church”.” 1 

So begins this section of the report which explores the 

significance of baptism as dying and rising in Christ and 

the implications of that for the relationship of Christians 

to one another and to the church in each time and place. 2 

Christians are brought into unity with one another, a unity 

that is not fulfilled in the dividedness of the church. They 

have found it hard to accept the “freedom that baptism 

gives us. Baptism brings freedom from all that blocks our 

relationships to God and to one another, but we tend to 

keep some of these blockages in place. Unity is possible 

insofar as, and only insofar as, we open ourselves up to 

God’s action of making us free.” 

1 The Report of the Anglican-Reformed International commission (1981- 

84), ‘God’s Reign and Our Unity’ Sect. 54 (d). This agreement holds despite 

elements of the view within each of our communions that baptism, as a 

mark of the Church, is indicative rather than constitutive of the Church. For 

discussion of this view amongst the Reformers, see Susan K. Wood, One 

Baptism: Ecumenical Dimensions of the Doctrine of Baptism (Collegeville; 

Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2009), pp. 194-7, and Paul Avis, The Church 

in the Theology of the Reformers (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981; reprinted 

Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2002) ch. 7. 

2 Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry (Geneva, WCC, 1982), ‘Baptism’ para 6. 

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6.3/16 

Jesus’ parable of the unmerciful slave (Matthew 18:23-35) 

is used to suggest why dying brings freedom and why 

Christians find that freedom so hard to accept. Drawing 

on the writing of Michael Ramsay, the report holds that 

divisions in the church reveal the various ways in which 

we have not died, and are therefore not yet free from hurt, 

self-assertion, the desire to exercise control, and the desire 

to call in debts. But, if we respond to our divisions by dying 

to make room for Christ and for one another, the power of 

God can work in and through us. We become habitable 

dwellings for the Spirit. (page 54). 

Openness to the process of dying and rising is continual. 

“The invitation is always to make ourselves open, always to 

die again; we never exhaust our baptism. All of Christian 

life and the fulcrum of Christian spirituality is the dying 

and rising with Christ, so as continually to make room for 

God and for one another. We do not move on to another 

stage where something different is required.” (page 54) In 

this the role of prayer is of particular importance. 

Just as the way to Christian unity is blocked by the egos of 

people as individuals, so too is it blocked by the “corporate 

egos” of the denominations. “First, ecumenism works, partly, by 

churches asking what gifts they can each bring to the others, 

and how they can be responsible in helping one another to 

live worthily of their baptism. Secondly, ecumenism involves 

distinct communities seeking to work out and retain their 

integrity. Thirdly, therefore, in ecumenism we tend to hold 

ourselves at the centre of our concerns, and bring both our 

wisdom and our hurts to the table (both of which need 

honouring, but both of which get in the way, if we do not 

know when to get them out of the way).” (page 56) 

“What looks at first sight to be an honourable desire viz 

the desire of both parties to conserve the fullness of their 

traditions, on further reflection looks to be going in the 

opposite direction from our baptism. What is Christian 

about wishing to give nothing up? What is so valuable in 

each of our own identities that will not be refined by dying 

and rising?” (page 56) 


The refinement of dying and rising does not come from 

abandoning the inherited traditions but “by going more 

deeply into them and being challenged by them in the 

process of discerning what in us needs to die.” (page 57) 

It is by going more deeply into the traditions that “the 

obstacles to the love of God within us” become apparent. 

Also, to go more deeply into the traditions is to discover a 

shared identity with Christ. Moving from baptismal unity 

to fuller unity on other matters reveals the baptismal truth 

“that we are who we are because “we have died with Christ 

and have been raised with and in him. In this lies our new 

birth, our new identity, and the basis of our relationship 

with one another.” (page 57) 

Dying is not about dying to our true selves, only to the 

baggage that distorts our true selves. Dying is not about 

ring-fencing aspects of our own identity and identifying 

in others what (we think) they need to give up. It is not 

compromise, because compromise is about exercising 

a great deal of control and constraint, whereas the 

argument is that it is control that needs to be given up. And 

dying is not about shelving our obvious differences and 

opting for the most accessible common denominators. 

The process of dying breaks us open. It cuts to the heart 

of us. It takes us so deeply into ourselves that we begin 

to know ourselves as God knows us. We begin to see 

the gap between ourselves as made in our own image, 

and our true selves as made in the image of God, and 

as called into God’s likeness. We can approach this true 

understanding not by a shallow shelving of differences, 

but by a process of going deeply into our traditions until 

we access the depth of our spirituality. The deeper we go 

in the tradition in which we are rooted, the more likely 

the depths discovered will speak to the depths of other 

traditions. (page 61) 

Here the argument turns to the Cross and the possibility 

of having to give up what God has given and what is held 

most dear. The pattern is based on Christ’s laying down of 

his own life, that he might take it up again (John 10:17-

18). The resurrection is not a reward, nor does it undo the 

death. It is the fulfilment of that life and reveals the love of 

Jesus as redemptive, healing us and making us whole. 

This section concludes: 

“There is no alternative route to the making of the Church, 

than the route of baptism. There is no way to fuller unity 

other than the way of our baptism; the way of dying to 

our egos – our fears, our grievances, our sense, perhaps 

even, of what God has entrusted to us – so as to make 

room for Christ and for one another. There is no way of 

discerning the forms of our dying outside of the process 

of prayerful engagement, and little likelihood that we 

will envisage the forms of our rising ahead of the process 

of dying. There is no rising without dying, but from dying, 

expressions of the risen life cannot fail to come, because 

Christ by his Spirit is able more to dwell in us, and we in 

him. The very dying promises new life in God’s kingdom, 

which, in its final expression, will be a life of perfect unity.” 

(page 62) 

6. Partnership in the Gospel: A Biblical 

Model 

Partnership in the Gospel is offered as a way of living out 

our baptismal heritage. This section of the report examines 

the use and meaning of the biblical term koinonia, often 

translated as “fellowship”, “sharing” or “communion”, and its 

cognates. The term is examined first in its use in classical 

texts by Greek philosophers who were dealing with a 

philosophical context very different from that of Judaism 

where there was little emphasis on a close fellowship 

between humanity and the divine and rather more on the 

lordship of God and the servanthood of the people. (page 

63) Paul, however, unsurprisingly draws on his Hellenistic 

Jewish background and makes use of it in his theology. 

Thus, “the “koinonia in the gospel” of believers, as described 

in Phil 1.5, is not a static state of being in relationship, but 

involves active, practical participation in Christian life.” 

(page 64) 


Specific Pauline texts are examined: 

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a koinonia in 

the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a 

koinonia in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10.16) 

“…thankful for your koinonia in the gospel from the first 

day until now” (Philippians 1.5) 

“If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any 

consolation from love, any koinonia in the Spirit, any 

compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete; be of 

the same mind…” (Philippians 2.1-2) 

In the light of these textual examinations, this section 

concludes: 

“Koinonia in the New Testament is not essentially about 

God’s plan for salvation, or about relationships within 

the Trinity. Nor does it point to a settled ecclesiology, 

with specific structures of ministry. Its contextual focus 

is the local grouping of house churches and their 

relationships with one another and their responsibilities 

towards wider mission and the church in Jerusalem in 

particular. It is concerned with the actual situations and 

beliefs in action which these groups shared in common. 

One aspect of the idea which is particularly useful for 

ecumenical thinking today… is its embodiment of the 

crossing of boundaries. Contextually, it reflects the ability 

of the gospel to move from one world to another, from 

Semitic to Hellenistic thought, from country to town 

and city. The gospel experience of the incarnate and 

risen Messiah is presented, in its use, in the vocabulary 

of Greek thought. Its existing associations are added to 

by the gospel emphasis of solidarity with the suffering 

of others. This practical crossing of boundaries, in the 

creation of active partnerships between worshipping 

communities, may be of particular significance to the 

relationship between our two churches as we seek to 

build a new partnership in mission across the Border. 

The multi-layered nature of the concept, its resistance to 

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being pinned down beneath any one definition, allied to 

its Pauline connection with participation in the Body of 

Christ in a powerfully significant way, suggests it is an apt 

and strong foundation for our endeavours.” (page 68) 

7. Pathways to Partnership: Practical Steps 

The concluding section of the report sets out some practical 

recommendations for the way ahead. These are given here in 

full. 

We recommend the following modest but practical steps, 

arising out of the relationship between our two churches 

that is charted in the body of our report. They are intended 

to consolidate what is already happening between our 

churches, to supplement them with some new initiatives 

and to share our fellowship in the gospel with other 

partners. 

1. Each church should appoint a senior representative 

to spearhead the enhanced relationship between 

our churches. These representatives would take part 

in the various interfaces between the churches and 

(subject to the appointment process in each church) 

serve as the representative to each other’s governing 

body as often as convenient. The Church of Scotland 

has already identified a former Moderator of the 

General Assembly to fulfil this role. The Archbishops 

of Canterbury and York have expressed their readiness 

to appoint a bishop to carry this portfolio and to 

represent the strengthened relationship between our 

churches at the annual Ecumenical Bishops’ Meeting 

at Lambeth Palace. 

2. The Church of England and the Methodist Church 

of Great Britain should invite the Church of Scotland 

to participate in any follow up to the work of the 

joint Anglican-Methodist working party on the 

ecclesiological implications of the phenomena of 

“emerging church” and “fresh expressions”, alongside 

the Church of Scotland’s proposed membership of 

the Fresh Expressions organisation. 


3. Discussions are under way that would enable the 

Archbishop of Canterbury to be invited to address 

the General Assembly. 

4. Our churches should explore ways in which the St 

Andrews-tide visit of the Moderator of the General 

Assembly to London (the Court Visit), which already 

includes a meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, 

could be made more beneficial to both churches. 

5. One body that brings our two churches together 

is the College of Royal Chaplains. The College of 36 

honorary Chaplains to HM The Queen spans the two 

nations. The College is evolving a new pattern of 

joint meetings of its Scottish and English members, 

for study, worship and consultation. It is a further 

expression of ‘our fellowship in the gospel’. 

6. The bi-annual bilateral and cross-disciplinary 

consultation (which is co-chaired for the Church of 

England by the Archbishop of York) is a major plank of 

our relationship. It would be useful if the two ‘senior 

representatives’, referred to above, could be included 

in the delegations for future meetings. 

7. In the area of national mission and public affairs there 

are already several channels of communication and 

consultation between our churches (interfaith work; 

the Mission Theology Advisory Group, MITAG; the 

RADAR group that scans public affairs on behalf of 

the churches). We believe that there may be scope for 

closer consultation on the Church’s mission in urban 

and rural areas and that if a major national issue were 

to arise, that affected both nations, this should be 

worked on together. 

8. The existing cross-fertilisation between the Church 

of England’s Liturgical Commission and the Church 

of Scotland’s Doctrine and Worship Task Force should 

be encouraged and that the fruits of this consultation 

should be shared more widely. 

9. The small bilateral consultation on faith and order 

between our churches should continue to meet 

each year. The Scottish Episcopal Church should be 

involved forthwith. The aim of the consultation is (a)

to consult together on our churches’ responses to 

important ecclesiological and missiological texts at 

the international level, especially those of the WCC’s 

Faith and Order Commission; (b) to share our work on 

the theological agendas of each of the three churches; 

(c) to monitor and progress the implementation of 

the enhanced “fellowship in the gospel” between our 

churches. 

10. We suggest that this closer three-way working on 

theological and doctrinal matters should include 

a combined meeting, say every five years, of the 

Church of England’s Faith and Order Commission, 

the Church of Scotland’s Doctrine and Worship Task 

Force and the Doctrine Commission of the Scottish 

Episcopal Church. 

APPENDIX II 

DELEGATES TO OTHER CHURCHES 

The following have been appointed as delegates to the 

Assemblies, Synods and Conferences of other Churches:- 

Presbyterian Church in Ireland – The Moderator, Chaplain 

and Elder 

Presbyterian Church of Wales – The Moderator 

Church of England – Very Rev Dr A D McDonald 

United Reformed Church Scotland Synod – Rev S J Paterson 

Scottish Episcopal Church – Rev Dr D G MacEwan 

Methodist Synod – Very Rev Dr S M Kesting 

United Free Church of Scotland – Rev J B Thomson 

Baptist Union of Scotland – Rev W B Ferguson 

Religious Society of Friends – Rev N J Robb 

APPENDIX III 

ECUMENICAL BODIES 

The following serve on Assemblies and Committees of the 

ecumenical bodies of which the Church is a member:- 

World Council of Churches 

Executive Committee Rev G McGeoch 

Faith and Order Commission Rev Dr P H Donald 


World Alliance of Reformed Churches 

Executive Committee Rev A G Horsburgh 

World Alliance of Reformed Churches/ 

Reformed Ecumenical Council 

Uniting General 

Council (June 2010) Rev Dr A Falconer, 

Rev A G Horsburgh, 

Very Rev Dr S M Kesting, 

Mr I McLarty, 

Rev L Schluter 

Conference of European Churches 

13th Assembly (July 2009) Dr A Elliot OBE, 

Very Rev Dr S M Kesting, 

Rev Dr J L McPake, 

Miss A Watson 

Central Committee Very Rev Dr S M Kesting 

Church and Society 

Commission Rev E Aitken 

Community of Protestant Churches 

in Europe (Leuenberg Church 

Fellowship) Rev Dr J L McPake 

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland 

Board of Trustees Very Rev Dr S M Kesting 

Action of Churches Together in Scotland 

Members’ Meeting 

Voting member: Convener of the Committee on 

Ecumenical Relations (alternate voting member: Convener 

of the Council of Assembly), non-voting members: 

Secretaries of the Mission and Discipleship Council, Church 

and Society Council and the Ecumenical Officer (alternate 

non-voting members: Secretary of the Ministries Council, 

General Secretary of the Guild and the Moderator of the 

Youth Assembly) 

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6.3/20 

Networks: 

Church Life Mrs R McDonald, 

Rev A Paton, 

Rev F Penny, Mr C Sabey, 

Rev A Scobie, 

Mrs N Summers 

Church and Society Rev E Aitken, Mr P Bailey, 

Mr D Bradwell, 

Mrs H Fairgrieve, Mr G Lumb, 

Dr M Macdonald, 

Mr A Shaw, Mr J K Thomson, 

Mrs A Twaddle 

Faith Studies Rev A Birss, Rev E Cranfield, 

Rev J Scott, Mrs M Whyte, 

Miss N Whyte 


Mission Mrs L Dunnett, 

Miss L Hamilton-Messer, 

Rev A Millar, Rev J Reid, 

Mr J K Thomson 

Finance Committee Mr A McDowall 

Network of Ecumenical 

Women in Scotland Mrs K McPherson 

Joint Liturgical Group The Very Rev Dr G I Macmillan, 

Rev N J Robb 

APPENDIX IV 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECUMENICAL BODIES 

2010 

2011 

£ 

£ 

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland 15,000 15,000 

Action of Churches Together in Scotland 160,000 160,000 

Churches Together in England 1,000 1,000 

World Council of Churches 46,000 46,000 

World Alliance of Reformed Churches 24,400 24,400 

Conference of European Churches 21,600 22,600 

268,000 269,000

1. Church-State questions 

1.1 BIS Working Group 

The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (formerly 

the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory 

Reform, and before that the Department of Trade and 

Industry) has followed up the work of the Clergy Working 

Group originally established in 2002. The Working Group, 

drawn from many religious traditions, discussed the 

possibility that civil law might be developed to regulate the 

rights and responsibilities of those clergy not already fully 

protected by civil employment law (a category that includes 

parish ministers of the Church of Scotland). Last summer, 

the Department asked for an account of developments 

within the denominations in pursuit of the best practice 

standards articulated by that exercise. In response to the 

work of the Working Group and with the intention of reassuring 

government that the Church did provide adequate 

equivalence of protection, recent General Assemblies have 

made several major legal reforms, and a paper was sent 

by the Committee to DBIS setting these changes out and 

enclosing copies of the principal documents in each case: 

LEGAL QUESTIONS COMMITTEE 

May 2010 


The General Assembly: 


2. Pass an Act amending Consolidating Act III 2000 anent Church Courts (as amended) as set out in Appendix I 

[2.2.1] 

3. Pass an Act amending Act III 2001 anent Discipline of Ministers and Others (as amended) as set out in Appendix II 

[2.2.2] 

4. Amend Standing Order 89, as set out in the Report [2.3.1] 

5. Note the interpretation of Standing Order 72, provided by the Procurator and the Legal Questions Committee, and 

set out in the Report [2.3.2] 

6. Pass an Act amending Act VIII 2003 anent Vacancy Process (as amended) as set out in Appendix III [2.2.3] 

REPORT 

Supplementary Report of the Board of Ministry to the 

General Assembly of 2005 (identifying the range of matters 

concerning the Church in this area) 

Acts anent Bullying and Discrimination, 2007 

Regulations relating to the provision of manses, 2007 

Code of Professional Practice and Good Conduct, 2008 

2. Church Law 

2.1 McGillivray: Introduction to Practice and 

Procedure 

The third edition of these introductory materials on the 

law, procedure and courts of the Church of Scotland can 

now be found in the Church Law pages of the Extranet 

section of the Church’s web-site. Each summer they will 

be amended to take into account the innovations of the 

General Assembly, and the materials are designed to be 

used (eg searched) in electronic form. 

For congregational offi ce-bearers, and for most purposes 

6.4

6.4/2 

connected to parish administration, these texts will address 

most frequently-asked questions about governance, 

decision-making and procedure. Questions not answered 

in these materials should probably be addressed in the 

fi rst instance to the local Presbytery Clerk, who if necessary 

will know whom to consult in the Church offi ces. 

For more complex questions, including those relating to all 

judicial processes, the volume entitled The Legal Systems of 

Scottish Churches (Dundee University Press 2009), launched 

at last year’s General Assembly, should be consulted. 

2.2 Proposed Legislation: 

2.2.1 Former Moderators – Commission to the 

General Assembly 

In the legislation that determines the membership of 

the General Assembly (Act III 2000), in paragraph 6(c), 

provision is made for Presbyteries to give a commission 

to any member who is a former Moderator of the General 

Assembly. The provision was fi rst introduced long before 

the General Assembly had its fi rst elder Moderator in 

2004, and in two respects the text presumes that former 

Moderators would be ministers. In paragraph (c) itself, it is 

presumed that a former Moderator given a commission 

would be a member of the Presbytery, because that would 

indeed have to be true in the case of a minister. However, 

an elder is eligible to receive a commission providing he or 

she is a member of a Kirk Session within the bounds, and 

the Legal Questions Committee sees no reason why this 

should not equally be the case of an elder who receives a 

commission in terms of paragraph (c). Paragraph (d) talks 

of the appointment of an equalising elder in respect of 

each such former Moderator, again presumably out of an 

expectation that former Moderators would be ministers. 

The small amending Act set out in Appendix I ensures 

former Moderators may benefi t from the provisions of 

paragraph (c) whether they are ministers, deacons or elders. 

The amendment ensures that parity in the number of 

commissions given to ministers and elders is maintained in 

each Presbytery. It allows for various possibilities including: 


(1) the Presbytery having two former Moderators, an elder 

and a minister, who might ‘equalise’ each other without 

the need for further commissions in favour of another 

minister and elder; and (2) an elder being a member of a 

Kirk Session in the bounds, but not currently a member of 

the Presbytery. 

2.2.2 Reform of Act III 2001 

Appendix II contains an Act amending Act III 2001 anent 

Discipline of Ministers, Licentiates, Graduate Candidates 

and Deacons (as previously amended). 

Following some recent use of Act III 2001 the Committee 

received commentary on the eff ectiveness of the Act 

from a Kirk Session, and its local Presbytery, who had been 

aff ected by its provisions. The Committee invited an elder 

from another Presbytery, who has been involved in more 

than one case under the Act, to refl ect on the comments 

received and to add her own suggestions and ideas. It was 

clear from all the comments that some streamlining of the 

early part of the process is necessary, so that all parties are 

not engaged in largely repetitive steps that waste time. 

The problem of duplication occurs when the Investigating 

Committee of Presbytery has to put to the Respondent the 

nature of the allegation, and the nature of the evidence 

purporting to exist (but not yet assessed) to support it, both 

at the outset and then again at the very beginning of their 

formal investigation. These two steps are often very close 

together, will produce no diff erent outcome and therefore 

may waste time. The same step is virtually repeated again 

at the end of the investigatory stage, just before a formal 

complaint is raised with the Presbyterial Commission. The 

proposed amendments will reduce these intimations from 

three to two. The fi rst of the two, at the very beginning of 

the investigation, will inform the Respondent of the nature 

of the allegation to be investigated, and the evidence 

the Committee understands may exist to support it. The 

second of the two, at the end of the investigation, will 

inform the Respondent of the nature of the Complaint, 

if any, being proceeded with, and the evidence the

Committee has established exists to support it. In the 

course of the investigation the nature of the allegation 

may have developed, and the supporting evidence should 

have been fi rmly established. Therefore both intimations 

are necessary, as they may be quite diff erent. 

The amendment has a further improving eff ect. The 

appointment by the Legal Questions Committee of 

a legally-qualifi ed Assessor to advise the Presbytery’s 

Committee has sometimes followed the fi rst of the 

(current) three intimations to the Respondent. With the 

amendment described above, the Assessor will now be 

in place before the fi rst formal encounter between the 

Committee and the Respondent. Exactly the same eff ect 

will be achieved in respect of the pastoral care of parties, 

which will begin at the outset of the legal process. 

Separately, the Committee considered a complaint arising 

in a case which did not in fact get as far as the stage of a 

Notice of Complaint, but which seemed rather protracted 

at the investigatory stage. The Committee observed that 

time-limits apply to the stages of process following the 

lodging of a Notice of Complaint, and concluded that the 

same ends would best be served by similar time-limits 

for the earlier stages. This further amendment provides 

a normal limit of eight weeks for the investigatory stage, 

but it has been drafted to ensure reasonable fl exibility, 

in recognition of the possibility of unusually complex or 

diffi cult cases. 

There are one or two other very small amendments, which 

simply correct obsolete cross-references in the existing 

legislation. 

2.2.3 Objections to life and doctrine – amendment 

of Act VIII 2003 

The Committee is grateful to a number of Presbytery 

Clerks who have identifi ed a diffi culty with the process 

of intimation of inductions, and particularly the process 

by which objections to the life or doctrine of an elected 

minister may be made. Act VIII 2003 (s.29(2)) helpfully asserts 

LEGAL QUESTIONS COMMITTEE 6.4/3 

that an objection not made in advance but intimated only 

during the course of the Presbytery meeting just before 

the induction service should not be regarded as valid 

unless this was genuinely the earliest opportunity for the 

objection to be made (and the Committee assumes that 

can only mean that the problem must have newly come 

to light at that point). The Schedule for edictal intimation 

of the process to the congregation(s) is worded as if the 

day of the induction were the only opportunity for any 

objection to be made, and so gives quite the opposite 

impression and, in the view of Presbytery Clerks and of the 

Committee, a very unfortunate encouragement of lastminute 

debates. 

The amending Act set out in Appendix III simplifi es the 

Schedule and brings its terms into line with the inference 

in section 29, ie that objections should be intimated as 

soon as possible, and very late objections should be 

examined rigorously to ensure inductions are not thus 

disrupted except in genuine emergencies. 

2.3 Standing Orders 

2.3.1 SO 89 - Declarations of Interest 

The Council of Assembly’s Governance Group has agreed, 

as a matter of good governance practice, that any 

member of the General Assembly who has a personal, 

fi nancial or legal interest in any piece of business before 

the Assembly should declare that interest before making 

any contribution to the debate. 

As SO 125 provides that the Legal Questions Committee 

Report is the vehicle by which changes to other Standing 

Orders are brought before the General Assembly, the 

Committee willingly brings this proposed change on 

behalf of the Council. 

The change is most naturally eff ected by an alteration to 

Standing Order 89; and in examining its text, the Legal 

Questions Committee noticed that the existing text was in 

need of a little clarifi cation. 

6.4

6.4/4 

Standing Order 89 currently reads, “89. One Speech only. 

Except as provided in SO 81 and 84, no Member may speak 

twice on the same matter except in explanation, and then 

only by special permission of the Assembly.” 

It is perhaps unclear what is meant by the phrase ‘on 

the same matter’, as arguably that could prevent a 

commissioner speaking in two quite separate debates 

if they had some matter of substance in common. The 

Committee proposes that ‘matter’ should be substituted 

by the word ‘question’ to make clear that the SO is directed 

only to the debate on a single motion. 

Taking this change with the one proposed by the 

Governance Group, the Legal Questions Committee 

proposes that it should now read: 

“89. Speeches. (1) Except as provided in SO 81 and 84, 

no Member may speak twice on the same question except 

in explanation, and then only by special permission of the 

Assembly. (2) Members shall make relevant declarations of 

interest where the topic of debate makes it appropriate 

to do so.” 

2.3.2 SO 72 – confl ict of interest 

Questions have arisen about SO 72 and about principles 

of natural justice, in a climate where a Case may provoke 

much outside comment and lobbying, and off er many 

opportunities for expressions of view. The Procurator 

has provided the following note on the topic of “Natural 

Justice and the Church”, and the Committee commends it 

to the Assembly. 

“It is diffi cult to give a comprehensive defi nition of the 

rules of natural justice, but they certainly include the idea 

that cases are decided – and only decided - on the basis 

of the submissions in Court, by judges who consider both 

sides of the argument with open minds. In other words, 

any party to a case is entitled to a hearing before a judge 

who has not made up his or her mind in advance. There 

are helpful statements of what is involved in a recent 


Scottish House of Lords case, Helow v Secretary of State 

for the Home Department (http://www.publications. 

parliament.uk/pa/ld200708/ldjudgmt/jd081022/helow. 

pdf ). The basic test is reiterated several times: whether a 

fair minded and informed observer, having considered 

the facts, would conclude that there was a real possibility 

that the judge was biased? And of course, it is not only the 

actual state of a judge’s mind which matters, but also how 

it appears, because justice must be seen to be done. As 

Lord Hope says, “things that (judges) have said or done, or 

associations that they have formed may make it diffi cult 

for them to judge the case before them impartially”. And 

Lord Walker says: “Those who take on the responsibility 

of judicial offi ce have to exercise a measure of restraint 

in associating themselves publicly with controversial 

causes”. 

How do these principles apply in the Church context? The 

broad thrust must be the same: a party to a Case is entitled 

to expect that those who decide it will be impartial and 

anything which indicates that a Commissioner is not 

impartial is a valid basis for complaint. The idea that cases 

are decided only on the basis of the submissions made, 

without taking into account things Commissioners have 

previously said or done, or associations they have formed, 

is clearly refl ected in the terms of Standing Order 72, which 

states: 

‘The Commissioners are reminded that justice requires that 

all the pleadings at the bar should be heard by all those 

who vote in this case, and that their judgement should be 

made solely on the basis of the pleadings.’ 

Of course, a Commissioner may have private views about 

an issue raised in a Case. But he or she is expected to put 

them aside and decide the Case only after listening to and 

considering the arguments presented. If a Commissioner 

appears to have committed him or herself publicly to 

what the outcome of a Case should be, then his or her 

ability to decide the Case impartially, and to be seen to 

do so, is necessarily compromised. His or her participation

in decision-making is very likely to amount to a breach of 

Standing Order 72 and indeed of natural justice itself.” 

The Committee notes for the avoidance of doubt that 

these remarks relate to the Courts and Commissions of the 

Church only when they are exercising judicial functions, but 

not to the legislative function of the General Assembly. 

3. Civil Law 

3.1. Boys Brigade – Constitutional Questions 

The Church has held several helpful conversations with the 

Boys’ Brigade in Scotland, addressing questions relating to 

company constitutions, fi nance, appointment of offi cers, 

and issues surrounding safeguarding (the last of these 

conversations held by the Church’s Safeguarding staff , and 

so not discussed in this Report). 

The Committee believes that welcome clarity has emerged 

in many of these areas, and previous uncertainty has been 

resolved, especially since the involvement of the Offi ce 

of the Scottish Charity Regulator in the last few years. 

Many BB Companies are themselves individual charities, 

providing the simplest and clearest legal structure for civil 

law purposes. 

The relationship of Company and congregation is similar 

whether or not the Company is itself a recognised charity. 

The principle that the BB and the Church have fundamental 

spiritual ties, but are separate bodies for legal purposes, is 

accepted by both organisations. A good example of this is 

the appointment of offi cers, where the legal appointment 

is made nationally by the BB, but the local Kirk Session has 

the task of approving those nominated. Here both parties 

are content that there is no question that one charity is 

appointing the trustees of another, nor that the power to 

appoint lies in only one body. 

In the fi nancial area, especially of accounts and the 

disposal of assets, the same principle of legal distinctness 

is recognised. This may necessitate an adjustment to the 

constitutional documents of the Brigade, and the new 


Director for Scotland, Mr William Stevenson, has been 

pursuing these matters within the BB. 

One of the remaining diffi culties is the situation where 

a Company relates to more than one Kirk Session. The 

principles summarised here will assist in those situations, 

but these and other constitutional questions are receiving 

further attention by the Brigade, and the Legal Questions 

Committee will monitor developments. 

4. Examination of Records 

In accordance with the arrangements set in place by the 

General Assembly of 2000 the Board has examined the 

relevant records of Assembly Councils and Committees. 

These have been found, generally, to be in order. 


CAROLE HOPE, Convener 

ALAN J HAMILTON, Vice-Convener 

MARJORY A MACLEAN, Secretary 

ADDENDUM 

Rev Dr Marjory A MacLean 

The Committee records its appreciation of the service 

given by the Rev Dr Marjory MacLean as its Secretary over 

the past six years. Marjory was appointed Depute Clerk to 

the General Assembly in 1996 and has been involved in 

the work of the Committee since that date. She became 

its Secretary in 2004 following a re-organisation of work 

within the Principal Clerk’s Department. In recent years the 

work of the Committee has become increasingly focussed 

on developments in civil law which have implications 

for the life of the Church. In this connection Marjory’s 

theological and legal expertise has been enormously 

helpful. Beyond our own Committee she has provided 

valuable assistance to various departments in the 

drafting of Acts and Regulations and, more particularly, 

to the Ministries Council in the teaching of church law to 

6.4

6.4/6 

candidates and to the Ecumenical Relations Committee 

on legal issues relating to local ecumenical partnerships. 

In July 2009 she clerked the Assembly of the Conference 

of European Churches in Lyons. She has also clerked and 

been a constant supporter and enabler of our own Youth 

Assembly. Throughout the wider church many have been 

grateful for her advice on matters of law, practice and 

procedure. Her 2008 Chalmers Lectures entitled The Crown 

Rights of the Redeemer off er a contemporary assessment of 

the Church’s constitutional arrangements in relation to 

our wider society and the collection of essays on the Legal 

Systems of Scottish Churches, edited by her and published 

by Dundee University Press, is proving a most useful 

resource for lawyers appearing before church courts. 

Another signifi cant strand in Marjory’s ministry has been 

service as a Reservist Naval chaplain, and at the time 

this report was drafted she expected to be mobilised to 

serve in active operations for the latter part of 2010. The 

Committee wishes her every blessing both in this new 

venture and in her future ministry. 


CAROLE HOPE, Convener 

ALAN J HAMILTON, Vice-Convener 

APPENDIX I 

ACT AMENDING CONSOLIDATING ACT III 2000 ANENT 

CHURCH COURTS (AS AMENDED) 

Edinburgh, 20 May 2010, Session 1 

The General Assembly hereby enact and ordain that Act III 

2000 (as amended) is hereby further amended as follows: 

By the deletion, at the end of paragraph 6(c), of ‘are 

members of the Presbytery so electing them’ and its 

substitution by ‘, in the case of ministers and deacons, are 

members of the Presbytery so electing them, or in the 


case of elders, are members of Kirk Sessions within the 

bounds.’ 

By the deletion, at the end of paragraph 6(d) of ‘an 

equalising elder shall be elected in respect of each such 

Commissioner.’ and its substitution by ‘an equalising 

elder or minister shall be elected in respect of any such 

Commissioner as appropriate to maintain overall equality 

of numbers of ministers and elders. ’. 

APPENDIX II 

ACT AMENDING ACT III 2001 ANENT DISCIPLINE OF 

MINISTERS, LICENTIATES, GRADUATE CANDIDATES 

AND DEACONS (AS AMENDED) 

Edinburgh, May 20, 2010, Session 1 

The General Assembly hereby enact and ordain that Act III 

2001 as amended is hereby further amended as follows. 

1. By the amendment of Part 2 (ie sections 4-9) to read 

as follows: 

Part 2 Investigatory Proceedings 

4. (1) On receiving notice of circumstances 

indicating that a disciplinary off ence may have been 

committed, a Presbytery shall appoint a Committee 

of Presbytery to consider the circumstances, and, if 

appropriate, to investigate and prosecute the case. 

In the exercise of any of its functions in terms of this 

Act, the Committee of Presbytery shall have all the 

powers of Presbytery. Except insofar as provided 

herein, the Presbytery shall have no further part in 

the proceedings. 

(2) In considering whether to carry out an 

investigation the Committee of Presbytery shall 

consider whether all or any of the allegations made 

are frivolous, vexatious and/or without merit. 

(3) Where the Committee of Presbytery decides 

that all or any of the allegations are frivolous, vexatious 

and/or without merit and that it is accordingly not

appropriate to carry out an investigation in respect 

of all or any of the allegations made, the Committee 

of Presbytery shall report its decision to reject the 

complaint or parts thereof (as appropriate) to the 

Presbytery and shall advise the person or persons 

(if any) who made the allegation or allegations of its 

decision and the reasons for it. 

5. (1) If the Committee of Presbytery decides to 

initiate investigatory proceedings it shall: 

(a) intimate in writing to the person who is the 

subject of the allegation (“the Respondent”) 

the nature of the off ence alleged and the 

nature of the evidence purported to exist in 

support of the allegation and shall off er him 

or her the opportunity to make any answer 

thereto, provided that he or she shall not be 

obliged to answer; 

(b) give notice to the Presbytery of that decision 

and of the allegation or allegations which 

are to be investigated; and 

(c) give notice to the Legal Questions 

Committee, which shall appoint a legally 

qualifi ed assessor to advise the Committee 

of Presbytery on matters of law and 

procedure. 

(2) On receipt of the notice referred to in 

section 5(1)(b), the Presbytery shall make such 

arrangements as appear to it appropriate for the 

provision of pastoral support for the Respondent 

and his or her family, for the person or persons who 

made the allegation and for any witnesses within the 

bounds of the Presbytery. 

6. (1) The Committee of Presbytery shall carry 

out such investigations as it deems necessary to 

determine whether a disciplinary off ence may have 

been committed. Such investigations shall normally 

be concluded within 56 days of the date on which 

notice is given to the Presbytery in terms of Section 


5 (b) hereof but the Presbytery or any Committee 

or individuals holding delegated powers from 

the Presbytery so to do shall have power on cause 

shown by the Committee or the Respondent to grant 

a further period or periods for completion of the 

investigation. 

(2) In all cases under this Act the Presbytery 

shall keep a Record Apart of the investigatory 

proceedings. The Record Apart shall comprise all 

evidence obtained by the Committee of Presbytery 

including witness statements, and a transcript or 

recording of the evidence given at any hearing. 

7. Before reaching any conclusion on whether a 

disciplinary off ence may have been committed, the 

Committee of Presbytery shall make known to the 

person against whom the allegation has been made 

the substance of the complaint being considered 

by the Committee and the nature of the evidence 

existing in support of the allegation and shall off er 

him or her the opportunity to make any answer 

thereto; provided that he or she shall not be obliged 

to answer. 

8. Upon consideration of the allegations and 

evidence submitted and of any answers given, the 

Committee shall be entitled to resolve that no further 

investigation shall be carried out if there is no prima 

facie case to answer. In that event, it shall report to 

the Presbytery which shall recall any administrative 

suspension imposed in terms of section 3(1). The 

Committee shall also advise the person or persons 

(if any) who made the allegation or allegations of its 

decision and the reasons for it. Without prejudice to 

its existing powers of superintendence the Presbytery 

may issue an instruction to the Respondent regarding 

his or her conduct. Any disobedience of that 

instruction may be treated as a disciplinary off ence. 

9. (1) In the event that the Committee of 

Presbytery decides to initiate disciplinary proceedings 

6.4

6.4/8 

it shall prepare (a) a Notice of Complaint setting 

forth the alleged disciplinary off ence or off ences 

(hereinafter referred to as “charge” or “charges”) in 

respect of which it is proposed that disciplinary 

proceedings should be commenced, and (b) a 

summary of the evidence, whether from witnesses, 

documents or otherwise, that is considered to 

support the charge or charges made. 

(2) The Notice of Complaint will run in the 

name of the Committee of Presbytery and will be in 

such form that, in respect of each off ence, there is 

set out the time and place of the disciplinary off ence 

and the facts necessary to constitute the disciplinary 

off ence. 

2 . By the deletion, in subsection 14(3) of ‘4(3)’ and the 

substitution of ‘5(1)(a)’. 

APPENDIX III 

ACT AMENDING ACT VIII 2003 ANENT VACANCY 

PROCESS (AS AMENDED) 

Edinburgh, May 20, 2010, Session I 

The General Assembly hereby enact and ordain that Act 

VIII 2003 as amended is hereby further amended by the 

amendment of Schedule O to read as follows: 

O EDICTAL INTIMATION OF INDUCTION – Section 29 

To be read on two Sundays 


The Presbytery of … has received a Call from this 

congregation addressed to [Name] to be their minister, 

and the Call has been sustained as a regular Call, and has 

been accepted by him/her 1 . The Presbytery, having judged 

the said [Name] qualifi ed for the ministry of the Gospel 

and 2 for this charge, has resolved to proceed to his /her 

ordination and induction 3 on [day of the week] the [date] 

day of [month] at [time] o’clock unless something occurs 

which may reasonably impede it. 

Notice is hereby given to all concerned that if they, or any 

of them, have anything to object to in the life or doctrine 

of the said [Name] they should intimate their objection 

at their earliest opportunity to the Presbytery Clerk, with 

evidence of substantiation of the objection. 

The Presbytery is to meet at [time] on [date as above]. 

In accordance with section 29 of Act VIII 2003, an 

objection fi rst brought at that time must be immediately 

substantiated, and the objector must satisfy the 

Presbytery that there was no earlier opportunity to bring 

the objection to the attention of the Presbytery Clerk. 

Otherwise the Presbytery shall proceed without further 

delay. 

By order of the Presbytery 

A… B… Presbytery Clerk 

1 add, where appropriate, “and his/her translation has been agreed to by 

the Presbytery of …” 

2 omit “for the ministry of the Gospel and” if this minister to be inducted 

has been ordained previously 

3 omit, where appropriate, “ordination and”

1.1 The Safeguarding Offi ce continues to provide an 

eff ective service to protect children and ‘adults at risk’ from 

harm or abuse. This service also ensures that where harm 

is witnessed, suspected or reported within the Church, 

timely and appropriate action – often with social work and 

the police – is taken. 

1.2 The report outlines the structure of the Church’s 

safeguarding service provides details about the work 

undertaken and highlights signifi cant changes which 

will be initiated in 2010. In short, the Church will be more 

explicitly recognising that we have a duty to protect 

people, including adults at risk, as well as children and 

young people, from harm and abuse. 

SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE 

May 2010 




2. Note that the rubric of the Policy Statement has been revised to refl ect changing legislation and to take account of 

the Report of the Forgiveness and Proportionality Working Group and instruct Kirk Sessions to note it. (2.2) 

3. Instruct the Committee to continue to raise the awareness of the Report of the Forgiveness and Proportionality 

working Group ‘For such is the Kingdom of Heaven’ and provide appropriate training and support to congregations 

in the implementation of the policy in the Forgiveness & Proportionality report. (3.1) 

4. Thank and discharge the Forgiveness and Proportionality Working Group. 

5. Instruct Kirk Sessions to ensure that all persons 16 years or over in formal leadership positions working with children 

and young people are required to have Enhanced Disclosure checks. (5.3) 

6. Instruct the Council of Assembly to ensure appropriate fi nancial resources are made available to implement the 

Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 in order to accommodate the likely impact of a signifi cant 

increase in the work of the Safeguarding Offi ce. (6.1) 

7. Instruct Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions that appropriate Safeguarding training (as determined by the Safeguarding 

Offi ce) must be undertaken by those involved as Presbytery Trainers, Congregational Coordinators and others. 

(8.1) 

REPORT 

1.3 These changes will require a revision of the Handbook 

for Child Protection, which will become the Safeguarding 

Handbook, a revision of safeguarding training materials, 

updating of our safeguarding offi ce website and the 

provision of advice about situations of suspected or 

reported harm to adults at risk. For a fuller discussion 

about what is meant by ‘adults at risk’. (See Appendix 1) 

1.4 One of the most familiar of the miracle stories 

involving a child is the feeding of the 5000. 1 It encapsulates 

all that is good about the relationship between adults and 

children. The child whose picnic is described as fi ve barley 

1 St John 6.1-13 

6.5

6.5/2 

loaves and two small fi sh was identifi ed by Andrew who 

took him to Jesus who welcomed him and used his picnic 

so that no one remained hungry. 

1.5 One of the most moving stories involving an older 

person, certainly in terms of the Ancient Near East, was 

Jesus word from the Cross as he asked John, one of his 

closest friends, to take care of his mother. 2 

1.6 Each incident enables us to think about the 

responsibilities which each one of us has for the ongoing 

welfare of our congregational lives as well as the 

particular responsibilities we have for our children, young 

people and adults at risk. Recognising this the Church of 

Scotland continues to provide a quality Safeguarding 

service for such people as it has done since 1997 when 

the early requirements for the Child Protection, as it then 

was, were beginning to be formulated in Church and State 

legislation. 

1.7 Everyone involved in Safeguarding whether as 

members of Congregations working with such groups, 

or as Congregational Coordinators or Training Personnel 

or Professional staff in the Safeguarding Offi ce recognises 

the responsibilities of maintaining an organisation which 

is a safe as it can possibly be for those who may be at risk. 

1.8 The years have seen signifi cant developments in 

civil legislation with which the Church has complied fully. 

Such developments have been identifi ed year by year 

to the General Assembly. Most recently the Protection 

of Vulnerable Groups legislation has been enacted and 

it now seems likely that this legislation will govern all 

Safeguarding from late 2010. 

1.9 The new legislation will have implications for the 

Church as an organisation and for everyone as individuals. 

1.10 The thrust of the Safeguarding Report to the 

General Assembly of 2010 is to build on what has been 

2 St John 19.25-27 


achieved and prepare for the further demands which will 

be demanded by the new legislation. 

1.11 The Safeguarding Committee acknowledges with 

gratitude and appreciation the immense amount of time 

and energy which is given by so many to the task of 

Safeguarding. 

2 . The Safeguarding Service 

2.1 Safeguarding is an essential service which relies on 

the cooperation of everyone to keep congregations as 

safe as possible. It is recognised, of course, that no system 

is 100% secure. 

2.2 ‘Ensuring a Safe Church for All’ is a revision of the 

1997 Policy Statement to take account of the changes in 

legislation. The revised policy now reads 

Ensuring a Safe Church for All 

The Policy Statement of the Church of Scotland 

The Church of Scotland has a deep concern for the wholeness 

and wellbeing of each individual. Through its Safeguarding 

Offi ce and its contacts with the Statutory Agencies 

the Church seeks to safeguard the welfare of all people, 

regardless of age, who come into contact with the Church 

and its organisations. ‘Of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven’ 

the Report of the Forgiveness & Proportionality Working 

Group affi rms that it is the responsibility of each individual 

within the fellowship of the Church to prevent harm. Harm 

or abuse of any type or level towards Children, Young People 

or Adults at Risk is unacceptable and we will always strive to 

minimise the risk of harm occurring. 

2.3 Safeguarding in the Church of Scotland has expanded 

over the years to keep pace with the demands placed on 

the service by Civil and Church legislation. A full overview 

of the Safeguarding Service can be found in Appendix 1. 

2.4 Kirk Sessions are reminded that they must fulfi l any 

action that the Safeguarding Offi ce advises constitutes a 

requirement of the General Assembly.

3. Forgiveness and Proportionality 

3.1 The Report of the Forgiveness and Proportionality 

Working Group ‘Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven’ has 

been well-received by the wider Church and the secular 

Authorities. 

3.2 ‘Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven’ has enabled a 

dialogue to take place with Association of Chief Police 

Offi cers and The Association of Directors of Social Work. 

3.3 The dialogue with the Criminal Justice authorities 

is part of a discussion exploring the possibilities of the 

Church’s Safeguarding staff being included in the Multi 

Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). This 

will strengthen the support which can be given to 

congregations who are managing sex-off enders. 

3.4 A Code of Practice has been prepared to inform 

congregations of the mechanisms for preparing the 

Covenant of Responsibilities 

4. Church Organists 

4.1 Following the Overture by the Presbytery of Duns to 

the General Assembly of 2009 opportunities were sought 

to meet the President and Secretary of the Scottish 

Federation of Organists and the Glasgow Society of 

Organists. These proved valuable for all parties. 

4.2 The General Assembly of 2003 agreed a list of 15 posts 

in congregations, under the umbrella title of ‘Children’s 

Workers’, which would require a Disclosure Check. Organists 

have not been singled out – they are just one of these 

15 posts. Several of these posts include those where 

unsupervised contact with children is unlikely but the post 

is nonetheless a position of trust and responsibility in the 

Church. The outcome of the meeting with the Scottish 

Federation of Organists subsequently circulated a full record 

of this meeting for the clarifi cation of their members. 

4.3 Disclosure Scotland checks for organists also protect 

the reputation of the profession. They ensure that those 

SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE 6.5/3 

with serious convictions are excluded and do not attract 

adverse publicity for this key profession in the Church. 

4.4 Further it was agreed that organists, as with all other 

posts – apart from ministers –would not be checked 

retrospectively. Matters remained dormant until, in 

February 2008, the then Head of Safeguarding, wrote to 

Presbytery Clerks reminding them of the requirement that 

organists appointed since 2003 be Disclosure Checked. 

4.5 The debate began which culminated in the Overture 

referred to previously. Following the decision of the General 

Assembly it was subsequently agreed by the General 

Assembly that the category title ‘Children’s Workers’ would 

be replaced by ‘Church Activities’. 

4.6 There is no intention to claim that organists are any 

more of a risk than anyone else. Organists are, however, 

in a prominent position in a congregation which in turn 

implies that the person is trustworthy. The vast majority of 

organists are. A tiny minority are not and that minority can, 

and have, caused serious physical and emotional damage 

to people they have abused. The eff ects can be life-long 

and devastating. 

4.7 Year on year the General Assembly has supported 

its Safeguarding Committee which recognises that one 

abused child is one too many. People who harm children 

and adults at risk target weaknesses. Disclosure checking 

is part of the Church’s defence against such people and 

the robust recruitment procedure is designed to protect 

children and adults at risk. 

4.8 Despite the rumours which circulate, while Disclosure 

Checks are not transferable between organisations they 

are transferable among congregations of the Church of 

Scotland. This means that locum organists, for example, 

require one Disclosure Certifi cate which is valid in 

whichever congregation of the Church of Scotland an 

organist plays. 

6.5

6.5/4 

5. Leadership Roles and Youth Organisations 

5.1 Discussions have been on-going with representatives 

of the Boys’ Brigade in relation to Church of Scotland 

protocols and the anomalies which have arisen with Boys’ 

Brigade procedures. 

5.2 Following the introduction of the Protection of 

Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007, the Boys’ Brigade 

are reviewing their policy of only enhanced disclosure 

checking 18 year olds and above in leadership positions in 

the organisation. At present enhanced disclosure checks 

of 16 and 17 year olds in leadership posts can be done at 

the discretion of the particular Kirk Session. 

5.3 The Committee, having reviewed the situation, 

takes the view that it would be appropriate that all such 

young people in leadership positions must be subject to 

enhanced disclosure checking and accordingly invite the 

General Assembly to require this to be the case. 

6. Protection of Vulnerable Groups Legislation 

6.1 The introduction of the Protection of Vulnerable 

Groups legislation later this year sees a new scheme being 

introduced. This is called the Vetting and Barring scheme 

and those undertaking regulated work with children and 

protected adults, as defi ned in the legislation will require 

to be scheme members. 

6.2 The Vetting and Barring scheme is designed to show 

that people who are members of it are suitable to work 

with children and all protected adults. It is life long unless 

matters arise resulting in the perpetrator being disqualifi ed 

from working with children and/or protected adults. In a 

phased way this will require all relevant postholders to 

become scheme members. This task is expected to be 

completed by 2015. 

6.3 Discussions are on-going with representatives of 

the Scottish Government with regard to the implications 

Protection of the Vulnerable Groups legislation for the 



7. Whole Church Safeguarding Service 

7.1 Discussions have been taking place between the 

Safeguarding Committee and Crossreach with a view to 

developing a Safeguarding Service for the whole Church. 

8. Training 

8.1 Until the eff ects and implications of the Protection 

of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 are fully known, 

Safeguarding training continues to concentrate on the 

work with Children and Young People. However, once 

the Scottish Government publishes its secondary and 

implementing legislation, making clear what the eff ects 

and implications are for our work in the Church with 

others who may be vulnerable, training in support of that 

work shall quickly be developed and cascaded out to 

Congregations, Presbyteries and Departments. 

8.2 An extensive and varied programme of training is 

delivered by a team of 67 Volunteer trainers, appointed 

and supported, by their respective presbyteries. Of the 

67, 51 are already fully accredited, and 16 are Trainers-in- 

Training, working towards that accreditation. 

8.3 Whilst each Presbytery now has appointed a 

Safeguarding Contact, there are, despite considerable 

encouragement and cajoling from the Safeguarding 

Offi ce, still eight Presbyteries that have not appointed a 

trainer. This increases the burden on trainers in adjoining 

presbyteries, together with the Safeguarding Offi ce, to 

provide such training. As the need for training increases to 

meet new and developing Safeguarding legislation, there 

is a real danger that these Presbyteries will fi nd themselves 

desperately trying to fulfi l their statutory obligations. 

9. Advisory Panel 

9.1 The Advisory Panel continues to meet as necessary 

if there is a fl awed Disclosure which requires further 

discussion and risk assessment before a fi nal decision is 

made with regard to a person’s suitability, or otherwise, to 

work with Vulnerable Groups.

9.2 The Safeguarding Advisory Panel has met 5 times over 

the last year to consider blemished Disclosure Certifi cates 

(i.e. those containing conviction and non conviction 

information). Please see Table 1 for statistics relating to the 

cases considered at the Safeguarding Advisory Panel since 

it was established in 2003. 

9.3 The Safeguarding Advisory Panel has eff ectively 

utilised the risk assessment protocol to consider blemished 

Disclosure checks. The protocol is to be developed further 

this year to ensure a consistent, robust and accountable 

system is in place for risk assessment in advance of the 

implementation of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups 

(Scotland) Act 2007. 

10. Child Exploitation and Online Protection 

10.1 The links with CEOP are being developed in relation 

to awareness raising of the dangers of the internet for 

children. In 2009 one training session had been provided 

for the Ardrossan presbytery and a presentation was made 

for staff in the 121 offi ce. 

11. Safeguarding: priority areas for 

development in 2010 -2011 

11.1 The implementation of the General Assembly 

instruction to Kirk Sessions to adopt the ‘integrating 

those who pose a risk’ policy (work with sex off enders 

in congregations): there are 19 known sex off enders 

in congregations but this is likely to be a considerable 

underestimate. Additional resources are required to 

monitor Covenants of Responsibilities and provide vital 

training, support and advice for the church volunteers 

who work with these congregational members. 

11.2 The implementation of the Protection of Vulnerable 

Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. 

11.3 Revision of the Handbook for Child Protection 

which will become the Safeguarding Handbook for the 

Church of Scotland. 


11.4 Developing a single safeguarding service for the 

Church, including CrossReach. The Head of Safeguarding 

was previously CrossReach’s Head of Service (Safeguarding). 

A single safeguarding service will improve links among the 

Councils and ensure a pooling of professional expertise. 

12. Summary and Conclusion 

12.1 The Church is adopting a revised policy for 

safeguarding that embraces the needs of children, young 

people and ‘adults at risk’. In part this is being driven by 

legislative change, but also our desire is ‘Ensuring a Safe 

Church for All’. Such a whole Church approach recognises 

harm or abuse can never occur or be disclosed. However, it 

is one in which if harm or abuse are suspected, witnessed 

or reported, timely and appropriate action is taken and the 

police and social work are involved. 

12.2 There are considerable challenges ahead to 

implement the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) 

Act 2007 to ensure its implementation is feasible without 

undermining the basic structures of the Church. The 

Safeguarding Committee is agreed that this is an important 

process that will increase the safety of vulnerable members 

of our congregations. 

12.3 Our priority remains a gospel imperative of the 

protection of the individual from harm or abuse. For that 

person’s sake, and the reputation of the Church, we need 

to continue to get this work right and build on the existing 

excellent foundation for safeguarding in the Church. 


JOHN C CHRISTIE, Convener 

RANALD MAIR, Vice-Convener 

RICHARD CROSSE, Head of Safeguarding 

6.5

6.5/6 

ADDENDUM 

Retiral of Convener 

In 2010 Rev John Christie completes his term of offi ce 

as the Convener of The Safeguarding Committee. John’s 

involvement with Safeguarding and the Board of Parish 

Education stretches back to the early 1990’s. Initially he was 

appointed as a member of the Board of Parish Education, 

in 1992, and then became Convener of Parish Education 

in 2001. As a consequence of being Convenor of Parish 

Education, he also assumed the role of Convener of the 

Joint Boards Group on Protection of Children and Young 

People. 

John was instrumental in the establishment of the Church 

of Scotland’s Safeguarding Service and became, as a result 

of the reorganisation of the Church’s central structures in 

2005, and the developing civil legislation on the issues 

relating to the protection of vulnerable groups, became 

Convener of the Safeguarding Committee. During that 

time he has served as Convener on the Forgiveness and 

Proportionality working group which ran for two years, 

and which presented its major report to the General 

Assembly in 2009. 

When he gets time to unwind from his extensive list of 

commitments John is a keen hill walker. He describes 

parts of the West Coast of Scotland as being amongst his 

favourite locations. Although John enjoys playing regular 

5-a-side football he tends towards more spectator sports 

these days, in particular Rugby and Indoor Bowling at 

which his wife Annette is a Scottish Internationalist. 

In his service to Safeguarding John has evidenced 

his commitment to the work of the Committee, the 

Safeguarding Offi ce and its wider network and of his 

support and availability to staff at all levels. He has shown 

huge understanding of the issues faced in our communities 

today. He has debated these issues at length externally 

and internally on behalf of the Safeguarding Committee 

and on behalf of the wider Church. John’s supportive and 


compassion with what can be a diffi cult subject has been 

an encouragement to all. To many in the Church John 

Christie is the voice of Safeguarding and his passion and 

commitment to the subject have won many hearts over 

the last few years. 

The Safeguarding Committee would like to record its 

sincere and heartfelt appreciation of John’s long and 

committed service to the protection of the vulnerable and 

in particular the protection of children. We give thanks to 

God for his continuing commitment in his service of his 

Church and his Lord, and extend the Committee’s good 

wishes for his period of service as the Moderator of the 

General Assembly in 2010. 

RANALD MAIR, Vice-Convener 

RICHARD CROSSE, Head of Safeguarding 

APPENDIX 1 

1. The Safeguarding service: what we 

provide and how 

At the time of writing 7.2 whole time equivalent staff 

provides the following services: 

Disclosure Scotland and Administrative Service: 4 staff 

effi ciently process up to 170 enhance Disclosure Scotland 

certifi cates (criminal record checks) per week. This ensures 

that only those who are not known to pose a risk are 

employed in voluntary and paid positions in the Church. 

The team also provide administrative support to the rest 

of the offi ce 

Enquiries Service: this part time post provides advice 

about a myriad of enquiries concerning child protection 

policy procedure and practice. This information is vital 

to prevent harm and abuse occurring to members of the 


Referral Service: Harm and abuse to members of 

congregations is very rare - but it does happen. The 

Assistant- and Head of Safeguarding deliver this key part

of the safeguarding service. It ensures that a timely and 

appropriate response is made where harm, or abuse, is 

witnessed suspected or reported. See section X for more 

about what is meant by harm and abuse. 

Safeguarding Training: led by the training and 

development worker. A comprehensive range of child 

protection courses is delivered by 65 trained volunteers 

for all volunteers and paid staff in the Church who may 

come into contact with children. 

Training that is currently delivered includes: 

• Volunteer Child Worker course – a three hour course that 

is ‘strongly recommended’ for all volunteers working 

with children and young people. During 2009 sixtyone 

Volunteer Courses took place attended by 1097 

participants. 

• Congregational Safeguarding Coordinator course 

– a six-hour, mandatory, course for all Safeguarding 

Coordinators appointed by Sessions. During 2009 

twenty two Coordinator Courses took place attended 

by 208 participants. 

• Safeguarding Training for Sessions – a 90 minute – 2 hour 

course, being promoted and facilitated by Presbyteries, 

which advises and assists Kirk Sessions to fulfi l their 

responsibilities, including statutory responsibility, for 

the recruitment, management and support of the 

volunteers and staff they appoint to work with children 

and young people in their congregations and in 

furtherance of the Church’s wider works. 

• There is a very varied picture of the provision of 

Safeguarding Training for Kirk Sessions across the 

country. The Presbytery of Glasgow has been very 

actively promoting this resulting in them requiring to 

off er theatre style presentations for quite extraordinary 

numbers of Elders. During 2009 Glasgow ran six such 

Courses, attended by 899 participants and a further 633 

are booked to attend during the fi rst six months of 2010. 

Kirkcaldy Presbytery has run 23 courses, covering all its 

Congregations and training 562 of its Elders. Elsewhere 


however either the take-up of courses has been very 

poor, or there has been signifi cant under-reporting 

of them taking place; with only seven courses for 170 

Elders being recorded at the Safeguarding Offi ce. 

• Paid Workers’ course – this is a four hour course that 

recognises the additional needs and responsibilities of 

the paid Youth Workers, Children’s Ministry Workers etc., 

employed by congregations, groups of congregations, 

presbyteries and departments of the Church. This course 

has just been developed and, at the time of writing, has 

yet to be piloted. 

• Learning and Development Course – a two day, 

residential course for new Safeguarding Trainers and 

those wishing to refresh or update their training skills. 

This very specifi c and targeted course endeavours to 

ensure that the highest possible quality of training is 

off ered consistently across the whole country and that 

National Standards for Training and Development are 

met or surpassed. 

• Training for those administering Covenants of 

Responsibilities to manage those who may cause a risk 

is currently being developed. 

2. What do we mean by harm and abuse to 

church members? 

As a starting point, abuse is any conduct towards a child 

or ‘adult at risk’ that you suspect or know is having a bad 

eff ect on them. It is the wrongful application of power by a 

person in a dominant position. Abuse can occur anywhere 

and can be perpetrated by anyone. The abuse cannot be 

eliminated – but the Church does demonstrate that is 

minimises the risk of abuse occurring. 

Harm, or abuse, may be perpetrated by a wide range of 

people: members of the congregation, volunteers and paid 

staff employed by the Church, relatives or friends of church 

members, professional staff from social care or health 

organisations or strangers. It is important to note that harm, 

or abuse, occurring to church members does not mean that 

the perpetrators are also members of the Church. 

6.5

6.5/8 


It is increasingly recognised that ‘adults at risk’ may also be aff ected by harm. This development has been driven by the 

Adult Support and Protection (Scotland) Act 2007 and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007. An ‘adult 

at risk’ is person you suspect or know is being harmed or exploited by another person, or is harming themselves, and is 

unable to protect themselves. Often this will mean some older people and some people with mental health diffi culties, 

people aff ected by dementia, learning or physical disabilities, substance misuse, homelessness or using counselling or 

criminal justice services. 

Harm in the Church is rare and thankfully the vast majority of people will have no knowledge or experience of it – but even 

one case is one too many. 

3. Safeguarding within the Church how the service is organised and what was provided in 2009 

3.1 The structure of safeguarding within the Church is illustrated in Figure 1 

Figure 1: the Church’s safeguarding structure 

Joint work with the 

police, criminal justice 

services and social work 

Safeguarding Office 

1,845 Safeguarding Coordinators 

65 Safeguarding Trainers 

c1, 400 Safeguarding Panels 

People in the church: 600,000 members; 

>100,000 children take part in church based activities; 

15,000 volunteers; 1,200 ministers/congregations 40,000 elders 

c1,400 congregations with paid and voluntary staff 

in the church and related organisations 

3.2 It is clear that the foundation of safeguarding relies heavily on the invaluable time, expertise and commitment of 

volunteers within the Church. We remain indebted to those volunteers. Support, training and advice is provided for these 

volunteers by the Safeguarding Offi ce.

3.3 What are the outcomes, or results, of the safeguarding service? 

Table 1: safeguarding outcomes 


Safeguarding Activity in 2009 Numbers 

The number of Enhanced Disclosure Scotland checks processed by the 

Safeguarding Offi ce for volunteers and paid staff in the Church 

Activity of the Safeguarding Advisory Panel (see section 9), December 2003 to 

October 2009. The number of individuals with conviction information on their 

Disclosure Scotland certifi cate who have applied to work that includes contact 

with children 

The number of such applications approved as being suitable for such work 

The number of such applications declined i.e. assessed as being unsuitable to 

work in Church activities and hence not employed as volunteers or paid staff . 

Estimated number of Referrals (Appendix 1, section 2, for what this means) of 

harm or abuse 

Estimated number of safeguarding Enquiries (see Appendix 1, section 2, for 

what this means) 

Details about the type and number attending safeguarding training courses 

Volunteer Training 

Safeguarding Coordinator Training 

Kirk Session Training 

Learning & Development ‘training for trainers’ 

Total number of courses 

Total number of persons trained 

Church Activities: 5900 

Boys’ Brigade: 454 

Girls’ Brigade: 204 

Ministers: 528 

Enquirers: 78 

Mission and Discipleship: 13 

Total for 2009: 7268 

108 

85 

23 

35 

650 

61 Courses; 1097 trained 



1 Course; 12 trained 

120 

2948 

6.5

WORLD MISSION COUNCIL 

May 2010 



1. Receive the report. 

2. Give thanks for the life and witness of overseas staff who have died, salute those who have completed their period 

of service overseas, and uphold in prayer all overseas staff who continue to serve. 

3. Instruct the World Mission Council to sustain and strengthen its commitment to offering meaningful solidarity to partner 

churches in contexts where the Christian community comes under severe pressure because of its minority status. 

4. Instruct the World Mission Council to work with partner churches on the development of inter-religious dialogue 

with a view to promoting religious freedom and resolving the difficulties currently faced by Christians who suffer 

on account of their minority status. 

5. Instruct the World Mission Council to make known to the Church at large the situations of discrimination and/or 

persecution which are faced by partner churches and other Christian communities at this time. 

6. Urge all Kirk Sessions to consider how their congregations can best (a) raise awareness of the issues facing minority 

Christians; (b) offer prayer support to minority Christians; (c) undertake advocacy on behalf of minority Christians, 

and (d) take practical action to demonstrate solidarity with minority Christians. 

7. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, section 1.3) and commit the World Mission Council, in 

partnership with others, to its effective delivery over the next seven years. 

8. Give thanks to God for the work of Scottish Churches World Exchange and the commitment of Members and staff 

who, over the years, have enabled many to experience the rich vitality of the world church. 

9. Noting the desire of the congregations of St Andrew’s Nassau and Lucaya Kirk, Freeport to affiliate to the Evangelical 

Presbyterian Church (USA) as an interim step towards the formation of a Presbyterian Church of Bahamas, agree to 

their severance from the Church of Scotland, commend them for their Christian mission and service over the past two 

hundred years and wish them God’s continuing blessing as they take forward their life and witness in the Bahamas. 

10. Note the decision of the World Mission Council to pass responsibility for the congregation of Greyfriars St Ann’s 

linked with Arouca and Sangre Grande, Trinidad to the Council’s Africa and Caribbean Committee. 

11. Pass an Act amending Act VI, 2001 anent Overseas Charges in the following terms: 

The General Assembly hereby enact and ordain that: Act VI 2001 anent Overseas Charges (as amended by Acts IX and XII 

2002, VIII 2003 and II 2008) is hereby further amended as follows: 

1. By the deletion in section 3 (2) (a) of the words “Overseas Charges Committee” and the substitution therefor of the 

words “the appropriate Committee of the World Mission Council” 

2. By the deletion of “Lucaya Kirk, Freeport, Bahamas“ and “St Andrew’s Presbyterian Kirk, Nassau, Bahamas” from 

Schedule A. 

12. Thank all from around the world who have worked on the preparations for marking the centenary of the Edinburgh 

1910 World Missionary Conference and look forward to welcoming world church representatives to Edinburgh in 

June this year. 

7

7/2 

Christian Communities in Minority Situations 

“There is no division in the body, but all its diff erent parts 

have the same concern for one another. If one part of the 

body suff ers, all the other parts suff er with it; if one part is 

praised, all the other parts share its happiness. All of you are 

Christ’s body, and each one is a part of it”. 1 Cor.12.25-27. 

An important responsibility of the World Mission Council is 

to listen to its partners throughout the world and to inform 

the Church of Scotland of what they are saying. Having 

heard from the various partners that Christians in many 

places face far greater pressure than the western church 

often recognises, and hearing their plea that their tale be 

told to the wider world, the General Assembly accepted 

the following deliverance in 2008 - 

The General Assembly express solidarity with churches that 

are in a minority situation and are faced with discrimination 

and violence; resolve to share common commitment and 

take decisive action collectively to assist such minority 

churches that are caught in situations of violence and 

conflict; instruct the Council 

(1) to find creative ways of including inter-religious dialogue 

as a vehicle to promote and protect the rights of minorities; 

(2) to seek to bring awareness about such situations in the 

global Christian community 

(3) to help and advise partner churches in developing selfunderstanding 

and identification through capacity building 

and theological education; 

(4) to strengthen ecumenical groups and movements in 

minority churches for the building of a tolerant society; (5) 

to raise the issues facing minority churches in international 

forums for redress and remedy; and report to the General 

Assembly in 2009. 

Recognising the scale and complexity of this deliverance, 

the World Mission Council soon realised that a report 

to the 2010 General Assembly was more feasible, and 

reported accordingly in 2009. 


REPORT 

In 1800, an estimated 2,500 Christians died as a result of 

opposition to their faith. A century later, that total had 

risen to 34,400, and it is thought that more Christians died 

violent deaths in the 20 th century than in all of previous 

Christian history. This pressure has not eased in the first 

decade of the 21 st century: based on current statistical 

trends, it is estimated that around 176,000 Christians may 

have died for the faith in 2009. 

It is recognised that Christians have also been among the 

oppressors and persecutors. The brutality of the Crusades 

is remembered throughout much of the Middle East, and 

the complicity of professing Christians in any genocide, 

including the Jewish Holocaust, cannot be forgotten. 

Christians have tortured and even burned their fellow 

Christians in the Inquisition, the religious wars throughout 

Europe and the treatment of witches in Scotland. It was 

observed in South Africa that “Christians are killing Christians 

and other Christians are sitting on the fence.” Any report on 

the persecution of Christians must be made in a spirit of 

deep humility. 

The World Mission Council also acknowledges that 

persecution of Christians is not new. Stephen was stoned to 

death as the first known Christian martyr, Paul was stoned 

and left for dead in Lystra and, with Silas, was beaten and 

imprisoned in Philippi. St John the Divine was exiled on 

Patmos. Persecution is a recurrent theme throughout the 

New Testament, as is the teaching that the coming of 

Christ brings crisis to the world. 

In the centuries that have followed, Dutch and German 

Mennonites and French Huguenots migrated to avoid 

persecution, and Armenian Christians perished in what 

has been a largely forgotten genocide. However, there is 

widespread acceptance that the level of persecution of 

Christians, whether by discrimination or direct violence, 

has been greater in the last century than in any other 

period in the history of the Christian Church.

Since terrorist attacks on the United States of America on 

the 11 September 2001, new polarisations and pressures 

have been increasingly obvious. To a degree that may 

have surprised analysts and commentators a generation 

ago, religious loyalties have gained a new potency, and lie 

at the root of many of the world’s ongoing civil wars and 

outbursts of political violence. Demographic projections 

indicate that religious feuds will intensify, especially as 

the future centres of global population are mainly in 

countries already divided by the great religious traditions 

of Christianity and Islam. [Jenkins, p164] 

The impact of this is already being reported by many 

of the Church of Scotland’s overseas partners. At a day 

conference held in Perth in February 2009, the Rt Rev 

Mano Rumalshah, Bishop of Peshawar in Pakistan, spoke 

movingly of threats on the life of clergy within his diocese 

and of a struggle to support those who, on converting 

from Islam to Christianity, are rejected by their families and 

left facing death threats and destitution. During last year’s 

General Assembly, interviews with overseas church leaders 

were conducted; proving to be a humbling exercise for 

the interviewers as they listened to the realities of living 

as Christians in what can often be the most challenging 

of environments. 

In the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa, many Christian 

people live as a minority faith community. Some have 

lived in this way for many generations; others are newer 

communities. Some can trace their identity back to the 

early centuries of the Christian era; others are followers 

of Jesus Christ through conversion in more recent times. 

Often they live in harmony with neighbours from all faith 

communities, but at other times can be ostracised and 

marginalised, facing outright persecution or education 

and economic discrimination. 

Those who live in places where Sharia law and, in particular, 

apostasy law, are exercised, can be exposed to extreme 

pressures. The position of women in such places is a major 

cause of concern. 

WORLD MISSION COUNCIL 7/3 

For these people, being salt and light requires obedience 

and courage and involves considerable risk. Nevertheless, 

rather than being demoralised by such experiences, many 

Christians in such difficult circumstances demonstrate 

a degree of vitality and dynamism in their faith which 

suggests they may often be closer to New Testament 

experience than those who live in more comfortable and 

secure situations. A Christian refugee from the civil war in 

Sudan observed that, “In the West you haven’t learned to 

trust God as we have had to learn to trust God.” 

Israel and Palestine 

In the land of Jesus’ birth, Christians find themselves 

caught between the avowedly Jewish state of Israel and 

a Palestinian community, some of whom, in desperation, 

turn to more radical and exclusivist forms of the Islamic 

faith held by the majority. The Christian community in 

Palestine, with its roots going back to apostolic times, is 

under pressure as never before. 

In the context of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, 

Palestinian Christians suffer discrimination primarily because 

of their ethnic rather than their religious identity. Israel’s illegal 

occupation of Palestine, and the harsh conditions which 

it imposes, inflicts privation and suffering on Palestinians 

regardless of their religious identity. Israel’s policy of 

developing and/or allowing “settlements” on Palestinian land 

and the restrictions which it places on the everyday life of 

the Palestinian community creates a demoralising situation 

for Christians and Muslims alike. Christians living in the Holy 

Land, with their relatively high standards of education and 

connections in the Western world, often are in a position to 

emigrate, and many have chosen this option. 

While similar numbers of young Christians and Muslims 

are leaving, it is estimated that out of every ten Muslims 

who leave eight will return, while out of every ten 

Christians who leave only two will return. This, together 

with the higher birth rate among Muslims, means that the 

proportion of Christians in the Holy Land is decreasing 

faster than the absolute number. Families find it even more 

7

7/4 

difficult to persuade their children to remain in a situation 

which grows more unjust and intolerable. 

Historically, the Palestinian nationalist struggle united 

Muslims and Christians, with its intellectuals and leaders 

often being drawn from within the Christian community. 

Whether by means of an active Israeli strategy or simply on 

account of the pressures of the occupation, recent years 

have seen a growing polarisation between these two 

historic religious communities. While Muslim and Christian 

leaders work together on the human rights situation, the 

failure of the peace process can lead to Christians in general 

being regarded by some as being in collusion with the 

West in its perceived hostility to Islam and unquestioning 

support of Israel. At grassroots level, many Christians 

now find themselves subject to barbed comments and 

active hostility from their Muslim neighbours. There is also 

great concern that in the very cradle of Christianity the 

Arab Christian church is shrinking so rapidly. Historically, 

Nazareth was largely populated by Arab Christians but 

today they are in the minority. Outside the Church of 

the Annunciation, a group of Muslims erected a banner 

quoting the Koran, “God is One, the Eternal God. He begot 

none, nor was He begotten. None is equal to Him.” It was 

the chosen location rather than the Muslim statement 

of belief that was made, that caused most offence. In a 

context where Christians are in even more of a minority, 

such actions can easily make them feel vulnerable and 

threatened. This increases the sense within the Christian 

community that it has no future in its historic homeland. 

A tragic incident in Gaza in October 2007 illustrates 

something of the sheer complexity of the situation. Rami 

Ayyad, who managed the only Bible Bookshop in Gaza, 

was kidnapped and subsequently found murdered a few 

days later. He had previously been beaten and accused 

of handing out Christian tracts, his family had received 

threats, and the shop had been firebombed a few months 

earlier. Local Christians and Muslims joined in condemning 

the murder, thought to be the work of an extremist 


Islamist group. However, people from both Christian and 

Muslim groups also expressed their concern over forms of 

evangelism that were inappropriate within the context. 

Initiatives of the Christian community in the Holy 

Land 

While some have chosen to leave this deeply troubled 

situation, others have taken the decision to remain and 

to work for positive change. This has strategic importance 

since the Christian community has been recognised, in 

the words of the late King Hussein of Jordan, as “the glue 

which holds the Middle East together”. Though a minority, 

the Christian community often forms a bridge between 

Muslims and Jews. Moreover, often against the odds, the 

churches have for many years run an extensive network 

of social services, which continue as a witness to the love 

of Christ. 

The churches respond to the current demoralising 

situation with new initiatives, such as the Media Centre 

of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem which seeks to 

research and promote the life, faith and culture of the 

Palestinian Christian community. Its work has attracted a 

body of young people who, despite living in “the largest 

open-air prison in the world”, are confident of their identity 

as Palestinian Christians and determined to make their 

future in the Land. The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem 

and the Middle East, besides a massive commitment to 

sustaining the life of its membership, seeks to reach out 

through inter-faith engagement. The Sabeel Ecumenical 

Theological Centre in Jerusalem exposes the injustice 

of the current political situation and, in contrast to the 

prevailing ideologies of violence, advocates an approach 

of non-violent resistance to the occupation. Through its 

staff and institutions the Church of Scotland seeks to be an 

active and resourceful partner, sharing the pain of those 

who suffer and seeking to contribute to initiatives aimed 

at justice, healing and reconciliation. 

Messianic Jews 

Also under pressure in the Israeli context are the fellowships

of Messianic Jews. Without wishing to give up their Jewish 

identity they confess Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah and 

Saviour. This can expose them to considerable hostility, 

particularly from Orthodox Jews who sometimes organise 

demonstrations and other forms of harassment. Messianic 

Jews have occasionally found themselves subject to 

violence, such as receiving letter bombs. 

On the other hand, in the Israeli community at large there 

is a growing acceptance of the witness of Messianic Jews. 

In a context where direct evangelism is prohibited, these 

believers, in common with Arab Christians, bear witness 

by the quality of their daily lives and are becoming known 

for their integrity and compassion. Increasingly they 

share in worship with Arab Christians, demonstrating the 

reconciling power of faith in Jesus Christ. 

Bridge-building in the Holy Land 

In this troubled corner of the world Christians are in a 

unique position to build bridges between the various 

sides. The Christian Church holds perhaps the best chance 

of bringing people together for a permanent solution; with 

its connections to the land where Jesus lived, ministered, 

and died; to the Jewish people, as Jesus was a Jew; to the 

Palestinian community, since most Christians are ethnically 

Arab/Palestinian. 

The challenge to Christians is to further Jesus’ ministry of 

reconciliation, breaking down the dividing walls of hostility 

and accepting all people being reconciled to each other 

and to God through Jesus Christ. 

The Church of Scotland has its own contribution to make 

to this dialogue through the new Centre for justice, peace, 

and inter-faith dialogue planned for Tiberias, and for the 

first time in several years it has a full team of mission 

partners sharing in bridge-building in the Holy Land. 

Egypt 

Though predominantly Islamic, Egypt has a Christian 

minority thought to number around 12% of the population. 


There is official discrimination against Christians, with 

Coptic Christians being especially singled out. By law the 

President must be a Muslim, though other political offices 

can be held by Christians. 

Reports point to an increase in the persecution of Christians, 

with attacks by the pro-Sharia Muslim Brotherhood on 

churches and an increase in mob attacks, particularly 

on Coptic villages, properties and clergy. Other forms of 

persecution are more subtle, with only a very limited number 

of university places being made available for Christians. 

As in some other predominantly Islamic societies, Muslims 

who decide to become Christians can face serious 

difficulties. Such converts can suffer human rights abuses 

ranging from illegal detention without official charges, 

physical intimidation from security forces to violence from 

religious extremists and their communities. Often those 

who are drawn to faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour opt to 

remain within an Islamic religious and cultural identity. 

Those who choose to be baptised and to be publicly 

identified as Christians may have to leave the country. 

Musa was born in Egypt and brought up as a Muslim. 

Whilst still a young man he made friends with a 

Christian and tried to convert him to Islam. He failed 

and started to take a great interest in Christianity. 

Knowing that according to Sharia law he could be 

executed for changing from Islam to Christianity he 

left the country. After various difficulties he arrived in 

Scotland as a refugee and, after a spell in a detention 

centre, was granted a humanitarian visa. Musa began 

to attend a Church of Scotland congregation and in 

due course was baptised as a Christian and changed 

his name. When his visa expired, with no warning he 

was forcibly repatriated to Egypt. He now felt very 

vulnerable and feared for his future. Even his family was 

against him, though they would not report him. He 

now aims to return to Scotland and participate fully in 

the life of the church. 

7

7/6 

For an Egyptian Muslim, the decision to be baptised as 

a Christian is a costly one. Nonetheless there are those 

who decide to take this path of discipleship, such as the 

Egyptian who was publicly baptised by the Pope Benedict 

XVI on Easter Day 2008. 

What “a minority of the minority” can achieve 

Members of the (Presbyterian) Synod of the Nile – a partner 

of the Church of Scotland – face a further challenge known 

to many Christians within reformed churches in the Middle 

East. They are a “minority of the minority” since most 

Coptic Christians are Orthodox. Nonetheless, they form 

the largest Reformed Church in the Middle East and offer 

a significant witness. They sustain a major commitment 

to educational and medical work, with 30,000 children in 

their schools, two hospitals and a network of clinics that 

are open to all. Evangelism takes place primarily through 

personal relationships as Christians live out the gospel and 

share it with their friends. 

The Synod is active in promoting Muslim-Christian dialogue, 

both at the formal and theological level and at the level of 

everyday life in the community. In this way they seek to foster 

understanding and work for a greater level of tolerance. 

Iraq 

No consideration of Christians in minority situations 

would be complete today without reference to the 

difficulties which have occurred in Iraq following the 

American and British invasion of 2003. Before the First 

Gulf War, around 1 million Christians inhabited Iraq. Most 

were Chaldeans - Eastern-rite Catholics, who trace their 

faith back to the early centuries of Christianity. Some still 

worship in Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Even older are 

the Assyrians, descendents of the Assyrian and Babylonian 

Empires, whose Ancient Church of the East traces its origins 

back to the 1 st century. Other Eastern churches were also 

represented, along with small numbers of Anglicans 

and Evangelicals. Under Ba’ath Party rule the Christian 

community enjoyed a significant measure of protection. 

Though oppressive in many ways, the Ba’ath Party did 


not discriminate on religious lines so that, eg, Tariq Aziz, a 

Christian, could become Deputy Prime Minister. 

In the sectarian conflicts which erupted in the wake of 

the 2003 invasion, Christians found themselves being 

systematically targeted. Church buildings came under 

attack with, in August 2004, a coordinated series of car 

bombings destroying five churches in Baghdad and Mosul. 

Christians themselves, perceived as being in collusion 

with the invading forces, were exposed to great danger. 

Clergy were murdered and Christians were kidnapped and 

tortured. On 29 February 2008, gunmen seized the leader 

of Iraqi Christians, the Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj 

Rahho of Mosul, as he left church after leading afternoon 

prayers. His body was found two weeks later. 

Many Iraqi Christians have taken the decision to leave their 

homeland for Jordan or Syria, where they seek refugee 

status before proceeding to other countries. The United 

Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) reports 

that though Christians formed only 4% of the population 

of Iraq, 44% of Iraqi asylum seekers reaching Syria were 

Christian. It is estimated that at least half of the Christian 

population of Iraq have left the country while many more 

have been internally displaced moving to supposedly safer 

areas. Traumatic experiences of rape, kidnap and murder 

have led many to flee from their homes, embarking on a 

journey marked by danger and uncertainty. 

The Church of Scotland has had little historical connection 

with the Christian community in Iraq. However, there are 

Presbyterian Churches in each of the main cities. When 

British troops were stationed in Basra in the south of Iraq 

from 2003, military chaplains made contact with the local 

Presbyterian congregation which was coming under 

great pressure amidst the chaos and violence of the postinvasion 

situation. 

As a result, its Session Clerk attended the 2007 General 

Assembly and spoke movingly of the vulnerability of the 

congregation as many of its members had left and those

who remained feared for their lives. Like many of their 

fellow Christians in Iraq they face an uncertain future but 

remain steadfast in their faith. 

Pakistan 

Around 3% of Pakistan’s 160 million people are Christian. 

Although there is a small Christian middle class of 

professionals, many of whom run Christian schools and 

hospitals with excellent reputations, most are former Dalits 

from the Punjab or tribal people from the Sindh. They are still 

poor and powerless people, likely to be employed in menial 

work or not employed at all. In the North West Frontier 

Province (NWFP) there are nearly 100,000 Christians, half of 

whom belong to our partner church, the Church of Pakistan. 

Before 9/11 Christians were not under serious threat, being 

able to practise their faith openly. 

To some extent this is still true, although Christians are 

increasingly seen by some Muslims as allies of western 

Christians who kill Muslims. Christians are murdered for 

their faith. Four years ago Babar, a pastor in Peshawar, was 

tortured and murdered, as was Sajjad an evangelist, two 

years later. Pashtun converts, in particular, often have to 

keep their conversion secret even from their families, as 

relatives have been known to kill converts. 

In September 2009, a 19-year-old man, Farish Masih, was 

arrested on what the local Christian community believed 

were “trumped up” blasphemy charges because he was 

involved with a Muslim woman. He was alleged to have 

committed suicide in his prison cell, but media reports 

claimed that he was tortured, that his ribs were broken, 

and that he was murdered. Islamic extremists fired shots at 

his funeral, injuring some of the mourners, a mob attacked 

a local Roman Catholic Church and some homes, and the 

young man’s father was beaten up before the security 

forces intervened. 

Churches in Pakistan face increasing pressure through the 

increasing Islamisation of the legal system, taxation, and 


public life. The increasing social and economic suffocation 

of the Christian community and the discrimination 

faced by Christians when seeking employment and in 

the workplace, can lead to significant poverty. Muslims 

converting to Christianity can lose all their inheritance 

rights, thereby leading to the problem of secret Christian 

believers and spies in the midst of new converts. 

In October 2009, when leaders of the Church of Pakistan 

gathered with their international partners, their anguish 

was very clear. They related the most up-to-date news of 

communal trouble in Faisalabad diocese after allegations 

of the desecration of the Koran. 

In Gojra a “frenzied” mob approached the Christian 

Colony and a team of militants attacked it with guns and 

flammable chemicals. Police were unable to deal with 

them and ran away. 72 houses were burnt, one man was 

shot dead and 6 members of his family were locked in a 

room and burnt to death. 

Around Korian Muslims were encouraged from the 

mosque loudspeakers to bring their weapons and 

“teach the infi dels a lesson”. The Christians fl ed leaving 

all their belongings behind. Houses were looted and 

the means of their livelihood, motorbikes, donkey 

carts, sewing machines and bicycles, were torched. The 

government did intervene fairly quickly and charges 

were brought against many of those responsible for 

the violence. However, this led to counter-charges in 

which 100 unknown Christians were accused, as well as 

29 named Christians, including the bishop. 

The bishops and presbyters expressed their feelings of 

outrage and helplessness. In a statement adopted at 

that meeting they pointed out the parlous condition 

of the status and security of the religious minorities 

in Pakistan. They identifi ed a hardening of prejudice 

in society against them, along with the addition of 

new clauses into the Blasphemy Law which is being 

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used and abused to harass and victimize Christians. 

The Executive Committee of the Synod called on the 

Government to repeal the Blasphemy Law, to police 

properly the incidents that arise, to monitor the courts 

and to legislate for affi rmative action in the job market. 

They challenged the political parties to stop using the 

“religion card” in their campaigns, and invited all their 

allies to help eliminate discriminatory practices. They 

fi nished by challenging themselves and their allies to 

approach the militant/extremist groups and remind 

them of their common Abrahamic faith for the good of 

all citizens of Pakistan. They feel that their partners have 

not done enough to stand with them in solidarity, and 

appeal for practical help and for voices to be raised at 

the highest international levels. 

Signs of hope 

However, there are signs of hope. In 2006 the Diocese 

of Peshawar took the initiative in starting an inter-faith 

dialogue with a convention attended by 400 Muslims, 200 

Christians, 100 Hindus and 100 Sikhs. 

The most senior and respected religious leaders from the 

NWFP attended and gave the main addresses. There are 

now groups in all districts developing programmes which 

encourage peaceful co-existence. A group comprising 

people of all the faiths visited a refugee camp for Christians 

forced to flee the Swat valley. An organisation called Faith 

Friends has been established, and Faith Friends Youth Groups 

have been set up at grass-root level to promote peaceful coexistence. 

All those participating are at risk from extremists. 

Nepal 

Although Nepal is now a secular state rather than a Hindu 

kingdom, 80% of its 30 million inhabitants are Hindu. 

Christians, who have grown in number from 1,000 fifty 

years ago to 600,000 today, make up 2% of the population. 

Following decades of serious repression, churches in Nepal 

are currently growing at a remarkable rate. Although it is 

acknowledged that Christians experience a degree of 


tolerance not known before, there remains a concern 

that, to date, religious freedom has not been enshrined in 

Nepali law. 

There is evidence of an ambivalent attitude toward 

Christianity on the part of the Nepali government with 

one student being refused permission to study theology 

overseas on the grounds that he might want to make 

converts on his return. 

However, the same student was allowed to go overseas to 

study Nepali culture in its encounter with Christianity as a 

social science project. 

At the village level there are different problems. In one 

situation the only Christian in a particular village received 

negative comments from his family and friends and was 

called irreligious (“cow-eating”). Government officials 

assumed he had taken money and they were offensive, 

and when he visited a Christian friend who was in custody 

he was accused and treated aggressively. 

A Christian died in a village which had no Christian 

cemetery. The family therefore used its own land for 

the burial, and this led to other villagers exhuming the 

body. When a group of Christians came to investigate 

they were beaten and driven seven kilometres along the 

road carrying the body. The village to which they went 

also refused burial, so they had to return to the original 

village with the corpse. Eventually the problem was 

resolved by the first villagers insisting on a cremation 

taking place, which was not the custom of that 

particular ethnic group. Reflecting afterwards on what 

had happened, some of those involved concluded that, 

while becoming a Christian can weaken the family and 

the community in the first instance, one way forward 

is to Christianise and reinterpret traditional Hindu or 

Buddhist practices. Another way is for Christians to be 

active in community work, and also in projects where 

people exchange labour, thus doing some bridge 

building between the different faith communities.

India 

Around 80% of Indians are Hindus, but despite Christians 

only making up 4.8% of the population they number 

some 58 million in total. While there are proportionally 

more Christians in South India than in North India, there 

are some states in north-east India with a large proportion 

of Christians, eg Meghalaya with 76% and Nagaland 

with 93% (both on Bangladesh’s northern border). Many 

Christians come from a Dalit background, and this is often 

reflected in the way the rest of society treats them. Even 

within the Church the caste system is still strong. 

The 2008 violence towards Christians in Orissa 

India’s constitution provides for full freedom of worship 

for all religions, but the extent to which this happens 

varies considerably from state to state, as is seen in five 

out of the 20 Indian states having anti-conversion laws. 

In recent years the constitutional freedom of worship has 

been jeopardised by the rise of “communalism” in which 

communities assert their religious identity through hostility 

to others. This is always threatening and sometimes violent. 

State-supported violence against Muslims in Gujarat has 

been the most notorious expression of communalism but 

Christians also can be targeted. Violence against Christians 

in Orissa in 2008, when hundreds were beaten and 75 died, 

was the worst since independence in 1948. 

More than 50,000 Christians were displaced, and more 

than 5,000 Christian homes and 250 churches and 

institutions looted and damaged, often by fire. The Church 

of North India’s (CNI), response to the violence, and its 

efforts to bring aid to those affected, were hindered by the 

indifference of the state government and the indecision of 

central government. The CNI saw the situation, not only as 

one for appeals to different levels of government, but also 

as “an acid test of the spiritual mettle of the Indian Christian 

Community as a whole as well as an opportunity to wake 

up from our complacency”. The All India Christian Council 

regularly tries to highlight the plight of minorities. 

The situation since 2008 remains mixed. There remains a real 


fear of the violence recurring, and many pastors fear for their 

lives. However, the recent Indian elections have provided a 

measure of hope. The number of seats won by the Hindu 

nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party dropped, with all eight 

being lost in Orissa. The ecumenical All India Christian 

Council said in a statement that it “saluted the people of India 

for the consummate and decisive manner in which they have 

rejected divisive, communal, and sectarian political forces”. 

The chief minister of Orissa has openly answered questions 

about the riots, naming the radical Hindu organisations 

which were involved in the anti-Christian violence. 

Altogether 524 people were arrested and 27 are still in 

prison. The Union parliament in New Delhi has also debated 

the tragic events of 2008. But even with that government 

involvement there is still a great fear among the Christian 

population of Orissa that the violence might recur. 

The story of Pramod - an Indian Christian. “Only if the 

culprits were arrested would we feel confident in going 

back to our village”. Pramod’s words echo the thoughts 

of thousands of other displaced Christians from Orissa. 

He is one of the Christians that Christian Solidarity 

Worldwide met in a relief camp in Bhubaneswar last 

year, and he still cannot find his way home. He currently 

lives in a community of 45 Catholic families in a camp 

in the Khandhamal district of Orissa. The families have 

named the camp “Shanti Nagar” meaning “place of 

peace”. This is the fifth place they have lived since the 

outbreak of violence in August 2008. The villagers in 

Betticola, where they used to live, say the Christians 

must convert to Hinduism - or they can never come 

back. If they do go back, the villagers have threatened 

to kill them. 

A process of government compensation to those 

affected by the violence is in operation, but it has been 

hard for some people to access and there have been 

many bureaucratic frustrations. Some Christians still 

hope to return to their village, but others have fled to 

try and make a new life elsewhere. 

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China 

The People’s Republic of China is the largest country in 

the world with a population of 1.31 billion people. It is 

governed by the Chinese Communist Party. Article 36 

of the Chinese Constitution declares citizens’ freedom 

of religious belief, so long as it does not conflict with 

national security. The government recognises five national 

religions: Protestantism, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism and 

Buddhism. The two registered church groups - The Three 

Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) (the officially sanctioned 

Protestant church) and the Catholic Patriotic Association 

(the officially sanctioned Catholic church) operate under 

a number of regulatory controls - on their appointments 

of clergy and bishops, publication of literature, registration 

of meeting places, working with people under the age 

of 18, finances and their relationships with religious 

groups abroad. Despite these restrictions, the number of 

Protestant Christians belonging to registered churches has 

grown rapidly during recent years to over 16 million. The 

TSPM runs 18 seminaries and Bible Schools throughout 

the country. The Amity Foundation, based in Nanjing, also 

printed its fifty-millionth Chinese Bible in 2007. A recent 

visit from the Church of Scotland indicated possibilities of 

the Church working with the Amity Foundation. 

Many millions of Christians meet in unregistered church 

and house groups. These “house churches” grew especially 

quickly in rural areas during the 1980s and 1990s, and there are 

now increasing numbers of “independent” urban churches, 

made up of professionals and businessmen. Catholic 

“underground” churches also continue to meet illegally, 

despite some moves toward rapprochement with bishops 

jointly recognised by the Vatican and the government. In 

2009, the 35 bishops of these churches were all either in 

prison, under house arrest, under surveillance or in hiding. 

In many areas, unregistered church groups meet freely. 

However in others Christians continue to face harassment 

and fines, and some have been imprisoned, tortured or face 

forced labour. In some areas, unregistered church buildings 

have been destroyed and property confiscated. 


Gao Zhisheng is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 

a Christian lawyer and a key figure in the “rightsprotection” 

movement which seeks to defend minority 

rights through legal and constitutional means. Since 

2005, Gao has been repeatedly arrested, imprisoned, 

and reportedly tortured. He has been missing since 4th 

of February 2009 when he was seen being detained by 

Chinese officials. Gao’s wife and two children have since 

fled to the USA. 

Pastor Zhang Rongliang, the leader of the unregistered 

China Church for Christ, was arrested without charge on 

1st December 2004 in Xuhai village in Henan Province. 

He was later accused of falsifying a passport, obtaining 

passports by deception for three co-workers and illegally 

crossing the border. He is currently serving a seven and 

a half year sentence. This is his sixth imprisonment and 

he has previously spent a total of 12 years in prison. 

The complexities of the Chinese situation 

Chinese civil society has grown steadily in the last two 

decades as economic reforms have led to significant 

individual wealth and opportunities. However, imbalanced 

development has led to rising social inequalities and 

government controls remain in place to maintain social 

and government stability. 

Christians and churches face challenges in adapting to 

rapidly changing social conditions, facing widespread 

corruption, and struggling to exercise constitutionally 

guaranteed freedoms. 

Most religious Chinese continue to follow Buddhism, which 

is regulated through the Chinese Buddhist Association. 

Religious officials have begun to emphasise the role that 

religious groups can play in building social harmony 

and responding to natural disasters. Christians and other 

religious groups cooperated with government agencies 

to provide humanitarian relief after the 2008 earthquake 

in Sichuan, and this has brought a positive response from 

Party officials.

The current overall picture of the situation of Christians in 

China is complex. Many hoped that the Beijing Olympic 

Games in 2008 would help improve China’s treatment of 

religious minorities (amongst others), yet this does not 

seem to have been the case, with a reported deterioration 

in religious freedom. The situation is unpredictable 

for many Chinese Christians, as the interpretation and 

implementation of government policy varies enormously 

from region to region. Although there is cautious optimism 

on the part of some Chinese Christians, concerns remain 

about the treatment of some individual pastors and 

church members. 

North Korea 

The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea has 

been a repressive and secretive communist state since it 

came into being in 1948, and it continues in this course 

under its current leader Kim Jong-Il, who came to power 

in 1997. It is a country where there have been a number 

of famines, the impact of which has been worsened as a 

result of governmental inaction. The government teaches 

that their first Leader, Kim Il Sung, is the “Great Leader”, and 

should be obeyed and revered as a “god”, and its citizens 

are encouraged to bow before his statue and memorise 

his political speeches. All people are to keep the “Ten 

Principles” “to revere and adore the Great Leader; and 

eternally lift him higher”. Anybody who dissents outwardly 

from this philosophy pays a heavy price. 

Before the communist regime was installed, Pyongyang 

was a centre of Christian revival. Today, it is hard to know 

the number of Christians in North Korea. North Korea is 

isolated from the rest of the international community, and 

its culture of surveillance and propaganda curtails freedom 

of expression - especially criticism of the government. 

In the last decade, severe famine has led to a significant 

increase in the number of people fleeing North Korea, and 

this has brought increased information about the regime. 

Eyewitness testimonies from victims, guards, defectors 

and other witnesses are sufficiently detailed to indicate 


that the number of severe human rights violations is 

deeply alarming. 

The perceived threat from the Church 

According to the ideology of the regime, society is divided 

into three classes - the core class, the wavering class and 

the hostile class. It is estimated that 27% of the population 

come into this “hostile” class, including former landowners 

and their families, those who collaborated with South Korea 

in the Korean war and those who are religiously active. 

Human rights abuses are seen at every level of society, 

but Christians are seen as a particular threat because they 

have an allegiance to a higher power, which is seen as a 

threat to the state’s ideology. Some Christians are publicly 

executed, and others are taken away to camps where they 

are brutally treated. It is estimated that around 200,000 

people are in political prison camps, and Christians suffer 

particularly badly as they are under pressure to recant 

their faith. 

There are many reports of severe human rights abuses 

such as dangerous working conditions, malnutrition, 

torture, violence, rape and forced abortions. These camps 

continue to exist today, and crimes against humanity 

within them are a daily occurrence. 

A former North Korean prisoner highlights the problem: 

“Why do people talk so much about the holocaust, 

saying ‘we must never forget’ and spending money 

on programmes to ensure this, yet say and do nothing 

about the similar things which are happening right 

now?” 

Response: What does the Lord require of us? 

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me 

before it hated you. If you were of the world, the 

world would love you as its own; but because you 

are not of the world, but I chose you out of the 

world, therefore the world hates you. … If they 

persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they 

7

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kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all 

these things they will do to you on account of my 

name, because they do not know him who sent me. 

John 15: 18-21 

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of 

righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:10 

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ 

Jesus will be persecuted. 

2 Timothy 3:12 

Reference has already been made to the vitality and 

authenticity of faith often found in Christians who face 

discrimination and persecution. However, the plea from 

the Church of Scotland’s partners who live in challenging 

and even dangerous circumstances is for an active 

solidarity that “weeps with those who weep.” They call 

upon the Church of Scotland to highlight the prevalence 

of persecution and to campaign, as appropriate, on their 

behalf for the due observation of religious freedom for all. 

The words of St Paul, with which this report is prefaced, 

provide a timely reminder of the indivisible links the Church 

of Scotland has with its Christian partners throughout the 

world: we are all of the one Body of Christ. 

“There is no division in the body, but all its diff erent parts 

have the same concern for one another. If one part of the 

body suff ers, all the other parts suff er with it; if one part is 

praised, all the other parts share its happiness. All of you are 

Christ’s body, and each one is a part of it”. 1 Cor.12.25-27. 

Alongside that theological basis for active solidarity with 

Christians in minority situations, a new urgency arises 

from the inter-connectedness and increasing polarisation 

of today’s world. The impact of new means of global 

communication is felt in many ways. It means that, for 

example, Danish cartoons offensive to members of the 

Islamic community, can quickly give rise to violence in 

many countries. It also can allow members of the Church 


of Scotland to be in instant communication with fellow- 

Christians facing discrimination and/or persecution. 

The polarisation of the global community, particularly 

since 9/11, has led many people to retreat into their historic 

identities and to view those of other faith traditions with 

growing suspicion or hostility. Many partner churches draw 

attention to their being exposed to a far greater level of 

suspicion, hostility and active persecution than was once 

the case. They are acutely aware of how political decisions 

made in the West are perceived in their countries, and 

especially by those who choose to view such decisions 

as evidence of an increasing and highly volatile East/ 

West, Muslim/Christian divide. They know how bullish talk 

of “crusades” against evil regimes on the part of western 

leaders can stir up a degree of resentment feared by 

Christians and Muslims alike. 

Close links with partner churches in minority situations 

also reveal the vulnerability and value of these Christian 

communities. In spite of forming a small percentage of 

populations dominated by another faith tradition, their 

contribution to the well-being and stability of society at 

large can be out of all proportion to their relative size. 

In Bangladesh, the only healthcare provided in some 

rural areas is provided for all people by the Church. In 

Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, reformed Churches provide 

some of the finest and best-respected schools, many of 

which provide future politicians, doctors and academics. If 

the exodus of Christians witnessed in Iraq were to happen 

in other countries where Christians form a minority, the 

consequences for the wider population could be farreaching. 

Pre-emptive solidarity - politically alert, culturally 

sensitive and spiritually grounded – with Christians in 

minority situations is a gospel imperative for our time. 

“Saying it” with people 

In supporting Christians in a minority situation the Church 

of Scotland works most effectively in countries where it 

already has a relationship or partnership on the ground, and

seeks to concentrate resources where the need is greatest. 

It has “said it with people” by sending Mission Partners to 

Bangladesh, Nepal, and Israel/Palestine, and works directly 

with partner churches and with other denominations 

such as the Anglicans in Gaza and Lutherans in Bethlehem. 

Mission partners, each usually linked with two presbyteries 

in Scotland, have been able to inform and challenge 

people in the pews. They support through their work in 

such institutions as schools and hospitals, and through 

WMC funds which can offer subsidised fees for Christians 

as necessary. Through advocacy work in Nepal and Israel/ 

Palestine they raise a voice for peace and reconciliation in 

support of the Christian community at various levels of 

government. 

An increasingly important element of ‘people’ support from 

the Church of Scotland is in the form of “twinnings”, localto-local 

contacts between congregations, presbyteries and 

dioceses. These have allowed personal contact to produce 

solidarity visits, often leading to practical or financial help. 

Pilgrim trips to the Middle East enrich the travellers and 

help the Christian communities who welcome them. 

The Faithshare programme brings individuals to the 

UK and has offered training while others have received 

scholarships and training in their own part of the world. 

Moderatorial visits highlight and encourage Christians in 

minority situations by bringing their story to the world 

press. Area Secretaries make regular visits, record stories, 

share experiences, provide resources for the WMC, and 

demonstrate solidarity and friendship. 

“Saying it” through the media. 

“Saying it” in the media is another important way minority 

groups of Christians are supported. The WMC consistently 

highlights their situation through Update, the weekly 

email news bulletin, and in the regular magazine WM, 

which recently devoted an entire edition to the subject. 

These publications can reach congregations and people 

in the pews, inform them directly and also make them 

aware of other media outlets which particularly address 


the topic. The Church of Scotland website also tracks the 

changing situation worldwide, and records responses 

from committees or councils. Any nationwide, public 

campaigns are made known, as is news of Scottish people 

working overseas in other mission organisations. 

The Moderator, the WMC Convener and the area 

secretaries have all been active in advocacy through the 

media to alert church members and the wider world to 

the suffering of minority Christians, and to appeal for 

attention and justice. They have responded quickly in 

issuing letters or press releases about the situation in 

India, Gaza, and Pakistan. 

However, sometimes our partners do not want Western 

churches to raise the profile as they may be accused of 

being allies of the West and any advocacy from the West 

can also become counter-productive. 

“Saying it” through financial assistance. 

Financial assistance represents an important expression 

of solidarity and support. In Bangladesh, money is given 

to people who minister to Christian communities across 

the country, and for theological training. The Church of 

Bangladesh Social Development Programme receives 

funds for work with the poorest communities of all faiths, 

to provide clean water and micro-credit, and to raise 

awareness of HIV and AIDS and of human trafficking. 

In Nepal, money has been directed towards HIV and AIDS 

awareness, conflict resolution programmes and local 

community initiatives to deal with the root causes of 

poverty. Funds are given to support theological training 

in Bible Colleges. In Pakistan grants have provided help 

for shelter and education for Christian girls, other school 

facilities for children of all faiths, technical training, prison 

chaplaincy and drug rehabilitation/training. The WMC 

has given funds for Israel/Palestine through the Near East 

Council of Churches, the Middle East Council of Churches, 

Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Centre, the YWCA, the 

Anglican Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and the Bethlehem 

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Media centre. Money is given towards the education of 

young people in East Jerusalem and in Jaffa, for subsidising 

accommodation for clergy and church members in the 

Jerusalem Guesthouse and the Scots Hotel in Tiberias 

and for finding employment for Christians through the 

Centres. At the request of our partner churches, money 

has been sent quickly from the Asia and Middle East area 

committees for relief in crisis or emergency situations. 

Cyclones Sidr and Aila in Bangladesh, the dislocation of 

villagers from Swat in Pakistan, and the persecution in 

Orissa, India, have all prompted immediate giving. 

The need for greater awareness 

When a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 

referred to the two historic religious traditions in Israel/ 

Palestine, (Judaism and Islam), local Christians, whose roots 

are just as deeply embedded in that land, regarded this as 

typical of Western ignorance of their existence, let alone 

their plight. Partner churches consistently speak of the 

Western media’s lack of attention to situations they face. 

Even more disappointing for many of these partners is the 

lack of awareness within Western churches. Above all other 

support, they ask for the prayers of their fellow Christians, 

and fear that where there is little or no knowledge, there 

will be a corresponding lack of prayer and support. 

The World Mission Council acknowledges the challenge of 

helping the whole Church of Scotland to grow in awareness 

of the difficulties and dangers faced by fellow-Christians 

in places of opposition and persecution. Through much 

greater awareness, fellow Christians in minority situations 

are better supported, and Christians in the West can be 

better inspired by the example of those whose faith carries 

a high cost. 

Sources of information about minority Christians 

The World Mission Council uses its regular print publication 

WM and its weekly email Update to keep congregations 

informed of partner churches and others who are subject 

to discrimination and/or persecution. Further resources 

are available from organisations which have developed 


a specialist ministry in this area. These organisations will 

visit churches and church groups to share their own 

experiences and stories and, around the church, raise the 

profile of minority Christians. 

What can the World Mission Council and Kirk Sessions 

do as a response to this report? 

“Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, 

you who are blessed by my Father, take your 

inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since 

the creation of the world. For I was hungry and 

you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and 

you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger 

and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you 

clothed me. I was sick and you came to look after 

me. I was in prison and you came to visit me” 

Matthew 25 34-36. 

1. Pastoral and practical support 

Whenever Church of Scotland congregations have 

formal or informal links with Christians who face 

discrimination or persecution, their support and 

encouragement can make a significant difference. 

Christians in minority situations often feel isolated and 

forgotten; therefore contact from other churches can 

be a real encouragement and blessing. Advice might 

sometimes need to be taken as to how to pursue these 

relationships with sensitivity and not to endanger the 

very people we are seeking to support, and contacting 

the World Mission Council for guidance in such scenarios 

would be welcomed. Twinnings between churches 

abroad and Scottish congregations are encouraged by 

the World Mission Council. 

2. Be informed 

The various organisations listed in this report provide a 

considerable amount of information via magazines and 

web-sites.

3. Pray 

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world 

dreams of.” (Tennyson) Possibly the largest organised 

prayer effort is the International Day of Prayer for the 

Persecuted Church (IDOP), which happens worldwide 

every November. It focuses above all on intercessory prayer 

and practical action on behalf of persecuted communities 

of the Christian faith, and also encourages prayer for the 

oppressors, the nations that promote persecution, and 

those who ignore it. 

The signifi cance of prayer is seen in the story of 

Maryam and Marzieh, two young women who were 

imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested 

in March 2009. Maryam and Marzieh were both from 

Muslim families and had become Christians. They 

were arrested, their apartment was searched and 

Bibles confi scated. Neither woman had committed a 

crime under Iranian or international law. At a hearing 

of Tehran’s Revolutionary court in August, the two 

women were ordered to recant their faith, which they 

refused to do, and so they were sent back to prison. 

They were released from prison in November 2009, 

and a recent report said: “In an amazing answer to our 

prayers, Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh 

were released this week after 259 days in prison. They 

send their thanks to you for praying and supporting 

them, ‘Words are not enough to express our gratitude 

to the Lord and to His people who have prayed and 

worked for our release’.” 

4. Writing letters 

A number of agencies (see resource list) keep a record 

of such Christians, and supply appropriate contact 

information along with advice as to how to write to people 

imprisoned for their faith. Every letter sent is important: 

it can lift the morale of the incarcerated individual and 

make prison authorities realise that there is international 

concern about the case. 


It can take only minutes to write a short note or send a 

Christmas card to a prisoner, but the ramifications of this 

simple act can be very powerful. 

5. Lobbying/Advocacy 

The power of lobbying should never be underestimated, 

and there are numerous campaigns, such as Campaign 

for Burma or the Inclusive India campaign, which invite 

people to lobby on behalf of Christian minority groups. 

Making elected representatives aware of concerns 

regarding overseas matters is always valuable, and such 

communication, especially from a considerable number 

of people can inform and influence government policy. 

6. Kirk Sessions 

Kirk Sessions should make the situations of minority 

Christians around the world an important part of their 

regular business, educating church members about 

persecution and discrimination endured by their fellow 

Christians, ensuring that these situations are remembered 

in prayer, encouraging advocacy on their behalf, and 

demonstrating solidarity in practical ways. They may also, 

if they are not already involved in a twinning arrangement 

with an overseas congregation, look seriously at 

exploring this possibility with a congregation in a country 

where Christians are subjected to persecution and 

discrimination. 

7. Support for partner churches 

Whenever a partner church finds itself persecuted or 

discriminated against, the World Mission Council should 

take positive action, whether by sending visitors to that 

church to strengthen publicly the support that is given, 

or by campaigning vigorously on its behalf both to the 

government of that country and through campaigning 

organisations, both Christian and secular. 

8. Inter-religious dialogue 

It is imperative that alongside any advocacy on behalf of 

Christians who face discrimination and persecution there 

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is a corresponding respect for the religious traditions 

of other people. Many partner churches in minority 

situations are convinced that one of the greatest needs 

of the 21 st century is for growing, constructive dialogue 

with the Muslim Community. Churches in the Middle East 

speak of the clamant need for understanding and respect 

between all three Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity 

and Islam. 

Ill-considered advocacy that, often inadvertently, brands 

all members of a given faith community as persecutors 

can contribute to the polarisation which is part of the 

wider problem. 

It is important to eschew any appearance of a partisan 

approach which is concerned only for fellow-Christians 

and unmoved by discrimination or persecution being 

experienced by other religious communities. To stand 

clearly on the side of justice, it is necessary to advocate 

religious freedom for all. It is the furtherance of this 

principle which is the best weapon with which to fight 

the discrimination and persecution currently being 

experienced by minority Christian communities. 

Let us not be silent 

“The greatest sin of our time, is not the few who 

have destroyed, but the many who have remained 

silent”. (Martin Luther King) 

The World Mission Council offers this report to the General 

Assembly in the hope and prayer that the Church of 

Scotland may - 

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for 

themselves, for the rights of those who are destitute. 

speak up and judge fairly, defend the rights of the 

poor and needy.” 

Proverbs 31: 8-9. 

In prayerful and practical solidarity with those of the 

Body of Christ that suffer most, the whole Church will be 

strengthened, the world will be better served, and God 


will be glorified. 

Useful Resources 

Books: 

“Day to Day with the Persecuted Church – 365 Daily 

Readings” by Sovereign World International in cooperation 

with Open Doors. 

Non-Muslims in Muslim Majority Societies, edited by 

Kajsa Ahlstrand and Goran Gunner. 

Eyes of the Tailless Animals: Prison Memoirs of a North 

Korean Woman, by Soon Ok Lee. 

Operation World, by Patrick Johnstone. 

Secret Believers, by Brother Andrew. 

On the Side of the Angels, by Joseph D’Souza and 

Benedict Rogers. 

Modern Saints and Martyrs, by Caroline Cox and 

Catherine Butcher. 

Magazines: 

Connect and Encourage 

Barnabas Aid 

The Open Door Magazine 

Release 

Websites: 

www.world-mission.org 

http://anglicancommunion.org/acns. 

www.asianews.it. 

http://www.barnabasfund.org. 

www.csw.org.uk 

www.opendoorsuk.org. 

www.releaseinternational.org. 

www.steadfastglobal.org 

www.awm.org 

www.interserve.org 

It is anticipated that future reports on much of the 

following ongoing work will be accessible on the 

internet.

Europe 

The Presbytery of Europe’s 17 congregations, mostly 

in mainland Europe but also in Malta, Bermuda and Sri 

Lanka, began as congregations of Scots living or visiting 

abroad - some well over 100 years ago - but their role 

has increased greatly and continues to develop. A new 

summary of this ministry and mission work can be found 

at www.europepresbytery.net. It encompasses everyone 

from international business communities to asylum seekers 

and refugees; worshippers drawn from five continents, and 

from the widest range of Christian backgrounds; mission 

work stretching into Africa, Asia and the Americas. 

Every one of these 17 churches operates in a minority 

situation, offering distinctive reformed Christian worship, 

ministry and mission. A number of these churches also 

actively minister to Christians from persecuted minorities 

– in Sri Lanka, for example, where Christianity is very much 

a minority faith (circa 8%), and Reformed Christianity a tiny 

proportion of that. 

Many of the European congregations have welcomed 

into their heart persecuted Christians from sub-Saharan 

Africa – Ghanaians in Rome and Brussels, Nigerians in 

Turin, and Africans from many countries in Rotterdam 

and Amsterdam. In Malta, very much in the front line 

of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing Africa, there is a 

growing community of Christians from northern and 

central Nigeria, where their lives were directly threatened, 

from northern Ghana, and from Sudan, Somalia and Chad 

– where Christians are also very much in the minority. The 

last year has seen a significant African refugee ministry 

developing through the Scots Church in Malta. 

The churches of the Presbytery of Europe, like the church 

in Scotland, mainly operate within so-called “Christian 

countries” yet of course they face the challenges of 

marginalisation that Christians in all western nations know. 

Moreover as with some of our partner European churches, 

in some countries Protestants, or Christians in general, 

can be more than just marginalised: they can appear to 


be actively opposed at governmental levels. In this past 

year our partners in Waldensian church in Italy have taken 

a brave stand against the Italian government’s rulings on 

refugees. 

In the suburbs of Prague, our partners in the Evangelical 

Church of the Czech Brethren saw the government try to 

take over a building they use to help refugees, especially 

Romany people, to be used as a nursery school. With 

international support from the Church of Scotland and 

others, this attempt was successfully resisted. 

2009 saw four vacant charges being filled – Bermuda, 

Malta, Gibraltar and Lisbon – and Lausanne emerged 

stronger from a period of interim ministry. The Presbytery 

looks forward to the challenges of the coming decade. 

Asia 

The United Nations Development Programme describes 

Asia as the region that is the fastest growing in the world 

while at the same time home to half of the world’s poor: 

a region that houses countries experiencing economic 

transition, two of the world’s largest economies (China, 

India), middle income countries, and countries facing or 

recovering from conflict (including Pakistan, Nepal, Sri 

Lanka, Thailand) 1 . 

This diversity in economic strength is mirrored in the 

faiths of Asia: our partner churches bear Christian witness, 

through their life and service to Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, 

Sikhs as well as to people who may not profess a faith. 

Pakistan 

Leaders and representatives of the Church of Pakistan met 

with partner church delegates for three days in October 

2009. The Moderator of the Church of Pakistan Synod, 

Rt Rev Samuel Azariah (himself a special delegate at the 

General Assembly in 2008) spoke of how instability and 

terrorist violence affected the whole country while religious 

1 http://www.undp.org/asia/ retrieved 14 January 2010 

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extremism, discrimination and intolerance has reached 

new levels. Rt Rev John Samuel, Bishop of Faisalabad, told 

of incidents in his diocese in the villages of Gojra and Korian 

where over 100 houses were burned and damaged and 

nine people died after a dispute over property descended 

into inter-religious violence. Rt Rev Samuel Pervez, Bishop of 

Sialkot, commented about an incident in Sambrial that led 

to death of a young Christian man who was in a relationship 

with a Muslim girl. Both these tragic incidents highlight 

the continued misuse of sections of the Blasphemy Law 

introduced by General Zia-ul-Haq. 

A statement issued by the Church of Pakistan calls for the 

government to repeal this law and implement a range of 

policies to address the discrimination and insecurity felt by 

the Christian community, and also invites civil society to 

work together for peace and justice for all in the country 2 . 

A phrase heard repeatedly was the “Talibinisation of 

Pakistan”, yet in the face of this, the church is developing 

interfaith dialogue and remains committed to witness and 

service through health and educational ministries. There are 

also opportunities for the church to join with civil society 

to de-legitimise the Taliban and reclaim Pakistan for the 

overwhelming majority of moderate, peace-loving people. 

During 2009, after Pakistani Taliban brutally took over 

the Swat valley in the northwest, public opinion for the 

first time turned resolutely against the extremists’ claim 

that they were fighting for Islam. This was followed by an 

offensive by the Pakistan military against Taliban militants 

in Swat Valley which led to a humanitarian crisis as more 

than two million people fled the fighting. According to the 

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this was 

the biggest population displacement since the Rwandan 

genocide in 1994. The Diocese of Peshawar set up a centre 

for displaced Christians in Mardan. 

2 “A Statement by the Church of Pakistan” adopted by the Executive 

Committee of the Synod, 21 October 2009 


Over 100 families were accommodated and fed for nearly 

three months and WMC was one of a number of partners 

who gave grants to support the camp for these Internally 

Displaced People. Two couples were married during their 

stay in the camp while a baby born there was named 

Aman, meaning Peace. Such gestures are symbolic of the 

defiant hope of many Pakistanis of all faiths as they face 

violence and instability. The Pakistan Institute for Peace 

Studies reported 3,021 people killed and 7,334 injured in 

terrorist attacks in the al-Qaeda-inspired insurgency that 

has targeted civilians and destabilized the country. 

There are stories of hope. Jan Masih, a Christian army 

sweeper in Swat, was kidnapped by Taliban and faced 

execution unless he became a Muslim. When Jan said 

he was prepared to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and be 

killed a maulvi (Muslim cleric) intervened and ordered Jan’s 

release on the grounds that he was a true Christian. 

Bangladesh 

Rt Rev Michael Baroi retired as Bishop of Dhaka in 

December 2009 and was succeeded by Rt Rev Paul Shishir 

Sarker who moved from Kushtia to the capital. Rt Rev Sunil 

Mankin was elected as the new Bishop of Kushtia and 

is the first person from the Garo ethnic minority to be a 

bishop in the Church of Bangladesh - an affirmation and 

celebration of the church’s multi-ethnic membership. 

In November 2009 international partners met with 

church leaders in the last in series of consultations 

considering recommendations for the Church of 

Bangladesh Social Development Programme (CBSDP). 

Due to excellent preparation, there was clear acceptance 

of the recommendations contained in the evaluation. 

These covered governance, organisational management, 

programme delivery, financial issues and linkages with 

the wider Church of Bangladesh, partners and donors. 

A working paper developed through the follow-up 

consultation exercises focused on the mission and vision 

of CBSDP and the need to develop an understanding of 

faith- and rights-based development, revisiting goals

and objectives, administrative and management issues, 

staffing policies and salaries, networking and partnership. 

While the general acceptance of the need for review and 

change is clear, there will be difficult decisions ahead for 

the leadership especially regarding staff where there may 

be changes in the roles of some people and salary levels 

will be reviewed. 

WMC advertised for a post of lecturer at St Andrew’s 

Theological College in Mirpur, Dhaka. Unfortunately no 

suitable candidates applied and the Church of Bangladesh 

request WMC to re-advertise in early 2010 for a suitable 

person to teach ministry candidates. 

Nepal 

Dr Mark Galpin was appointed Executive Director of United 

Mission to Nepal in April 2009. UMN “strives to address 

root causes of poverty as it serves the people of Nepal in 

the name and spirit of Jesus Christ.” UMN is a cooperative 

effort between the people of Nepal and a large number 

of Christian organisations from nearly 20 countries on 

four continents. Multicultural teams of Nepali nationals 

and expatriate staff work alongside local organisations in 

less-developed areas of the country, building partnerships 

that lead to healthy, strong and empowered individuals, 

families, and communities. WMC is happy that it will once 

again have a mission partner serving with UMN when Joel 

Gitinji begins his work as Integral Mission Advisor for HIV 

and AIDS. Visit www.umn.org.np for more information. 

WMC continues to build partnerships with National 

Council of Churches in Nepal, Nepal Institute of Theology 

and Nepal Ebenezer Bible College. 

The International Crisis Group describes the political 

situation in Nepal as unstable as “the peace process now 

faces severe tests”. The multiparty consensus on which it 

was based has frayed. The Maoists have not completed 

the transition to non-violent, pluralist politics and the old 

parties remain unrepresentative and out of touch with 

voters. 


The Constituent Assembly, beset by delays, will find it 

hard to meet the May 2010 deadline for writing the new 

constitution. Progress on reforming the security sector, 

including the integration and rehabilitation of former 

Maoist fighters, has been slow and characterised by mutual 

distrust. The continuing existence of two standing armies 

– the Nepal Army and the Maoist People’s Liberation Army 

– is inherently destabilising. 

UN monitoring of both armies is due to end by May 2010. 

Its mission in Nepal, UNMIN, has been extended four times 

but it has been downsized and has no political mandate. 3 

China 

In 2009 WMC withdrew from the Scottish Churches China 

Group and is now an active member of the Churches 

Together in Britain and Ireland’s China Forum which 

“provides a channel of communication between the China 

work and its British and Irish stakeholders. This leads to joint 

action and project collaboration that provides effective 

partnership with the churches in China and Christianinitiated 

organisations working on social development 

issues.” 

It is difficult to estimate the number of Christians in China 

as membership between the official and non-registered 

churches overlap. Further, the official church tends to underreport 

its membership numbers while the non-registered 

churches tend to exaggerate. However, there are thought to 

be 60 to 100 million Christians in China, though some claim 

much higher figures. There are some 25,000 churches and 

30,000 other meeting points. There is one national Protestant 

seminary and 18 regional or provincial seminaries and Bible 

colleges producing some 2,000 graduates annually, though 

standards and curriculum vary. 

WMC’s resources are now available to share with 

organisations and institutions in China who have 

3 http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1265&l=1 retrieved 

13 January 2010. 

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welcomed Church of Scotland as a partner. These 

include the Amity Foundation, an independent Chinese 

voluntary organization created in 1985 by Chinese 

Christians. The Amity Foundation’s activities include 

Education, Social Welfare, Basic Health & Public Hygiene 

(including HIV and AIDS), Environmental Protection, Rural 

Development, Church-run Social Service and Disaster 

Relief, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation. 

At a consultation with international partners in Nanjing 

in October 2009 Qiu Zhonghui, General Secretary of 

Amity Foundation, spoke of the transformation of social 

structures as Chinese citizens change from being Danwei 

(Unit) persons to social persons; as information technology 

and the internet allow for more expression, awareness 

and communication; and the growing importance of 

community. The Amity Foundation faces new challenges: 

Human-Nature conflicts; Urban Poverty; Ageing Society. 

China is in transition and the shift from planned to a more 

market-oriented economy may allow more space for 

NGOs. Qui, in reporting progress also acknowledged that 

there would also be “backward steps”. Strategically, Amity 

Foundation aims to be a resource and a service provider, a 

capacity builder and a policy advocate. More information 

can found at www.amityfoundation.org 

Another partner is Nanjing Union Theological Seminary 

whose new campus was provided by the Chinese 

government. The seminary currently has more than 200 

students, just over half of whom are women, but has 

capacity for 500. There are 30 teaching faculties and the 

seminary is the only national level Protestant seminary 

and the only one permitted to have foreign lecturers. 

Opportunities for sharing with the seminary could include 

grants, scholarships for faculty development, library 

grants, encouraging suitably qualified people from the 

Church of Scotland to go to teach on either short- or 

long-term contracts. The possibilities and outcomes of the 

Church of Scotland’s involvement in a key institution that 

serves a fast-growing church in one of the most important 


countries in the world in the coming century are exciting 

and complex and will challenge our own thinking in the 

years ahead. 

India 

The Moderator, Rt Rev William Hewitt was invited to the 

Church of South India Diocese of Madras last December to 

participate in a series of events celebrating the centenary 

of Bishop Lesslie Newbigin. He and his wife also visited 

a few of the 1,200 churches and worship stations, 200 

schools and colleges and other institutions run by the 

diocese. They met a range of people, including some 

of the 900 catechists and 500 Lay Preachers who assist 

170 ordained ministers in rural and urban ministry. They 

learned, among many other things that the Diocese of 

Madras expects to baptise 5,000 converts and plant over 

100 new churches each year and congregations take turns 

to pray for diocesan ministries from 9am to 5pm each day 

of the year. 

Conclusion 

WMC continues to maintain relationships with partner 

churches in Burma/Myanmar, Singapore, South Korea, Sri 

Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand and together explore ways to 

develop our relationships. WMC believes that the Church 

of Scotland has much to learn from engagements with 

our partners’ churches in Asia as they witness in diverse 

cultures as minority faith communities seeking to leaven 

society. The Church of Scotland, which often seems to be 

trying to manage decline, has the opportunity to learn 

and be revitalised by this part of the world church which 

expects and achieves growth. 

Africa and Caribbean 

Zambia 

The United Church of Zambia (UCZ) continues to grow 

and its membership currently stands at around 3 million 

divided into 1060 congregations with 250 ministers and 

45 Diaconal workers. A good urban example is the new 

St Andrew’s Church on Independence Avenue in Lusaka

which has grown in less than 50 years from a congregation 

of 50 to 9000 today. There is also a Church School that 

meets on the same premises. 

The UCZ’s mission is a holistic one, supplying, equipping, 

facilitating, empowering and healing the community 

enabling building and development. The Church works in 

partnership with the Government to provide health and 

social services. There are a number of schools, clinics and 

hospitals, including Mwandi, which are run by the UCZ. 

At Synod Headquarters the process of reviewing the 

Church structure is underway trying to address the needs 

of the fast-growing membership of the Church. There are 

plans to establish three more offices and departments to 

deal more specifically with women, youth and children. 

The project department is trying to find help with the 

preservation and maintenance of the David Livingstone 

Memorial at Chitambo. The Ministry of Finance has assisted 

with the Synod being able to purchase construction 

material VAT-free. 

The United Church of Zambia’s General Secretary Rev 

Chrispin Mbalazi visited the World Council of Churches 

in Geneva as the UCZ is keen to deepen its ties with the 

ecumenical family. Mr Mbalazi believes there are many 

areas in which the UCZ can contribute to the worldwide 

ecumenical family in the fight against poverty, HIV and 

AIDS and corruption. 

“The church is at the forefront of the fight against HIV and 

AIDS,” says Mr Mbalazi. UCZ is promoting a number of HIV 

and AIDS initiatives from home-based care programmes 

to providing free treatment facilities at hospitals. 

Addressing poverty and corruption is high on UCZ’s 

agenda. Zambia’s relatively small economy, which is 

centred on mining, is feeling the impact of shut downs and 

lay-offs. UCZ are asking the government to take protective 

measures for those affected by job losses. 


In 2008 Zambia experienced devastating floods and in 

order to support the people affected the UCZ became 

heavily involved in training programmes for farmers in 

rural areas in the western part of the country. Although 

at times the problems can seem overwhelming, and the 

capacity of the church so small, the UCZ still tries to do 

what it can. 

Keith and Ida Waddell continue to do good work in 

Mwandi. The Ministry of Education has given the Church 

permission to open its first grade 10 high school class 

this year. Keith has taken on responsibility of overseeing 

the building programme. The work began in July, but 

with some complications the building had to be put on 

hold. However, with the go ahead now given from the 

government there will be a flurry of activity to get things in 

order for the opening. This is another example of the United 

Church of Zambia and the Government working together 

to provide public education for materially disadvantaged 

pupils. UCZ is grateful for the Government’s backing for 

this project to improve the educational opportunities for 

children in its area. 

Ida is the HIV co-ordinator and to date the project has 

1914 HIV+ people under its care of which 1478 receive 

ARVs (Anti-Retroviral Drugs). 155 are children. An 

important development has been the attempt to enroll 

people earlier. There is still a distressing tendency for many 

patients to leave things until it is too late. Stigma and a lack 

of education are still mainly to blame for this. Patients often 

die because they stop taking medication as they have no 

food and are chronically malnourished so are more open 

to opportunistic infections which pull them even further 

down. The starting and stopping of medication is leading 

to cases of treatment failure. 

Malawi 

In May 2009 Malawi held its fourth democratic presidential 

and parliamentary election since 1994. Malawians elected 

President Bingu wa Mutharika for a second term. With a 

resounding victory in the general election, he holds power 

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with a healthy parliamentary majority. While Malawi is 

still among the poorest nations, it has one of the fastestgrowing 

economies in the world and Western donors 

hope its relative stability over the past decade will not be 

disrupted. Poverty, agriculture and health care are the big 

issues for Malawi, where two-thirds of the population live 

on less than one U.S. dollar a day and AIDS has orphaned 

an estimated one million children. 

The Church of Scotland has continued to partner with the 

Scottish Government in supplying funding for the Nkhoma 

Safe Motherhood Programme http://www.nkhomahospital. 

org/ This Programme received one-year funding of £265,000 

at the end of 2008 and it is hoped that the application for 

a continued 3-year funding will be successful. The project 

aims to improve women’s access to health, especially 

complications in pregnancy, by providing training for 

traditional birth attendants. The scheme will also provide a 

number of bicycle and motorcycle ambulances and allow 

the Synod’s health service to update its IT systems. This will 

help to ensure that women are able to reach the hospital 

when problems arise. Maternal health is a priority for the 

government of Malawi where the maternal mortality rate is 

one of the highest in the world. The project has already seen 

a steady increase in the number of admissions to maternity 

units, deliveries and referrals since the start of the project. 

The project has been able to procure 30 bicycle ambulances 

and three motorbike ambulances, set up a revolving fund for 

repairs and provide training in maintenance of the vehicles. 

Helen Scott continues to serve at Ekwendeni Girls 

Secondary School as Deputy Headteacher. David Morton 

has just been appointed at Nkhoma hospital as a Medical 

Doctor. He and his wife Rebekah moved to Malawi at 

the beginning of December 2009 and have settled in 

well. Robert Jones has been appointed as a Pharmacist 

at NkhoMA He will be accompanied by his wife Ritu and 

their two children Sophie, who is three, and Zara who is 20 

months old. The other post which has been filled is that of 

lecturer at Zomba Theological College. 


In December 2009 a series of earthquakes hit the Karonga 

area which comes within the Church of Central Africa 

Presbyterian (CCAP) Synod of Livingstonia. Many people 

lost their homes, and at the time of writing, the CCAP are 

pulling resources together in order to co-ordinate the 

humanitarian activity to support those affected by the 

earthquakes. Many international partners have been able 

to support this. 

Climate Change 

Representatives of 10 African countries met in Ethiopia 

to try to agree a common position on climate change. It 

is considered that African nations are among the lightest 

polluters but analysts say they will suffer the most from 

climate change. One of the criticisms is that Africa fails to 

make its voice heard in the debate. 

However, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), 

Ghana was invited to the Windsor “Alliance of Religions 

for Conservation – United Nations Development 

Programme” celebrations in November 2009 to receive 

an International award from the UN General Secretary 

for the EPC’s leading work on Climate Change. The 

Windsor event, hosted by HRH the Prince Philip brought 

faith leaders together from around the world. The aim 

of the conference was to launch and discuss long-term 

initiatives tackling Climate Change. 

Agenda 21 is one of the development programmes of the 

EPC focusing on sustainable development. It has a poverty 

reduction project in three districts in Northern Ghana with 

an emphasis on nutrition, environment and sanitation. It 

has established sanitation clubs in secondary and primary 

schools equipping them with basic hand tools to facilitate 

cleaning of the environment and to carry out best practice 

demonstrations. 

Programme of Christian Muslim Relations in Africa 

(PROCMURA) 

In 2009 the 50 th anniversary celebrations of PROCMURA 

were held in Nairobi, bringing together over 70 delegates

epresenting circa 25 countries. Representatives from the 

Presbyterian Church of Sudan, the Presbyterian Church 

of East Africa, the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, 

the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria and the Presbyterian 

Church of Ghana were all present. The celebrations, lasting 

four days, considered inter-faith relations across Africa. 

Islam and Christianity are the predominant faiths across 

Africa and PROCMURA’s purpose is to bring both together 

to explore peaceful co-existence. Regardless of faith the 

people of Africa suffer common hardships. Some of the 

key issues highlighted, particularly in respect of women, 

were as follows: 

a) it is commonly felt that scripture is used in a negative 

context when relating to women; 

b) culture impacts negatively on women both in Muslim 

and Christian communities; 

c) violence and other forms of abuse against women is 

common regardless of faith; 

d) whether Muslim or Christian, positions of leadership, 

especially at the local level, are rare for women. 

Zimbabwe 

In Zimbabwe underlying problems persist. However the 

fledgling Government of National Unity has reduced some 

of the political tensions. Since the country, in February 2009, 

adopted the US dollar as its currency the economic climate 

has stabilised. Key workers receive only minimal salaries, 

industry has vanished and the country has overwhelming 

unemployment. The HIV and AIDS pandemic continues 

to wreak destruction on children and adults. Health 

and education services have seriously deteriorated. The 

collapse of social infrastructures endangers community 

health through other epidemics such as cholera. Anyone 

without access to foreign currency is unable to purchase 

food. In the absence of the Rule of Law people’s liberty 

and safety are always at risk. 

Against this background the churches remain a continuing 

source of encouragement and hope. The Presbytery of 

Zimbabwe of our partner church, the Uniting Presbyterian 


Church in Southern Africa, maintains an active presence in 

many urban communities. The Presbytery is in the process of 

establishing 20 new congregations in rural areas by 2012. 

Church of Scotland members John and Mary Miller 

were Scottish Churches World Exchange volunteers in 

Zimbabwe for much of 2009. In October 2009 together 

with the Rev Alistair Shaw, Moderator of the Presbytery 

of Greenock and Paisley, they attended a conference on 

Zimbabwe sponsored in Denver by the Denver Presbytery 

of the United Presbyterian Church of the USA. This ‘Denver 

Summit’ was attended also by five members of the 

Presbytery of Zimbabwe and members of the UK’s United 

Reformed Church Eastern Synod. Important principles 

emerged from the Denver Summit. In this critical era 

for the church in Zimbabwe the value of support from 

overseas partners cannot be overstated. The Presbytery 

of Zimbabwe has designated priority tasks for itself, and 

the three overseas partners have committed themselves 

to contributing material and human resources in support 

of these priorities. 

The four partners determined that the interaction among 

them must be reciprocal. For the church in Zimbabwe 

lives in New Testament times where faith is immediately 

relevant, a matter of life and death. The other partners 

know they have lessons to learn from Zimbabwe about 

life and worship in this dimension. 

The Presbytery of Zimbabwe operates as both a local 

presbytery and also a national church. It is beyond the 

scope of our Locally Supported Partnership – from the 

Presbytery of Greenock and Paisley - to relate adequately 

to the church at national level in Zimbabwe. 

Accordingly the Council’s Africa/Caribbean Secretary will 

further the action plan of the Presbytery of Greenock and 

Paisley by linking them in to the communication systems 

of the wider Church of Scotland. In this way information 

and prayer requests can be co-ordinated across the whole 

church. 

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In addition it is hoped to establish a strategic approach to 

congregational twinnings, to ensure that some Zimbabwe 

congregations are not disproportionately supported 

while others are left out altogether. In support of the 

central structure of the church the Council this year gave 

a second Emergency Grant of £15,000 to the Presbytery of 

Zimbabwe. 

The Council is delighted that the minister of Banchory- 

Ternan West Parish, the Rev Donald Walker, has recently 

accepted a call from St Columba’s Church in Mutare. Donald 

is now a minister of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in 

Southern Africa in the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, and the 

Council commends Donald and his wife Judith to 

the prayers of the whole Church. 

The Council will continue to fulfill the instruction of the 

2009 Assembly to support the Presbytery of Zimbabwe 

with prayer, material and personnel resources. 

The Caribbean 

2009 has seen little engagement with the Caribbean. 

This is due to change in personnel and limited resources. 

However, there continues to be a number of Twinnings 

within Jamaica, Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago. It is also 

planned that the Africa and Caribbean Secretary will visit 

the Caribbean in the latter half of 2010 in order to engage 

more fully with Partner Churches. 

In 2009, the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman 

Islands embarked upon a programme of renewal and 

transformation in response to what has been discerned as a 

God-given call. Using a broad-based approach, the United 

Church undertook a process spanning approximately five 

years which included review, dialogue, prayer, discernment, 

and planning. The exercise of listening and heartfelt 

sharing clearly indicated that the United Church needed 

to renew their approach to ministry in the community. 

This would mean embracing radical restructuring and 

refocusing in an effort to deepen the effectiveness of the 

ministry of the church. 


Israel - Palestine 

Working in the Middle East is neither easy or predictable. 

These factors make our work and witness there all the more 

important – working for peace in an area of conflict, justice 

amidst unfairness and discrimination, reconciliation in the 

face of division, long-term sustainability in a changing 

climate, and above all love for our Christian brothers and 

sisters, and for all our neighbours in the region and beyond. 

The conflict continues, and although it is not open warfare 

as witnessed in Gaza at the beginning of 2009, there is 

simmering disquiet which flares up on occasions such as 

the feast of Rosh Hashana when there were incidents on 

the Temple Mount/ Haram al-Sharif, or house evictions in 

East Jerusalem, or when the pressures of the occupation 

bite too hard on either side. 

2009 saw Israel elect a right-wing government, and 2010 

will see elections for the Palestinian Authority, but many 

voices throughout the land bemoan a leadership vacuum 

with accompanying fatalism or despair about the lack of 

obvious solutions to the conflict or leaders mandated to 

resolve it. 

Great hope was held out for the influence that the new 

US President Barack Obama could have in changing the 

paradigm, especially after a landmark speech in Cairo in 

June 2009, but there has been little development since 

then. 

Some, such as Arik Aschermann, the founder of Rabbis for 

Human Rights to whom the Church of Scotland Guild has 

pledged a grant as part of their interfaith project, foresee 

further bloodshed in war or intifada before peace can 

break out, as he noted in a blog entitled “Armageddon, 

Straight Ahead”. Elsewhere, there are calls for a single, binational, 

bi-cultural state: as Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian 

attorney wrote in the LA Times at the end of 2009 “we 

need to start thinking of how we can live together, rather 

than insist on dying apart.” The Christian presence, though 

small, is an important bridge providing a gleam of hope. 

An important development at the end of 2009 was the

launch of the Kairos Palestine document, a cry for love and 

justice of which more is reported below and accessible on 

www.kairospalestine.ps. 

On the economic front, the end of 2009 saw Israel appear 

to turn the corner out of recession, so that both St Andrew’s 

Guesthouse and the Scots Hotel had high-performing 

months of November and are set for continued recovery 

in 2010. Last year’s report made reference to the fact of 

“change being a constant” in the Middle East, but the 

Council is happy to report that this year, consistency 

of staff and stability within our own team have enabled 

relationships to be established and work to be progressed 

in a more considered and sustainable fashion. A particular 

strength is the commitment to the region, to peace, to 

our Christian partners, and to witnessing to the Gospel 

of Jesus Christ that the increased number of permanent 

appointments is seen to embody. 

Parish Ministry 

St Andrew’s Scots Memorial Church, Jerusalem with St 

Andrew’s Church in Tiberias form the basis of a Parish 

Grouping, with a Minister and Associate Minister. The 

Minister, Rev George Shand took up his post in Holy Week 

2009 and Rev Colin Johnston, took up the post of Associate 

Minister at Tiberias in October 2009. Thus for the first time 

for a number of years there is a team for ministry with a 

long-term commitment to the church and to building 

relationships. This work includes: 

• nurturing and developing the local congregation which 

includes local people and expatriates on longer termcontracts; 

• providing support and guidance, where required, to 

staff of all three Church centres in which the staff group, 

coming from a wide range of cultural and religious 

backgrounds, refl ects the commitment of the Church 

to the whole of the community; 

• connecting positively with the many visiting groups 

and individuals who want to know about the work of 

the church and helping them understand more fully the 


Palestine-Israel issues as the church experiences them; 

• working extensively within the local community 

to support all those who seek to make a positive 

contribution to their own community and to peaceful 

living together. 

Local Partnerships 

We have two formal partnerships. The first is a longstanding 

partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem 

which has involved exchanges of personnel and support 

of projects and has encouraged congregational twinning 

opportunities. The main focus of current activity with the 

Diocese is the development of a ‘Peace, Reconciliation 

and Interfaith Centre’ in Tiberias. The centre is an exciting 

development which would utilise our church building and 

work alongside our church. A Partnership Working Group 

meets regularly to take this forward. 

In March 2010, the Moderator, Rt Rev William Hewitt, 

signed a Partnership Agreement with the Evangelical 

Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). 

The general terms of this agreement were approved at the 

2009 General Assembly. As with the Episcopal Diocese the 

WMC looks forward to developing our relationships with 

the ELCJHL, ensuring a mutually beneficial arrangement. 

The Local Christian Presence 

Crucially important is the support of local churches. The 

Christian community is a minority group which finds that 

the tensions of the region have a disproportionate impact 

on it. One result of this is that many young local Christians 

are leaving the region and the Christian community is 

getting smaller. The Church of Scotland is one of the 

international churches that the Middle East Council of 

Churches look to for positive support and understanding 

of their experience. 

At the end of 2009 the local churches, supported by 

the World Council of Churches, launched what is now 

called the ‘Kairos Palestine’ document. This controversial 

document is supported by the leaders of all the local 

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churches, and by most of the organisations the Church of 

Scotland works with and would call partners. It therefore 

has implications for the work of the church on the ground 

in Israel-Palestine, and what it can do to support partner 

churches in what will be a difficult and perhaps dangerous 

time for them. They have expressed what they see as 

the distinctive Christian message that arises out of their 

experience, and that Gospel challenge is for all parties 

within the conflict situation in the Middle East, particularly 

Israel, and for churches throughout the world. It is crucially 

important that the document is understood for what it is, 

and the positive things it can offer. Debate in this region 

is so often not about what is said but about defending 

positions against attack. It is important that the debate 

on ‘Kairos Palestine’ is actually about what is said, and the 

Church of Scotland can have a role in contributing to this. 

International Partnerships 

At the end of the Kairos Palestine document the writers 

encourage others to, “.....come and see our reality.” It is a 

continuing priority of the Church of Scotland in Israel- 

Palestine to find ways to build an increased understanding 

of the issues in the Middle East and the experience of local 

people of good will. To this end the Council encourages 

Twinning at every opportunity, and support projects 

such as the Guild Israel-Palestine project with Christian, 

Muslim and Jewish organisations. It is a priority to find 

ways to link the Church in Scotland, and other areas, with 

the experience and reality of Christians here in Israel- 

Palestine. 

Tabeetha School in Jaffa 

Led by Mr Antony Short and a competent and experienced 

Senior Management Team, Tabeetha School continues to 

improve its performance and reputation as a good quality 

school where a happy, creative and productive atmosphere 

is maintained in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multinational 

environment. Pupils and parents were proud to 

be able to bring samples of their nation’s cuisine for the 

school’s “International Food Day” in October, enjoyed in 


a room strewn with flags of the 35 nationalities at the 

school. 

As the children grow and learn together, leaving politics 

at the door, they demonstrate that the conflict so often 

seen in this region need not be repeated down the 

generations. 

While not focused entirely on grades and statistics, the 

school is pleased to be able to report an improving trend 

of “strength in depth” so that although the graduating class 

was a mixed bag of results, the next year down performed 

exceptionally well at AS-level, and the GCSE class obtained 

a result of 78% A-C grade, far above the sub-50% reported 

a decade ago and above the national average in England 

and Wales of 67% at A-C Grade. The high quality and 

reputation are also shown in the continued demand which 

results in the school continuing to fill all of its 330 places, 

attract a full quota of staff, and retain students to A-level. 

The school’s new Amuta status has helped with relations 

with public authorities, and has also been a driver for 

improvements in governance, documentation and 

administrative efficiency. 

A new parents’ group has been invaluable in strengthening 

the school’s good relationships with the local community, 

while an alumni group started by alumni is improving 

connections with former pupils of Tabeetha all over the 

world. 

St Andrew’s Scots Guesthouse, Jerusalem 

St Andrew’s continues to receive praise and commendations 

for its warm atmosphere, high quality and friendly service, 

but does not sit on its laurels. 

Mr Rimon Toubassi has kept a close-knit, high-performing 

team, rewarding good performance and encouraging 

loyalty. The guesthouse gardens have been significantly 

improved and consistently maintained to create an 

attractive outdoor space to complement the renovated 

interior, and which is used commercially for special events

as well as to provide a resource for our partners such as 

a youth group from the Sabeel Ecumenical Centre and a 

charity bazaar each spring. The guesthouse interior has 

also been kept up to date with continued improvements 

to accommodation and to the library. 

Despite the Gaza conflict at the beginning of 2009, and the 

global economic crisis which impacted the first quarter 

of the year, the Guesthouse’s financial performance 

remained high, returning £102,000 in lease payment and 

net operating profit, while covering more of the “shared” 

central costs of the Church’s operations in the country and 

spending very little on advertising. A particular success 

has been the relaunching of the Guesthouse’s weekend 

brunches, which have attracted a varied clientele and 

increased revenue while also building a “buzzing” but 

not intrusive atmosphere. The Guesthouse hosted 28 

groups in 2009, and pilgrims were common guests, both 

as individuals and groups, and the guesthouse has been 

happy to welcome many visitors from the Church of 

Scotland. 

Scots Hotel, Tiberias 

Mr Shimon Kipnis has skilfully managed the Scots Hotel 

through a challenging year in terms of economic recession 

and political conflict, both of which struck the premium 

tourism in the regions hard, so that the Scots Hotel was 

not as badly hit as the general market in Tiberias and 

Galilee. The hotel’s occupancy rate was 59% and despite 

more than 60% unexpected increase in municipal rates it 

returned £176,000 in lease payments and net operating 

profit. It continues to receive plaudits and positive press 

both locally and abroad as a high-quality boutique hotel, 

professional and with a warm and friendly atmosphere, 

employing a loyal team from a multi-ethnic and multireligious 

local community. 

During the year the hotel has welcomed Christians either as 

individuals or in groups. In addition to hosting 206 pilgrim 

groups from outside Israel and Palestine, the hotel has 

been a centre of hospitality for 50 local Christian groups to 


whom the hotel and Church are made available through 

subsidies. It is hoped that the demand on subsidies will 

increase and anticipated that the demand can be met 

from the hotel. 

Social Enterprise 

During the past year, the Leadership Team of the Church 

of Scotland’s Centres in Israel Palestine, including the 

heads of each Centre and the two Ministers, have 

come together regularly to share their experiences and 

encourage each other. In spring 2010, this team took two 

days away to build stronger relationships and consider 

their roles as part of a single entity in Israel Palestine. Part 

of this process of examining and defining our Values, 

Vision and Mission over the year has been a growing 

sense of responsibility to our history, community and 

environment, and steady progress along the road to 

being united as a social enterprise. 

Working towards an assessment by Good Corporation 

on corporate responsibility of each Centre, including 

educational quality indicators for Tabeetha as well as 

indicators of governance, community relations, good 

employment and good management, the team now aims 

towards a higher goal of having a positive impact on the 

local community and its challenges. This will infuse the 

principles of reconciliation being implemented in the 

Centre for Peace, Reconciliation and Interfaith Dialogue, 

and link with similar initiatives in other Councils and 

areas of the Church of Scotland both within and outwith 

Scotland and Israel Palestine. 

Scottish Churches World Exchange 

Since its inception in 1992 the Church of Scotland has 

led the way in the development of World Exchange as an 

ecumenical instrument of the Churches in Scotland. SCWE 

is jointly owned and managed by the Church of Scotland, 

the Scottish Episcopal Church, the United Reformed 

Church and the Roman Catholic Church through SCIAF. 

This ecumenical structure has given considerable freedom 

to experiment with different forms of voluntary service 

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throughout the world. Volunteers who served through 

SCWE in 2009 are listed in Appendix VI to this report. 

Since 1992 approximately 600 volunteers from all walks 

of life have served in over 20 countries of the world most 

of whom have been deeply influenced by the witness 

and commitment of the church they encountered while 

overseas. Many have remained in contact with the place 

they worked and the people with whom they shared part 

of their life. 

In addition, World Exchange has been instrumental in 

developing new opportunities for service, for example, 

with the support of the Board of National Mission as was, 

to develop a volunteer programme in Scotland; with 

the University of Malawi launch a successful volunteer 

programme in “Malawi for Malawians”; developing the 

CCAP Likhubula House in Malawi supporting the welfare 

and education of orphans, providing activity weeks for 

over 2,000 local young people and developing curriculum 

activities for leadership courses with the assistance of 

Glenmore Lodge and other Scottish outdoor centres. 

Despite its success on many fronts SCWE has been 

challenged over recent years by reduced income from 

its members and increasing costs of its activities and in 

February, reluctantly, took the decision to wind down 

its operation. While work continues in that process 

World Mission Council is exploring how, within its own 

resources, it can continue with a volunteer programme 

as an invaluable strand of service which compliments the 

Council’s strategy in partnership of “saying it with people”. 

Overseas Charges 

St Andrew’s Nassau and Lucaya Kirk, Freeport: the 

Next Step towards the Presbyterian Church of the 

Bahamas 

It has been a long-held ambition of the Church of 

Scotland congregations in the Bahamas to form their 

own denomination, following the example of many 

other churches around the world which began their life 


under the wing of the Kirk. Senior elders speak of having 

advocated this move as long as fifteen years ago. Since 

2005 the World Mission Council has been encouraging the 

fulfilment of this dream and reported to the 2008 General 

Assembly that: “The two congregations in the Bahamas 

plan to form a Presbyterian Church of the Bahamas and 

are working on the preparation of a constitution attuned 

to local conditions while being rooted in their Church of 

Scotland history.” A year later, in 2009, the Council reported 

to the General Assembly that there was evidence of “fresh 

impetus to the aspiration to form a Presbyterian Church of 

the Bahamas, initially comprising the Church of Scotland 

charges.” 

A significant development during 2009 is that the Kirk 

Sessions of the two charges came to the view that, while 

the formation of a Presbyterian Church of the Bahamas 

remained their goal, at this stage they do not have the 

capacity to run a denomination on their own. They 

therefore propose, as an interim step, to affiliate to the 

Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the USA. Unlike the 

Presbyterian Church (USA), this denomination is willing 

to admit congregations outside the borders of the USA. 

Furthermore it has a Presbytery in Florida, very close to 

the Bahamas, where the two congregations could have 

the experience of being part of a working Presbytery and 

benefit from the capacity and supervision which it offers. 

The Kirk Sessions therefore decided to recommend to 

the congregations that they should leave the Church of 

Scotland at the General Assembly of 2010 and join the 

Evangelical Presbyterian Church. At a formally constituted 

meeting of Lucaya Presbyterian Kirk it was moved: “That 

we the members of the Lucaya Presbyterian Kirk, after a 

long and happy association with the Church of Scotland, 

do now agree to permanently separate ourselves from the 

Church of Scotland forthwith.” On a vote being taken, 40 

members voted in favour and three against. It was further 

moved: “That the Lucaya Presbyterian Kirk offer itself as a 

candidate for membership in the Evangelical Presbyterian

Church of America”. On a vote being taken, 40 members 

voted in favour and three against. 

At a formally constituted meeting of St Andrew’s 

Presbyterian Kirk it was moved that the following steps be 

taken: 

Step 1 – Go through the process of being released from 

the Church of Scotland and make our affiliation with the 

Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). We will also magnify 

our profile in Nassau by using the 200th Anniversary [of 

the congregation] (and the 450th of the Reformation) to 

have special events highlighting our heritage. Provide 

intensive training and teaching for members and elders 

regarding our faith. 

Step 2 – With the help of the resources of the EPC we 

expand our mission in Nassau as we try and reach a new 

generation of worshippers for the Kirk. We begin a series 

of talks with potential candidates for joining us in the PCB 

including more interaction between the Kirks already 

existing in the Bahamas. 

Step 3 – Work on a constitution that will establish the 

practices and procedures of the new denomination. 

Step 4 – The formation of the new denomination. 

On a vote being taken, 32 members voted in favour and 

16 voted against. At the mission station on Abaco, two 

members voted in favour and four voted against. The total 

vote was therefore 34 members in favour and 20 against. 

The motion therefore carried. 

Following the congregational meetings, the Evangelical 

Presbyterian Church confirmed its willingness to receive 

the two congregations. In October 2009 the Convener and 

Secretary of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council 

Overseas Charges Committee visited both congregations 

and found a very positive spirit in regard to membership 

of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church as an interim step 

towards the formation of a Presbyterian Church of the 


Bahamas. The Council therefore recommends that the 

two congregations be released with the blessing of the 

2010 General Assembly as they take forward their life and 

witness in the Bahamas. 

Implications for the Church of Scotland 

Should the above recommendation be accepted, there 

would remain only one overseas charge: Greyfriars St 

Ann’s linked with Arouca and Sangre Grande in Trinidad. 

In this event, the Council recommends that the Overseas 

Charges Committee be discharged and responsibility for 

the overseas charge in Trinidad passed to the Africa and 

Caribbean Committee. Since the latter Committee already 

has responsibility for partnership with the Presbyterian 

Church of Trinidad and Tobago, it is well placed also to 

exercise responsibility for the Church of Scotland charge 

in that country. 

Local Development 

Working together with the Panel on Review and Reform 

following the Commission of the General Assembly of 

2008 for ‘a study into the effectiveness of overseas mission 

on the life of the local church communities, where they 

have an interactive partnership with an overseas project’ 

has been an opportunity for the World Mission Council 

to have on record the findings of a piece of independent 

research. 

The document ‘Partnership in Mission’ will be presented 

as part of the Panel’s report to the Assembly but it is 

important to note its significance here also. The impact of 

world-wide partnership can be seen in the comment of 

one church member of their experience of being part of a 

twinning in Zambia “It has been a life-changing experience 

for me. It has been a joy to watch people grow through this” 

or that of a member who was involved in hosting a family 

during a twinning visit with a congregation in the Czech 

Republic “They changed from being visitors to being friends 

and part of our family, and so they remain.” The document 

highlighted not only the benefits but also the challenges, 

therefore providing a working document for the World 

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Mission Council as it seeks to resource congregations, 

engaging with them to recognise their unique situation 

and to contribute effectively. The study has shown that 

partnerships at local level in Scotland with the world church 

are many and varied. However, the growing demand for 

developing twinnings with Partner Churches has had an 

impact on the work of the Council, in particular in relation 

to resourcing Church of Scotland Congregations. 

The addition, in December 2009, of a new member of staff, 

Karen Francis, whose main responsibility will be to help 

congregations as they take the early steps along the road 

of twinning, has been a positive step. 

The research has informed the development of new 

resource material for twinnings including a monitoring 

and evaluation tool which has just been piloted by Lothian 

Presbytery and their partner the Diocese of the Eastern 

Himalayas, and Murrayfield Parish Church and their partner 

community of Kwamibekrom in Ghana. Other resources 

are in development including information about safety 

and security when planning visits. 

‘Saying it with people’ has become a mantra of World 

Mission Council and it is the opportunity for making 

personal connections that often results in growth, 

both individual and corporate. It is inspiring to see the 

breadth of this within the Faithshare Programme, (see 

appendix six) and realize this is only a cross-section of 

world connections for the whole Church. 19 members 

of Tarbert Youth Fellowship on arrival back on the 

Isle of Harris after visiting Hebron Church, Tansen, 

Nepal wrote “The trip was a time of real blessing – every 

member learned something important and saw God at 

work in significant ways. We developed our relationship 

with members of Hebron Church and look forward to this 

increasing in the future. Through us the wider community 

on Harris are now benefiting from our experience.” The 

congregation of Auchtermuchty linked with Edenshead 

and Strathmiglo had the opportunity to receive visitors 

but also to visit Namadzi CCAP in Malawi this year. 


During the visit they met MacDonald Kadawati, General 

Secretary of CCAP Blantyre Synod who spoke of the 

positive ethos of partnership, welcoming shared values 

and the opportunity to move forward together. 

“Tiyende Pamodzi…lets go together along dusty roads, under 

the searing sun, on foot, by the light of the moon, sharing 

faith under the mango tree or in a mud built prayer house. … 

as Jesus would have done.” So what next? This is usually the 

question after a Faithshare visit and it is usually a multifaceted 

answer. 

One component of the answer seen in the report from 

Orkney Presbytery after a visit from members of Thyolo 

Highlands Presbytery in Malawi was to work towards 

engagement with the wider community in both countries 

to bring a long-term focus and new resources to 

strengthen the whole partnership. Summing up a visit to 

Methillhill and Denbeath Church their Trinidadian Partners 

said “the essence of the twinning is in discovering what we 

have in common. It is like opening a door to fresh air, it is 

invigorating, refreshing and we are all wondering why it was 

not done before!” 

Ness Bank Church in Inverness has been in regular email 

and skype contact with a church in Nanping City, China. As 

a trusting relationship has developed, they have been able 

to share information about difficult circumstances which 

in turn have been upheld in prayer. 

St Michael’s Parish Church, Linlithgow have approached 

their twinning with Holy Family Episcopal Church in Raineh, 

Galilee as a journey of friendship, in response to the cry 

of Holy Family for friends in the wider world to walk with 

them in their life and work in a most challenging context. 

Christians comprise less than 2% of the population, and 

life for Palestinians in Israel has become increasingly 

difficult. Good friends support each other, and St Michael’s 

folk are seeing more clearly the need for advocacy on 

behalf of Palestinian Christians, not as part of an issuebased 

solidarity but as part of a developing understanding

through friendship in Christ’s name, seeking together the 

peace and well-being of all. 

It is a regular occurrence to work with colleagues in 

other Councils to bring a World Dimension to their 

work. It was most definitely a success, despite a huge 

commitment of time and resources to bring 17 children 

and six adults from Kenya, Zambia, Malawi and Hungary 

to the National Children’s Assembly on Iona in Octobe 

2009. Their integration with Scottish children was almost 

instantaneous and bonds of lifelong friendship were 

formed. Shared learning between the leaders was a 

positive experience and has led to the first Children’s 

Assembly being planned for CCAP Synod of Livingstonia 

in Malawi to take place in April, 2010. 

The Priority Areas Committee of Ministries Council and World 

Mission Council both work in spheres which are considered 

the margins of society. One area of mutual connection 

is through the Together for a Change Project where 

communities see how people in another part of the world 

deal with various issues which in turn helps to see problems 

differently and hopefully offer new insights and solutions. 

During the next three years four new communities are being 

supported to learn with and from each other. The impact of 

this project on the lives of some of the poorest people living 

in Scotland and within communities in some of the poorest 

countries in the world has been and is continuing to be 

significant. One of the newest links is between Greenock 

East End and Zambia Compound, Kafue, Zambia. In both 

communities there is significant unemployment due to 

closure of local industry. 

The World Mission Council is committed to working with 

Priority Areas Committee, other Councils and Committees 

of the Church as well as a wide range of broader partners 

to deliver its Action Plan for the next seven years. Many of 

our Partner Churches work in fragile situations: economic, 

climatic, political or religious instability are some examples. 

The courageous nature of partners in these situations is 

often inspirational and the potential for shared learning for 


the whole church when our two committees co-ordinate 

work is huge. 

It is impossible to open a newspaper, magazine or watch 

television these days without hearing a mention of 

Climate Change. World Mission Council as a stakeholder 

in the Church of Scotland Climate Change Programme 

has committed itself to ensure a global dimension within 

its work and has taken the lead in the production of a 

module for Eco-congregations relating to the International 

dimension of Climate Change. Our Partner Churches 

in Bangladesh consistently ensure this very important 

subject remains high profile as year by year they lose 

land to the sea. Issue 33 of WM, the Council’s magazine 

challenges congregations to think beyond ‘being green’ to 

tackling the root causes. Congregations involved in links 

with overseas partners often are moved by the reality of 

the effects of climate change. The congregations of Papa 

Westray linked with Westray, pride themselves on their 

3rd Eco-congregation award but also are challenged to 

share together with their Malawian partners sustainable 

methods of combating Climate Change. 

Our campaigning activities and advocacy are important 

to our Partners overseas; many who are unable to make 

their voice heard in the international arena ask us to do 

it for them. We continue to encourage congregations 

to share with members ways in which they can be part 

of something bigger: signing a campaign postcard 

demand justice for persecuted Christians; joining 

together with the 8000 people making their voice 

heard at ‘The Wave’ in Glasgow in December 2009 or 

continuing to lobby MP’s to ensure funding promises 

by the rich nations of the world to the Global Fund for 

TB, HIV and malaria are kept. It was good to have Joy 

Tudu in Scotland in September. Joy, an activist working 

with the Church of North India, shared passionately his 

work in relation to land rights of Adivasis in Jharkhand 

and the issues related to prevention of land grabbing 

that are affecting the communities. 

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The project receiving support from the Boys Brigade World 

Mission Fund in 2010-11 is Bethesda Children’s Hospital in 

Budapest, run by the Reformed Church of Hungary. This 

was unveiled in Stornoway in November 2009 when the 

2nd Stornoway Company hosted the Moderator as he 

received £12,000 for the previous year’s project. 

The occasion was marked by the commissioning of a new 

pipe tune called ‘The World Mission’ written by Pipe Major 

Peter Mackay. 

In a world where communication methods are constantly 

evolving thought has been given this year to development 

of new resource materials and refreshment of others. 

The WM magazine has been given a new look and is 

being launched at the time of the General Assembly. One 

very practical reason for this is to reduce postage costs. 

However it is also available on the website to download, as 

is our weekly e-newsletter ‘Update’. Several very interesting 

short audio files have been created and used by radio 

stations around Scotland and further afield. These too are 

available on the resource section of the website. 

Plans are in place for new resource materials, both 

web based and printed and these will be available by 

September. Working with our Mission Partners, we are 

seeking to update the Partner Plan Scheme, and are 

encouraging them to use blogs. It is hoped to develop 

these along with our Facebook profile during 2010. 

In the spirit of Church without Walls over the next year 

World Mission Council is decentralising its conferences 

for its key stakeholders at local level, the World Mission 

Presbytery Conveners. Plans for 5 events around the 

country which will allow training, information and sharing 

not only for the Presbytery Conveners but for members 

of congregational world church teams also are underway. 

Working with small regional groups we hope to provide a 

forum for networking opportunities and sharing of good 

practice and inspirational stories. 


HIV/AIDS Project 

The Council has continued to assist with the provision 

of administrative support for this project of the Church. 

During the year, as noted within the Council of Assembly’s 

report, it became clear that the Councils of the Church were 

finding it difficult to provide funding beyond 2010 to assist 

with the staffing of the project. This reality required the 

World Mission Council to consider its continuing support 

for the project. The outcome was a resounding agreement 

to continue the management and administration of the 

“Church of Scotland HIV Programme” entirely from within 

its own resources from the 1st January 2011 for three 

years in the first instance. The Council looks forward to the 

continuing and encouraging support of the Programme 

from congregations and presbyteries. 

St Colm’s College 

It was with great regret that the World Mission Council 

has taken the decision to sell St Colm’s College in 

Edinburgh. Opened in 1909 as the Women’s Missionary 

College of the United Free Church, and most recently 

being the headquarters of Scottish Churches World 

Exchange, St Colm’s has been the place in which many 

have been prepared for mission and service in Scotland 

and throughout the world. Its history has been long 

and distinguished, and it rightly holds a fond place in 

the hearts of those who have been associated with it. 

However, following extensive research, and noting the 

amount of money required to maintain and to develop St 

Colm’s for use in the 21st century, the Council recognised 

that it does not have the resources that such a building 

requires. In reporting this difficult decision, the Council 

salutes the hard work and dedication of the Friends of St 

Colm’s, Scottish Churches World Exchange and all who 

have cherished the place over the years. 

Edinburgh 2010 

‘Edinburgh 2010’ has been established to celebrate 

the centenary of the Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary 

Conference, which strengthened evangelistic work

worldwide and led to the emergence of the ecumenical 

movement of the twentieth century, including the 

formation of the World Council of Churches (WCC). In 

2000-1 ‘Towards 2010’ was formed as a Scottish conference 

series reviewing the eight ‘commissions’ which had formed 

the substance of the 1910 Conference. In 2005-6 Towards 

2010 helped in the formation of an international process 

which led, in 2007, to it taking the title ‘Edinburgh 2010: 

Witnessing to Christ Today’. 

In April 2007 Dr Daryl Balia, a South African missiologist 

and an ordained Methodist, was appointed International 

Director for the project with an office at New College, and 

employed by the University of Edinburgh. 

In September 2007 the General Council met for the first 

time in Edinburgh and became in effect the governing 

body for the project. With 20 representatives from all the 

major World Church denominations the General Council 

is unprecedented, bringing together the Anglican, 

Evangelical, Protestant, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and Roman 

Catholic churches. 

From the start the opportunity for Scotland to ‘welcome’ 

the World Church to this celebration was recognised as 

important, and the Scottish Coordinating Team (SCoT), 

set up by Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), 

has been arranging the practical support. Although only 

partially a project of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh 

2010 has been reported on to the General Assembly for 

the last five years. 

These reports have been included in the Council Reports 

with cross references in the Reports of Mission and 

Discipleship and Ecumenical Relations. As the host nation 

Scotland clearly has a particular place in helping to bring 

this project to a successful conclusion. The General Council 

is grateful to the Church of Scotland for agreeing, through 

the World Mission Council, to handle the project’s finances, 

and, through the Ecumenical Relations Committee, for 

employing one staff member. 


This last year has seen significant progress towards a 

successful and worthy celebration of 1910. Under the able 

management of Dr Kirsteen Kim the study process has 

continued to explore the nine key themes relating to the 

nature of the Christian faith and mission today through 

a wide range of meetings and conferences around the 

world. The results of this process will be available in a 

special publication produced for the June conference. 

At its meeting in April 2009 the General Council aware of 

the impact of the world-wide recession and the shortage 

of funds, decided to reduce the conference from 1000 

delegates to 250. The conference arrangements are being 

handled by the University of Edinburgh’s Office of Life- 

Long Learning. 

The conference is to take place at the Pollock Halls, 

University of Edinburgh, from 2 – 6 June 2010, with a 

closing act of worship in the Assembly Hall on Sunday 

6 June at 3 pm which it is expected over 1,000 people 

will attend. The project has been very well served by the 

employment of Dr Jasmin Adam as Communications 

Officer with the remit of handling its communications 

and public relations aspects. Through the development 

of a website, a monthly newsletter, brochures, and using 

Facebook and Twitter, the project is well placed to enable 

participation by a world-wide audience. Plans are being 

made to stream the conference’s closing act of worship 

on the internet. 

Three publications during the year have made significant 

contributions. Professor Brian Stanley’s ‘The World 

Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910’ promises to 

become the definitive history of the 1910 Conference, 

Professor David Kerr and Professor Kenneth Ross edited 

‘Edinburgh 2010: Mission Then and Now’, a retrospective 

assessment of the eight commissions of the 1910 

Conference, and Professor Ross produced ‘Edinburgh 

2010: Springboard for Mission’, a primer which both looks 

back to 1910 and helpfully sets the context for 2010 and 

the challenge for the next century. By the time of the 

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conference it is expected that ‘Edinburgh 2010: Witnessing 

to Christ Today’ edited by Dr Balia and Dr Kim will also have 

been published. 

Those who would like to know more about Edinburgh 

2010, and who would like to be involved, are advised to 

go to the website www.edinburgh2010.org and follow the 

links. Following the close of the Assembly the final lecture 

of the Alexander Duff Lectures will be given by Professor 

Dana Robert in the Assembly Hall. This will be something of 

a ‘curtainraiser’ for the June conference, and is open to all. 

“Give thanks to God for the worldwide impact of the 

Edinburgh 1910 World Missionary Conference, encourage 

congregations to pray for fruitful outcomes from the 

centenary conference, and extend a warm welcome to all 

who travel to Scotland in connection with the centenary.” 

In the Name of the Council 

COLIN C RENWICK, Convener 

STEWART GILLAN, Vice-Convener 

SHIRLEY BROWN, Vice-Convener 

ADDENDA 

The Rev Colin C Renwick 

In 2010 Rev Colin Renwick completes his term of offi ce 

as the Convener of the World Mission Council. It is with 

deep appreciation for both his person and work that we 

bid farewell to Colin Renwick as Convener of the World 

Mission Council. Having served as Convener of the Middle 

East Committee during the fi nal years of the Board of 

World Mission, he answered the call to succeed Alan Greig 

as Convener of the Council in 2006. The Council, a year into 

its mandate, faced the considerable challenge of having 

to fi nd its way forward in the wake of signifi cant cuts to 

the World Mission budget, the reorganisation of mission 

partnerships into centrally and locally supported work, 

and the resultant redundancies in mission partner posts. 


In response, Colin has led the Council with wisdom and 

compassion, leavened with his characteristic wit and good 

humour. He has represented the Church on important 

occasions in the life of overseas partner churches, and 

has been an energetic advocate for World Mission in the 

wider Church at home. His leadership regarding Israel and 

Palestine has been of crucial value, particularly with regard 

to the management of our institutions; the recruitment of 

new personnel; the signing of historic partnerships with the 

Diocese of East Jerusalem (Anglican) and the Evangelical 

Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land; and 

organisational and fi nancial support of those working for 

justice and peace. We are grateful as well to his wife Eilidh 

for her understanding and support during a Convenership 

that called for a great deal of time to be spent away from 

home. From Jordanhill to the Jordan and back again, Colin 

has fulfi lled a demanding calling exceptionally well, and 

we wish him and Eilidh joy and continued fruitful service 

in the years to come. 

In the Name of the Council 



Rev Dr Kenneth Ross 

After 11 years as World Mission Council Secretary, Ken 

Ross has returned to parish ministry. With his encyclopedic 

knowledge of the history and personnel of the World 

Church and 10 years of experience as a professor within 

Chancellor College in the University of Malawi, Ken’s 

contribution to the Church of Scotland’s engagement with 

its overseas partners has been considerable. Blessed with 

a keen mind and clarity of expression, Ken has penned 

many fi ne reports for the General Assembly and other 

bodies. It is in no small measure due to his enthusiasm 

and knowledge of the history of global mission and of 

the issues facing churches in the 21st century that the 

Edinburgh 2010 celebrations have taken shape.

Ken’s concern for those who are the victims of poverty and 

oppression throughout the world has been obvious to all 

who know him. He has been a passionate and eff ective 

advocate and will continue to be so. In thanking Ken, and 

in wishing him and his wife Hester God’s blessing in all 

that lies ahead, members of the World Mission Council 

are confi dent that his passion for mission, his ability as a 


communicator and his pastoral sensitivity will stand him in 

good stead in this new chapter of his life. 


COLIN C RENWICK, Convener 



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APPENDIX I 

Staff and family members overseas between 1 January to 31 December 2009 

ASIA 

Church of Bangladesh 

Dr Helen Brannam Doctor Bollobhur Hospital 

(Ecumenical appointment) 

Mr David Hall Development Consultant Church of Bangladesh 

(Ecumenical appointment) 

Mrs Sarah Hall Education consultant Church of Bangladesh 

Rebecca (Ecumenical appointment) 

Reuben and Matthew 

Mr James Pender Environmental/Conservation work Church of Bangladesh, 

Mrs Linda Pender social dev. Programme, 

Meherpur (Ecumenical 

appointment) 

Caribbean, Central and South America 

Bahamas 

Rev Scott Kirkland Minister Lucaya Presbyterian Kirk, 

Mrs Anita Kirkland Colombo 

Pricilla and Sarah 

Rev John Macleod Minister St Andrews Presbyterian 

Mrs Carol Macleod Kirk, Nassau 

Bethany and Andrew 

Trinidad 

Rev John Bacchas Minister Grey Friars St Ann’s with 

Mrs Claudette Bacchas Arouca & Sangre Grande 

Kerri-Ann and Shena-Marie 

Middle East & North Africa 

Israel/Palestine 

Rev George Shand Minister St Andrew’s Scots Memorial 

Mrs Margaret Pressland Church, Jerusalem and 

St Andrew’s Church of 

Scotland, Tiberias


Mr James Laing Regional Manager Israel 

Mrs Nicola-Jayne Laing 

John 

Rev John Cubie Locum Minister St Andrew’s Scots 

Mrs Moira Cubie Memorial Church, 

Jerusalem and St Andrew’s 

Church of Scotland, 

Tiberias 

Mr Anthony Short Principal Tabeetha School, 

Mrs Darya Short Jaff a. 

Joelle and Ezra 

Rev Colin Johnston Associate Minister St. Andrew’s Scots 

Memorial Church, 

Jerusalem and St. Andrew’s 

Church of Scotland, 

Tiberias 

Rev Ian Clark Locum Minister St Andrew’s Church, 

Tiberias 

Rev Alistair McGregor Locum Minister St Andrew’s Church, 

Tiberias 

Rev Ian Alexander International Co-ordinator Sabeel (Ecumenical 

Appointment) 

Mr Jimmy Maxwell Chemistry Teacher Tabeetha School, Jaff a 

Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Malawi 

Miss Helen Scott Teacher Ekwendeni Girls Secondary School 

Dr David Morton Medical Offi cer Nkhoma Hospital 

Mrs Rebecca Morton 

7

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United Church of Zambia 

Rev Colin Johnston Tutor United Church of Zambia 

Theological College, 

Mindolo 

(Ecumenical Appointment) 

Mr Keith Waddell Mission Support Partner Mwandi UCZ Mission, 

(Education) (Ecumenical Appointment) 

Mrs Ida Waddell Mission Support Partner Mwandi UCZ Mission, 

(Medical) (Ecumenical Appointment) 

Ms Jenny Featherstone Trainer Mindolo Ecumenical 

Foundation, 

(Ecumenical Appointment)

APPENDIX II 

DEATHS 

Rev Robert McMahon July 2008 

Rev J Wilfred Moore 10 March 2009 

Rev Robert Manson 4 April 2009 

Rev Lindesay Robertson 23 June 2009 

Miss Helen McMillan 6 September 2009 

Rev Maxwell Craig 26 September 2009 

Miss Margaret Ritchie 6 October 2009 

Mrs Robina Logie 25 October 2009 

Rev Frederick Marshall 28 October 2009 

Miss May Wilson 29 October 2009 

Mrs Lillian Moore 10 January 2010 

Mr Ron Hunston 30 January 2010 

Rev Dr Charles Morrice 26 February 2010 

APPENDIX III 

BRITISH AND IRISH AMITY TEACHERS’ GROUP (BIATG) 

BIATG Teachers currently working in the Peoples Republic 

of China: 

2006 

Christine Green (Wuwei) 

2007 

Kath Saltwell (Lanzhou) 

2008 

Ian Groves (Nanjing) 

2009 

Robert Kenyon (Hezhou) 

Claire Brook (Qinzhou) 

Angela Evans (Lanzhou) 

APPENDIX IV 

MISSION ASSOCIATES 

Tony and Catherine Paton CMS, Lao 

Mike and Jane Fucella Church of Christ, 

Thailand 


APPENDIX V 

WORLD EXCHANGE VOLUNTEERS OVERSEAS 

2009 

Clare Arnold Kenya 

Chris Barr India 

Emma Cowan Malawi 

Judith Craig India 

Blodwin Farquhar Malawi 

Norma Forbes India 

Claudia Fusaro Malawi 

Fiona Grimmond India 

James Hutchinson Malawi 

Fiona Hutchinson Malawi 

Neil Hewitt Malawi 

Sean Keighren Malawi 

Kevin Kilty Malawi 

Dorothy Martin Malawi 

Zsofia Molner Malawi 

Hamish Muiry Malawi 

Ross Muiry Malawi 

Mary Miller Zimbabwe 

John Miller Zimbabwe 

Cecillia Stephens Malawi 

APPENDIX VI 

FAITHSHARE VISITORS 2009/2010 

Father Samuel Barhoum, Holy Family Episcopal 

Church, Raineh, Galilee, Israel. St Michael’s Parish 

Church, Linlithgow, Scotland. (11- 18 February 2009). 

Mr Thomas Joramson, Rev Henry Kaira, PCEA, Umoja 

Parish Church, Nairobi, Kenya. Colinton Parish Church, 

Edinburgh, Scotland. (20 – 31 March 2009). 

Mrs Margaret Cranston, Mrs Susan Macdonald, St 

Kenneth’s Parish Church, Kennoway, Scotland. CCAP, 

Lusangazi Congregation, Synod of Livingstonia, Malawi. 

(17 April – 2 May 2009). 

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Mr Lovemore Mkandawire, CCAP, David Gordon 

Memorial Hospital, Synod of Livingstonia, Malawi. 

Gardenstown and Macduff Parish Churches, Scotland. 

(21 April – 19 May 2009). 

Mrs Elizabeth Mondol, Rev Martin Mondal, Church of 

Bangladesh. Presbytery of Angus. (1 May – 16 May and 1 

May – 26 June 2009). 

Rev John Mlera, Mr Bennet Mukiwa, CCAP, Namadzi 

Congregation, Blantyre Synod, Malawi. Auchtermuchty 

Parish Church with Edenshead and Strathmiglo, 

Auchtermuchty, Scotland. (27 May – 13 June 2009). 

Mr Sameh Bebawy, Coptic Orthodox Church, St Mary’s 

Church, Luxor, Egypt. Luss Parish Church. (1 – 25 June 

2009). 

Mrs Faye Buchan, Rev Elizabeth Fisk, St Ninian’s 

Parish Church, Dunfermline, Scotland. ECCB, Orlova 

Congregation, Czech Republic. (11 – 15 June 2009). 

Mrs Fernella McCarthy, Mr Anthony Bayley, Church of 

Scotland Greyfriar’s St Ann’s, Trinidad. Methilhill and 

Denbeath Parish Church, Scotland. (2 – 6 June 2009). 

Ms Ellie Kapenda, Mrs Esther Kawerama, Mr Stanley 

Mkandawire, Mr Enos Msowoya, CCAP, Ekwendeni 

Hospital. Presbytery of Ross, Scotland. 

(12 June – 2 July 2009). 

Mrs Margaret Misuli, Mrs Joyce Nkandawire, Mr Kester 

Chiwalo, Rev Davidson Moyo, CCAP, Thyolo Presbytery, 

Synod of Livingstonia, Malawi. Presbytery of Orkney. (3 

– 17 June 2009). 

Ms Ashley Liddell, Ms Pamela McTaggart, Rev William 

Hunter, Ruchazie, Glasgow, Scotland. CCAP, Baula, 

Malawi. Together for a Change. (24 June – 14 July 2009). 

Miss Fiona Duke, Miss Suzanne Farrant, St Michael’s 

Parish Church, Linlithgow, Scotland. Holy Family 


Episcopal Church, Raineh, Galilee, Israel. (22 June – 1 July 

2009). 

Miss Kirsty Mackay, Miss Rhona McKellar, Miss Jayne 

Morrison, Mr Ryan Toor, Tarbert Church of Scotland 

Youth Fellowship, Scotland. Hebron Church, Tansen, 

Nepal. (16 July – 3 August 2009). 

Ms Elizabeth Chilvers, Mr Ian MacAulay, Auchtermuchty 

with Edenshead and Strathmiglo Church, 

Auchtermuchty, Scotland. CCAP, Namadzi Congregation, 

Blantyre Synod, Malawi. (22 July – 13 August 2009). 

Mrs Marjory Cowie, Mrs Williamina Hartley, Mrs Mary 

MacDougall, St Ninian’s Parish Church, Glenrothes, 

Scotland. HRC, Ramacsahaza Congregation, Hungary. 

(27 July to 2 August 2009). 

Mrs Heather Johnson, Mr David Johnson, Mr David 

Ogilvie, Rev Gordon Savage, Maxwelltown West 

Church, Dumfries, Scotland. PCEA, Mathia Congregation, 

Karatina, Kenya. (30 July – 11 August 2009). 

Miss Suzanne Farrant, Miss Rachel Hutcheson, Mr 

Colin Scott, COSY, Mission and Discipleship Council. 

ECCB, Youth Camp, Czech Republic. (25 July – 3 August 

2009). 

Mrs Isobel Wood, Newmachar Parish Church, 

Newmachar, Scotland. UCZ, Kitwe, Zambia. (13 – 23 July 

2009). 

Mr Harry Ngwira, Mr Josham Thawi, CCAP, 

Engcongolweni Congregation, Synod of Livingstonia, 

Malawi. Dalgety Bay Parish Church, Dalgety Bay, 

Scotland. 

(30 August – 22 September 2009). 

Mrs Trisha Meyer, St Andrew’s Church of Scotland, 

Brussels, Belgium. PCG, Christ Presbyterian Church, 

Adentan, Ghana. (7 – 25 August 2009).

Miss Tambudzai Makwelele, Miss Mary Musonda, 

UCZ, Chipembi Girls School, Zambia. South Leith Parish 

Church, Edinburgh, Scotland. (6 – 28 August 2009). 

Mr Joy Tudu, Church of North India, Synodical Board 

of Social Services. World Mission Council and Christian 

Aid, Scotland. (1 – 29 September 2009). 

Dr Basil Obasi, Mr Nnanna Uma, PCN, Presbyterian 

Urban Health Services, Aba, Nigeria. Banchory Ternan 

West Parish Church, Banchory, Scotland. 

(3 – 22 September 2009). 

Mrs Carol Chimuzu, Mr Justin Chabwera, Rev Peter 

Kandulu, Mr Clifton Thyangathyanga, CCAP, Balaka 

Congregation, Blantyre Synod, Malawi. Castle Street 

Church, Dingwall, Scotland. (18 September – 13 October 

2009). 

Ms Carol Finlay, Rev Robin Hill, Church of Scotland 

HIV/AIDS Project. CHAM, CCAP Ekwendeni Hospital AIDS 

Programme, Synod of Livingstonia, Malawi. 

(19 – 29 September 2009). 

Mrs Doris MacKenzie, Holy Trinity Church of Scotland, 

Edinburgh, Scotland. Rev Gift Simwera, CCAP, Theological 

College Ekwendeni, Synod of Livingstonia, Malawi. 

(15 September – 7 October 2009). 

Mrs Babra Hunga, Mrs Eunice Lowole, Mr Thomas Hara, 

Mr Martin Nsini, Baula, Malawi. Ruchazie, Glasgow, 

Scotland. Together for a Change. 

(16 September – 5 October 2009). 

Ms Ruby Dagadu, PCG, Osu Ebenezer Congregation, 

Accra, Ghana. Cramond Kirk, Edinburgh, Scotland. (4 – 14 

September 2009). 

Mr Daniel Gaturu, Rev Joseph Njoroge, PCEA, Icaciri 

Congregation, Gatundu, Kenya. Birse and Feughside 

Parish Church, Banchory, Scotland. (19 September – 5 

October 2009). 


Mrs Ana Melo, Rev Abel Padilla, PRCC, Presbytery 

of Havana, Cuba. Moray Presbytery, Scotland. (6 – 20 

September 2009). 

Mr Custom Mwale, Ms Elimase Mndoli, Ms Siza 

Mulambya, Miss Sharon Chikuse, Master David 

Nyirenda, Miss Fannie Nyangulu, Miss Lucy Kaunga, 

Master Hope Soko, Miss Staphel Nkhandwe, Miss 

Mthise Ziba, Master Phunziro Chinula, Master 

Rodwell Madise, Miss Annie Mzumara, CCAP, Synod 

of Livingstonia, Malawi. Mrs Joyce Kafumbe, Miss 

Elizabeth Chibuye, Miss Niza Mbalazi, United Church 

of Zambia. Rev Sicily Muriithi, Miss Caroline Kuria, 

Master Brian Githaiga, PCEA, Kenya. Rev Endre Iszlai, 

Master Marton Viranyi, Master Balazs Barath, Master 

Daniel Stevens, Hungarian Reformed Church and the 

Presbytery of Europe. Mission and Discipleship Council, 

Children’s Assembly, Iona, Scotland. (8 – 16 October 

2009). 

Mrs Rosslyn Scott, Rev Lynn Brady, Abdie and Dunbog 

linked with Newburgh, Scotland. United Church of 

Zambia, Mwandi, Zambia. (5 – 29 October 2009). 

Mrs Gladys Moyo, Mrs Tecla Usayi, Rev Mark Phillips, 

UPCSA, Presbytery of Zimbabwe. Greenock and Paisley 

Presbytery, Scotland. (5 – 20 October 2009). 

Mr Craig Christmas, Mr Paul Christmas, St Blanes 

Church, Dunblane, Scotland. CNI, DISHA, Kalimpong, 

India. (10 – 26 October 2009). 

Mrs Cynthia Douglas, Rev Alexander Douglas, 

Blackhall St Columba’s Church, Edinburgh, Scotland. 

UPCSA, Pirie Mission, Eastern Cape, South Africa. 

(9 – 27 November 2009). 

Mr Joel Gathinji, UMN, HIV and Aids Technical Advisor. 

Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS Project. (12 November – 6 

December 2009). 

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Rev Bill Brown, Dr John Crispin, Murrayfield Parish 

Church, Edinburgh. PCG, Kwamebikrom, Ghana. (10 – 22 

February 2010). 

Mrs Jemima Bell, Mrs Dorothy McMonagle, The Guild 

and World Mission Council, Church of Scotland. 

Interfaith Action in Israel and Palestine. (15 – 27 February 

2010). 

Mrs Grace Millward, Mrs Marilyn McCann, Livingston 

Old Parish Church, Scotland. CNI, St James Church, 

Kolkata, India. (25 February – 8 March 2010). 


Miss Jane Martin, Rev James Simpson, Mrs Anne Stott, 

Mr David Stott, Chalmers Ardler Church, Dundee. 

PCEA, Kayole Congregation, Nairobi, Kenya. 

(6 – 16 April 2010). 

Rev Alexander Horsburgh, Rev Alison McDonald, 

Presbytery of Lothian. CNI, Diocese of Eastern Himalayas. 

(26 April – 13 May 2010).

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND HIV/AIDS PROJECT GROUP 

May 2010 

“The Church as the Body of Christ – how does 

it respond to HIV and AIDS? We must become 

listening churches with large ears – quick to hear 

the challenges of the people; compassionate 

churches with warm hearts; churches with quick 

feet that respond rapidly to need; and touching 

churches with anointed hands. In the Body of 

Christ, churches will have loud voices, raised on 

behalf of the marginalised. They will be researchorientated: 

churches with sharp minds, seeking 

for truth, asking relevant questions and seeking 

relevant answers.” 

Dr Peter Okaalet, Senior Director, Health and HIV/ 

AIDS Policy at MAP International 



1. Receive the report and thank the members of the Project Group and the Project’s partners around the world. 

2. Thank and congratulate congregations around Scotland for their enthusiastic and eff ective participation in Souper 

Sunday 2010 and invite congregations and partner churches to support a similar initiative in January 2011. 

3. Acknowledge and congratulate the Presbyteries who have successfully responded to the Moderator’s Challenge, 

and encourage other Presbyteries to consider how they might respond to the ongoing ‘Challenge’. 

4. Commend the various campaigns urging governments to ‘keep the promise’ regarding universal access to ARVs 

for people living with HIV, and encourage churches and congregations to add their support to such campaigns, as 

they are highlighted on the Church’s website. 

5. Encourage churches and congregations to be aware of the stigma and discrimination facing people living with HIV, 

within Scotland and beyond, and to challenge them in appropriate ways. 

6. Recognise that HIV will continue to be a major issue for our partner churches for the foreseeable future, and affi rm 

the commitment of the Church of Scotland to continue to stand in solidarity with them. 

7. Welcome the intention to establish the Church of Scotland HIV Programme from January 1st 2011 for three years in 

the fi rst instance. 

REPORT 


Nine years ago, in 2001, the General Assembly “expressed 

deep concern, in Christ, for all those aff ected by the rapid 

spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, particularly partner 

churches in the worst aff ected areas” and “recognised that 

confessing faith in Christ and being part of the body of Christ 

involves, in today’s context, both an active engagement in 

the battle against the disease and a loving solidarity with 

those infected.” From this, the Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS 

Project was born, with the stated aims to 

• break the silence on HIV/AIDS; 

• stand together with partner churches; 

• off er practical support; 

• speak up for the voiceless; 

• involve every member of the Church. 

7.1

7.1/2 

For the past eight years the Project has striven to be faithful 

to each of these aims. 

Our belief in a God of love who holds in unity both 

compassion and justice leads us to act in the interests of 

those who live with HIV. We do not see Christ’s Good News 

as being theoretical, but deeply practical: lived out in 

solidarity with those whose experience of life and of death 

have been fundamentally altered by a world in which AIDS 

has played such a destructive part. As disciples of Jesus, 

we know that God calls us to take a stand and to act in a 

direct and eff ective way for our brothers and sisters who 

are infected with HIV or who are aff ected by it. How are 

we to be disciples of the Risen Christ in a world of HIV, if 

not by actions which back up our words? Whom will God 

send, if not us? 

We might ask why HIV and AIDS are justice issues? The 

harsh reality is that poverty leads to high-risk behaviours, as 

do confl ict and war, gender inequality and powerlessness; 

all of these make people vulnerable to ill health, stigma 

and discrimination. HIV also fl ourishes in areas of poverty. 

It is no coincidence that Haiti, the poorest country in the 

northern hemisphere, is the country with the most severe 

HIV epidemic among the Caribbean states and is home to 

half of all people living with HIV in the region. 

The challenges to the church and church members 

are real. Engaging with the reality of the HIV and AIDS 

epidemic can also mean engaging with marginalised 

populations – intravenous drug users, commercial sex 

workers, prison populations, men who have sex with men, 

all of whom have found themselves excluded or judged 

or both by mainstream religion. It also means engaging 

with those who appear on the surface to be successful in 

society, professionals who engage in casual sex who are 

lonely and desperately seeking to purchase fulfi lment. We 

are called as disciples of Jesus who himself embraced the 

marginalised and the vulnerable, and liberated them from 

the stigma and discrimination, ultimately making himself 

vulnerable by dying on the Cross. 


As people of faith we know that the Cross represents both 

death and life – we have a distinctive hope and that hope 

should reach into all corners of life. 

2. A Critical Point 

The global HIV pandemic, now into its 26th year, has 

reached a critical point. Today’s picture is signifi cantly 

diff erent from that of 1996 with its peak of new 

infections. The stabilisation of the incidence of HIV 

globally is an important factor, but despite this there 

are now more people than ever living with HIV (UNAIDS 

report 33.4million people living with HIV at the end of 

2008.) With an estimated 2.7 million new infections 

worldwide in 2008, national strategies used in prevention 

programmes need to constantly evolve to refl ect known 

transmission modes in a particular country or region. For 

every fi ve new infections only two people will access the 

vital antiretroviral (ARV) medication which is enabling 

more people to live with HIV rather than die from AIDS. 

The challenge here is about delivery of, and access to, 

this medication for all who need it. One important area 

where a degree of success can be reported is mother 

to child transmission (MTCT) interventions, where 

programmes have been identifi ed as signifi cantly 

lowering the number of new infections among children 

under 15 years. Major investment from a country’s HIV 

Prevention Programme budget may be spent, rightfully, 

in achieving this reduction in MTCT, but this leaves fewer 

resources for investment in other ‘strategy for prevention’ 

programmes aimed at stemming new infection rates. 

The former Director of UNAIDS Dr Peter Piot said in 2008 

“Much has been achieved; much more remains to be done. 

In many respects the challenges that lie ahead will be even 

more testing than those we have already overcome” It is 

clear that there is no room for complacency or relaxation 

from the ongoing response to the HIV pandemic. It is 

projected to continue as a signifi cant global cause of 

premature mortality for decades to come.

3. Keeping the Promise? 

One of the most signifi cant developments over the past 

few years has been the increasing availability of ARVs for 

people living with HIV allowing a reasonable quality of life, 

hopefully for a lifetime. The Global Fund to fi ght HIV, TB 

and Malaria has played a signifi cant part in making ARVs 

ever more widely available for people in lower and middle 

income countries, increasing provision tenfold since 2003. 

However, it is estimated that only 42% of those requiring 

ARVs in these countries are able to access them. This falls 

far short of the promise pledged in 2001, and specifi cally 

re-iterated at the G8 Summit at Gleneagles in 2005, that 

everyone who needs ARVs would have access to the 

medication by this year, 2010. 

“The global economic crisis should not be an 

excuse to stop investing in the AIDS response. We 

cannot aff ord to let the economic crisis paralyse us. 

Not when the AIDS response is showing results.” 

Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS 

The discovery of an eff ective vaccine is still likely to 

be many years away, therefore it is salutary to remind 

ourselves that people currently living with HIV will 

need life-long medication and care. Concern has been 

expressed in some circles (2009 “Punishing Success?” 

Medecins Sans Frontieres) regarding the eff ect the 

global recession might have on the commitment of 

governments to continue to fund these literally life-saving 

drugs. The Board of the Global Fund considered a motion 

to cancel the funding round for 2010, and other funders 

have decided not to increase funding this year. The 

consequence of any retreat from international funding 

commitments could prove disastrous for developing 

countries. In an age when international development is 

increasingly threatened by a harsh economic climate, it 

has never been more vital for governments to “Keep the 

Promise”. Churches must be prepared to actively monitor 

this situation, campaigning where necessary at the 

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND HIV/AIDS PROJECT GROUP 7.1/3 

highest levels for the maintenance and extension of ARV 

provision throughout the world. People receiving ARVs 

need to take the medication for life – any withdrawal of 

funding risks limiting access to ARVs for people, leading 

to quicker death. Sporadic access can also lead to 

resistance issues. 

“I urge the Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS Project 

through your members to ensure your Government 

puts pressure on the other members of the G8 

who committed themselves to universal access to 

prevention, care, support and treatment for all and 

to ensure continued support of the Global Fund. 

The Global Fund is the sole fi nancier of ARVs for the 

people of Malawi.” 

Dr B. Mwale, Executive Director, National AIDS 

Commission, Government of Malawi. 

4. Faith-based Organisations 

The report to last year’s General Assembly focussed on 

the contribution which faith-based organisations and 

communities can make to the global response to HIV and 

AIDS. Both UNAIDS and the World Health Organisation 

(WHO) have acknowledged that faith communities can 

and do play a signifi cant part in delivering a nation’s 

response to the epidemic. Yet only 5.4% of the Global Fund 

resources are currently given to faith-based Organisations. 

So we welcome the publication, in December 2009, of 

the UNAIDS Strategic Framework Paper “Partnership with 

Faith-based organisations” which speaks of the potential 

of such collaboration. The paper recognises that for too 

long there has been mutual suspicion, misperception and 

prejudice between national AIDS organisations and faithbased 

groups. In seeking to overcome this, it encourages 

the creation of stronger partnerships, more co-ordination 

and increased capacity building so that national AIDS 

programmes can be even more eff ective. The Ecumenical 

Advocacy Alliance, which has long campaigned on the 

subject of HIV and AIDS, is to be congratulated for their 

7.1

7.1/4 

work in collaborating and consulting with UNAIDS over a 

sustained period of time; this Strategic Framework Paper 

is the latest result. Against this background, we can look 

at the type of projects which, through the generosity of 

donors within the Church of Scotland, the Project has 

been able to fund. 

5. Prevention, care and support 

In highlighting the importance of prevention of the 

spread of the virus, raising awareness amongst the most 

vulnerable communities has been a focus of many of our 

partner projects. In India, SACRED (Society for Agricultural 

Child Rural and Education Development) raises awareness 

of HIV, working with day workers, rickshaw drivers, etc in 

Andhra Pradesh, providing voluntary counselling and 

testing, and referral for treatment and care. Similarly DEAR 

(Development Education and Action for Relief ) in Tamil 

Nadu works particularly with low-paid gem workers, and 

through awareness seminars, health camps, and peer group 

education, has encouraged people to go for voluntary 

counselling and testing; their latest project is supporting 

those who have been identifi ed as living with HIV, in a 

climate where they face stigma and discrimination. 

There are still areas of the world where there continues to be 

denial about the existence of or threat from HIV; our partners 

are working to train other non-governmental organisations 

(NGOs) so that they can in turn mainstream HIV education 

with their existing clients. The Galilee Society in Israel is the 

only NGO in the area working to promote HIV awareness 

with the Palestinian Arab community. The Evangelical 

Church of Egypt is creating a Christian Network against 

AIDS, working with high-risk and vulnerable groups. And 

with the United Mission to Nepal, Joel Githinji, who visited 

Scotland in November, is similarly working with Christian 

NGOs to mainstream HIV education and awareness. Joel 

will be continuing this work in Nepal as a Mission Partner of 

the Church of Scotland. Similar kinds of projects are being 

funded in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 


“In 1996 Maria was literally dying in front of my 

eyes. We were able to fund through our programme 

antiretroviral medication and slowly we watched 

Maria come alive again. Today you can see not 

only Maria has benefi ted but her children have a 

mother, and the original support group for people 

living with HIV which she started has become many 

groups, with over 2000 people being helped. She is 

living proof that courage, determination along 

with ARVs can cause great things to happen.” 

Esther Lupafya, Ekwendeni Hospital HIV and AIDS 

Programme 

For those already living with HIV, the support of our 

partner projects can literally provide a lifeline. This can 

be by helping people access the necessary medication, 

or by providing a safe place for people living with HIV 

(PLWH) and their families to come to terms with their 

status and find positive ways of living with the virus. Our 

partner projects challenge stigma and discrimination 

within communities, and through the provision of skills 

training and micro-credit schemes, PLWH are enabled 

to make a living and restore their sense of self-worth. 

Deep Griha provides support, counselling, nutrition 

and home based care in Pune in India; the Mwandi 

Mission AIDS Relief in Zambia enables more than 1500 

people to access ARVs from the Mission and 6 satellite 

clinics. The Sangklaburi Project of the Church of Christ 

in Thailand gives practical care and support to PLWH. 

In their last report, they commented “We used to be 

helping people with HIV and AIDS to die well, now we 

are helping people living with HIV to live life to the full 

as far as possible.” 

Our partner projects are concerned with prevention, care 

and support, a fact which was reinforced by the visit to 

Malawi made by our Convenor Rev Dr Robin Hill and Carol 

Finlay, World Mission Council, in September/October 

2009.

6. Malawi: a journey of hope 

This was Robin’s fi rst visit to overseas Project partners and 

proved to be an eye-opening experience of great hope in 

the midst of near-overwhelming challenge. 

Throughout the 11 days of the visit, Robin and Carol joined 

in 65 meetings of one sort or another. From policy-makers 

in the capital city to child heads-of-households in the rural 

northern region, it was obvious that the people being 

encountered were keen to tell their stories. 

“We have made a deliberate attempt to include HIV 

into all the courses in the syllabus, thus sensitising 

the students in a way they have not been before. 

The reason we are intensifying this aspect for our 

theological students is that although they all 

know about HIV, there is still the element that it is 

‘God’s vengeance’ or ‘sin’. Education is needed for a 

new understanding and we do not blame but be 

compassionate. God is speaking to us (ministers) 

diff erently these days, telling us to take a new 

approach to know that all are God’s people for 

whom Christ died; to understand that God is an 

all embracing Father and that he has given us as 

leaders a responsibility. Theologians around the 

world should have new vision and new courage to 

go out and show the love of Christ to the people for 

whom he died. Here is a situation, a rare opportunity 

that God has placed in our hands and the onus is 

on us; the pandemic has spared nobody.” 

Rev Dr O. Mazunda, Principal, Livingstonia 

Theological College, Malawi 

Again and again, the visitors were told that Malawi has 

become a country which is open about HIV, ready to 

talk about vital lifestyle questions and willing to discuss 

sensitive issues which are often suppressed in Scotland. 

Moreover, it was obvious that the provision of ARVs 

has made a remarkable diff erence to the lives of men, 


women and children, often thanks to the involvement 

and dedication of our partners, the Christian Health 

Association of Malawi (CHAM), Livingstonia Synod 

AIDS Programme and CCAP Ekwendeni Hospital AIDS 

Programme. 

The overriding lesson of the visit was that ARVs, when 

taken responsibly, make a clear and remarkable diff erence 

to the lives of those living with the virus. 

“Sitting under a tree with the Tigomezge PLWH 

support group, we were challenged by the insistence 

of the members that we should share their story 

with folks in Scotland, struck by their surprise that 

few people in Scotland would be open about their 

HIV status and humbled by their positive message 

of hope (refl ected in the group’s name which means 

‘we have hope’) for the future - such a diff erent 

story to the one of even fi ve years ago when sad, 

desolate eyes refl ected the hopelessness of an HIV 

positive test result. In October 2009, a vast diff erence 

in attitude shone from happy eyes, largely due to 

access to ARVs and the care and support systems 

available. Now there is for many under that tree a 

life with a future.” 

Carol Finlay 

7. HIV in Scotland 

Asked to comment on the situation regarding HIV in 

Scotland, Roy Kilpatrick, Chief Executive of HIV Scotland, 

had this to say: “Commissioners to the General Assembly 

bring various degrees of awareness of the impact of HIV; 

across Scotland, however, HIV is on the rise. 

More people than ever before are living with HIV, with the 

total number diagnosed in Scotland now past the 6,000 

mark for the fi rst time. Of these, over 1,600 have died. Over 

400 newly diagnosed cases have been reported each year 

for the last two years. Eff orts to increase the numbers being 

tested are proving successful, annual rates almost doubling 

7.1

7.1/6 

in the last fi ve years to about 42,000. This is important in 

ensuring the most eff ective treatment options, as well as 

in protecting oneself and others. Although there is no cure 

for HIV, the range of therapies available mean that many 

of those with HIV are living well, although health concerns 

become more complex and care more complicated. Over 

2,800 individuals receive specialist HIV care in Scotland, 

a fi gure that’s likely to increase annually by between 5% 

and 13% (some 150 to 350 persons). In parallel with the 

diagnosis and care for HIV are health issues related to 

other sexually transmitted infections. The majority of new 

infections are acquired through unprotected sex, with 

sex between men and women representing the highest 

proportion of HIV acquired abroad, and sex between men 

the highest rate for infections acquired in Scotland itself. 

HIV is a major public health challenge. It is also a challenge 

for social and spiritual care, given the context of the 

experience of what it means to live with HIV today. 

One such context is the experience of stigma – a word 

whose use in spiritual thinking will be well understood by 

commissioners. The dominant defi nition describes stigma 

as a ‘discrediting attribute’, or an ‘undesirable diff erence’, 

a static individual mark. Christian thinking turned the 

wounds of crucifi xion into a glory, recognising as it did 

that shame emerges from social perception. A similar shift 

is needed for people living with HIV, who report in high 

numbers a sense of internal shame and external devaluing 

and discrimination for what is a health condition. Recent 

preliminary results of research into the experience of 

HIV-related stigma in Scotland report that about 18% 

believed that their rights had been abused in the last 12 

months. Another 21% reported that at some stage in their 

experience, a health care professional had told someone 

about their HIV status without consent. Layers of stigma 

compound this experience, mostly on the grounds of 

sexuality, ethnicity, immigration status and mental health. 

Avoidance, diff erential treatment and moral judgements 

can be subtle expressions of stigma but to those on the 

receiving end, their insidious eff ect can be disabling. 


The Church can mirror its Master and its Inspiration by 

coming alongside, standing with those infected and 

aff ected by HIV. Its members can do this by educating 

themselves, challenging HIV and related discrimination, 

giving time and talents, and making sure that religion 

includes and supports rather than excludes and isolates. 

Practical events like ‘Souper Sunday’ demonstrate that 

several purposes can be successfully achieved in the one 

initiative.” 

The Project has kept in contact with the various 

organisations and groups working in the area of HIV and 

AIDS in Scotland, eg HIV Scotland, Waverley Care, and 

Positive Help in Edinburgh, in a spirit of mutual support. 

“People don’t realise how hard it is to say, ‘I am living 

with HIV’. While it might not be such a profound 

physical disability, in terms of mental health it can 

be quite diffi cult. People are living with something 

that shuts them off from everybody else.” 

Martha Baillie, Senior Community Manager, 

Waverley Care, Edinburgh 

8. Sharing the message 

Throughout the year, the Project has been working hard 

to raise its profi le within Scotland. In addition to visits to 

Presbyteries, congregations and Guild groups, our Project 

Group members and other volunteers have engaged with 

the church and the wider public in a variety of ways: 

for the four days of the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston, 

the Project staged workshops for school students, alerting 

them to the need for food security if the challenge of HIV 

is to be addressed globally; 

coinciding with World AIDS Day in early December and 

in conjunction with the Ministries Council, the Moderator 

and Mrs Hewitt kindly invited probationer ministers 

from around Scotland to lunch at the Moderator’s fl at. 

This provided the members of the Project Group with

an ideal opportunity to inform our future clergy of latest 

developments in the life of the Project; 

ongoing opportunities are given to lead sessions within 

the cycle of the various training conferences for Ministries; 

these sessions focus on the theological considerations 

surrounding the HIV pandemic and Christian responses to 

it. We would welcome more opportunities to engage with 

ministers and church leadership teams not just at central 

level but also locally. 

Another important way in which the church can be 

involved is through advocacy. The Project has worked 

with ImpactAIDS to support and promote the African HIV 

Policy Network’s “Destination Unknown” campaign. This 

challenges the UK authorities not to send HIV+ asylum 

seekers back to home countries until they are assured that 

they will continue to receive the medication they require. 

The Project was also represented in St Andrews when the 

G20 Finance ministers met in November, urging them to 

‘keep the promise’ to provide universal access to ARVs. 

Other potential areas for campaigning include the need 

to challenge discriminatory legislation which denies the 

human rights of PLWH, such as those related to travel and 

employment. 

9. “The Moderator’s Challenge” 

Following the welcome lead taken by the Very Rev David 

Lunan in issuing a fund-raising challenge to presbyteries 

in 2008, it was excellent to have the continuing support 

of the Right Rev Bill Hewitt in this area during his 

moderatorial year. At last year’s General Assembly, it was 

agreed to “encourage all presbyteries to set up a fundraising 

goal averaging at least £10,000 (according to size) 

for the Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS Project”. Since then, 

the two originally participating presbyteries (St Andrews 

and Lothian) having achieved their goals have been joined 

this year by a number of other presbyteries taking up the 

challenge. Such events as sponsored bike rides, concerts 

and ‘Songs of Praise’ evenings have drawn church members 


together within presbyteries with a common purpose to 

focus on HIV. Many also used ‘Souper Sunday’ as a way of 

responding to the Moderator’s Challenge. 

It is hoped that the remaining presbyteries will play their 

part in taking up The Moderator’s Challenge, not only in 

raising much needed funds through a variety of imaginative 

activities but, equally importantly, in raising awareness of 

HIV among congregations and their members. 

“We were delighted when a Presbytery conference 

session on The Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS 

Project led to Kirkcaldy Presbytery’s enthusiastic 

acceptance of the challenge to raise £10,000 for 

the Project. To raise funds congregations have held 

ceilidhs and Songs of Praise services and have got 

together for a quiz evening. Presbytery has held an 

inspiring and informative World AIDS Day service 

and is soon to invite supporters of the Project 

to a Favourite Hymns evening and a concert by 

Kirkcaldy Choral Union. Many congregations have 

also raised funds and helped people refl ect on issues 

around HIV by participating in Souper Sunday. 

Our signifi cant progress towards our target shows 

that members of churches here see the Project as 

a very worthwhile cause. We see ‘The Moderator’s 

Challenge’ as a great way to raise awareness, as 

well as to help the Project with funds.” 

Elisabeth Cranfi eld, Kirkcaldy Presbytery Church 

and Society Committee 

10. Souper Sunday 

The second Sunday of January saw many churches across 

Scotland and beyond holding elder-led acts of worship 

in which the topic of HIV was brought before God in 

worship and in prayer. “Souper Sunday” fl owed from an 

idea successfully piloted in the Presbytery of Lothian in 

2009 and adopted by the General Assembly of that year. 

It involved the distribution of a range of useful resources, 

including a complete order of service for a shared act of 

7.1

7.1/8 

worship, enabling congregations to refl ect together on 

HIV in our nation and in our world. Typically this service 

was followed by a simple lunch of soup and bread, with 

an off ering being given by members to aid the Project’s 

work at home and overseas. (Some churches were forced 

to postpone their event because of the bad weather at 

the beginning of the year; “Souper Sunday” became a 

moveable feast, with events being held from January to 

March.) The feedback from the various churches who took 

part indicated that the content of the service, focussing 

as it did on HIV and the work of the Project, was much 

appreciated, and raised awareness, with good hymns and 

meaningful prayers. There was a strong sense of fellowship 

shared, not just within the individual churches but also 

from the knowledge that they were part of something 

happening all over the country. (All the comments can be 

seen on the dedicated website www.soupersunday.info) 

GLASGOW CATHCART TRINITY: We had a most 

enjoyable lunch yesterday with a large crowd of 

volunteers sharing the work. I was struck by people’s 

concern about malnutrition negating the positive 

eff ects of the antiretroviral drugs – this seemed 

to strike a chord. Although raising money was 

important, so too was the fellowship and strong 

sense of working together. I have a real sense of 

God blessing people as they serve him. 

Following the success of the day, when many across the 

Church were encouraged to think afresh of the needs 

of those who live with HIV, and when a signifi cant sum 

was raised to help partner projects, the challenge is 

now to build on this initiative so that the momentum 

achieved can be further increased in time to come. In our 

Project’s continuing commitment to making the Church 

of Scotland an HIV-competent Church, the signifi cance 

of Souper Sunday cannot be underestimated. With more 

than 250 churches taking part this year, there is no doubt 

that many people benefi ted from fresh insights into the 

virus and how it aff ects individuals and communities. 


KILMARNOCK St JOHN’S ONTHANK: We felt part of 

something big, which was great. The elders were 

very confi dent in their leading of worship. Some 

of them wrote their own prayers and the children’s 

address was one that an elder had made up. Other 

parts of the service were taken from the website 

and the elders were so pleased to have managed 

the whole service that they are looking forward to 

leading worship again! 

11. Guild Project: “A New Hunger” 

In 2009, the Project became a partner of the Church of 

Scotland Guild in its latest three-yearly round of Guild 

Projects. As one of six agencies working under the theme, 

“What does the Lord require of you?” we are committed 

to producing resource materials and sending speakers to 

groups around the country. 

“A New Hunger” aims to alert Guild members of the major 

problems of food insecurity faced by countless millions 

of people throughout the world, many of whom will be 

living with HIV. As regular supplies of high quality food is 

needed to make ARVs eff ective, we aim to demonstrate 

the urgency of addressing this issue in our time. Money 

raised will go to help communities become more able 

to invest in food infrastructure, allowing them to grow, 

harvest and distribute the food they need to stay fi t and 

healthy. 

12. The future 

The last two years have seen the Church of Scotland HIV/ 

AIDS Project engaging in conversation with the Council 

of Assembly and the Project’s funding Councils over the 

future provision of activity in this vital fi eld. 

The time is right for novel ideas and fresh commitment, to 

enable our Church to develop its work in the fi eld of HIV, 

to the very best of its abilities. With this in mind, we are 

delighted to report that the course of our work is about 

to take a new and exciting direction. At the close of this

year the Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS Project will reach 

the end of its fi xed term, but as of 1st January 2011, it will 

be replaced by a new, long term initiative: The Church of 

Scotland HIV Programme, based fully within World Mission 

Council. 

The use of the word “Programme” represents a bold step 

on the part of World Mission. A “project” no longer, this 

Church’s HIV Programme will off er lasting, dedicated 

commitment, enabling our partners overseas to engage 

with HIV in their local settings. This Programme will build 

upon our current work, off ering the Church at parish level 

(through information, education, training and worship) a 

strong and eff ective means of engaging overseas with HIV. 

Just as HIV will remain on the world’s agenda for decades 

to come, so too HIV can only remain on World Mission 

Council’s agenda, into the future. 

It is to be hoped that, with the vigilance of World Mission 

Council, specifi c areas of joint action might still be 

identifi ed and brought to the attention of the Churches’ 

other Councils, provided that some funds could be 

identifi ed by them to make such joint actions feasible in 

time to come. 

We look forward to January 2011 in gratitude for the real 

commitment of World Mission Council to make possible a 

new dawn for this Church in addressing fundamental, lifethreatening 

issues of HIV in our wider world. 

By the Grace of God, may we all play our part in this 

continuing Good News story within the Church of 

Scotland: a truly remarkable story of Christ’s Light in a 

world of darkness. 

In the name of the Project Group 


ROBIN HILL, Convener 

MARJORIE CLARK, Co-ordinator 

ADDENDUM 

Rev Dr Robin Hill 

On the 31st December 2010, Rev Dr Robin Hill will stand 

down as Convener of the Church of Scotland HIV/AIDS 

Project. Robin has ably and skilfully guided the thinking of 

the Project Group over the past three years and has offered 

excellent leadership at a time when the Project has faced 

a number of significant challenges. The effectiveness of 

his commitment to the Project has been demonstrated 

by the very encouraging response of congregations to 

Souper Sunday and the Moderator’s Challenge. Much of 

the credit for the success of these initiatives can be given 

to Robin who has tirelessly championed them and has 

worked very hard to ensure production of appropriate 

resource materials. 

Robin gained greatly in his knowledge and understanding 

of HIV and AIDS by visiting our partners in Malawi in 

2009 and this has increased his determination to ensure 

that members of congregations and presbyteries of the 

Church of Scotland continue to increase their awareness 

and understanding of HIV and to be actively involved in 

making our Church HIV competent. 

As the Project takes on a new identity as the Church of 

Scotland HIV Programme, the members of the Project 

Group express their heartfelt thanks to Robin for his 

enthusiasm and commitment and wish him well in his 

future ministry. 

On behalf of the Project Group 

ELISABETH CRANFIELD, Vice-Convener 

CAROL FINLAY, Project Group Member 

7.1

7.1/10 

Webography: 

Building Haiti’s response better. www.unaids.org/ 

en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/ 

archive/2010/20100128_Haiti.asp 

“HIV Prevention – a Global Theological Conversation” ed. 

Gillian Paterson. Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, Geneva 

2009. www.e-alliance.ch 

HIV Stigma Index. www.stigmaindex.org 

HIV Scotland. www.hivscotland.com 

Partnership with Faith-based Organisations 

– UNAIDS Strategic Framework. www. 

unaids.org/pub/BaseDocument/2009/ 

jc1786partnershipwithfaithbasedorganizations_en.pdf 

Punishing Success? www.msf.org/source/countries/ 

africa/southafrica/.../punishing_success.pdf 

Souper Sunday. www.soupersunday.info 

Waverley Care. www.waverleycare.org 

UNAIDS Epidemic Update 2009. www.unaids. 

org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/EpiUpdate/ 

EpiUpdArchive/2009/default.asp 

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND HIV/AIDS PROJECT GROUP

COMMITTEE ON CHAPLAINS TO HM FORCES 

May 2010 


The privilege of serving men and women in Her Majesty’s 

Forces as a Chaplain comes at a price. Personal needs, 

domestic stability and future uncertainties take second 

place to the needs of those men and women. Along with 

them, Chaplains place themselves at the service of their 

country. This means that there will always be a particular 

personal sacrifi ce demanded of ministers who fulfi l this 

very special form of parish ministry. 

Those who serve as Chaplains remain, fi rst and foremost, 

a minister of their Sending Church. Their ‘parish’ will be 

populated, in the main, by men and women the majority 

of whom will be in the 18 to 40 age range, each and all 

working in a wide variety of environments and situations. 

Military Chaplains preach the Word of God and administer 

the Sacraments; they visit the sick, absolve the penitent 




2. Affi rm the support of the Church for all who serve in Her Majesty’s Forces as Chaplains and thank them for their 

spiritual and pastoral care of sailors, soldiers and air personnel and their families. 

3. Affi rm the support of the Church for the Committee on Chaplains to Her Majesty’s Forces in their task of recruitment 

of Chaplains for regular and reserve service, and also for service with the Army Cadet Force. 

4. Affi rm the commitment and support of the Church to our continuing Chaplaincy of Word and Sacrament in the 

Armed Forces. 

5. Urge the Church to uphold in prayer all those facing particular danger and the stress of separation during Operational 

Duties, especially in Afghanistan. 

6. Commend to Ministers of the Church consideration of service as a Chaplain in the Royal Navy, Naval Reserve or Sea 

Cadets, Regular Army, Territorial Army or Army Cadet Force, Royal Air Force or Air Training Corps. 

7. Urge Congregations to direct material support to troops serving on Operational Duties through the SSAFA 

Operational Welfare Fund. 

8. Commend the work of the Army Cadet Force and congratulate the organisation on its 150th Anniversary. 

REPORT 

and off er counsel to the anxious, the bewildered and the 

bereaved. They prepare men and women for confi rmation 

and baptise them and their children. In short, military 

Chaplains are the continuing face and presence of the 

Church, fulfi lling a supporting role for much of the time 

as in civilian life, yet turned to expectantly in times of need 

and when deployed on Operational Duty. Consequently, 

military chaplaincy off ers a uniquely challenging vocation 

to all who serve. The Assembly’s Committee is therefore 

honoured to pay tribute once again to those who serve our 

Church and our Country in military chaplaincy, whether as 

a regular or reserve, for their dedication and faithfulness. 

2. Recruitment 

As a consequence of last year’s Report to the General 

Assembly, the Committee was pleased to receive 

8

8/2 

enquiries from a number of ministers concerning their 

possible service as a Chaplain or as a member of the 

Committee itself. Recruitment is our ongoing priority and 

we are delighted to report that, at the time of writing, two 

ministers are off ering themselves for Regular Service with 

the Royal Navy, one with the Army, one as a Territorial 

Army Chaplain and two as Chaplains with the Army Cadet 

Force. 

Vacancies exist for Chaplains, both regular and reserve, 

within each of the Services and with the Army Cadet 

Force. Particular concern lies in recruiting Chaplains for 

the Royal Air Force where, at present, only two of their 

sixty fi ve Chaplains are from the Church of Scotland! The 

Committee would welcome enquiries from ministers 

who may feel themselves called to this ministry. Each of 

the Services will happily arrange an ‘acquaint’ visit which 

places the enquirer under no obligation but which allows 

future decisions to be informed. Applications or enquiries 

should be addressed, in the fi rst instance, to the Secretary 

of the Committee, Douglas Hunter WS, Exchange Tower, 

19 Canning Street, Edinburgh EH3 8EH. The upper age 

limit for entrants to all three Services is forty nine years. 

3. Sending Church / IAG Discussions 

As reported to previous Assemblies, the Convener has 

represented the Committee at various meetings of the 

Sending Churches held over the past two years. The 

principal agenda item has been the Roman Catholic 

proposal to introduce Lay Chaplaincy to the military. The 

concept of this proposal is regarded as controversial, at 

best, by other denominations represented by the Sending 

Churches and, hence, discussions have been protracted. 

Because of the retirement of Bishop David Conner as 

Anglican Bishop to the Forces and the translation to Wales 

of Bishop Tom Burns, formerly Roman Catholic Bishop 

of the Forces further discussion on this topic was not 

possible during 2009, nor was the annual meeting of the 

Interdenominational Advisory Group (IAG) comprising the 

Baptist Church, Church of England, Church of Scotland, 

CHAPLAINS TO HER MAJESTY’S FORCES 

Roman Catholic and United Board. However, in preparation 

and to aid future discussion, a Paper suggesting the 

possible introduction of Roman Catholic Pastoral Assistants 

is being prepared. It is hoped by all Sending Church 

representatives that a mutually acceptable solution may 

be achieved before long. 

4. Visits and Events 

The Committee thanks the Right Rev William and Mrs 

Moira Hewitt for fulfi lling visits to the three Services 

during the past year, particularly to the Royal Navy where 

the Moderator’s ‘offi cial’ visit was greatly appreciated for 

his interest and support. Such visits are of immense value 

especially to all in the military, of whatever rank or status, 

who must bear the heavy responsibilities deployment 

creates and who look to the Churches for sensitive 

understanding and spiritual guidance. 

Since the last Assembly, the Convener has been Guest 

Preacher at the ‘Colours to Chapel’ service at the Royal 

Military Academy, Sandhurst, participated in the Iraq 

Service held in St Paul’s Cathedral, London and represented 

the Committee at a Service to Mark the Passing of the 

World War One Generation held in Westminster Abbey, 

the Commissioning Service of the Anglican Bishop to the 

Forces at Lambeth Palace and the Ordination Service of the 

Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces held at Westminster 

Cathedral. At the invitation of the Chaplain General (Army), 

the Convener was an Observer at the three-day Army 

Offi cers Selection Board held at Westbury last May and 

was delighted to witness the successful participation of a 

Church of Scotland candidate! Throughout the year, the 

Convener also attended various meetings in Edinburgh, 

London and Belfast and participated in the Annual 

Conferences of both the Royal Navy and Army at Amport 

House. The Vice-Convener also visited Amport House. 

5. Operational Duty 

Since the last General Assembly, Padres John Duncan, David 

Anderson, Donald Prentice and Jim Aitchison from the

Army, along with Padre Jonny Wylie from the Royal Air Force 

have been deployed for service in Afghanistan. In January, 

Padre Louis Kinsey. minister at Bridge of Don, who serves 

with the Territorial Army, also began a three month tour of 

duty there in January. Padres Benjamin Abeledo and Rory 

Macleod, both Army, are due for deployment by the time 

of the Assembly. Such deployment can prove particularly 

stressful and challenging in every way. While we owe them a 

great deal of gratitude for their public ministry and personal 

courage, these Chaplains are but representative of all others 

who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years 

with considerable distinction. The Committee, however, is 

aware of the not inconsiderable pressures such deployment 

also brings to Chaplains’ families. The Committee, therefore, 

commends to the whole Church prayers for their support 

and continued wellbeing. 

6. Support for Service Personnel on 

Operational Duty 

Support for Members of congregations throughout the 

Church have been generous in their Service personnel 

on Operational Duty. However, the Forces postal system is 

unable to cope with the extra demands made upon it by 

unsolicited gifts from the public, particularly at Christmas 

time. All post arriving in Operational Theatre requires 

onward delivery to Forward Bases and necessitates 

additional logistic eff ort in an already highly dangerous 

environment. People wishing to give future support are 

therefore urged to do so by making monetary donation. 

Donations may be made online at www.ssafafundraising. 

org.uk/donate; by telephone to 020 7463 9225 or by 

cheque payable to SSAFA Forces Help, Freepost NAT 

19507, London SE1 2BR. 

7. Army Cadet Force 150th Anniversary 

With almost 45,000 cadets and 8,500 adult volunteer 

instructors dispersed throughout some 1,760 detachments 

in every corner of the United Kingdom, the Army Cadet 

Force is one of the largest and most successful youth 

organisations in the country. It is also one of the oldest, with 

CHAPLAINS TO HER MAJESTY’S FORCES 8/3 

origins dating back 150 years. While the organisation has 

changed a great deal over that period, it remains committed 

to the development of young people and welcomes boys 

and girls from the age of 12, of all abilities and backgrounds. 

Through a great array of exciting, fun and adventurous 

opportunities it helps them towards responsible adulthood, 

stretching them physically and mentally, improving selfconfi 

dence, teamwork, friendship and leadership skills, 

whilst also fostering a sense of community. Chaplains are 

indispensable to this programme of activity. Parish ministers 

who may like more information about becoming a Chaplain 

to the ACF should please contact our Secretary, Douglas 

Hunter, at the above address. 


JAMES M GIBSON, Convener 

ANDREW V M MURRAY, Vice-Convener 

DOUGLAS M HUNTER, Secretary 

ADDENDUM 

The Rev James M Gibson TD 

The conclusion of this year’s Assembly sees the retiral of 

Jim Gibson after having served four years as Convener. 

Undoubtedly, Jim’s long service as a TA Chaplain meant that 

he very quickly grasped the most signifi cant issues which 

confronted the Committee at the time of his appointment. 

Not the least of these was the subject of recruitment of 

Chaplains and he used his very best endeavours to achieve 

success in that area. He leaves the Committee at a time 

when the signifi cant issue of Lay Chaplaincy, as referred 

to at 3 above has not been concluded. Jim brought a 

steadfast reality to these discussions and has contributed 

to what should be an agreeable solution. We are indebted 

to him for the time and commitment which he has given 

to the work of the Committee. 


ANDREW V M MURRAY, Vice-Convener 

DOUGLAS M HUNTER, Secretary 

8

8/4 

APPENDIX 1 

REPORT ON CHAPLAINCY IN THE ROYAL NAVY 

Safeguarding Freedom – the Maritime Contribution 

to Defence 

We live in an unpredictable world characterised by a rapid, 

often confounding, rate of change. 

This inevitably has an impact on the United Kingdom. The 

UK is an island nation dependent on the free movement 

of maritime trade and highly reliant on the stability 

and security of the globalised world. It has worldwide 

interests and responsibilities, benefi ts from being a hub 

for global activity and is an infl uential member of NATO 

and the EU. Maritime Forces, appropriately structured, 

trained and resourced, provide the Government with a 

highly cost-eff ective military means by which political 

and diplomatic infl uence can be leveraged to prevent 

confl ict. 

The Naval Service (Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal 

Fleet Auxiliary) remains fully engaged in the operation 

in Afghanistan. The Naval Service today provides a 

proportion of the forces deployed to Helmand Province, 

including the Royal Marines of 40 Cdo Royal Marines 

and the Harriers of the Naval Strike Wing, Naval Air 

Squadron helicopters, logistics and engineering support, 

and associated medical and welfare staff . The Naval 

Service continues to have a long-term commitment 

and engagement in this campaign, while the Service 

continues simultaneously to undertake a wide range of 

other tasks around the world. 

Naval ships, submarines, aircraft and personnel are 

currently deployed worldwide conducting national and 

multi-national operations. Over the last 12 months, sailors 

and marines have been instrumental in intercepting 

major narcotic shipments in the Caribbean, off West Africa 

and in the Indian Ocean. Maritime security operations 

in the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea and off the Horn 

of Africa continue to reassure legitimate users of the 


high seas, enabling global trade to continue unhindered 

by pirates, traffi ckers and criminals. Naval units are 

permanently deployed in the South Atlantic in support of 

the Government’s responsibilities to protect the Falkland 

Islands, the South Atlantic Islands and preserve Antarctica. 

At the same time, Royal Navy ships and aircraft continue 

to safeguard the integrity of UK Territorial Waters, provide 

counter terrorism support to the Home Offi ce to protect 

shipping, ports and off shore energy platforms, and 

undertake inspection and enforcement action on behalf 

of the Marine and Fisheries Agency. 

In this context the Naval Chaplaincy Service, through its 

Chaplains, brings the ministry of the Church and the Good 

News of the Gospel to the men and women of the service, 

wherever they serve. Their ministry is highly valued, as 

they seek to be a friend and adviser to all on board. 

A generation ago, Chaplains joined the Royal Navy in 

their late 20s or early 30s. Since then the age profi le has 

risen signifi cantly. Where once people went for ministerial 

training after school or university, now they do it in later 

life. Consequently, the average age of Chaplains joining the 

Royal Navy in the last 5 years is over 42 years. To recognize 

this fact-of-life, a suitable minister can join until the eve of 

his or her 49 th birthday. 

As invited by last years Assembly, we look forward to 

our continuing discussions with the Church and Society 

Council on the theological and ethical issues surrounding 

the nuclear deterrent. 

The Church of Scotland currently has 5 full-time Chaplains 

and 3 reservists serving in the Naval Service. There are today 

opportunities for ministry in this exciting and challenging 

area, both full-time and as a reservist. If you would like to 

fi nd out more, or would like to visit us to see more of what 

we do, please make contact with The Revd Scott Brown, 

the Principal Chaplain. (Tel 023 9262 5552, or email scott. 

brown943@mod.uk)

The Rev Scott J Brown QHC Royal Navy 

Navy Command Headquarters, Portsmouth 

Scott continues to serve as the Principal Church of Scotland 

and Free Churches Chaplain (Naval) and as Director Naval 

Chaplaincy Service (Operations). He is responsible to the 

Chaplain of the Fleet for the delivery of chaplaincy to the 

operational environment, both at sea and to the Royal 

Marines. On behalf of all Naval Chaplains, he is grateful to the 

Church of Scotland for their ongoing support and prayers. 

The Rev Stan Kennon Royal Navy 

HMS DRAKE, Plymouth 

In Spring last year, Stan was appointed as Church of Scotland 

and Free Churches Chaplain in HMS DRAKE. As the largest 

Naval Base in Western Europe, this Plymouth establishment 

covers 650 acres and four miles of waterfront. Along with 

two Anglican colleagues he looks after the spiritual and 

pastoral needs of sailors in the Devonport Flotilla when 

their ships and submarines are alongside. 

The Rev Mark Dalton Royal Navy 

HMS RALEIGH, Torpoint, Cornwall 

Mark is serving as the Chaplaincy Team Leader at HMS 

RALEIGH, the Navy’s new entry training establishment. 

RALEIGH is also home to the Defence Maritime Logistics 

School and the Royal Naval Submarine School. The 

Chaplaincy team at RALEIGH seek to introduce the Christian 

faith to a predominantly un-churched audience and also to 

the role of the Chaplain in the Service. It is a busy but hugely 

rewarding ministry and a sought after appointment. 

The Rev Stevie Thomson Royal Navy 

HMS SULTAN, Gosport 

Another busy year at HMS SULTAN where we contribute to 

the duty of care for all 3000 trainees and staff , which include 

the “railway children”, apprentices sent to HMS SULTAN for 

engineering training by Rail Track, and members of the 

Royal Fleet Auxiliary. 

I was fortunate to go on a 4 month exchange to New 

Zealand and served with the New Zealand Defence 


Force, the RNZN at Devonport, the RNZAF at Whenuapie 

(Auckland) and the New Zealand Army at Waiuru. 

My next appointment is to small ships at Portsmouth and 

I look forward to returning to sea. 

The Rev Alen McCulloch Royal Navy 

Chaplain to Commodore Devonport Flotilla 

Alen spent his last evening in Afghanistan leading a 

Burns Supper in Camp Souter, Kabul. Quoting from “The 

Cotter’s Saturday Night”, giving the “Immortal Memory”, 

and singing “My love is like a red, red rose” provided an 

opportunity to share Christian values and truth with 

many personnel for whom this was their fi rst ever Burns 

Supper. Since March 2009 he has been Chaplain to HM 

Ships CAMPBELTOWN, SUTHERLAND, and PORTLAND. 

Later that month he joined PORTLAND for part of a long 

deployment in which this ship was involved in over 30 

successful anti-piracy and counter-narcotics boardings 

and intercepts as part of the Combined Maritime Forces 

Task Force in the Northern Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden 

and Horn of Africa. It is estimated that she oversaw the 

destruction of nearly 50 tonnes of drugs. Other highlights 

of the past year include: leading in prayer for our Armed 

Forces on the hallowed turf of Plymouth Argyle’s Home 

Park when that team hosted their Armed Forces Day; 

visiting the Dead Sea and Petra with personnel from 

PORTLAND; preaching on the Ten Commandments 

whilst sailing round the Sinai peninsula; and adventure 

training in Gibraltar with personnel from SUTHERLAND. 

Once CAMPBELTOWN fi nishes her refi t in Rosyth, he looks 

forward to serving in her in 2010. In the weeks leading up 

to this year’s General Assembly he expects to be aboard 

PORTLAND in the South Atlantic, before fl ying out to 

join SUTHERLAND off the Eastern coast of the USA. He is 

most grateful to a number of congregations for their very 

warm welcome to him and fellow shipmates during 2009, 

including Dornoch Cathedral, Invergordon Parish Church, 

St Andrew’s (Malta), St Andrew’s (Gibraltar), Logie & St 

John’s Cross (Dundee), and Mutley Baptist (Plymouth). 

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The Rev Dr Marjory MacLean Royal Naval Reserve 

HMS SCOTIA, Rosyth 

Dr MacLean spent two weeks last September working in 

the Chaplaincy of HMS RALEIGH, the Royal Navy’s initial 

training establishment for ratings. She serves in a growing 

Chaplaincy Team at HMS SCOTIA in Rosyth, where the 

main pastoral challenge is caring for the families of 

deployed personnel (up to 10% of the unit’s strength at 

any time). Later in 2010 she will deploy for a period of 

full-time service, most probably serving on anti-piracy 

operations in the Indian Ocean, but with the possibility of 

serving on land operations in Kabul in Afghanistan. 

The Rev Ross McDonald Royal Naval Reserve 

HMS DALRIADA, Greenock 

Ross completed his induction training at Britannia Royal 

Naval College, Dartmouth in the past year, an important 

milestone in his ongoing training for chaplaincy in the 

Naval Reserve. The coming year will see further training, 

including a period of time at sea. Ross supports the men 

and women of DALRIADA with spiritual and pastoral care 

and is an integral part of the team. 

The Rev Mark Davidson Royal Naval Reserve 

HMS SCOTIA, Rosyth 

Mark is the newest member of the team. He completed the 

fi rst stage of his induction training at HMS COLLINGWOOD 

in Fareham in January of this year. Living in Aberdeen, he is 

affi liated to HMS SCOTIA in Rosyth, although will undertake 

some duties at the RNR unit in Dundee. Mark is currently 

undertaking his doctorate at the University of Aberdeen. 

APPENDIX 2 

CHAPLAINCY IN THE ARMY 

Church of Scotland Chaplains exercise their ministry within 

the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department in all categories: 

as Regular Chaplains, as Chaplains to the Territorial Army 

and to the Army Cadet Force, and as Offi ciating Chaplains. 

The nature of the campaign in Afghanistan makes great 

demands upon our soldiers and their families and shows 


very clearly the challenging context in which chaplaincy 

operates. The Royal Army Chaplains’ Department (RAChD) 

has a vital role to play as part of the Army of today. 

Prospective applicants for this rewarding and exciting 

ministry are most warmly encouraged to contact the 

Convener or Secretary of the Committee. There is always 

a need for new Regular Chaplains, and specifi c vacancies 

within other categories are identifi ed in the list below. 

The Rev Dr David Coulter QHC continues as Principal of 

the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre at Amport House. He 

remains also Denominational Representative Chaplain for 

the Church of Scotland. The Rev Angus MacLeod is now 

Director (Army) at Amport House, and Angus assisted 

David Coulter in arranging a very productive Church 

of Scotland Chaplains’ Conference at the beginning of 

December. The Rev Peter Eagles continues as Assistant 

Chaplain General 2 nd Division with overall responsibility 

for recruiting, provision and administration of chaplaincy 

across Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland. 

The Rev Stewart Mackay was recruited to serve as a Regular 

Chaplain. Another candidate for Regular Chaplaincy is 

currently in process. A TA candidate was successful at the 

Selection Board and awaits commissioning. Recruitment 

to the Army Cadet Force has been good, with the Rev Keith 

Blackwood now commissioned to serve with Shetland 

ACF and with two more candidates in process. 

Church of Scotland Chaplains have played a signifi cant 

part in operations in Afghanistan throughout the year. 

John Duncan and David Anderson, interviewed live by 

telephone link at the 2009 General Assembly, returned 

home in the autumn after six months in Helmand. 

Donald Prentice and Jim Aitchison deployed with 11 

Lt Bde in October 2009, followed by Louis Kinsey at the 

Field Hospital in January 2010. The chaplaincy team for 

4 Mech Bde (March – October 2010) is led by Benjamin 

Abeledo and includes Rory MacLeod. The work at home 

in support of deployed units and personnel and families 

is clearly very considerable, and the involvement of TA,

ACF and Offi ciating Chaplains in ministering to the wider 

military community, either routinely or in response to grief 

and tragedy, is witness both to the demands of war and 

to the ethos of the RAChD. Perhaps this ethos of ministry 

is best illustrated by a selection of quotes from Chaplains’ 

reports: 

‘ ‘My fundamental tasks have been prayer for the Unit, 

leading worship, off ering counsel and spiritual guidance, 

providing a listening and caring ear into which soldiers 

and offi cers can speak with frankness and honesty, 

whilst at the same time living under the same conditions 

and getting involved in all of the same training being 

carried out by those around me …. The close proximity 

of the military Chaplain to the serviceman or –woman 

is the foundation stone for many wonderful Gospel 

opportunities’ …. ‘There are too many other memorable 

events and incidents to list but it goes without saying that 

there have undoubtedly been a great many highs but also 

some diffi cult and demanding moments … even with 

all the challenges it is a marvellous privilege’ … ‘For me it 

has been a year of deepening relationships … remarkable 

memories: Communion from a mess tin and a wine glass 

on a table covered in a clean white sheet; the words of 

the Bible heard and refl ected upon; psalms and hymns 

sung; all in a reverent atmosphere, attended by professing 

atheists and every denomination and none.’ ’ 

The fi nal sentence above says something of the way of 

chaplaincy in the Army. It is for all people in all places, 

accessible and pastoral yet also authentically sacramental 

and prophetic, with an acknowledged place at the centre 

of our life and experience. 

Church of Scotland Army Chaplains as at February 

2010 

1. Rev B J A Abeledo HQ 4 Mech Brigade 

Baden Powell House 

Scotton Road 

Catterick Garrison 

DL9 3JS 


2. Rev J W Aitchison HQ 101 Log Bde 

Buller Barracks 

Aldershot 

Hants 

GU11 2BY 

3. Rev D Anderson 3 Bn The Royal Regiment 

of Scotland 

(BW) 

Fort George 

Ardersier 

Inverness 

IVI 2TD 

4. Rev D Connolly Chaplain 

British Contingent 

UNFICYP 

OP TOSCA 

BFPO 567 

5. Rev Dr D G Coulter QHC AFCC 

Amport House 

Amport 

Andover 

Hants 

SP11 8BG 

6. Rev J C Duncan Chaplain 

2 Mercian 

Holywood Palace Barracks 

BFPO 806 

7. Rev Dr J Francis Chaplain 

2 Royal Anglian 

Trenchard Barracks 

BFPO 23 

8. Rev D V F Kingston 39 Engr Regt 

Waterbeach Barracks 

Waterbeach 

Cambridgeshire 

CB5 9PA 

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9. Rev J MacGregor DST 

Normandy Barracks 

Leconfi eld 

East Yorkshire 

HU17 7LX 

10. Rev S A MacKay 5 SCOTS 

Howe Barracks 

Canterbury 

Kent 

CT1 1JU 

11. Rev H MacKenzie 4 SCOTS & 2 Bn REME 

St Barbara Barracks 

BFPO 38 

12. Rev S L MacKenzie ATR 

Bassingbourn Barracks 

Royston 

Hertfordshire 

SG8 5LX 

13. Rev C A MacLeod Director Army 

Armed Forces Chaplaincy 

Centre 

Amport House 

Nr Andover 

Hants 

SP11 8BG 

14. Rev R N MacLeod 1 Bn The Royal Regiment 

of Scotland 

(RS) 

Dreghorn Barracks 

Edinburgh 

EH13 9QW 

15. Rev D J MacPherson Assistant Chaplain 

RMA Sandhurst 

Camberley 

Surrey 

GU15 4PQ 


16. Rev D K Prentice 3 RIFLES 

Redford Barracks 

Colinton Road 

Edinburgh 

EH13 0PP 

Also serving from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 

Rev N G McDowell Senior Chaplain 

ITC(C) 

Vimy Barracks 

Scotton Road 

Catterick Garrison 

North Yorks 

DL9 3PS 

Rev H M Rendell Chaplain 

3 RHA 

Caen Barracks 

BFPO 30 

Rev Dr S P Swinn JSC & SC Defence 

Academy 

Shrivenham 

Swindon 

Wilts 

SN6 8LA 

Rev M Henderson CSFC Chaplain 

British Forces Episkopi 

BFPO 53 

Rev S W Van Os 1 R Irish 

Tern Hill 

Shropshire 

TF9 3QE 

Location of Territorial Army Chaplains 

6 Bn The Royal Regiment Rev S A Blakey 

of Scotland 

7 Bn The Royal Regiment vacancy 

Rev S A Blakey

105 Regiment Royal 

Artillery [V] 

Rev D J Thom 

32 [Scottish] Signal 

Regiment [V] 

Rev C J Rowe 

71 Regiment Royal 

Engineers [V] 

vacancy 

Scottish Transport Rev J Smith, MBE, TD 

Regiment [V] [Congregational Church] 

225 GS Med Regt [V] Rev Miss N Frail 

vacancy 

vacancy 

205 [Scottish] Field Hospital [V] Rev L Kinsey, TD 

vacancy 

vacancy 

Location of Army Cadet Force Chaplains 

Angus & Dundee Bn Rev W A McCaff erty 

(Scottish Episcopal) 

vacancy 

Argyll & Sutherland Rev R D M Campbell, 

Highlanders Bn OStJ, TD 

Rev Fr W Hattie (Roman 

Catholic) 

vacancy 

Black Watch Bn Rev Dr I C Barclay, MBE, 

OStJ, TD 

Rev D Wilson (Scottish 

Episcopal) 

Glasgow & Lanarkshire Bn Rev J E Andrews 

vacancy 

1 Bn The Highlanders Rev I C Warwick, TD 

Rev F Stewart 

2 Bn The Highlanders Rev T Bryson 

vacancy 


Orkney [Independent] Bty vacancy 

Shetland [Independent] Bty Rev K T Blackwood 

Lothian & Borders Bn vacancy 

vacancy 

vacancy 

West Lowland Bn Rev D M Almond 

Rev R MacDonald 

vacancy 

Cumbria ACF Rev D J Thom 

Location of Offi ciating Chaplains to the Forces 

Rev R A Whiteford Resident Battalion, 

Fort George 

Rev Dr I C Barclay Aberdeen UOTC & Queen 

Victoria Bks 

The Rev Dr J Walker Tayforth UOTC 

Rev A R Mathieson Resident Battalion, 

Dreghorn & Glencorse 

Barracks 

Rev S C Parsons (Scot Episc) Resident Battalion, 


Rev P A Comensoli(RC) Resident Battalion, 


Rev N N Gardner Edinburgh UOTC 

Rev S Blakey G & S UOTC & HQ 

51(Scottish) Bde 

Rev T A Davidson Kelly Army Personnel Centre, 

Glasgow 

The Rev PA Eagles 

Assistant Chaplain General (2 nd Division) 

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Chaplains attached to Scots units 

1 SCOTS The Royal Scots Borderers 1 st Bn, 

The Royal Regiment of Scotland. 

Based in Edinburgh. 

Edinburgh Chaplain: Rev R N MacLeod 

2 SCOTS The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2 nd Bn 


Based in Penicuik. 

Chaplains: Rev S T McCaulay 

3 SCOTS The Black Watch, 3 rd Bn 


Based in Inverness. 

Chaplain: Rev D Anderson 

4 SCOTS The Highlanders, 4 th Bn 


Based in Germany. 

Chaplain: Rev H M MacKenzie 

5 SCOTS The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, 5 th 

Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland. 

Based in Canterbury. 

Chaplain: Rev S A Mackay 

SCOTS GUARDS 1 Scots Guards. 

Based in Catterick. 

Chaplain: Rev C F MacLeod 

SCOTS Scots DG. 

DRAGOON Based in Germany. 

GUARDS Chaplain: Rev A Dalton 

APPENDIX 3 

CHAPLAINCY IN THE RAF 

Agile, Adaptable, Capable. Three words that sum up the 

Royal Air Force during the last year and that have defi ned it 

from the day it was formed. The Royal Air Force has a proud 

and distinguished history and the air power it delivers has 

been a vital element of military operations throughout its 


91 year history. Put simply, the Royal Air Force’s role is to 

defend the UK and its interests, strengthen international 

peace and stability and be a force for good in the world. 

In the UK the personnel of the Royal Air Force remain alert 

24/7, watching the skies over Britain, with aircraft poised 

to react at a moment’s notice. From radar and command 

and control sites to the Tornado F3 and Typhoon, a Quick 

Reaction Alert force is ready to launch fi ghters to intercept 

any aircraft threatening the UK. Also on standby 24 hours 

a day are the Royal Air Force’s Search and Rescue Sea King 

helicopters, Nimrod aircraft and the Mountain Rescue 

Teams, ready to go to the aid of those in distress, or to 

provide aid during natural or medical emergencies. Whilst 

the Royal Air Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams 

wait to be called out to deal with suspect packages and 

unexploded World War 2 bombs, the personnel at RAF 

Fylingdales maintain a constant vigil monitoring space 

objects as part of the Allied Space Surveillance Network. 

Away from home, the Royal Air Force is in action across the 

globe. In the South Atlantic, the Royal Air Force has aircraft 

and personnel based in the Falkland Islands, policing 

the skies of the Islands to protect their sovereignty. 

Afghanistan remains the Royal Air Force’s main focus for 

operations with many personnel and aircraft deployed in 

and around the country helping the Coalition to support 

the Afghan Government. After 5 highly successful years on 

operations, the Harriers have been replaced by Tornado 

GR4s to provide vital reconnaissance and fi repower for 

ground troops. Chinook helicopters continue to provide 

essential mobility, moving personnel and equipment and 

undertaking medical evacuations ably supported by the 

Hercules tactical air transport aircraft, with C17 and Tri-Star 

aircraft fl ying personnel and equipment in and out of the 

country. Other aircraft including Tri-Star air-to-air refuelling 

tankers to Nimrods also provide invaluable support. 

Flying from Afghanistan, but operated by Royal Air Force 

personnel based in America is Reaper, the Royal Air Force’s 

unmanned aircraft that can carry out both reconnaissance

and conduct attacks. All air assets fl ying over Helmand 

province are coordinated and controlled by Number 1 

Aircraft Control Centre. Meanwhile, the Royal Air Force 

Regiment continues to defend the airfi elds to ensure they 

remain safe for air operations. 

The Royal Air Force’s presence in and around Iraq has vastly 

reduced during the last year as the UK’s mission there 

draws to a close. The Royal Air Force’s work to help stabilise 

the country and, in particular, make Basrah International 

Airport a genuinely international, civilian-run airport, will 

be a lasting legacy. 

But behind all of this equipment lie the personnel of the 

Royal Air Force. From the youngest airman to the most 

senior offi cer, everyone in the Royal Air Force is a highly 

trained, motivated individual who has a vital role to play in 

the delivery of air power. It is these people and their families 

who make up the RAF Community. The mission of the Royal 

Air Force Chaplains’ Branch is To serve the Royal Air Force 

Community through Prayer, Presence and Proclamation 

Royal Air Force Chaplains deliver their mission wherever 

the men and women of the Royal Air Force serve. The Rev 

Alasdair Nicoll, a Scottish Baptist minister serving with the 

Royal Air Force wrote this: ‘In the early part of the year, station 

life at RAF Kinloss and Lossiemouth was busy, though there 

was little out of the ordinary. I shared duties leading worship 

in the joint Church of England/Church of Scotland and Free 

Churches congregation with my C of E colleague… Links 

with local civilian churches have strengthened further. We 

have organised a twice yearly community service gathering 

worshippers from all traditions. The last such service was an 

open-air service by the sea in Lossiemouth and gathered 

a couple of hundred worshippers, to the sound of the RAF 

Kinloss Voluntary Band. 

I arrived in Afghanistan in late June and quickly found 

myself in the middle of the busy operational period of Op 

PANCHAI PALANG which, as the media reminds us, also 

saw the highest monthly rate of casualties in the whole 


campaign. The emotional toll was felt across all services 

and all operating bases. 

The most signifi cant pastoral issue among the tri-Service 

personnel I served at Kandahar was the ‘ripple-eff ect’ of the 

casualties on the front line. While the soldiers fi ghting in 

Helmand clearly bore the greatest burden, there were people 

serving ‘behind the lines’ at Kandahar who were regularly 

being exposed to soldiers with terrible, life changing injuries. 

So along with the Joint Force Senior Chaplain, also serving 

at Kandahar, I had a very busy ministry caring pastorally 

for medical personnel, battlefi eld ambulance drivers, IRT 

Chinook crews, mortuary staff and airfi eld fi re fi ghters.’ 

Alasdair’s words could be echoed by many an RAF Chaplain 

whether based on a large training unit, ministering to 

Chinook crews and their families at RAF Odiham or the 

seriously injured and their families at Selly Oak Hospital. 

RAF Chaplains: Serving the Royal Air Force Community 

through Prayer, Presence and Proclamation. 

Currently there are only two Church of Scotland ministers 

serving as Royal Air Force Chaplains, a statistic which 

does not refl ect the demographic make up of the Royal 

Air Force. Sadly it means that members and adherents of 

the Church of Scotland serving in the Royal Air Force are 

unlikely to come across a minister from their home church. 

We would therefore be extremely happy to hear from any 

minister who may be feeling the fi rst stirrings of a call to 

military chaplaincy. To allow any such minister to explore 

their calling further we would be delighted to chat or 

organise a visit to one of our units. If this is you, please make 

contact with The Rev’d Ashley Mitchell 01494 496693, or 

e-mail him at: AirChapServs-SnrChapStratPolPlans@mod. 

uk Alternatively you can access the RAF Chaplains website 

at www.raf.mod.uk/chaplains 

Church of Scotland Chaplains 

The Rev Gordon T Craig QHC RAF 

Headquarters Air Command, RAF High Wycombe 

Gordon is serving as Assistant Chaplain in Chief (Training) 

8

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and Principal Chaplain, Church of Scotland and Free 

Churches.. He is responsible to the Chaplain in Chief for 

the delivery of chaplaincy on all RAF units within 22 Group, 

training by chaplains and the training of Chaplains. 

The Rev Sheila Munro RAF 

RAF Halton 

Sheila is currently serving at RAF Halton working as part of 

an ecumenical team. RAF Halton is a large initial training 

unit which saw around 1500 new recruits through its doors 

during the last year. Sheila delivers the Beliefs and Values 

Programme and looks after the spiritual and pastoral needs 

of the trainees and staff . 

Presbyterian Church of Ireland Chaplains 

The Rev David Edgar 

Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, Amport House 

At the time of writing David is the RAF Director at the 

Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre. However he is soon to 

move to a new appointment as Senior Chaplain RAF Brize 

Norton. At Brize Norton David will have the responsibility 

of running an ecumenical team tasked with the delivery of 

chaplaincy at the RAF’s largest Station. RAF Brize Norton is 

the gateway for all service personnel deploying or returning 

from operations. David will face a heavy workload. 

The Rev Jonny Wylie 

RAF Leuchars 

Jonny has recently returned from an operational tour at 

Camp Bastion in Afghanistan where he provided ministry 

to the Joint Aviation Group. He is now working as the sole 

Chaplain at RAF Leuchars as the Station prepares itself for 

the arrival of Typhoon. 

Location of Air Training Corps Chaplains 

Chaplain Scotland & Northern Ireland Region: 

Rev Alistair K Ridland 

13 Stewart Place, Kirkliston 

EH29 0BQ 

0131 333 2711 

akridland@aol.com 


Aberdeen & North East Scotland: 

Rev James L K Wood 

1 Glen Drive, Dyce 

Aberdeen 

AB21 7EN 

01224 722 543 

james@jamesinez.plus.com 

Dundee & Central Scotland: 

Rev C Graham Taylor 

22 Albert Road, Broughty Ferry 

Dundee 

DD5 1AZ 

01382 779 212 

graham.taylor@dundeepresbytery.org.uk 

Edinburgh & South Scotland: 

Rev Alistair K Ridland 

13 Stewart Place, Kirkliston 

EH29 0BQ 

0131 333 2711 

akridland@aol.com 

Glasgow & West Scotland: 

Rev Colin G F Brockie 

36 Braehead Court, Kilmarnock 

Ayrshire 

KA3 7AB 

01563 559 960 

revcol@revcol.demon.co.uk 

Highland: 

Rev Alan Lamb 

Smiddy House, Arisaig 

Inverness-shire 

PH39 4NH 

01687 450 227 

handalamb@talktalk.net

The Church of Scotland Trust, which was established by 

Act of Parliament in 1932, submits its Seventy eighth 

Report to the General Assembly. 

1. The Work of the Trust 

(a) General 

The function of the Church of Scotland Trust is to hold 

properties outwith Scotland and to act as a trustee in a 

number of third party trusts. During the year it has dealt 

with various matters which have arisen regarding these 

properties and trusts. Matters of particular signifi cance are 

noted hereafter. 

(b) Third Party Trusts 

The Trust is currently trustee of 47 third party trusts which 

benefi t diff erent areas of the Church’s work. In 2007 the 

Trust instigated a Rolling Review Programme for these 

trusts. The Trust’s Secretary and Clerk undertakes a review 

of the trusts annually, producing reports on half the third 

party trust portfolio to each of the February and September 

Trust meetings. 

(c) Israel 

The Trust continues to be consulted by the World Mission 

Council regarding ongoing and future developments 

relating to property in Israel. 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND TRUST 

May 2010 



1. Receive the Report and thank the members of the Trust for their diligence. 

2. Re-appoint John M Hodge and W F Stuart Lynch as members of the Trust from 1st June 2010. 

3. Thank the Rev Prof Kenneth Ross for his service to the Trust. 

4. Appoint the Very Rev Dr Andrew R C McLellan and Thomas C Watson as members of the Trust from 1st June 2010. 

REPORT 

(d) Pakistan 

It is the Trust’s stated objective to transfer all of the Trust’s 

remaining property interests in Pakistan to a suitable body 

in terms of the Church of Scotland Trust Order Confi rmation 

Act 1958. The Trust continues to fi nd this objective diffi cult 

to achieve. As previously reported the Trust appointed Dr 

Peter David, a Pakistani Christian resident in the UK and 

Jamshed Rahmat Ullah, a Supreme Court lawyer based 

in Lahore as its Attorneys in Pakistan. Unfortunately Mr 

Ullah had to stand down as an Attorney when he was 

appointed a judge in the Supreme Court in Pakistan, a post 

incompatible with the role of the Trust’s Attorney. A search 

for a replacement Attorney was unsuccessful and Dr David 

is now the Trust’s sole Attorney in Pakistan. Representatives 

of the Trust and the World Mission Council aim to meet 

with Dr David at least quarterly to monitor progress. 

As reported for a number of years, the Trust continues to 

be a party to a number of court cases involving its property 

interests in Pakistan. No substantive progress has been 

made regarding these actions during the last 12 months. 

The Trust is legally represented in these cases but, due to 

the nature of the Pakistan legal system, it is anticipated 

that these cases will be ongoing for some time. 

9

9/2 

2. Accounts for 2009 

The Trust’s Accounts for the year to 31st December 2009 

have been independently examined and copies thereof 

are available on request from the General Treasurer. 

3. Membership 

In accordance with the constitution of the Trust, the 

following two members retire by rotation on 31st May 

2010 but are eligible for re-appointment: John Maxwell 

Hodge and William Ferguson Stuart Lynch. It is suggested 

to the General Assembly that John M Hodge and W F 

Stuart Lynch be re-appointed. Rev Prof Kenneth Ross has 

tendered his resignation from the Trust with eff ect from 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND TRUST 

9th February 2010. The members of the Trust wish to 

record their appreciation to him for his 10 years service to 

the Trust. It is also suggested that the Very Rev Dr Andrew 

R C McLellan and Mr Thomas C Watson be appointed 

members of the Trust from 1st June 2010. 

In the name and by authority of 

The Church of Scotland Trust 

ROBERT BRODIE, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER N MACKAY, Vice-Chairman 

JENNIFER M HAMILTON, Secretary & Clerk

REPORT OF THE CHURCH HYMNARY TRUSTEES 

(A registered Scottish charity; Scottish Charity No SC002769) 

to 

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLIES OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND and 

UNITED FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 

in respect of year ending 31 December 2009 

May 2010 




2. Agree that 2.5% of the Trust assets should be made over to the United Free Church in exchange for a Discharge 

from them of their interest in the Trust. 

3. Note that Trustees are also actively considering the future of the Trust and how best to make appropriate 

arrangements for the ongoing activities of the Trust when there will be only one constituent Church in the Trust. 

1. Church Hymnary 4th Edition 

1.1 In the year to 30 September 2009 11,905 copies 

(2007-2008 - 22,062) of the Hymnary in the form of CH4 

in its various editions were sold. This is broken down into 

sales of the words only edition – 8,456 (2008 - 17,142), full 

music edition - 1,557 (2008 – 1,943), melody edition - 680 

(2008 - 868), large print edition – 1,212 (2008 – 2,109). It 

is expected that domestic sales will continue to decline 

because so many congregations are now using CH4. 

1.2 Commission due to the Trust calculated in respect 

of the year to 30 September 2009 in respect of CH 4 was 

£11,708.68 (2008 - £21,239.63). The level of royalties paid 

to the authors was £11,363.23. These fi gures are exclusive 

of VAT. 

REPORT 

1.3 The sales of the Hymnary under the title Hymns 

of Glory, Songs of Praise (the edition of CH4 specifi cally 

designed for the non Scottish market) amounted to 726 

copies. The total commission paid to the Trust was £1067.04 

(2008 – £1074). No royalties were payable by the Trust. 

2. CD Rom 

The CD Rom has now been produced and is available. 359 

copies have been sold. 

3. Future of The Trust 

The original purposes of the Trust were to negotiate on 

behalf of the constituent Churches with the publishers 

for the publication of the Hymnary and to ensure a fair 

distribution of the royalties received from the publication. 

Over the years funds were accumulated and held by the 

10

10/2 

Trustees, thus enabling the Trust to perform the useful role 

of arranging for the Hymnary to be updated at regular 

intervals. This facilitated the publication of the Revised 

Church Hymnary, the Church Hymnary Third Edition and 

now the Fourth Edition. While in the early editions of the 

Hymnary many more churches were involved, the number 

has declined over the years and in the case of CH4 the only 

participants were the Church of Scotland and the United 

Free Church of Scotland. Following the completion of the 

publication of CH4 the Trustees have been considering their 

reserves policy. Discussions were held with the United Free 

Church who indicated that it was unlikely that they would 

be involved in connection with any future edition of the 

Hymnary. As on previous occasions, the Trustees resolved 

that the United Free Church should be released from the 

current arrangements. Following discussions, the Trustees 

have resolved, subject to the approval of the constituent 

General Assemblies, that 2.5% of the Trust assets should 

be made over to the United Free Church in exchange for a 

Discharge from them of their interest in the Trust. 

CHURCH HYMNARY TRUSTEES 

The Trustees are also actively considering the future of the 

Trust and how best to make appropriate arrangements 

for the ongoing activities of the Trust when there will be 

only one constituent Church in the Trust. This will involve 

not only discussions with the Church of Scotland but also 

with the publishers of the various editions of the Hymnary 

and the Offi ce of the Scottish Charity Regulator to devise a 

suitable scheme of arrangement for the ongoing activities. 

The permission of the Offi ce of the Scottish Charity 

Regulator is required before any major change can be 

eff ected and once agreement has been reached on the 

appropriate way forward an application will be made to 

the Offi ce of the Scottish Charity Regulator for approval of 

the arrangement. 

In the name of the Trustees 

GEORGE W PENROSE, Chairman 

JOHN M HODGE, Secretary & Treasurer

CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS PLANNING GROUP 

May 2010 


This body will not be contributing a report to the General Assembly this year. 

11

DELEGATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 

May 2010 

The Delegation has to report that during 2009 it granted, 

in virtue of the powers conferred upon it by the General 

Assembly, 9 additional Model Deeds of Constitution. 

The present amended Model Deed of Constitution was 

approved and adopted by the General Assembly on 21 

May 1994 for issue to each congregation whose temporal 

aff airs were then administered by a Congregational 

Board under the Model Deed and for granting to each 

congregation thereafter adopting it. Some amendments 

to it were approved by last year’s Assembly to take account 

of changes required by charity legislation. 

The General Assembly of 2003 also permitted 

congregations to adopt, as an alternative to the Model 

Deed of Constitution, the Unitary Constitution either by 

Resolution of the congregation or by Basis of Adjustment. 

48 congregations adopted the Unitary Constitution during 

2009 compared to 50 in 2008. The numbers electing to 

be constituted in terms of the Unitary Constitution thus 

continue to be substantially higher that those adopting 

the Model Deed. 

A number of the congregations adopting a new form of 

constitution have done so prompted by the Deliverance 

of the General Assembly of 2008 instructing congregations 



1. Receive the Report of the Delegation of the General Assembly and thank it for its work. 

2. Continue the appointment of the Delegation with the same powers as hitherto - the Principal Clerk of the General 

Assembly to be Chairman and the Depute Clerk of the General Assembly to be Vice-Chairman. 

3. Authorise the execution of Deeds of Constitution by any two of the members of the Delegation. 

REPORT 

to review their constitutions. This is greatly welcomed by 

the Delegation. 

The Membership of the Delegation comprises the Clerks of 

Assembly, the Procurator and the Law Agent. The General 

Assembly of 1929 agreed that a quorum of the Delegation 

for all purposes including the execution of Deeds of 

Constitution should be any three members thereof. In 

recent years, it has been customary for Deeds to be signed 

by the Clerks and the Law Agent, this being quick and 

convenient with all three being based within the Church 

Offi ces. With the Depute Clerk’s post becoming a part-time 

appointment, the Delegation is of the view that it would 

be appropriate to provide for the execution of all Deeds 

of Constitution by any two members of the Delegation. 

This would enable the speedy turnaround of Deeds to 

continue, with the signing of Deeds in most cases being 

carried out by the Principal Clerk and the Law Agent and 

would give greater fl exibility when either is not available. 

In the name and on behalf of the Delegation 

FINLAY A J MACDONALD, Chairman 

JANETTE S WILSON, Secretary 

12

1. Introduction and Composition of Trust 

1.1 The Church of Scotland General Trustees submit to the 

Assembly their eighty-third Report since the passing of the 

Church of Scotland (Property and Endowments) Act 1925. 

1.2 The Trustees report the retirement at this Assembly 

of two of their number. Rev Dr Angus T Stewart MA BD 

PhD was first appointed in 1991. His wide knowledge 

of the Church and his kindly temperament have been 

greatly appreciated by his fellow Trustees and by those 

congregations and Presbyteries with whom he came in 

contact through deputations for the Fabric and Chairman’s 

Committees. The Trustees are also losing Mr James R H 

Moffat FRICS who, since his appointment in 1998, has 

ably served the Trustees particularly through his work on 

the Glebes Committee. Mr Moffat was able to bring his 

GENERAL TRUSTEES 

May 2010 



1. Receive the Report and Accounts of the General Trustees. 

2. Re-appoint Mr W Findlay Turner as Chairman and Rev Dr James A P Jack as Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year and 

authorise the making of a payment of £1,450 to each of Mr Turner and Dr Jack as Chairman and Vice-Chairman for 

the past year. (1.3) 

3. Note the increasing number of cases where congregations are engaging in partnership with external organisations 

as they seek to develop their buildings in order to engage more effectively with their local communities. (3.1.1) 

4. Note the commitment of the General Trustees to work in partnership with the Priority Areas Committee as it seeks 

to implement the Priority Areas Action Plan in relation to buildings. (3.2) 

5. Note the encouraging work being done by the Trustees in liaison with the Priority Areas Committee in developing 

a pilot scheme to provide the appropriate resources at an early stage to congregations who are seeking ways of 

providing sustainable ministry and witness in sustainable buildings. (3.3) 

6. Note that the Listed Places of Worship VAT Grant Scheme is scheduled to finish in March 2011, urge HM Government 

to continue the Scheme and encourage congregations to make representations to their MPs. (3.4) 

7. Note the position with regard to the implementation of the revaluation for insurance purposes instructed by the 

2008 General Assembly. (4.1) 

REPORT 

professional expertise in land and estate management to 

the service of the Trustees and the Church. The Trustees 

also regret to report the resignation of Mr Alan F Nisbet 

FRICS ACIA who was appointed at last year’s Assembly but 

who has found it impossible to reconcile the demands of 

a busy professional career in land and estate management 

with the work of the General Trustees and the Glebes 

Committee in particular. 

1.3 The Trustees recommend that Mr W Findlay Turner 

CA and Rev James A P Jack BSc BArch BD DMin RIBA RIAS 

be appointed Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively 

for the ensuing year and that for their services as Chairman 

and Vice-Chairman for the past year they should each 

receive remuneration of £1,450 as authorised by Section 

38 (1) of the 1925 Act. 

13

13/2 

1.4 Full details about the Trustees’ structure, governance 

and management, their objectives and activities, the 

Funds under their administration and their achievements 

and performance can be found in their Annual Report and 

Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 

2009, copies of which are available from the Secretary’s 

Department. 

2. Fabric Funds 

2.1 Central Fabric Fund 

2.1.1 The Fund provides financial assistance to 

congregations towards the cost of repairing and 

improving the buildings for which they are responsible. 

As at 31 December 2009, the capital of the fund stood at 

£17,666,000 (2008 - £12,656,000) out of which the Trustees 

made available new standard loans totalling £3,570,000 

(2008 - £4,542,000). The vast majority of these loans carry 

the standard rate of interest of 5% per annum but where 

special circumstances pertain, the Trustees have charged 

interest of 3% per annum and in occasional cases loans 

have been given on an interest-free basis. During the year 

the Trustees also made available bridging loans totalling 

£725,000 (2008 - £4,573,082) in connection with the 

purchase of manses. The sharp reduction is a consequence 

of the slowdown in the property market and also the fact 

that the Trustees are able to offer bridging facilities only 

where there are concluded missives for the sale of the 

manse which is being replaced. 

2.1.2 Grants are made available from the Fund, financed 

by a combination of periodic transfers of surpluses on 

the Trustees’ General Fund, interest charged on loans, 

investment income, an annual allocation from the 

Mission & Renewal Fund and the half share which the 

Trustees receive from the operation of the 10% levy 

on property sale proceeds. In 2009, the Trustees made 

available standard grants totalling £1,002,000 (2008 - 

£1,647,000). 

2.1.3 In addition, priority grants totalling £402,000 (2008 


- £105,000) were voted for works being carried out by 

congregations in Priority Areas. 

2.1.4 By the end of 2009, the Trustees’ share of the 

10% Levy charged on property sale proceeds amounted 

to £103,000 compared to the 2008 figure of £139,000. 

The relevant Assembly Regulations stipulate that the 

amount of the Levy credited to the Fund is ring-fenced for 

congregations working in Priority Areas and other areas of 

identified need. 

2.1.5 A synopsis of loans and grants made from the 

Central Fabric Fund during 2009 is shown in Appendix 1. 

2.2 Consolidated Fabric Fund 

2.2.1 As at 31 December 2009, the Fund had a value 

of £64,280,000. It is worth noting that the Fund has 

two separate elements, one being capital and accrued 

revenue derived principally from the sale of redundant 

properties and occasionally from the transfer of monies 

from congregations’ holdings in the Consolidated Stipend 

Fund and which amounted to £43,158,000 at the end 

of the year. Administered by the Trustees on behalf of 

individual congregations, the holdings are available for 

a wide variety of fabric-related expenditure on churches, 

halls and manses. The second element of the Fund 

represents the capitalised value of heritable assets as now 

required by accounting regulations. Assessed on the basis 

of historical cost, the value of these assets at the end of 

2009 was £21,122,000. 

2.2.2 Since 2003, Financial Boards have had the authority 

to advise the General Trustees if they wish to make changes 

to the investment mix of their capital holdings in order 

to meet specific local requirements. Any such requests 

should be sent in writing to the Secretary’s Department. 

3. Fabric Matters 

3.1 Projects 

In the last year, the Trustees’ Fabric Committee dealt with 

an average of 72 cases involving repairs and/or alterations

to churches, halls and manses at each of its monthly 

meetings. Ranging from the high-value and complicated to 

the relatively modest, nonetheless all have been extremely 

important for the congregations concerned and many will 

have a positive impact on their neighbourhoods and local 

communities. Some examples are: 

• Abronhill congregation in Cumbernauld received grants 

totalling £35,000 and a loan of £40,000 to help with the 

cost of major repairs to the roof of their architecturallyiconic 

church and hall. 

• A £10,000 grant from one of the Trustees’ bequest funds 

has enabled Lossiemouth: St Gerardine’s High to repair 

the church roof after Historic Scotland refused to assist 

towards the £150,000 cost. 

• A modest £5,000 grant to cover the cost of a Feasibility 

Study will hopefully provide the Howe of Fife 

congregation with a solution for the provision of a new, 

centrally-located place of worship to replace buildings 

in need of substantial repair. 

• Having sold three out-dated churches, the congregation 

of Birsay, Harray and Sandwick is putting the sale 

proceeds and a grant of £15,000 and a loan of £116,400 

from the Central Fabric Fund towards the cost, estimated 

at £850,000, of constructing a new community church 

at Dounby. This pump-priming was one factor in 

securing substantial grant-aid from the Scottish Rural 

Development Fund for the project. 

3.1.1 The Trustees are encouraged by the increasing 

number of congregations which are engaging in 

partnership working with external groups and an 

encouraging example is at Toryglen, Glasgow where a 

Housing Association, the Trustees and the congregation 

are co-operating in major improvements to the church 

complex in conjunction with housing regeneration in the 

surrounding area. 


The 2009 General Assembly reaffirmed the Church’s 

ongoing commitment to its work in Priority Area parishes 

GENERAL TRUSTEES 13/3 

– the poorest 5% of neighbourhoods in Scotland – and 

approved seven strategic priorities for that work, instructing 

the Ministries Council to bring a Priority Areas Action Plan 

to this year’s Assembly. Over the last year the Trustees have 

worked with the Priority Areas Committee to develop the 

Plan while continuing to give practical support to Priority 

Area congregations in the form of expert advice as well as 

the financial assistance noted in para 2.1.3. The Trustees 

welcome the Plan which they are pleased to see recognises 

the value of regular maintenance and repair of existing 

buildings as much as adaptation and improvement. They 

look forward to working with the Committee and other 

Councils as the plan is implemented and delivered. 

3.3 Project Development Support 

By and large, congregations are able to progress fabric 

projects very well once a clear scheme has been identified 

and a professional team of advisers is in place. As identified 

in their report last year, the Trustees had become aware 

that ministers and officebearers often experienced 

considerable difficulties at the earlier stage of developing 

good ideas especially those involving the transformation 

of buildings into modern assets to support congregations’ 

work and witness. Although certainly not confined to 

congregations in Priority Area parishes, the problem has 

been most noticeable in these cases and over the past 

year the Trustees have been working with the Priority Areas 

Committee of Ministries Council to investigate what sort 

of advice, input and resources would be most effective. 

Interestingly, what has emerged is a much wider view of 

the range of resources and input that congregations are 

likely to need. 

It was quickly recognised that a purely buildings and 

finance-oriented approach would be too narrow and that 

congregations also need help to think creatively about 

the activities and services which they hope to see taking 

place. The successful adaptation of buildings and the 

long-term sustainability of the activities inside them are 

two sides of the same coin. So for example, congregations 

13

13/4 

need to be able to get advice on how to draw up a brief 

for alterations or prepare a business plan as well as how 

to engage effectively with the ‘movers and shakers’ in a 

local community or with individuals and organisations 

who have business and enterprise skills or entrepreneurial 

flair. Ideally, congregations should encourage use of 

their buildings by groups and organisations who are not 

dependent on local or central government grants which 

are often short-term and increasingly may be liable to cuts 

or withdrawal. The goal is to have congregations which 

thrive not just survive. 

At the time of preparation of this Report, a small working 

group is developing criteria for the provision of tailored 

support for up to eight congregations in Priority Areas 

which wish to seek assistance in developing sustainable 

buildings for the future. The Trustees believe that, once 

selected, these congregations will gain access to external 

facilitation and guidance in drawing up proposals as well 

as a modest grants scheme which will provide funding 

for ministers, members and office-bearers to develop 

skills through training in particular aspects of project 

development and visits to other projects. 

3.4 Listed Places of Worship VAT Grant Scheme 

First introduced in April 2001 and subsequently extended 

in scope, the Scheme (funded by a grant from HM 

Treasury) enables congregations to recover an amount 

equivalent to the VAT which they have paid on repairs 

to listed church buildings. The Scheme was set up as an 

interim measure pending a European Community review 

of VAT rates which last year concluded that repairs to 

listed ecclesiastical buildings should not be zero-rated for 

VAT purposes. This decision maintains the anomaly that 

alterations to listed church buildings are zero-rated for 

VAT purposes while repairs are charged at the standard 

rate. The Trustees believe that the Scheme has been a 

cost-effective method of assisting congregations to keep 

their buildings in good order. The Scheme has been 

scheduled to be wound up by the end of March 2011. The 


loss of the Scheme combined with a general reduction 

in government funding available through the likes of 

Historic Scotland would be very unwelcome news. The 

Trustees in their own name and also through the Scottish 

Churches Committee have made representations to 

HM Government and are making common cause with 

the Church of England and other denominations south 

of the border. As the matter is not a devolved one, the 

Trustees have already encouraged congregations to 

make appropriate representations to their MPs and 

Westminster Parliamentary Candidates. 

3.5 Surplus and Redundant Buildings 

The Trustees’ Risk Register has for several years referred 

to a major risk, namely, that as there is no co-ordinated 

strategy by the Church of Scotland as a whole in respect 

of surplus and redundant buildings, inappropriate 

decisions may be made by the Trustees, the General 

Assembly, presbyteries and congregations. The Trustees 

are encouraged that a number of initiatives are now 

underway which should help the Church to better 

manage the risk, namely, the Special Commission anent 

the Third Declaratory Article, the Panel on Review and 

Reform which is considering presbytery structures, the 

Priority Areas Action Plan, and the Ministries Council 

in relation to Presbytery Planning. The Trustees have 

appreciated the opportunity to contribute to the 

deliberations and look forward to providing further input 

where necessary. 

3.6 Care of Ecclesiastical Properties 

In terms of the relevant legislation, Presbyteries are 

required to report diligence with regard to the Care of 

Ecclesiastical Properties within their bounds. The returns 

from 40 Presbyteries (out of 44) to hand at the time of the 

preparation of this report revealed that in the year to 30 

June 2009, 1,198 Property Registers out of 1,360 had been 

examined and all had been found satisfactory. In the same 

period, the properties of 244 congregations had been 

inspected.

3.7 Energy 

3.7.1 Conservation 

The Trustees continue to work in partnership with Church 

and Society Council in assisting congregations to conserve 

energy and reduce carbon use primarily through their 

Heating Consultant Mr Andrew W MacOwan and through 

their Energy Advisers Argyle Energy. Mr MacOwan carries 

out independent surveys of the heating systems not just 

in churches and halls but also in manses giving advice on 

improving the efficiency of heating systems, saving energy 

costs and improving the standard of comfort. The Trustees 

provide grants to meet around one-third of the cost of such 

surveys. By the end of 2009, Mr MacOwan had carried out 

31 surveys including repeat surveys of churches and halls 

as well as 8 surveys of manses. Since the inception of the 

scheme, a total of 1,955 initial and repeat surveys of churches 

and halls and 200 manse surveys have been undertaken. 

3.7.2 Procurement 

As a result of the one-year contract with British Gas 

coming to an end on 31 March 2010, the Trustees’ Energy 

Consultants, Argyle Energy sought tenders from half a 

dozen gas and electricity suppliers following which a 

contract for the supply of electricity and gas at preferential 

prices to congregations in the Utility Group Scheme has 

been placed with Scottish Hydro for a two-year period to 

31 March 2012. At the time of preparing this Report, 1,350 

electricity sites and 760 gas sites are covered under the 

Group Scheme. New participants are always welcome and 

any enquiries about how the Scheme operates should be 

directed to the Secretary’s Department. 

3.7.3 Heating Oil and LPG 

In response to a recent questionnaire issued to all 

congregations participating in the Group Scheme, the 

energy consultants are investigating the setting up of a 

buying group for heating oil and LPG. Again, any enquiries 

from congregations outwith the Scheme whose Financial 

Boards feel this would be beneficial should be addressed 

to the Secretary’s Department. 


4. Insurance Matters 

4.1 Insurance Revaluation Programme 

The programme of insurance revaluation of all 

congregational buildings is nearing completion, 

the deadline being 30 June 2010. At the time of the 

preparation of this report, revaluations of the buildings in 

34 Presbyteries have been completed, are currently being 

undertaken or are scheduled to be completed by the 

deadline. Buildings in 4 Presbyteries are being dealt with on 

an individual basis. Of the remaining 7 Presbyteries, most 

have been in contact with the valuers but the revaluations 

have not been scheduled and it would appear unlikely 

that they will be carried out prior to the deadline. 

4.2 The Church of Scotland Insurance Company 

Limited 

4.2.1 The company is owned by the General Trustees 

and is authorised and regulated by the Financial 

Services Authority. The company either by itself or as an 

intermediary can provide cover for all classes of insurance 

and continues to insure the vast majority of Church of 

Scotland congregations as well as the congregations of 

other denominations. 

4.2.2 During 2009, six new fire claims were submitted 

in addition to four fire claims which had been brought 

forward from previous years. The overall cost to the 

company was £50,059. The Directors propose to distribute 

a total of £1,534,000 under Gift Aid to the General Trustees 

representing the company’s net profit in the year to 31 

December 2009 (2008 - £1,521,385). Of this total, £393,000 

had been paid over by the end of 2009. The Trustees have 

determined that the monies received from the company 

for 2009 and credited to their General Fund should be 

allocated to the Central Fabric Fund to assist them in 

giving grants to congregations. 

4.2.3 In accordance with current accounting 

requirements, the 2009 Annual Accounts of the Company 

have been consolidated with those of the Trustees. 

13

13/6 

4.2.4 The Trustees again wish to record their appreciation 

of the very significant financial contribution made by the 

Company towards the Trustees’ work. None of the General 

Trustees who are Directors of the Company receive any 

remuneration for their services. 

5. Stipend Matters 

5.1 Consolidated Stipend Fund 

5.1.1 The capital of the Fund derives in large measure 

from the sale of glebeland but also from transfers out of 

the Consolidated Fabric Fund and from the investment of 

new monies by individual congregations. Approximately 

1,400 congregations have holdings in it and it is the 

second-largest Fund under the Trustees’ administration. 

The General Assembly and the Ministries Council have 

agreed that the Fund should be operated as a permanent 

endowment and the Trustees are therefore able to set their 

investment strategy as being for the long term. Following 

professional advice, the Fund is invested primarily in 

equities which, over the long term, have consistently 

generated capital growth and income yield. At the end of 

2009, the Fund had a capital value of £58,963,000 (2008 - 

£53,366,000). 

5.1.2 Last year, the Trustees reported to the Assembly that 

the rate of dividend to be declared for 2010 was likely to be 

at a reduced level. With the concurrence of the Ministries 

Council, the Trustees propose a dividend rate of £0.1871 

for 2010. This contrasts with the dividend rate of £0.2173 

for 2009 but this exceptional rate was a result of receipt of 

special dividend income during the course of 2008. 

Statistics showing the historical income and dividend 

position are set out in Appendix 2. 

6. Glebes 

6.1 The historical position that glebeland formed part of 

a minister’s living continues to be reflected in Assembly 

legislation so that income from glebe rents as well as 

capital receipts upon sale are credited to the Consolidated 


Stipend Fund with the endowment income assisting 

congregations in meeting their parish ministry costs. 

Net rental income in 2009 was £322,000 compared with 

£327,000 in 2008. The depressed housing development 

market has meant that there has been a small number 

of glebe sales but, by the end of 2009, sale proceeds 

totalled £447,000 compared with £225,300 in 2008. The 

Trustees wish to remind congregations that upon the 

recommendation of Presbytery and with the concurrence 

of the Ministries Council, surplus stipend capital can be 

reallocated for fabric purposes and a number of such 

reallocations can been seen in Appendix 4. 

7. Determinations under Act VII 1995 

The Trustees report that under Act VII 1995 (anent powers 

delegated to The Church of Scotland General Trustees) as 

amended by Act XIII 1996 and IV 1998, they have made 54 

Determinations as set out in Appendix 3. 

8. Reallocation of Endowments 

The Regulations anent the application of stipend and fabric 

endowments (Regulations V 1995) provide a mechanism 

to reallocate the capital held by the General Trustees for 

the benefit of congregations in the Consolidated Fabric 

and Stipend Funds. Details of the reallocations made 

during 2009 are contained in Appendix 4. 

9. Finance 

9.1 Accounts 

The General Trustees’ Accounts for the year 2009 as audited 

by the Auditor of the Church will be laid on the table at 

the Assembly. Copies of the Annual Report and Financial 

Statements are available from the Secretary. The Trustees 

intend that the firm of registered auditors appointed to 

audit the accounts of the Unincorporated Councils and 

Committees for 2010 should also be appointed to audit 

their accounts for that year. 

9.2 Investments 

As previously intimated to the Assembly, the vast bulk of

the Trustees’ non-property assets are invested through the 

three investment funds offered by the Church of Scotland 

Investors Trust – the Growth, Income and Deposit Funds. 

The market values of these investments were: 

31.12.2008 31.12.2009 

Growth Fund £66,570,000 £74,213,000 

Income Fund £5,959,000 £6,112,000 

Deposit Fund £33,498,000 £33,786,000 

The Trustees of the Church of Scotland Investors Trust 

monitor the performance of these Funds comparing 

them with the relevant indices. More detailed information 

on investment performance is contained in the Annual 

Report and Accounts. 

9.3 Valuation of Heritable Assets 

The Trustees’ Accounts contain a valuation on an historical 


cost basis of certain heritable assets in the Trustees’ 

ownership as required by accounting standards. The 

process of capitalising heritable assets in the Accounts is 

continuing. It had been hoped that the exercise would 

have been completed by the end of 2010 but due to the 

volume of the work involved, the process is not now likely 

to be completed until the end of 2011. 

On behalf of the General Trustees 

W FINDLAY TURNER, Chairman 

JAMES A P JACK, Vice-Chairman 

DAVID D ROBERTSON, Secretary and Clerk 

13

13/8 


APPENDIX 1 

SYNOPSIS OF CENTRAL FABRIC FUND GRANTS AND LOANS VOTED IN 2009 

Churches/Halls Manses Total 

no amount no amount no amount 

Grants Priority 10 £379,000 2 £23,000 12 £402,000 

Standard 97 £740,000 36 £262,000 133 £1,002,000 

£1,404,000 

Loans 5% 37 £3,009,090 11 £344,000 48 £3,353,090 

3% 1 £12,000 2 £8,000 3 £20,000 

Interest free 3 £160,000 2 £40,000 4 £200,000 

£3,573,090 

Bridging Loans 4 £725,000 £725,000

APPENDIX 2 

CONSOLIDATED STIPEND FUND 

Capital Total Value Value of Share 

31 December 2005 £61,204,475 £4.3384 

31 December 2006 £67,189,816 £4.7009 

31 December 2007 £69,607,174 £4.7722 

31 December 2008 £53,365,154 £3.5154 

31 December 2009 £58,962,655 £3.8557 

Revenue Income 

Shares Issued 

at 31 December Rate of Dividend 

2005 £2,367,778 14,107,493 £0.1646 

2006 £2,436,204 14,292,869 £0.1657 

2007 £2,962,031 14,586,116 £0.1773 

2008 £3,306,958 15,180,264 £0.2095 

2009 £2,891,692 15,292,347 £0.2173 

During 2009 the sum of £347,836 was admitted to the 

Fund in exchange for 112,083 shares. 

APPENDIX 3 

DETERMINATIONS MADE UNDER ACT VII 1995 

1. General Sales: In the following cases, the General 

Trustees made determinations authorising the sale or let 

of the property concerned and directed that the proceeds 

should be credited to the benefit of the congregation in 

the Consolidated Fabric Fund:- Auchtermuchty – manse; 

Auchtermuchty manse garden building plot; Beath and 

Cowdenbeath: North – Beath church; Biggar – manse; 

Buchlyvie – former North church graveyard; Buckhaven 

and Wemyss – manse; Carriden – halls; Coatbridge: New St 

Andrew’s – Clifton church, hall and church officer’s house; 

Colvend Southwick and Kirkbean – hall ground; Dull and 

Weem – former manse ground; Dundee: Douglas and Mid 

Craigie – Mid Craigie church and hall; Dunnichen Letham 

and Kirkden – manse; Edinburgh: Barclay Viewforth 


– Viewforth church and hall; Edzell Lethnot Glenesk – 

Lochlee church; Glasgow: Castlemilk East – church and 

hall; Glasgow: Castlemilk West – church and hall; Glasgow: 

Dennistoun New – Dennistoun Blackfriars church and hall; 

Halkirk and Westerdale – manse; Hawick: Trinity – manse; 

Kennoway Windygates and Balgonie: St Kenneth’s – hall 

outbuilding; Kilbirnie: St Columba’s – hall; Kildalton and 

Oa – manse; Kilmarnock: St Andrew’s and St Marnock’s – 

manse; Kilwinning: Mansefield Trinity – Fergushill church; 

Kirkcaldy: St Andrew’s – manse; Kirkurd and Newlands – 

retirement house; Mid Deeside – Lumphanan church; Mid 

Deeside – Lumphanan manse; Mid Deeside – retirement 

house; Motherwell: Dalziel St Andrew’s – hall; Motherwell: 

St Margaret’s – ground at church: Paisley: Wallneuk North – 

hall; Penninghame – Bargrennan church; Rousay – Brinian 

church; Turriff: St Ninian’s and Forglen – hall; United Church 

of Bute – hall. 

2. Glebe Sales: In the following parishes, the General 

Trustees made determinations authorising the sale of 

Glebe subjects and directed that the proceeds should 

be credited to the benefit of the congregation in the 

Consolidated Stipend Fund:- Ale and Teviot; Barra; Colvend 

Southwick and Kirkbean; Glamis Inverarity and Kinnettles; 

Glassary Kilmartin and Ford (2); Glenelg and Kintail; Halkirk 

and Westerdale; Innerleithen Traquair and Walkerburn; Iona; 

Kildonan and Loth Helmsdale; Kirkgunzeon; Stonehouse: 

St Ninian’s; Manish Scarista; Oathlaw Tannadice; Traprain. 

3. Miscellaneous: The General Trustees made the 

following miscellaneous determinations: 

(a) Motherwell: Clason Memorial (Dissolved) – sale of 

retirement house and transmission of £55,000 to Central 

Fabric Fund and balance plus Individual Fund to New 

Charge Development per Ministries Council; 

(b) United Church of Bute – discharge of ecclesiastical 

trust conditions. 

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APPENDIX 4 

DETERMINATIONS MADE UNDER 

REGULATIONS V 1996 

The reallocations made as a result of determinations 

during 2009 were as follows:- 

(a) Auchterarder - £40,000 from stipend to fabric; 

(b) Auchterarder - £210,000 from stipend to fabric; 

(c) Inverkip - £35,000 from stipend to fabric; 

(d) Methven and Logie Almond - £40,000 from fabric to 

stipend. 

GENERAL TRUSTEES

1. Just Guild? 

1.1 The Guild’s new three-year strategy for 2009-2012, 

What does the Lord require of you? is based, of course, 

on Micah 6:8. The Guild hopes this strategy will be as 

challenging and rewarding as those which have gone 

before. It is about our response to God’s grace – where 

does our Christian life and witness, in these days, connect 

with justice, mercy and walking humbly God? 

Although the answer to the question is given immediately 

in the book of Micah, the very fact that this overall theme 

is in the form of a question, engages us from the outset. 

A response is sought here, and involvement on a personal 

and group level should be a constant feature of our 

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GUILD 

May 2010 




2. Commend the Guild for the continued work of its Project Partnership Scheme and its support of a wide range of 

work through prayer, increased awareness and the raising of funds. 

3. Approve the revised Constitution as set out in Appendix V and declare it shall come into effect from 1st June 

2010. 

4. Urge ministers and Kirk Sessions to support their local Guilds and offer opportunities for them to share the 

Guild’s work with the wider congregation, particularly during Guild Week. 

5. Recognise the costs involved in staging, inter alia, Guild Week and Regional Annual Meetings and offer prayerful 

support in the undertaking of these events. 

6. Commend the Guild for its contribution to the Decade to Overcome Violence and the continued value of raising 

the profile of the issues involved. 

7. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, Section 1.3) and commits the Guild, in partnership with 

others, to its effective delivery over the next seven years. 

8. Commend the Guild for its contribution to the ACTS Trafficking Task Group and urge the Church of Scotland to 

adopt its report, to be contained in the Supplementary Reports. 

REPORT 

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good (people) to do nothing 

Edmund Burke 

journey. This dialogue format makes a good model for 

us as we take forward the strands of study, exploration, 

practical and prayers support that are thrown up by this 

fundamental question – What does the Lord require of you? 

1.2 The first strand of that strategy, Called to act justly, 

was the subject of our annual meeting in September 2009 

entitled Just Guild. While the leadership team recognised 

the homonyms hidden in the title given to the meeting, 

it is arguable that it gave us even more food for thought 

than expected. 

Bill Hewitt, in his Moderator’s address to Just Guild, pointed 

out that the right relationship with God always begins 

14

14/2 

with humility, not arrogance. Emphasising the Guild’s aim, 

he noted that we tend to think that God’s role is to make 

us happy, to serve us, to answer our prayers. But it is we 

who are to serve and glorify God. 

Our theme of justice carried on through our keynote 

speaker, Mary Miller. Mary spoke of her upbringing and 

concern about the need to combat, as Martin Luther King 

put it, the ‘evil triplets’, poverty, racism and war. Then, most 

movingly, of her work, with husband John, in Zimbabwe 

– the unfairness and inequality amongst people there; the 

overwhelming injustice of life for those born into poverty 

and complex political situations. Mary Miller’s passion for 

the work in Zimbabwe has moved many of us, and indeed 

National Convener Betty Dunn, has made it a key aspect 

of her year. 

The two thousand members who had gathered in 

Dundee’s Caird Hall to attend this annual meeting are 

dedicated members of the Guild, so none are unaware of 

the effects of injustice, nor the different types of injustice, 

in our country and beyond. But here we felt galvanised to 

even more action. 

Reflecting the Micah verse, the Guild is, as are all Christians, 

called to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with 

God. As the Moderator said “When we walk humbly with 

God, our life will demonstrate the characteristics that are 

evident in God himself. The evidence of our walk will be 

witnessed in our acts of kindness, mercy, compassion, 

justice” – something the Guild takes, and continues to 

take, very much to its heart. 

1.3 Our former Convener, while making her farewell 

address at the meeting, reflected on the title – Just Guild. 

What had she done with her year - Just Guild? Yes, we have 

a just Guild – a Guild keen to use their faith in action to do 

what it can to combat injustice. But ‘merely’, or ‘only’ Guild 

– no, far from it, as our Guild year testifies. 


2. Guild Projects 

2.1 A key part of our practical and prayer support is our 

Project Partnership Scheme. A set of six projects is chosen 

for each three-year period. As we move onto a new set 

of projects, we step back a little from the six we worked 

in partnership with in 2006-9. Guild support doesn’t stop 

there of course – many members and groups, as well as the 

Guild nationally, take a particular interest in the continued 

work of past projects, feeling a degree of ‘parental’ concern 

as they continue without the Guild’s close support. 

Final figures of the financial support offered to our projects 

under the strategy Let’s live: body, mind and soul stand at: 

Borderline: Supporting Homeless Scots 

in London: £149, 344.67 

Christian Aid: Action for the Adivasi in 

Bangladesh £96,134.70 

Crossreach: Beyond the blues, Bluebell 

project 

£137,834.53 

The Leprosy Mission Scotland: 

Walking in the light in Nigeria 

£134.364.96 

Lydia Project: Changing the world together 

in eastern Europe 

£115,104.56 

Scottish Love in Action: Touching the 

Untouchables in India 

£166,062.47 

Total £798,845.89 

At a time of cut backs and recession, of financial difficulties 

for families and individuals up and down the country, 

Guild members continue to increase support for those 

affected by poverty and those living on the margins 

of society. We thank those with whom we worked in 

partnership for allowing us to share in, and be inspired by, 

their enthusiasm and passion for their work. 

2.2 Rather early in each three-year period, we have to 

think of the future and the following strategy, and so it was 

In future – web-only publication

that in the summer of 2008, the Guild invited submissions 

for possible projects for members to support during the 

period 2009-12. Some 26 proposals were received and 

after much prayer and deliberation, the Guild’s Projects 

and Topics Committee made the difficult decision. In due 

course, the projects for this new strategy were launched at 

the Project Co-ordinators’ Conference in April 2009. 

Those present at the conference, whom we charge with 

helping cascade information and inspire enthusiasm for 

the projects, were keen to learn more about the work of 

the following project partners: 

2.2.1 CrossReach: On the other side (Scotland) 

The Guild will be supporting the work of the Church’s 

Social Care Council as they provide a vital service to the 

families of those in prison through the Visitors’ Centre 

at Perth Prison. There, those who have family members 

in prison are able to share worries and receive help and 

advice – this plays a significant role in helping to keep 

the family together, as far as possible, during a term of 

imprisonment. This has been shown to play a significant 

part in keeping reoffending rates low. 

2.2.2 The Church of Scotland’s HIV/AIDS Project – 

A new hunger (various countries) 

The need for help and support for those affected by HIV/ 

AIDS at home and abroad continues: anti-retroviral drugs 

are vital for the treatment of the disease, but the drugs 

do not work if the individual does not have a good diet 

or access to good food. This project will raise awareness 

of this and provide education and support; ensuring 

the health benefits of these drugs are not minimised by 

ignorance or poverty. 

2.2.3 International Justice Mission - Terrify no more 

(Cambodia) 

An interesting side effect of the Project Partnership Scheme 

is that it can bring you into contact with organisations with 

which you may be unfamiliar. And so it is with International 

Justice Mission - an organisation which uses the skills 

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GUILD 14/3 

of lawyers to tackle the issue of trafficking. They do this 

through working with local governments, prosecution 

of offenders, and providing assistance to those who 

have been trafficked. This project supports IJM’s work 

in Cambodia, where some 30,000 women and girls are 

trafficked each year, the majority for sexual purposes – a 

great many are children, some as young as five. 

2.2.4 Ministries Council - A Place for Hope (UK) 

Ministries Council has been highlighting the need to 

work in partnership with others to help individuals, 

congregations and communities resolve their differences 

and restore relationships. The Guild is working with the 

Council to establish A Place for Hope – through this the 

Church can begin to re-establish their role within society 

as peacemakers and healers. Progress on this has already 

been made with a successful conference in Aviemore. 

2.2.5 Mission Aviation Fellowship - Mission Run 

(Madagascar) 

A friend and former project partner of the Guild, MAF are 

seeking Guild support for their work in Madagascar which 

will benefit those in remote areas by providing flights which 

will allow them access to transport for goods, people and 

medical aid. No strangers to working in difficult terrain, MAF 

will be using Guild support to fund their vital and effective 

work on one of the poorest islands in the world. 

2.2.6 World Mission Council - Interfaith Support (Israel/ 

Palestine) 

The Guild’s theme for 2009-12 presents Christians 

everywhere with one of the most fundamental challenges 

for the application of their faith - World Mission Council 

meets this challenge directly in its work in Israel/Palestine. 

The Guild will be supporting three areas of work in the 

region, one Christian, one Muslim and one Jewish, assisting 

those who refuse to accept the inevitability of conflict and 

impossibility of reconciliation. 

2.2.7 Guild members are already getting to grips with 

the issues behind these new areas of work and it is worth 

In future – web-only publication 

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reiterating the ethos of the Project Partnership Scheme, 

which we are committed to, and share with, our partner 

organisations. The first priority of the scheme is to give 

prayer support. The second is to raise awareness of the 

issues involved and learn more about them ourselves. 

The third, and it is very much the last priority, is, if we can, 

raise money for the work involved. In all of these areas, 

it is clear Guild members value the opportunity, and the 

challenge, to make a difference in the lives of others who 

find themselves in difficult circumstances. 

At the time of writing, donations are coming in steadily, in 

this, the first few months of the new strategy. 

3. Opportunities 

The Guild continues to find ways to promote and publicise 

the movement in a variety of ways yet also knows that 

the work it does in Christ’s name is important in its own 

right. However, a movement of this kind can only flourish 

and continue its work through growth in numbers and 

development of its structure. 

3.1 Guild Week 

November 2009 saw our 6th Guild Week – the opportunity 

for Guilds to highlight their work and activities to their 

congregations and local areas. Publicised throughout 

the year and with two mailings providing material 

to complement the annual resources, Guilds are well 

equipped to communicate the ethos of this movement. 

The leadership team are much in demand during this time, 

and greatly value the opportunity to share the message 

of Guild Week in different parts of the country. Particularly 

noteworthy, are the areas where Councils rise to the 

challenge to encourage fellowship and understanding 

in areas far from the central belt, such as Caithness, 

Lochcarron & Skye and Lewis. 

3.1.1 After six years, Robert Wiseman Dairies (RWD) are 

completing their sponsorship of the annual Guild Week. 

Over this period, RWD have provided publicity material, 

covered postal costs and provided groups with their 


products to use for meetings and events. This has been 

much appreciated and made the scale of the promotional 

week possible. The leadership team would like to thank 

RWD for their support and, in particular RWD staff 

members Joanne Rae and Ann Kennedy for their work 

over these years. 

3.1.2 The Guild’s Executive committee has been looking 

at alternative sponsorship arrangements, but to date, due to 

the recession and financial uncertainty for many, no funding 

stream has been identified. Guild Week will again take place 

in 2010 (21 to 28 November) showing the Guild recognises 

the value of communicating its work to others. 

3.2 Support and assistance are provided for members, 

groups, and councils on a daily basis primarily by the staff 

team which prides itself on its helpful and prompt responses 

given to queries; the Guild member is the most important 

presence in the office. Ministers are also invited to make use 

of the knowledge and experience of the staff to help them 

provide that vital support to the Guilds for whom they and 

their Kirk Sessions have overall care and supervision. 

3.2.1 Most recently, the Acting General Secretary, 

completing work started by the General Secretary, has 

supported members of Lothian West Presbyterial Council 

as they sought to find new ways to ‘be’ a council, given 

the changing needs of the area and the resources of the 

members involved. The Acting General Secretary was 

impressed by the commitment shown, not just by the 

outgoing officebearers, but by the new team of 8, coming 

together to ensure their legacy was not lost. 

3.3 The Bield Group, a team of experienced former 

National Conveners, continue to make themselves 

available to work as facilitators with groups and Councils 

round the country and invite invitations to develop the 

Guild in a given area. 

4. Constitution (Appendix V) 

The National Executive Committee of the Guild set up 


a group to review the Constitution in November 2008. 

Members of the group, which was convened by Helen- 

May Bayne, Perth Council, were Esme Duncan, National 

Convener 2008-09, Caithness Council; Kirsty Currie, Wigtown 

Council; Janet Whyte, Abernethy Council. Alison Twaddle, 

General Secretary, was secretary to the Group. The Group 

met on two occasions and as a result a draft was prepared 

and tabled at the Council Conveners’ Conference of 28 May 

2009. Council Conveners were invited to review, discuss and 

reflect on the changes in their Councils. Following this, a 

document detailing the following amendments was sent to 

National Committee Representatives on 3 September 2009 

four weeks in advance of the Joint Meeting of 6th October 

2009. In addition, the 2003 Constitution and a copy of the 

proposed new Constitution, including the changes, was 

sent to them. 

At the meeting of 6 October, following questions and 

discussion, the meeting moved to a vote. The vote in 

favour was unanimous. 

The Guild now brings before commissioners the revised 

Constitution (Appendix V) for approval and adoption. 

5. ACTS Trafficking Task Group 

The Trafficking Task Group was formed to take forward a 

remit (Appendix VI) recommended to ACTS’ Forum by the 

Group which had had responsibility for marking in 2007 

the Bicentenary of the passing of the Act which abolished 

the Slave Trade. That Group regarded human trafficking 

as a new form of human slavery and believed that the 

Churches should be called upon to lead a campaign 

against it. 

The Member Churches of ACTS were asked to nominate 

people to serve on the Task Group and four of them did. 

Others asked to be kept informed of the progress of the 

Task Group’s work, as did the Free Church of Scotland. 

The Evangelical Alliance, and through it the Baptist 

Union of Scotland, expressed interest in the Group’s 

remit and nominated the Alliance’s Parliamentary Officer 


as a member. The membership of the Group is shown 

in Appendix VII. The Guild was represented by Alison 

Twaddle (2008 – 2009) and Fiona Punton (2009 – 2010). 

The Task Group will, via the Guild’s section of the General 

Assembly 2010, bring their report to the Church of 

Scotland, for endorsement by the whole church. The 

report is currently being prepared and will take the form 

of a Supplementary Report to the Guild’s. 

6. Decade to Overcome Violence 

The Guild has risen to the challenge raised by the World 

Council of Churches (WCC) to recognise 2001 – 2010 as 

the Decade to Overcome Violence. Along with the Church 

and Society Council, the Guild has kept the profile of this 

high within the Church of Scotland. The issues behind 

all aspects of violence, of women and of others, have 

underpinned all the Guild’s work and has been the subject 

of, for example, discussion topics and informed our 

themes and areas of concern. One of the members of our 

National Executive committee has been charged, during 

the Decade, with attending interfaith meetings and other 

events connected with violence and reports back on a 

regular basis. 

In March, our Executive was pleased to hear from the 

Church’s Ecumenical Officer, Very Rev Dr Sheilagh Kesting 

about the WCC’s plan to hold the International Ecumenical 

Peace Convocation (IEPC) in Jamaica in May 2011. In the 

words of Rev Dr Fernando Enns of the Mennonite Church 

and WCC Central Committee member; 

“The IEPC will empower and ecumenical partners 

to become self-confident in their witness for peace 

with justice” 

As part of the Guild’s input to this event, it will be holding a 

National Service in Perth during Guild Week in November 

this year. Details are still in the planning stage, but the 

Guild is delighted that Dr Kesting has agreed to attend this 

service to mark the Guild’s contribution to the Decade, and 

to ensure that the issue remains central in our concerns. 


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7. Involvement 

Our contact and involvement with other secular 

organisations allow us to play a part in areas which affect 

us in our everyday lives. 

7.1 One such was the opportunity to contribute to the 

debate at Holyrood on the Criminal Justice and Licensing 

(Scotland) Bill. This was brought to our attention by Guild 

members of Moray West. With continued support from the 

Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, the Guild was able 

to communicate its concerns to MSPs about the possible 

effects of this bill if it became law. It was possible that, if 

passed, it would mean that voluntary groups holding sales 

of work or events with third party sellers would be required 

to hold a market operator’s license – potentially with an 

onerous and costly impact on Guild and congregational 

activities. Thankfully, following interventions by ourselves 

and others, MSPs agreed to have that section dropped. The 

Guild, with its wide network, welcomes the opportunity to 

use it, for the good of the church, as and when appropriate. 

7.2 Gude Cause is a group formed to commemorate the 

centenary of the Women’s Suffrage Procession in Edinburgh 

in 1909. The Guild were keen to play a part and so our 

National Vice Convener headed the team of individuals from 

Caithness, Abernethy, Perth, Kirkcaldy, Falkirk, Edinburgh 

and Jedburgh West Presbyterial Councils who took part in 

the march. Over 3,000 women and men from a variety of 

charitable, religious, secular and political groups marched 

along a route which sadly was unable to follow the original 

along Princes Street due to the infamous tram works. 

However, the march ended at the top of Calton Hill with 

music and speeches. It was a moving event to be a part of 

and it felt good to be acknowledging all those great women 

who have fought to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. 

8. Working together 

8.1 Regional annual meeting 

For a number of years, the Guild’s annual meeting has 

been held in Dundee – which provides super amenities 



and, due to the cost being lower than previous venues, 

allows better stewardship of Guild funds. However, 

while transport is not a problem for the majority of Guild 

members (indeed, it can add to the ‘day out’!) some in a 

few areas of the country find it harder to undertake the 

long journey. 

8.1.1 As a response to this, the leadership team, after 

consideration of all the options and taking soundings from 

members in the areas concerned, organised the Guild’s first 

Regional Annual Meeting. It was held in Castle Douglas 

Town Hall and 300 members from Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, 

Stranraer, Annandale & Eskdale and Wigtown Presbyterial 

Councils attended a hugely successful day on 31 October 

2009. With the presence of the whole leadership team, 

wonderful speakers in the shape of former Moderators, 

Very Rev Dr David Lacy and Very Rev Dr Andrew McLellan, 

and with the technical and administrative support afforded 

the ‘main’ meeting, those present had a wonderful day 

and were grateful to the national team for putting on this 

event. 

8.1.2 In the light of this, the team are, at time of writing, 

planning a similar event in Fort William in October 2010, 

and look forward to bringing a flavour of the fellowship 

and inspiration of an Annual Meeting to those in the 

surrounding areas. 

8.2 The annual Guild Theme and Topic Days held, 

usually, in March, prove a successful way to help members 

understand the forthcoming themes and topics of the 

Guild and provide helpful ideas for the use of the packs 

at Guild level. In addition there are opportunities to 

encourage leadership of the Guild by sharing ideas for 

worship and, in 2009, a section on Guild financial matters 

was included to assist treasurers with recent changes in 

procedures. In 2009, Days were held in six venues round 

the country with nearly 400 members taking advantage 

of the opportunity to learn more about the forthcoming 

theme.

8.2.1 At time of writing, planning is well underway 

for the 2010 Days, will be held in Dundee, Ayr, Glasgow, 

Inverness, Aberdeen and Edinburgh over three weekends 

in March. 

8.2.2 Training and encouragement has enabled an 

increasing number of members to feel able to hold 

local events in their own areas. Leaders of these locally 

run events receive the workshop leaders’ packs to help 

with their planning, and it is an encouraging sign on the 

dedication of members that they feel empowered to 

undertake such a venture. 

8.3 Partnership with Mission and Discipleship Council 

enables resourcing of our Guild Education Representatives 

in the form of mailings and an annual conference. Fiona 

Fidgin continues to work with the Guild on this on behalf 

of Mission and Discipleship and her work in ensuring the 

conference is helpful and imaginative is much appreciated. 

The value to individuals, groups and congregations 

of working together in this way with different areas of 

the Church is immeasurable but significantly aids our 

understanding and therefore enhances our work in our 

Guilds and congregations. The Guild is grateful too for the 

work Ecumenical Relations does in resourcing the Guild’s 

Ecumenical Reps – a valuable network for the promotion 

of local interdominational partnerships and initiatives. 

8.4 Guild Presbyterial Council officebearers are further 

supported by the Project Co-ordinators Conference and 

Council Conveners too have their own conference, which 

in 2009 included Pamala McDougall, from the Religious 

Society of Friends reflecting on the beliefs of the Quakers 

in the different areas of justice. There is also a valued 

opportunity to share ideas, questions and discussion 

around the work of the Presbyterial Councils and to share 

forthcoming news 

8.5 Members of the Council team who act as National 

Committee Reps, as well as representing their areas on one 

of the five Guild committees, also have the opportunity to 


attend meetings which involve an overnight stay. Early in 

the committee’s year, National Executive gathers together, 

not just for a meeting, but for valued fellowship. Last 

summer, we were pleased to have Rob Wightman, the 

then Associate Secretary of the Church & Society Council, 

speak to us about racial justice, and our Joint Committees’ 

conference in the autumn benefited from hearing from 

Martin Johnstone, the Priority Areas Secretary from 

Ministries Council speak to us about the issues of social 

justice. The passion of both men for the issues involved 

was inspirational and informative and we appreciated 

them giving of their time and sharing with us. 

9. Partners 

9.1 The Guild continues its commitment to its position as 

a component part of the Church of Scotland and benefits 

from its ability to contribute to the following: 


Mission Forum 

Interfaith Forum 

World Mission Council 

HIV/AIDS Project 

Church and Society Council 


Priority Areas Forum 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 

9.2 The Convener and General Secretary appreciate 

the now annual invitation to meet with the Council of 

Assembly to update them on the work of the Guild and 

the opportunity to strengthen informal partnerships with 

all areas of the Church’s work. 


The 2009 General Assembly reaffirmed the Church’s 

ongoing commitment to its work in priority area parishes 

– the poorest 5% of neighbourhoods in Scotland. It 

approved seven strategic priorities for that work and 




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Over the last year the Guild has worked with the Priority 

Areas Committee of the Ministries Council to develop this 

plan. Priority to the poorest and most marginalised is a 

commitment shared by the whole Church. 

The Guild welcomes the Priority Areas Action Plan 

(Ministries Council, Section *.*) and looks forward to 

working with the Priority Areas Committee, other Councils 

& Committees of the Church as well as a wide range of 

broader partners to deliver the Priority Areas Action Plan 

over the next seven years. 

9.4 Beyond the Church of Scotland, the Guild is 

connected with the work of ACTS, particularly the Network 

of Ecumenical Women in Scotland which fosters good 

relations with other denominations. Guild officebearers 

are invited to attend major events in the lives of equivalent 

organisations throughout the year, and are pleased to 

reciprocate; invitations are extended to our own main 

event. The General Secretary is an alternate member of the 

Church Members’ Meeting, and the movement is kept up 

to date on related matters by the minutes. 

9.5 International connections are maintained through 

the Guild’s continued membership of the Ecumenical 

Forum of European Christian Women which expands the 

Guild’s network across the rest of the continent. 

9.6 The Scottish Women’s Convention, in which the 

Guild has played a part since its inception, has undertaken 

a study on Gender Equality. The Acting General Secretary 

met with the researcher involved and was able to report on 

the Guild’s perception of this issue as well as contributing 

as an individual. A full report is expected in due course. 

While no longer having a formal representative on the 

Scottish Women’s Convention, the Guild continues to have 

members connected to this group which feeds into the 

Scottish Government. This provides a valuable opportunity 

to contribute or get involved with issues affecting the lives 

of people on a daily basis. 



9.7 The leadership team would like to thank Guild 

stalwart and former General Secretary Lorna Paterson 

for her significant contribution to the Scottish Women’s 

Convention since its inception when she was the first chair 

of its Steering Group. Lorna has decided the time is right to 

move on from the SWC, and will be replaced in due course. 

She will be a hard act to follow and has been an excellent 

communicator of the convention’s work. Lorna will not, of 

course, be moving on from her Guild involvement, but we 

thank her for ensuring the national team has always been 

fully informed. 

9.8 Connections with the Women’s National Commission, 

which feeds into the Westminster Government, have by 

definition been more tenuous, but the leadership team 

was pleased the National Vice Convener was able to attend 

the Women’s National Commission Event in November, 

discussing the United Nations Women’s Agenda. Once 

again a valuable source of information which informs the 

whole work of the Guild. 

10. Stewardship and Governance 

10.1 Ever mindful of the need to constantly address 

good stewardship of the Guild’s finances, National 

Executive has agreed an increase in the Capitation Fee 

for the next session, 2010-11. At that point, the fee will 

rise from £7 per year to £8. The Fee has remained at £7 

since 2007 and it was felt a small increase was the only 

sensible and responsible thing to do to enable the Guild’s 

work to continue. National Executive has authorised a 

full programme of publicity to ensure all members are 

fully informed. It is hoped the information produced will 

remind members that the Guild receives no funding from 

the wider church and the fee pays for all the work of the 

Guild even down to the rental of its national office in ‘121’. 

The cost of membership continues to be considerably less 

than equivalent organisations and, indeed, annually only 

amounts to the equivalent of a fortnight’s worth of The 

Scotsman newspaper or a mere 15p per week.

10.2 The Guild continues to invite applications to its 

Initiative Fund. This fund was formed from interest on a 

legacy and continues to give small, but much needed 

grants to Guild-led local initiatives. Most recently, grants 

were awarded which contributed to the shipment of books 

to Malawi, and to the production of publicity material for a 

summer mission in Moray. 

10.3 Our committed members continue to enact 

the Guild’s aim and express their faith through worship, 

prayer and action. As well as the contribution they make 

in their congregations and areas, they have coped well 

with the administrative demands of the charity regulator 

and meeting their secular obligations as well as their nonsecular 

ones. The Guild network is considered to be one 

of the best in the Church and as well as the opportunities 

provided by the events mentioned elsewhere in this 

report, groups regularly receive mailings with news, 

advice and resources. In addition, every member receives 

a copy of the newsletter. The weekly e-bulletin continues 

with a growing readership and contains a particular blend 

of humour and anecdotes as well as more serious news. 

The informal prayer list attached is well used and much 

appreciated. 

10.4 Leadership Team 

The Guild has valued Betty Dunn’s role this year, the latest 

in a long line of committed National Conveners who 

share their gifts and skills with the wider Guild. Betty, from 

Glasgow North Presbyterial Council, is supported by Helen- 

May Bayne, from Perth Presbyterial Council as National 

Vice-Convener. Other members making up the team 

are Alison Angus, from Lochcarron and Skye Presbyterial 

Council who convenes the Marketing and Publicity 

Committee; Margaret Broster, from Ardrossan Presbyterial 

Council who convenes the Projects and Topics Committee; 

and Mary Ford from Glasgow North Presbyterial Council 

who convenes Finance and General Purposes Committee 

and Dorothy Ramsay from Paisley Presbyterial Council 

who convenes Programmes and Resources Committee. 


They are a dedicated and faithful group of members who 

combine good team work with friendship, support and 

having fun in each others company. 

10.5 Staff 

The long term absence of the General Secretary following 

the diagnosis of cancer has, naturally, had an impact on 

the staff in the Guild Office, not least on a personal level 

as the team worried about their friend and line manager. 

The Information Officer combined her role with that of 

Acting General Secretary, which added new meaning 

to the term ‘busy’. However, she readily acknowledges 

that this combined role would not have been possible 

without the support and team work of the office staff. Ann 

Anderson, the General Secretary’s secretary, has provided 

invaluable support which has enabled the usually well 

organised Information Officer to stay that way. Maureen 

Morrish continues to provide excellent administration of 

the Guild finances, as well as contributing to the general 

office work at times of added pressure. Lesley Blyth, even 

though still fairly new, has risen to the challenge and 

has readily taken on more responsible tasks, and done 

them well, thereby allowing Ann more time to provide 

much-needed and appreciated support to the Acting 

General Secretary. As well as all the usual Guild busy-ness, 

the team also coped with organising and attending the 

Regional Annual Meeting at relatively short notice. At time 

of writing, Alison Twaddle is hoping to be able to consider 

a phased return to work – the Acting General Secretary is 

immensely grateful to the staff for all of their significant 

contribution in ensuring the ‘service support’ of the Guild 

carried on as normal. 

Despite these difficult circumstances, and thanks to 

the assistance of the Acting Senior Human Resources 

Advisor (Learning and Development) Ann and Lesley 

have taken advantage of a number of courses provided 

by HR, as well as attending recommended external ones, 

which have been financed by our Finance and General 

Purposes Committee. The staff appreciate the support of 

14

14/10 

the leadership team and the Finance Committee and for 

allowing them, through a legacy given for the purpose, 

to take part in a team ‘awayday’ facilitated by Eglinton 

Consultants. 

11. Just Guild 

In times of change in our environment, our lives and our 

church, the Guild remains a constant: not ‘just’ a group or 

network, nor ‘just’ a talking shop or effective fundraisers. It 

is, as it always has been, a vital organisation, doing What 

the Lord requires of us through ‘worship, prayer and action 

(this finishes a quote - ‘worship, prayer and action’). 

In the name of the Guild 

ELIZABETH M DUNN, National Convener 

FIONA J PUNTON, Information Officer, 

and Acting General Secretary 


ADDENDUM 

Elizabeth Dunn, or Betty, as she is known to us all, retires 

at the end of this Assembly. Betty has brought to the 

Convenership her many talents: not ‘just’ her strong faith 

and experience in the Eldership and wider Church life, but 

also her extensive experience of the business world. Betty, 

awarded her MBE for her services to Export and the Textile 

Industry, has been a successful Sales Director before 

setting up her own business with trade links to Japan. Her 

business acumen has been valued and much utilised by 

the Guild. Alongside her head for business, Betty has been 

blessed with a compassionate and caring nature which 

has been very evident to the Guild office staff, in particular, 

who have appreciated her hands-on support this year: 

even down to phoning the Acting General Secretary 

regularly from her holiday in Florida, to check how things 

were last summer! 

We thank Betty most warmly on behalf of the members and 

officebearers of the Guild, and hope that now her trusted, 

not to mention reliable, Personal Assistant, husband Ian, 

can now get some time off for the golf course – much 

deserved as his support extended far beyond that of a 

husband to acting as secretary and managing her ‘office’ 

back home in Lenzie! 

HELEN-MAY BAYNE, National Vice Convener 

FIONA J PUNTON, Information Officer, 

and Acting General Secretary


APPENDIX I 

Membership statistics 

Members 28,441 

Affiliated groups 1,027 

(Figures based on most up-to-date figures available at the time of preparation of this report.) 

APPENDIX II 

Operational Income and Expenditure 2009 

General fund income £ General fund expenditure £ 

Members’ contributions 203,429 Management and admin. 206,821 

Sales of goods 17,790 Objects expenditure 288,587 

Donations and grants 285,165 Cost of sales 15,325 

Project support 18,595 

Other 1,465 

Total £551,480 Total £510,733 

APPENDIX III 

Amounts given to Church 

Sums given by guilds in 2009 were as follows : 

To Ministries and Mission Funds via congregations £127,843.67 

To Congregational Funds £411,523.06 

To Work of the Church (including projects) £298,855.21 

To Work outwith the Church £107,117.51 

Total £945,339.45 

APPENDIX IV 

Project donations (since June 2009) 

CrossReach: On the Other Side £24,377.40 

HIV/AIDS Project: A New Hunger £14,467.02 

International Justice Mission: Terrify No More £15,955.83 

Ministries Council: A Place for Hope £7,136.89 

Mission Aviation Fellowship: Mission Run £11,948.04 

World Mission Council: Interfaith Support £4,816.39 

Total £78,701.57 

14

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APPENDIX V 

Church of Scotland Guild proposed Constitution 

1. Aim 

The Church of Scotland Guild is a movement within the 

Church of Scotland which invites and encourages both 

women and men to commit their lives to Jesus Christ and 

enables them to express their faith in worship, prayer and 

action. 

2. Membership 

of the Guild is open to all who accept the Aim. 

3. Structure 

of the Guild is as follows: 

3.1 Congregational Groups. 

3.2 Presbyterial Councils which unite local groups within 

a Presbytery area, and which elect representatives to serve 

on National Committees. 

3.3 National Committees, responsible for policy and final 

decision-making, subject to section 14 below. 

4. Congregational Groups 

4.1 Congregational groups are formed within the family 

of a local congregation with the agreement of the Minister 

and Kirk Session and are subject to their jurisdiction and 

care. Each group elects its own leadership team to run the 

group in whatever way is appropriate for the members. 

It is a requirement that there is a majority of Church of 

Scotland members or adherents on this team. Short 

periods of leadership are acceptable and no one should 

be expected to remain on the team for longer than three 

years. Members may expect to be encouraged by their 

leadership teamto share responsibility for organising 

meetings, helped by the current themes and resources of 

the Guild. 

4.2 Each group is registered with the Guild’s national 

administration office, which also needs the name and 


address of a contact member, and of a treasurer, from each 

group, to whom information can be sent. The group must 

ensure that the financial regulations (see relevant section 

of Going for Growth) are observed. 

4.3 An annual fee is due from each member and is paid 

to the Guild’s national administration office. This is the 

main source of operating income for the Guild. 

4.4 Congregational groups may wish to adopt a project 

or projects nominated by the Guild. When such projects 

are chosen the group would benefit from having a 

Project Partner (or more than one), who becomes part of 

the leadership team, to maintain interest in the selected 

projects, enabling members to receive relevant information 

and progress reports. 

4.5 Congregational groups may choose to raise money 

for their project(s) and for congregational needs. If money 

is to be raised for charities or causes outwith the Church 

of Scotland, this must be made clear before the money is 

collected. (See relevant section of Going for Growth) 

5. Presbyterial Councils 

5.1 Councils are an important part of the Guild. Not only 

do they provide inspiration and stimulus to the groups, but 

from each Council one member will be elected to serve at 

national level (see 7 below). Normally this person should 

not be the current Council Convener, but automatically 

becomes a member of the leadership team (see relevant 

section of “Going for Growth”). 

5.2 Each Council is registered with the Guild’s national 

administration office, which also needs the name and 

address of a contact member, and of a treasurer, from each 

Council, to whom information can be sent. The Council 

must ensure that the financial regulations (see relevant 

section of Going for Growth) are observed. 

5.3 All members are welcome to attend Presbyterial 

Council meetings. Should the Council be required to take

a vote on any issue, each local group appoints two voting 

members. 

Councils aim to provide support and encouragement and 

it is open to them to find the best ways in which to do this. 

They are encouraged to set up a process of consultation 

with the groups so that needs, suggestions and ideas may 

be responded to 

a) through local action 

b) through representation at national level. 

Councils are free to organise themselves to suit local 

needs, but should they feel the need of a structure, 

the following guidelines are suggested: 

A leadership team to assist the Convener and Treasurer 

to oversee the work of the Council including: 

a Project Co-ordinator, to promote support for the Guild 

Projects at local level; 

an Education Representative and an Ecumenical 

Relations Representative, who are encouraged to 

promote activities within the Council and with local 

groups, and to provide a link with the Church of 

Scotland’s work in these fields. 

5.4 Each Presbyterial Council member appointed to a 

particular responsibility should seek an invitation to link 

with the appropriate committee of Presbytery. 

6. Co-Option 

National Executive, National Committees and Presbyterial 

Councils may co-opt any member or adherent of any 

branch of the Christian Church, up to a maximum of five, 

and for one year only, whether a member of the Guild 

or not, if such a person is willing and able to contribute 

significantly to any particular aspect of the work 

undertaken by the Committee or Council. These co-opted 

members have no vote. 


7. National Committees 

Each Presbyterial Council elects a member to serve at 

national level and to encourage consultation through 

the Councils. These elections take place on a three year 

rota basis, one third of Councils being invited each year 

to nominate a representative. At national level there is 

an Executive Committee and four Committees to advise 

it and monitor the administration of the Guild. These 

National Committees are therefore: 

1 Executive 

2 Finance and General Purposes 

3 Marketing and Publicity 

4 Programmes and Resources 

5 Projects and Topics 

One third of Council representatives serve on the National 

Executive Committee and the remainder on the National 

Committees, 2-5 as listed above. An appointments Subcommittee 

meets annually to allocate newly nominated 

Council Representatives to the vacancies on the National 

Committees 1-5, taking account of relevant qualifications, 

experience and interests. 

In addition, the National Executive Committee may appoint 

a working group with a particular remit for engaging with 

younger people. 

These Committees elect their own Conveners who also 

serve on the National Executive. At the end of each year 

one member from each Committee is appointed to serve 

on the National Executive for that member’s remaining 

year(s) of office. 

Normally no member is expected to serve longer than 

three years at national level. 

8 . National Executive 

The National Executive holds responsibility for the policy 

development of the Guild and has authority for decisionmaking 

on its behalf. It must submit an Annual Report, 

14

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which is presented by the National Convener to the General 

Assembly, to whose jurisdiction the Guild is ultimately 

subject. The Guild is invited to appoint a corresponding 

member to the General Assembly. 

The National Executive elects the National Convener and 

a National Vice-Convener who shares the work-load with 

the National Convener. Any current member of National 

Committees, including any member about to retire, is 

eligible for election as Vice Convener. The Vice Convener 

and committee Conveners are eligible for election as 

National Convener. 

The office of National Convener is normally held for only 

one year. 

9. Administration 

The National Executive appoints a General Secretary 

employed to administer its affairs and other office staff 

as necessary. The General Secretary is a member of the 

National Executive, ex officio. 

10. The Guild shall continue and shall assume the whole 

responsibilities and the whole rights and assets previously 

exercised and enjoyed by the Woman’s Guild, whose 

work and functions are incorporated into the work and 

functions of the Guild. Existing trust funds and all future 

donations and legacies received in connection with the 

Woman’s Guild or any such work or functions shall be held 

and applied by the Guild, all according to the terms and 

conditions applying to them. 

11. Appointments 

All appointments take effect immediately after the General 

Assembly in any year. 

12. Statement of Accounts 

A statement of the accounts of the National Executive of 

the Guild prepared as at 31 December each year, must be 

included within the audited Accounts of the Councils and 

Committees of the General Assembly. 


13. Individual Membership 

Any person belonging to a parish or congregation of the 

Church of Scotland in which there is no local affiliated 

group may join another convenient group or become an 

individual member of the Guild by applying to the General 

Secretary for membership and paying the current annual 

fee. Names and addresses of such individual members 

are sent by the General Secretary to the appropriate 

Presbyterial Council. 

14. Amendments to Constitution 

The Constitution may be amended by the General 

Assembly following consultation with the members on the 

recommendation of the National Executive and National 

Committees. Proposed changes must be intimated in 

writing to all the voting members at national level at least 

one week in advance of a meeting at which they will be 

considered. Changes may be considered only if two thirds 

of those eligible to vote are present at the meeting, and 

must be agreed by two thirds of those present. 

APPENDIX VI 

Remit of ACTS Trafficking Task Group 

The 2007 Group believe that churches in Scotland lack 

a reference point where information, concerted action, 

and strategic thinking to tackle the issue of trafficking for 

sexual exploitation can happen. As a result many churches 

and church groups are not aware of what others are doing 

in this area. 

The 2007 Group welcomed the fact that a number of church 

denominations had produced material and resource packs 

which highlighted the problems, particularly through 

case studies. However the 2007 Group believe that there 

is a need to share information and to develop effective 

collaboration which would ensure the most efficient use of 

limited resources. The 2007 Group, therefore, recommend 

to the Forum that a small, short life working group should 

be set up to draw up, within two years, a strategy for cooperation 

and joint action by the churches of Scotland.

This working group should be composed of men and 

women with some knowledge and passion about the 

subject, prepared to be pro-active and preferably with 

connections to the relevant body/group in their particular 

church. To help them prepare an effective strategy for 

common action the working group would seek information 

from those working in the field, including governmental, 

voluntary, community and church based groups. 

APPENDIX VII 

Task Group Membership 

Dr Nelu Balaj, (Convener); formerly Scottish Churches’ 

Racial Justice Officer 

Major John McCaffrey Salvation Army 

Dave McCann Roman Catholic Church 

Charmian Paterson Scottish Episcopal Church 

& NEWS 

Fiona Punton Church of Scotland Guild 

Dr Enid Scobie Scottish Episcopal Church 

(Mothers’ Union) 

Alistair Stevenson Evangelical Alliance & 

International Justice Mission 

Sr Christine Triay Roman Catholic Church 

Alison Twaddle Church of Scotland Guild 

Rev Francis Alao Scottish Churches’ Racial 

Justice Officer (from January 

2010) 


14

TRUSTEES OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND HOUSING AND LOAN FUND 

FOR RETIRED MINISTERS AND WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS OF MINISTERS 

May 2010 


1. Receive the Report and thank the Trustees and Staff . 

1. Aim of the Fund 

1.1 The Fund exists to support retired Church of Scotland 

ministers, and widows, widowers, and separated or 

divorced spouses of Church of Scotland ministers, in 

need of help with housing. The Trustees endeavour to 

provide assistance by way of either a house to rent or a 

house purchase loan in accordance with guidelines set, 

and regularly reviewed by, the Trustees. Guidance Notes 

incorporating these guidelines are available on the 

Church of Scotland website or can be requested from the 

Secretary at the Church offi ces. The Secretary is always 

happy to meet with potential applicants to discuss their 

particular situation, and the assistance which the Trustees 

may be able to provide to them. 

1.2 The Trustees own, and regularly acquire additional 

houses for leasing at concessionary rents to those with 

insuffi cient resources to enable them to purchase houses 

for themselves. Alternatively, loans at favourable rates of 

interest are granted up to 70 per cent of a house purchase 

price, subject to an overriding normal maximum of £25,000 

for Standard Loans, and £122,500 for Shared Appreciation 

Loans. 

2. Housing Transactions : 2009 

2.1 Assistance provided during 2009 to ministers, 

widows and widowers, and separated and divorced 

spouses, is detailed in Appendix 1 annexed to this Report. 


REPORT 

The percentage of those eligible to apply, and who were 

granted assistance, is similarly shown in Appendix 1. 

All those who applied and who fell within the fi nancial 

parameters of the Fund were provided with assistance. 

2.2 The Trustees owned 263 houses at the end of 2009. 

The houses purchased and those sold by the Trustees 

during that year, are detailed in Appendix 2, which also 

shows the average price of the houses so purchased, and 

the average price of the houses disposed of. At the end of 

2009, 5 houses were still being marketed for sale. 

2.3 Apart from leases granted prior to 1989 (where rents 

continue at unchanged rates of 70 per cent of fair rents 

for ministers and 35 per cent for widows or widowers of 

ministers), rents charged for houses provided by the Fund 

are at a level of 50 per cent of the open market rent for 

ministers, and 25 per cent for widows and widowers of 

ministers. 

3. Loan Transactions : 2009 

3.1 The Fund provides loans by way of Standard Loans, 

Shared Appreciation Loans, and Short Term Bridging 

Loans. 

3.2 Standard Loans are granted up to a normal maximum 

limit of £25,000 at a rate of interest of four per cent for 

ministers and two per cent for surviving widows or 

widowers of ministers. 

15

15/2 

3.3 Shared Appreciation Loans, which link loan values over 

their term to the value of the property concerned over the 

same period, may be granted up to a normal maximum limit 

of £122,500. Currently rates of interest for such loans are two 

and half per cent for ministers and one and a quarter per 

cent for widows or widowers of ministers. 

3.4 Short Term Bridging Loans are granted for a specifi c 

period, and in specifi c circumstances, at the discretion of 

the Trustees. Interest is charged at a rate equivalent to that 

permitted by H.M. Revenue & Customs without liability for 

benefi t-in-kind taxation. At the time of writing this was 

four and three quarters per cent. 

3.5 Details of each of the three types of loan outstanding 

as at 31 December 2009 are given in Appendix 3. 

4. HM Revenue & Customs 

4.1 Commissioners may recall from the Supplementary 

Report to the General Assembly of 2008, that negotiations 

were ongoing with HM Revenue & Customs concerning the 

taxation of the benefi t-in-kind, perceived by HM Revenue 

& Customs to be implicit in the rates of interest charged 

by the Fund on its various Loans. Despite representations 

and off ers of negotiation having been made by both the 

Secretary and the Church’s Tax Consultant to HM Revenue 

& Customs, it has become apparent to us that there will be 

no relaxation of this legislation for loans provided to retired 

Ministers and their widows or widowers. It has however 

been established that where loans are provided in joint 

names, the tax liability can also be apportioned jointly. 

5. Donations, Bequests etc. 

5.1 The Trustees have to report that during 2009 they 

received a total sum of £381,091 by way of donations, 

bequests and gifts. 

6. Funds 

6.1 The net cost of house purchases less house sales 

during 2009 was £1,922,539. The net increase in long-term 

loans during 2009 was £371,450. 

HOUSING AND LOAN FUND 

6.2 Investments at market value, and cash balances, at 

31 December 2009 amounted to £2,587,280. Small signs 

of recovery in the global economic market produced an 

unrealised investment gain of £231,800. 

7. The Future 

7.1 Those who are within fi ve years of retirement are 

encouraged to contact the Fund if they feel they may 

need to avail themselves of the Fund’s assistance. Similarly 

the Trustees always welcome an initial approach from 

those who are within fi ve to ten years of retirement. Such 

approaches not only assist the Trustees with fi nancial 

forecasting, but can help to alleviate some of the anxieties 

which ministers and their spouses may experience in 

respect of housing as they contemplate their future after 

retirement. Details of commitments for the provision of 

either a house to rent, or a loan, during the next fi ve years, 

and approved at 31 December 2009, which will require to 

be met from funds can be found at Appendix 4. Further, 

the number of ministers due to retire within a fi ve to ten 

year period from 31 December 2009 and whose names 

have been placed on the Preliminary Applications List for 

assistance can also be found at Appendix 4. 

7.2 Mindful both of the current state of the housing 

market, and equally of its obligations towards the Church 

and the proper and appropriate stewardship of its 

resources, the Trustees considered carefully the parameters 

for granting assistance with housing to rent, and assistance 

by way of housing loans, in December 2009. As a result, 

and particularly bearing in mind the static situation of the 

housing market in Scotland generally, it was agreed that 

the parameters for 2010 continue to be a maximum price 

for a house to rent of £175,000 and the maximum price, 

or value, of a house in respect of which a loan would be 

given of, similarly, £175,000. The Trustees remain satisfi ed 

that such parameters will enable appropriate housing to 

be purchased for rental, or with the aid of Fund loans, in the 

current housing market. Applicants for whom assistance 

is to be granted by way of a house to rent are reminded

that the fi gure of £175,000 is a limit, and not a target, and 

they are requested to consider, fi rst, the Fund’s vacant 

properties before consideration is given to purchasing a 

new house for them. 

8. Diligence 

8.1 The Trustees confi rm that the Staff have routinely 

and progressively monitored their stock of rental housing, 

and housing over which loans have been secured, 

and have continued to support all of their tenants and 

borrowers. No signifi cant problems have been identifi ed 

or encountered. 

9. Budget Allocation 

9.1 The Trustees will, as previously reported, require 

to continue to draw down £500,000 per annum from 

Congregational Contributions to the Parish Staffi ng Fund, 

HOUSING AND LOAN FUND 15/3 

an amount still within the two per cent of stipend limit 

allocated by the General Assembly for use by the Fund 

previously. 

10. Staff 

10.1 The Trustees wish to place on record their 

indebtedness to the work of the Staff of the Fund, and 

in particular the care and support aff orded by Staff to all 

those who apply to, or have been assisted by, the Fund. 


J G GRAHAME LEES, Chairman 

IAN TAYLOR, Deputy Chairman 

LIN J MACMILLAN, Secretary 

15

15/4 


APPENDIX 1 

Assistance provided 

2009 2008 

Number of Ministers retiring (and eligible to apply to the Fund) 47 48 

Percentage assisted with a house to rent 26% 15% 

Percentage assisted with a house purchase loan 21% 19% 

Total percentage assisted 47% 34% 

Percentage of individuals eligible to apply who fell within the 

Fund’s fi nancial parameters and who received assistance 100% 100% 

Instances of assistance provided* 

Retiring Ministers 23 16 

Ministers already retired 5 3 

Widow(er)s 2 3 

Spouses 3 1 

Total 33 23 

* Assistance may be provided in a diff erent calendar year to that in which the Minister actually retires 

Tenants as at 31 December 

Ministers 160 159 


Spouses 9 8 

Commercial rental 2 1 

Vacant 10 7 

Borrowers as at 31 December 

Ministers 83 86 


Spouse 1 0


APPENDIX 2 

Rental Housing 

2009 2008 

Total number of houses owned at 1 January 253 249 

Houses purchased during year 16 11 

Total cost of purchases £2,449,117 £1,761,830 

Average house price £153,070 £160,166 

Houses sold during year 4 7 

Total amount realised £526,578 £1,219,910 

Average proceeds £131,645 £174,273 

Houses bequeathed/gifted during year 0 0 

House relinquished during the year** 2 0 

Houses relet during year 3 1 

Total number of houses owned at 31 December 263 253 

Average market rent of property purchased during year £7,556 £7,255 

Average rent of new tenancies - Ministers/Spouses £3,778 £3,633 

Average rent of new tenancies - Widow(er)s £0 £1,440 

** 1 house now under the management of the Council of Assembly 

1 house sold and proceeds received as a legacy 

15

15/6 


APPENDIX 3 

Housing Loans 

2009 2008 

Long term loans outstanding at 1 January 140 135 

Value of loans outstanding £4,852,400 £4,176,950 

New loans granted during year 9 12 

Additional loans granted during year 0 1 

Value of loans granted £562,500 £815,500 

Loans fully repaid during year 9 7 

Loans partially repaid during year 3 4 

Value of loans repaid £191,050 £140,050 

Long term loans outstanding at 31 December 140 140 

Value of long term loans outstanding £5,223,850 £4,852,400 

Short term Bridging Loans outstanding at 1 January 4 2 

Value of Bridging Loans outstanding £183,000 £92,000 

Bridging Loans granted during year 9 10 

Value of Bridging Loans granted £464,000 £595,000 

Bridging Loans repaid during year 9 8 

Value of Bridging Loans repaid £457,000 £504,000 

Short term Bridging Loans outstanding at 31 December 4 4 

Value of Bridging Loans outstanding at 31 December £190,000 £183,000


APPENDIX 4 

Outstanding Commitments 

2009 2008 

For next 5 years 

Houses to rent 39 47 

Housing Loans 26 30 

Value of outstanding commitments £8,903,500 £11,225,000 

Preliminary Applications 

2009 2008 

For those retiring between 5 - 10 years 5 9 

15

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND INVESTORS TRUST 

May 2010 




2. Approve the re-appointments of A A Aitchison, C Y Alexander and J G Wilson as members of the Investors Trust 

from 1 June 2010. 

3. Receive the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Investors Trust for 2009. 

The Church of Scotland Investors Trust, which was 

established by the Church of Scotland (Properties and 

Investments) Order Confi rmation Act 1994, submits its 

fi fteenth Report to the General Assembly. 


The function of the Investors Trust is to provide investment 

services to the Church of Scotland and to bodies and trusts 

within or connected with the Church. The Investors Trust 

off ers simple and economical facilities for investment in 

its three Funds: Growth Fund; Income Fund; Deposit Fund. 

Investors receive the benefi ts of professional management, 

continuous portfolio supervision, spread of investment 

risk and economies of scale. 

The bulk of the Church of Scotland’s investments are 

held on a long term basis, for the purpose of generating 

recurring income to support the Church’s work. An 

increase or decline in the capital value of investments does 

not necessarily have a corresponding eff ect on income 

receivable. 

Ethical considerations form an integral part of the 

investment management process and the Trustees 

have given guidance to the investment managers, 

taking into account views expressed by the General 

REPORT 

Assembly. At their own meetings, the Trustees regularly 

review and consider matters arising in respect of ethical 

investment. Investment is avoided in any company whose 

management practices are judged by the Trustees to be 

unacceptable. In particular, investment is avoided in any 

company substantially involved in gambling, tobacco 

products, alcohol, armaments and in other activities which 

are felt to harm society more than they benefi t it. In general, 

investment is sought in companies that demonstrate 

responsible employment and good corporate governance 

practices, have regard to environmental performance and 

human rights and act with sensitivity to the communities 

in which they operate. 

2. Investment Performance in 2009 

The total value of funds invested through the Church of 

Scotland Investors Trust increased from £291.7 million 

at 31 December 2008 to £312.1 million at 31 December 

2009. The increase was mainly the result of the recovery in 

equity and bond markets. 

All investment classes, apart from property and UK 

Government Bonds, showed positive returns in 2009. 

The major market for the Growth Fund, UK equities, rose 

by 30.1% as measured by the FTSE All Share Index. Total 

16

16/2 

Return was 17.8% against an increase for the benchmark 

of 20.9%. 

In consultation with the Fund Managers, the Trustees 

introduced an overall benchmark for the Income Fund 

during 2009. The Total Return for 2009 was also 17.8%, 

against the benchmark of 16.5%, as many corporate bonds, 

which make up the major part of both the Fund and the 

benchmark, rebounded from depressed levels. 

Investment fundamentals for 2010 look more positive 

than they were at the start of 2009. However, there will be 

challenges, including those arising from the historically high 

levels of Government debt both at home and abroad. 

3. Income Distributions 

In the Growth Fund, the target was to maintain the 

distribution rate at 16.5p per unit for 2009. As a result of a 

fall in property investment income and lower interest rates 

on cash holdings, income generated by the portfolio was 

less than anticipated. Partial utilisation of the reserves built 

up in the last few years when dividends were plentiful, has 

enabled the Trustees to declare the targeted distribution 

of 16.5p. The Trustees have again targeted a maintained 

payment of 16.5p for distribution in 2010. Although the 

outlook seems less uncertain than at this time last year, 

the target is again set with the caveat that unforeseen 

developments could upset this forecast. 

The Income Fund distribution target rate for 2009 was 67.0p, 

the same as was paid in 2007 and 2008. However this target 

was made with the proviso that it would not be sustainable 

should there be any material income defaults from bond 

holdings. The fi nancial distress was such in the corporate 

sector that two such bond defaults did occur and this, 

combined with low returns on cash holdings, compelled 

the Trustees to reduce the 2009 distribution rate to 60.0p 

per unit. Confi dence and investors have since returned to 

the bond market and the Trustees are able to forecast that 

the same distribution should be payable in 2010, unless the 

fi nancial environment deteriorates signifi cantly. 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND INVESTORS TRUST 

The average rate for 2009 declared by the Deposit Fund 

was 3.16% whilst base rate averaged 0.65%. The Fund 

Managers, within investment parameters set by the 

Trustees, followed a strategy of placing funds out for 

longer periods to take advantage of the higher yields 

available. This strategy delayed the adverse impact on 

the level of revenue earned following the dramatic fall in 

base rate to 0.50%. The average rate payable in 2010 will, 

as usual, depend on movements in the money market but 

will undoubtedly be less than the 2009 level. 

4. Membership 

In accordance with the terms of the Constitution, the 

following three members retire by rotation at 31 May 2010: 

A A Aitchison, C Y Alexander and J G Wilson, all three having 

indicated they seek re-election. It is recommended to the 

General Assembly that A A Aitchison, C Y Alexander and J G 

Wilson be re-appointed members as from 1 June 2010. 

Mr D M Simpson retires as a Trustee on 31 May 2010 after 

thirteen years service to the Investors Trust during which 

time he has served as both Vice-Chairman and Chairman. 

The Investors Trust has been fortunate to have had at its 

disposal his considerable investment expertise and wise 

counsel. 

6. Annual Report and Financial Statements 

for 2009 

Copies of the Annual Report and Financial Statements for 

the year to 31 December 2009 are available to download 

from The Church of Scotland website or can be obtained 

from the Secretary. 

In the name and by the authority of 

The Church of Scotland Investors Trust 

I J HUNTER, Chairman 

A W T GIBB, Vice-Chairman 

F E MARSH, Secretary

REPORT OF THE IONA COMMUNITY BOARD 

May 2010 



1. Receive the report and thank the Board. 

2. Commend the Rule of the Iona Community and the faithfulness it nurtures through mutual support and 

accountability. 

3. Express appreciation of the Iona Community’s work with young offenders in countering sectarianism and through 

the Jacob Project. 

4. Welcome the renovation of staff accommodation on Iona and thank the Church for its continuing support of the 

Growing Hope Appeal which has made this possible. 

General 

1. The Board is pleased to report another year of 

faithful service by the Iona Community. The work of the 

Community is that of its members dispersed around the 

country and beyond who are united by its five-fold Rule. 

Members seek to be part of an inspired and engaged 

community of women and men who are active in local 

churches and communities and passionate campaigners 

for justice and peace. 

The Iona Community through its worship and work, bears 

witness to a God whose love is unconditional. Through their 

common faith, common task and common life, members 

and staff mediate the grace of God for one another and to 

others. It is God’s grace that moves Christians from apathy 

to empathy, from passivity to prayer, from indifference 

to action. The grace of God is at the centre of the Iona 

Community’s worship, discipleship and common life. It is 

the source of the Community’s passion for peace-making 

and justice-seeking. 

At the end of a decade characterised by corporate greed, 

growing economic inequality, conflict and militarisation, 

REPORT 

and environmental degradation, the Community is 

challenged by young people from around the world 

who come to Iona seeking examples of life and faith that 

are driven neither by the pursuit of personal wealth and 

addiction to consumerism, nor by narrow dogma and 

sectarianism. 

For many people, old and young, social justice and climate 

change are the great moral and spiritual crises of today and 

they are looking for a belief system capable of transforming 

people to change the world. The Iona Community seeks 

to model Christian spirituality, to rebuild common life 

through working for social, economic and political justice. 

The Community works for the renewal of the Church 

by exploring new and radically inclusive approaches to 

worship and spirituality. 

The Community acknowledges that “for change to come, 

we must be that change”. Through the practice of the 

Rule members hold one another accountable for their 

prayer life and priorities, for the use of their income and of 

the Earth’s resources, and for actions towards peace and 

justice. Life in Christian community is simultaneously a 

spiritual and political statement. 

17

17/2 

Islands Work 

2. Iona Centres 

The 2009 season at the Community’s centres on Iona was, 

as always, full of challenges, surprises and good memories. 

Despite the difficult economic context bookings held up 

well both in the Abbey (with over 1400 guests through 

the season from March to October and 84.25% occupancy 

only slightly down on 2008) and at the MacLeod Centre 

(almost 70% occupancy – comparable with 2008, over 

1100 guests). In both centres, in addition to individual 

guests from all over the world, there were many churchrelated 

and other groups, for example, schools. Highlights 

of the season included the Church of Scotland Children’s 

Assembly welcoming young people from all over Scotland, 

together with some from overseas (New Zealand, Zambia, 

Hungary, Malawi, Kenya). The event will return in the 2010 

season. Introduction of a more flexible weekly programme 

(under a “Gathering Place” theme), with opportunities to 

explore concerns of the Community and guests, was 

generally well received. 

As always the Community is immensely grateful to its 

resident staff (around 20 people on one-year or threeyear 

contracts). Along with volunteer staff from all over 

the world (120 people coming for periods of six weeks 

to three months or so) they provide hospitality for almost 

100 guests each week at the Community’s Iona centres. 

We are richly blessed by their gifts and commitment 

which contribute so much to building community and 

welcoming guests each week. During the latter part of 

the season, there were significant staff shortages (owing 

to early departures, illness and visa problems), and the 

Community appreciates the additional demands this 

placed on staff. That the centres continued to operate so 

cheerfully and effectively is to the credit of them all. The 

leadership of Jamie Schmeling, a minister of the Reformed 

Church of America, who took over as MacLeod Centre 

Warden in April, and the team-building achievements of 

Malcolm King, Abbey Warden, contributed significantly 

to the creation of a real sense of common purpose 


throughout the season. Malcolm resigned in November 

2009 to take up an appointment in the Anglican Church 

of Australia. 

3. The refurbishment of the Community’s shop to 

incorporate a welcome and interpretation centre (the 

second phase of the Community’s “Growing Hope Appeal”) 

was satisfactorily completed in March within budget and 

timetable. The new building considerably enhances both 

the Community’s welcome to day-visitors as well as guests 

and provides new opportunities to promote the sale of 

books and an attractive range of goods. Despite the drop 

in tourist numbers the shop had a fairly good year. 

4. The third phase of the Growing Hope Appeal 

concerns the much-needed improvement and extension 

of staff accommodation in Dunsmeorach, the large house 

opposite the Abbey which originally belonged to George 

MacLeod. The work is due to start later this year at a cost 

of around £400,000 of which £240,000 has already been 

raised. Meanwhile, the implementation of a programme of 

planned maintenance for the Community’s properties on 

Iona remains a priority. Relations with the Historic Scotland 

staff on Iona are satisfactory, although certain important 

issues concerning the Community’s partnership with the 

agency’s headquarters staff, are still under discussion. And 

preparations are well in hand for the forthcoming season, 

with promising bookings for the centres and a full resident 

staff complement in place once the appointment of the 

new Abbey Warden (currently in process) is completed. 

5. Camas is the Community’s outdoor education centre 

on Mull, with an emphasis on environmental sustainability, 

community building and adventure activities. Camas 

appeals particularly, though not exclusively, to young 

people especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

Mary Ireson, took up the post of Camas Co-ordinator in 

July and with an experienced staff team led another 

successful season. Groups were drawn from Scotland, 

England and Sweden, from schools, universities, churches 

and residential social work centres. Some young people

who are keen on environmental issues took part in the 

John Muir Trust Award scheme. Adult weeks featured a 

stimulating combination of storytelling, music making, 

peat cutting, kayaking and the whole experience of 

sustainable living. 

Mainland Work 

6. Youth Development 

Throughout the early part of 2009, the Iona Community’s 

Glasgow based youth department experienced a number 

of changes – staff illness; temporary replacement staff; 

part time temporary staff. Yet in all the upheaval, the work 

of the department continued, and with considerable 

success. 

A youth festival on Iona, with a large percentage of Scottish 

young people as participants, clearly demonstrated the 

success of on-going youth work on the ground. The 

enthusiasm of the under 16s, also from Scottish youth 

centres, who, wanted to remain involved after a successful 

week in the MacLeod Centre, was also an indication of 

good youth work practice sustained over a long period. 

Throughout the year, our work in secondary schools 

and youth centres across the central belt offered a wide 

range of workshops and reflective experiences. Feedback 

from teachers, youth leaders and young people remains 

positive, highlighting the innovative and creative ways we 

offer a radical and inclusive Christianity to young people. 

7. In HM Young Offenders Institution, Polmont “life 

choices” youth work with young offenders continues to link 

one of the Community’s past concerns (borstal boys) with 

the present (young offenders) as does our firm partnership 

with the Chaplaincy in Polmont. The Youth Department 

has continued to offer a range of work, particularly an 

anti-sectarianism programme, which has come to the 

attention of Scottish Government. Community Safety 

Minister Fergus Ewing saw the course being delivered, 

and suggested we expand the work in 2010 by piloting 

the programme in two adult prisons. 

REPORT OF THE IONA COMMUNITY BOARD 17/3 

2009 saw many challenges for the Jacob Project for 

young ex-offenders, a through-care scheme which has 

supported eight young ex offenders to a new life and new 

opportunities. The Project’s pilot period concludes at the 

end of 2010. Young adults continue to be empowered 

to take on leadership roles. Some were trained as youth 

leaders for our residential events; others presented the 

young voices of young people at policy level; while others 

again represented the Community abroad at international 

events. 

Wild Goose Publications 

8. Wild Goose Publications published eight new titles 

over the past year: 

Acorns & Archangels, by Ruth Burgess, Down to Earth, by 

Neil Paynter & Iain Campbell, Through Wood, by Alison 

Swinfen, Ten Things They Never Told Me About Jesus, by John 

Bell, , Fifty Great Prayers from the Iona Community, by Neil 

Paynter, Light of the World, by Neil Paynter & Peter Millar, 

A Blessing to Follow, by Tom Gordon and A Heart Broken 

Open, by Ray Gaston and a revised edition of Iona: God’s 

Energy, by Norman Shanks 

WGP has also taken forward its digitisation programme, 

publishing a few eBooks and several separate liturgy 

and worship resource downloads on various subjects. 

Customers – especially those in North America and other 

parts of the world – find these a convenient and quick 

way of accessing material, and they are rapidly increasing 

in popularity. 

On the down side, WGP has had quite a difficult year. The 

economic recession has also affected trade sales drastically 

– shops have been extremely cautious about ordering 

stock or have gone out of business. Happily, direct sales to 

customers continue to hold up. 

9. The Community’s magazine, Coracle, is published 

four times a year and a monthly online bulletin, eCoracle, 

provides up-to-date news and topical vi ews. Both 

17

17/4 

publications are circulated worldwide keeping readers 

informed of the life and work of the Community, offering 

resources for reflection and worship and providing a 

platform for the sharing of provocative and diverse 

perspectives on global and local issues of social justice. 

Wild Goose Resource Group 

10. The Board is pleased to note that the Resource Group 

continues to make a significant impact on the life of 

churches throughout Scotland and far beyond. Ten Things 

They Never Told Me About Jesus, a beginner’s guide to a 

larger Christ by John L. Bell was published last summer 

followed by the new WGRG liturgy booklet, Harvesting 

the World, suitable for contemporary harvest celebrations. 

Following the success of Thinking Out Loud, a second 

collection of John’s BBC Radio 4 Thoughts for the Day will 

be published. The Team led a week, Voices from the Edge 

on Iona, sharing songs and experiences of those who 

are not “mainstream” but who have much to offer for the 

renewal of the Church’s worship and witness. 

WGRG hosted a day seminar with Jeff Proctor-Murphy & 

David Felten (creators of Living The Questions) exploring 

the task of promoting progressive Christianity in Britain, 

Europe and USA, and an evening with Tex Sample, master 

storyteller and contributor to Living The Questions. 

11. John Bell was invited again to give talks at the 2009 

Greenbelt Festival, and Wild Goose Resource Group were 

involved in leading worship, Big Sings and workshops, 

representing the Community as part of the Northern 

Lights tent. 

The Holy City 2008-2009 session ended with an 

experimental event at Glasgow’s West End Festival, and 

the 2009-2010 series began in October in Glasgow’s city 

centre. This year’s theme is Revised Standard Visions: 

Imagining Another World. John has been working recently 

in North America, New Zealand and Australia, as well as 

the UK at conferences, churches, retreat centres, colleges 

and seminaries. Graham Maule became involved in “The 


Project”, a Scottish Festival of arts, culture and faith. Jo Love 

joined WGRG in September as a third resource worker and 

has been seconded part-time to Cranhill Parish Church 

Community Art Project. 

Growing Hope Appeal 

12. Funds raised by the Growing Hope Appeal have 

enabled the redevelopment of Camas, the Community’s 

outdoor centre on Mull, the creation of a new Welcome 

Centre and Shop on Iona and now, in the third and final stage 

of the Appeal, be used to refurbish staff accommodation 

on Iona. The Community is grateful for the donations and 

on-going fundraising activities of Members, Associates 

and Friends and for the support of the wider Church and 

numerous trusts and grant-making bodies. 

Membership 

13. There are currently 265 Members, 1583 Associate 

Members, 1403 Friends and 41 Youth Associates. Nine new 

members were hallowed into full membership in July. All 

twelve places for the 2009/10 New Members Programme 

have been filled and next year’s is already oversubscribed. 

In August a gathering of 34 Members, Associates and 

Friends took place in Boldern, Switzerland. Participants 

came from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden 

and Switzerland evidence of the growth of “Iona-inspired 

networks” in continental Europe and further afield. 

A commitment to Justice, Peace and the Integrity of 

Creation is a fundamental part of the Rule of the Iona 

Community, and a key aspect of Members lives both as 

individuals and as a community. 

The themes of Poverty, Place and Peace have provided a 

focus to this part of the Rule. The Peace Working Group 

conducted an audit to provide evidence of how individuals, 

local Family Groups, and the whole Community endeavours 

to fulfil the commitment to Justice, Peace and the Integrity 

of Creation. Members’ involvement varies according to 

the area they live in and their individual circumstances,

and particular concerns but it is clear that across the 

Community there is an unwavering commitment to 

peace and justice, reflected in many types of activity, 

from quiet peacemaking in local neighbourhoods and 

family relationships, to political lobbying and non-violent 

opposition to weapons of mass destruction. 

14. The Community mourned the deaths of four 

Members since last year’s Report. 

Rev Leith Fisher, former minister in Falkirk and Glasgow, 

Hymn Writer and Theologian, who served on many Church 

of Scotland Boards and Committees; 

Lindesay Robertson, former District Missionary in Malawi 

(where he served for 27 years), Kirk elder and respected 

expert in rural community development; 

Rev Dr Samuel Varner, former minister in the United 

Churches of Christ USA, retired Clinician and Seminary 

Professor; 

Rev Maxwell Craig, former minister in Falkirk and Glasgow, 

the first General Secretary of Action of Churches Together 

in Scotland, former Convener of Church and Nation 

Committee and, at the time of his death, Convener of the 

Iona Community Board. 

REPORT OF THE IONA COMMUNITY BOARD 17/5 

In an age when already well paid financiers expect 

bonuses for doing their jobs, Members of the Community 

are inspired by the example of departed friends who knew 

the cost of discipleship in the service of the Kingdom. 

Morning worship on Iona concludes with responses which 

include a paraphrase of David’s words from 2 Samuel 

24:24. 

“We will not offer to God offerings which cost us nothing.” 

The Iona Community contend that the economy is not 

governed by a set of immutable laws which determine 

how people relate and resources are distributed. Though 

it might be costly to many of us we must change. As 

Christians we must choose an economic system which is 

value based not value free. For the sake of the poor and 

the planet we must develop a global economy based on 

equality and sustainability. 

In the name of the Board 

STEWART SMITH, Acting Convener 

PETER MACDONALD, Leader 

17

1. Statistical Information 

1.1 Over the last two years the Committee has provided 

some statistical details as a means of highlighting the actual 

engagement of the Church as a whole with the Nomination 

Committee process. As this was felt to be helpful the 

information is again provided and done so in such a way as 

to enable comparisons to be made with previous years. 

1.2 Approximately 3,000 letters inviting nominations 

were sent out. These went to Ministers, Session Clerks, 

Presbytery Clerks, the National Office of the Guild, 

members of the Nomination Committee and Secretaries 

of Assembly Councils and Committees. 

1.3 These letters produced a total of 141 nominations 

prior to the meeting, broken down as follows: 

• 41 nominations from 20 Ministers (compared with 41 

from 37 last year and 44 from 36 in 2008); 

• 27 nominations from 15 Kirk Sessions (compared with 

34 from 33 last year and 29 from 26 in 2008); 

• 34 nominations from 11 Presbyteries (compared with 

21 from 6 last year and 45 from 16 in 2008); 

• No nominations from the Guild (compared with 3 last 

year and 2 in 2008); 

• 3 nominations from Nomination Committee members 

(compared with 16 last year and 26 in 2008); 

• 36 nominations from Councils and Committees 

(compared with 61 last year and 57 in 2008). 

NOMINATION COMMITTEE 

May 2010 




2. Make alterations to Standing Committees and Councils as set forth in the Report. (Section 3) 

REPORT 

1.4 As it happens the total number of names sent in ahead 

of the January meetings of the Committee more or less 

matched the number of vacancies to be filled. Members of 

the Nomination Committee are also able from their local 

knowledge to suggest names during the course of the 

meeting thus adding to the number submitted in advance. 

1.5 At the same time the response rate is disappointingly 

low and the Committee continues to give thought as to how 

this could be improved. One suggestion put forward was 

to allow for “self-nomination” subject to an accompanying 

reference from Minister, Session Clerk or Presbytery Clerk 

as appropriate. The Committee will continue to monitor 

the situation but meantime urges all who are asked to put 

names forward to take the request seriously. 

2. Charity Governance 

2.1 In the course of its January meetings the Committee 

was aware of the proposal before the Church that the 

voting members of the Council of Assembly (including the 

Council Conveners) should become the Charity Trustees 

for the Unincorporated Councils and Committees of the 

General Assembly (The Church of Scotland, Scottish Charity 

Number SCO11353). This will be the subject of a report 

by a Special Committee appointed by last year’s General 

Assembly. In the event of the Assembly agreeing that 

the voting members of the Council of Assembly should 

become the Charity Trustees for the Unincorporated 

18

18/2 

Councils and Committees, a more rigorous selection 

process, including interviews, should be put in place 

in respect of these appointments. The Committee fully 

agrees with this proposal and will be ready to facilitate the 

necessary procedures. 

2.2 The Committee believes that, notwithstanding the 

outcome above, the General Assembly will expect all those 

appointed to its Councils and Committees to apply to their 

duties the same standards which are required of charity 

trustees. To reflect these considerations the Committee 

has sought more information concerning the skills and 

experience which nominees can bring to the work of the 

Councils and Committees. 

3. Nominations for Appointment to Councils 

and Committees 

The Committee recommends the following appointments: 

Assembly Arrangements Committee 

Convener Retiring David Arnott 

Convener Appointed Janet Mathieson (Cawdor l/w Croy 

and Dalcross) 

Vice-Convener Appointed Lorna Hood (Renfrew: North) 

Ministers Retiring David Dutton, Gordon Savage 

Ministers Appointed William Hogg (Sanquhar: St Bride’s), 

Shaw Paterson (Strathaven: Rankin l/w Chapelton) 

Member Appointed Ron Steel (Edinburgh: Palmerston Place) 

Janet Mathieson, Convener 

Lorna Hood, Vice-Convener 

Central Services Committee 

Convener Retiring Stewart Roy 

Convener Appointed Angus Macpherson (Edinburgh: 

Palmerston Place) 

Vice-Conveners Retiring Douglas Paterson, Pauline Weibye 

Vice-Convener Appointed Bill Steele (Alvie and Insh) 

Minister Retiring Iain Paton 

Minister Appointed Iain Paton* (Elie l/w Kilconquhar and 

Colinsburgh retired) 


Member Retiring William Hawthorne 

Members Appointed Allan Dearing (Orwell and Portmoak), 

Mary Sweetland (Alexandria) 

Angus Macpherson, Convener 

Bill Steele, Vice-Convener 

Committee on Chaplains to HM Forces 

Convener Retiring James Gibson 

Convener Appointed Neil Gardner (Edinburgh: Canongate) 

Ministers Retiring Alex Forsyth, Iain Sutherland 

Ministers Appointed David Almond (Kirkmahoe), Alex 

Forsyth* (Markinch), Graham Smith (Livingston: Old) 

Members Retiring Ian Shepherd, Peter Sutton 

Members Appointed Richard Campbell-Doughty (West 

Kilbride: St Andrew’s), John Craw DCS (The Parish of 

Latheron) 

Neil Gardner, Convener 

Andrew Murray, Vice-Convener 


Vice-Convener Retiring Alexander Horsburgh 

Vice-Convener Appointed Dorothy Ferguson (Troon: St 

Meddan’s) 

Ministers Retiring Elizabeth Gibson, Elaine MacRae 

Ministers Resigned James Aitken, David Coulter, John 

Ferguson, Marion Howie, John McMahon 

Ministers Appointed Sally Foster-Fulton (Dunblane: 

Cathedral), Elaine MacRae* (Buchlyvie l/w Gartmore), Alan 

Miller (Paris), Iain Murdoch (Wishaw: Cambusnethan Old 

and Morningside), Jayne Scott (Culross and Torryburn) 

Member Retiring Marjory Russell 

Members Resigned Marjorie Clark, Fred Dinning, Grahame 

Smith 

Members Appointed Gill Bishop (Culsalmond and Rayne), 

Ruth Halley (Gorebridge), Catherine Hay (Fraserburgh: Old), 

Jason Lingiah (Edinburgh: Barclay Viewforth), Hazel Watson 

(Glasgow: Jordanhill), Rhoda Wright (Aberdeen: Mannofield) 

Ian Galloway, Convener 

Dorothy Ferguson, Vice-Convener

Committee on Church Art and Architecture 

Vice-Convener Retiring Peter Gardner 

Vice-Convener Appointed Andrew Nash (Glasgow: 

Sandyford Henderson Memorial) 

Ministers Appointed Bill Hogg (Sanquhar: St Bride’s), Alison 

Mehigan (Bellie l/w Speymouth) 

Member Retiring Campbell McKenzie 

Member Resigned Damien Mason 

Member Appointed Brian Robertson (Edinburgh: Palmerston 

Place) 

Eleanor Macalister, Convener 

Andrew Nash, Vice-Convener 


Members Retiring Peter Ball, Donald Carmichael 

Members Appointed Stephen Brown (West Kilbride: St 

Andrew’s), Donald Carmichael* (Giffnock: Orchardhill) 

Alan Greig, Convener 

Peter Brand, Vice-Convener 

Iona Community Board 

Convener Appointed G Stewart Smith (Glasgow: King’s Park 

retired) (1 year) 

Ministers Retiring Mark Foster, Alison Jaffrey 

Minister Appointed James Black (Edinburgh: St John’s 

Oxgangs member) 

Member Appointed Fiona Cunningham (Kirkcaldy: Torbain) 

G Stewart Smith, Convener 

Judicial Commission 

Ministers Retiring Sandy Cairns, John Ferguson, Michael 

Frew, Iain Paton, Ramsay Shields, Valerie Watson 

Ministers Appointed Robert Allan (Falkirk: Old and St 

Modan’s), David Arnott (St Andrews: Hope Park l/w 

Strathkinness), John Chambers (Inverness: Ness Bank 

retired), George Cowie (Aberdeen: South Holburn), 

Jeremy Middleton (Edinburgh: Davidson’s Mains), Val 

Ott (Borgue l/w Gatehouse of Fleet), Wilma Pearson 

(Glasgow: Cathcart Trinity), Andrea Price (Birsay, Harray 

and Sandwick), Lindsay Schlüter (Larkhall: Trinity), 

NOMINATION COMMITTEE 18/3 

Laurence Whitley (Glasgow: Cathedral), George Whyte 

(Presbytery Clerk, Edinburgh) 

Elders Retiring Brian Adair, Alex Bennie, Margaret Foggie, 

David May, Andrew Nash, Margot Robertson, Monica 

Stewart 

Elders Appointed Andrew Bell (Edinburgh: Wardie), 

Christopher Macrae (Strathaven: Avendale Old and 

Drumclog), Dennis Malcolm (Rothes), Struan Robertson 

(Glasgow: Merrylea), Alan Thomson (Burnside: Blairbeth) 

Aileen Nimmo, Chairman 

Alasdair MacFadyen, Vice-Chairman 

Legal Questions Committee 

Minister Resigned Christine Goldie 

Minister Appointed George Cowie (Aberdeen: South Holburn) 

Member Retiring Elizabeth Fox 

Member Appointed Robert Hynd (Glasgow: Hyndland) 

Carole Hope, Convener 

Alan Hamilton, Vice-Convener 


Ministers Retiring Gordon MacRae, Jim Reid, Elisabeth 

Spence, Margaret Steele 

Ministers Resigned Susan Anderson, Kenneth Borthwick, 

Joanne Hood 

Ministers Appointed Colin Brough (Dundee: Fintry), Robert 

Hamilton (Airdrie: New Wellwynd), Alison Meikle (Lanark: 

St Nicholas’), Anne Paton (East Kilbride: Old), Andrea Price 

(Birsay, Harray and Sandwick), Jim Reid* (Kinghorn) 

Members Retiring Fiona Kent, Pat Munro DCS, Elspeth Smith 

Member Resigned Richard Roberts 

Members Appointed Marion Buchanan DCS (Glasgow: 

Garthamlock and Craigend East), Richard Campbell 

(Dunfermline: St Margaret’s), Janet Harper (Fossoway: 

St Serf’s and Devonside), David Stewart (Edinburgh: St 

Andrew’s and St George’s West) 

Graham Finch, Convener 

Ian Dick, Neil Dougall, Lezley Kennedy, 

Muriel Pearson, Vice-Conveners 

18

18/4 


Vice-Convener Appointed Linda Dunnett DCS* (Glasgow: 

Partick South) (1 year) 

Ministers Retiring Bryan Kerr, Gayle Taylor 

Minister Resigned Roderick Macrae 

Ministers Appointed Gary Caldwell (Airdrie: Flowerhill), 

Daniel Carmichael (Lenzie: Union), Mairi Lovett (Menstrie) 

(3 years) 

Member Retiring Dorothy Kinloch 

Member Appointed Pamela Mitchell (Dunscore) 

Mark Johnstone, Convener 

Alan Birss, Linda Dunnett, Neil Pratt, Vice-Conveners 

Nomination Committee 

Ministers Retiring Nicola Frail, David Harper, Sigrid Marten, 

David Randall, Robert Travers 

Minister Resigned Alastair Cherry 

Ministers Appointed Christine Clark (Aberlady l/w Gullane), 

David Clark (Dundee: Steeple), Adam Dillon (Kirkpatrick 

Juxta l/w Moffat: St Andrew’s l/w Wamphray), Euan Glen 

(Cluny l/w Monymusk), Iain Goring (Glasgow: Castlemilk 

West), William Holland (Lochend and New Abbey retired), 

Douglas Nicol (Hobkirk and Southdean l/w Ruberslaw), Ken 

Russell (Stirling: St Columba’s) 

Members Retiring James Couper, Flora Little, Ian Maclagan, 

Stuart Monro, Catherine Nelson, Xandra Shearer, William 

Weatherspoon 

Member Resigned Ailsa Henderson 

Members Appointed Duncan Alexander (Elgin: St Giles’ and St 

Columba’s South), Anne Brundle (Stenness), Janet Cameron 

(Stornoway: St Columba), Moyra Cameron (Aberdeen: 

Mastrick), Janette Henderson (The United Church of Bute), 

Christine Mackenzie (Inverness: Old High St Stephen’s), 

Violet Service (Tarff and Twynholm) 

Colin Sinclair, Convener 

Ian Black, Vice-Convener 


Committee to Nominate the Moderator 

Member Retiring Ian Collie 

Member Appointed Roy Weston (Bearsden: Killermont) 

Parish Development Fund 

Convener Retiring Martin Fair 

Convener Appointed Rolf Billes (Edinburgh: Colinton) 

Vice-Convener Appointed Scott Marshall (Abercorn l/w 

Pardovan, Kingscavil and Winchburgh) 

Minister Resigned Dugald Cameron 

Ministers Appointed Elizabeth Henderson (Edinburgh: 

Richmond Craigmillar), Iain McFadzean (Auchtergaven 

and Moneydie) 

Member Retiring Elizabeth Philip 

Member Resigned Alexandra Bauer 

Member Appointed David Geddes (East Kilbride: Stewartfield 

NCD) 

Rolf Billes, Convener 

Scott Marshall, Vice-Convener 

Personnel Appeal Panel 

Members Retiring Derek Lawson, George Whyte 

Members Appointed Sheila Gunn (Glasgow: St George’s 

Tron), Norma Shippin (Edinburgh: Holyrood Abbey) 

Solicitor of the Church, Secretary 


Convener Retiring John Macgill 

Convener Appointed Kenneth Forrest (Paisley: Sandyford 

(Thread Street)) 

Vice-Convener Appointed John Henderson (Bowden and 

Melrose) 

Members Retiring Gavin Drummond, David Smith 

Members Appointed Rosemary Dewar (Largoward), Gavin 

Drummond* (Forfar: St Margaret’s) 

Kenneth Forrest, Convener 

John Henderson, Vice-Convener

Panel on Review and Reform 

Convener Appointed David Cameron* (1 year) (Kilmarnock: 

New Laigh Kirk) 

Vice-Convener Retiring Marina Brown 

Vice-Convener Appointed Donald Campbell (Dumfries: St 

George’s) 

Ministers Appointed John Ferguson (Peterculter), Jack Holt 

(Birse and Feughside) 

Member Resigned Richard Wallis 

David Cameron, Convener 

Donald Campbell, Vice-Convener 

Safeguarding Committee 

Convener Retiring John Christie 

Convener Appointed Ranald Mair (Stewarton: John Knox) 

Vice-Convener Appointed Karen Watson (Edinburgh: 

Marchmont St Giles’) 

Member Appointed Elizabeth Garrity (West Kilbride: 

St Andrew’s) 

Ranald Mair, Convener 

Karen Watson, Vice-Convener 

Social Care Council 

Ministers Retiring Douglas Irving, Ivor MacDonald, Ron 

Whyte 

Minister Appointed Douglas Irving* (Kirkcudbright) 

Members Retiring Margaret Dallas, Mary Landels, Rena 

Mappin, Ruth Middleton, Michael Thomson 

Members Resigned Robert McFarlane, Hugh Mackintosh 

Members Appointed Peter Barber-Fleming (Dunblane 

Cathedral), Kay Keith (Dunscore), Mary Landels* 

(Bannockburn: Allan), John Macgill (Haddington: St 

Mary’s), J Ross Macphail (Haddington: St Mary’s), Hazel 

Scott (Monikie and Newbigging and Murroes and Tealing), 

Bill Steele (Alvie and Insh), William Wallace (Balerno) 

Sydney Graham, Convener 

Sally Bonnar, Ramsay Shields, Vice-Conveners 

NOMINATION COMMITTEE 18/5 

World Mission Council 

Convener Retiring Colin Renwick 

Convener Appointed Andrew McLellan (HM Inspector of 

Prison retired) (2 years) 

Ministers Retiring David Bartholomew, Catherine Buchan, 

Donald Martin, Aileen Robson 

Minister Resigned Alison Swindells 

Ministers Appointed Catherine Buchan* (Laggan l/w 

Newtonmore), Christine Sime (Dunscore l/w Glencairn 

and Moniaive) 

Members Retiring Donald Burgess, John Milne 

Members Resigned Judy Arrowsmith, Moira Cubie 

Members Appointed Donald Burgess* (Linlithgow: 

St Michael’s), John Crispin (Edinburgh: Murrayfield), 

Grahame Henderson (Eddlestone l/w Peebles: Old), 

Campbell Jackson (Annan: Old), Roy Nelson (Montrose: 

Melville South), Eileen Robertson (Bearsden: New 

Kilpatrick) 

Andrew McLellan, Convener 

Shirley Brown, Stewart Gillan Vice-Conveners 

* denotes second term 


COLIN SINCLAIR, Convener 

IAN BLACK, Vice-Convener 

FINLAY MACDONALD, Secretary 

18

PANEL ON REVIEW AND REFORM 

May 2010 




2. Approve the request for an extension of time to develop the proposals for reform set out in section 2 of the report 

and instruct the Panel to report further to the General Assembly of 2011. 

3. Instruct Presbyteries to consider the Panel’s proposals for reform in conjunction with the issues raised by the 

Ministries Council and the Special Commission on the Third Article Declaratory. 

4. Instruct Councils, Committees and Presbyteries to engage with the Panel as required with a view to sharing their 

experience and expertise in delivering the vision for the Church of Scotland. 

5. Adopt the Overture anent Local Church Review as set out in Appendix 1, and transmit the same to Presbyteries 

under the Barrier Act, directing that returns should be sent to the Principal Clerk not later than 31 December 

2010. 

6. Instruct the Mission and Discipleship Council to produce and maintain guidance on the objectives of Local Church 

Review and instruct the Legal Questions Committee to monitor the effectiveness of relevant legislation. 

7. Adopt Appendices 2 and 3 as initial statements of guidance for Presbyteries in exercising routine superintendence. 

8. Commend the report “Overseas Mission in the Life of the Local Church” for study by the Church. 

9. Urge congregations to establish a world church partnership with a congregation or project which is relevant to 

their situation. 

10. Affirm the World Mission Council for the work undertaken so far in the development of partnerships and twinnings 

at local level and recommend that the research be used as a basis for future work. 

11. Encourage the World Mission Council in its development of policy and strategy in relation to partnerships and 

twinnings which support and resource congregations and Presbyteries in line with section 4.8 of this report. 

12. Encourage the World Mission Council in its development of mechanisms for shared learning for congregations and 

Presbyteries involved in partnerships and twinnings. 


1.1 Overseas Mission Partnership Project 

The Panel presents its final report on the study into the 

effect of overseas mission on the life of local church 

communities where they have an interactive partnership 

with an overseas project. This extensive report explores 

REPORT 

the complexity of setting up and maintaining overseas 

partnerships. The report covers congregations involved 

in World Mission twinnings and extends to the many and 

varied other links which exist between congregations 

in Scotland and organisations overseas. Section 4 

summarises the research, presenting an encouraging 

19

19/2 

report, highlighting the benefits and the challenges of 

such relationships. The Panel commends the report to 

the World Mission Council, their partners and the wider 

church for further study. 

1.2 Superintendence 

1.2.1 Local Church Review 

The Panel considers that one way in which a presbytery 

can most effectively exercise its duty of care, support and 

oversight of congregations, Kirk Sessions, office-bearers 

and members is through a process of review. This is 

currently carried out under the provisions of the Act anent 

Presbytery Visits to Congregations (as amended by Acts VI, 

1992, II, 2001, VI 2004, XV 2006, VII 2007 and IV 2009). The 

Panel proposes that this be replaced by a Local Church 

Review. Although Local Church Review would include a 

visit, or a series of visits, it would entail much more, focusing 

on the future plans of the local church for its mission. The 

detail is set out in section 3 of this report. 

2. Preparing for reform 

Instruct the Panel on Review and Reform to bring to the 

General Assembly of 2010 proposals for an alternative 

Presbytery structure, including size, devolved powers, 

staffing, and appropriate budgets, along with the resources 

necessary to facilitate and sustain such changes. 1 


2.1.1 The consultation on the remit given to the Panel 

by the 2008 General Assembly began with a conference 

of presbytery representatives in the autumn of that year 

and from information gathered from delegates, the Panel 

explored the following in more depth: 

• possibilities for devolved powers 

• effective communication 

• the role and size of Presbytery 

• resourcing – financial, human, support and training 

1 Special Commission on Structure and Change Report to the 2008 

General Assembly, Deliverance, s 4 


• management and administration 

• buildings used creatively and effectively 

• the importance of building fellowship 

• encouraging ecumenical links/resourcing 

• encouraging the gifts/talents of all people 

• identifying and encouraging key leaders 

• discerning the community’s needs 

• developing a shared ‘resource bank’ of gifts and 

specialisms 

2.1.2 For any proposal for change in the way presbyteries 

operate to be taken forward, it was recognised that 

• there should be clear guiding principles 

• worshipping communities should be flexible 

• ministry and mission are key to all we do 

• we need effective community/church collaboration 

• devolved responsibility for budgets and resourcing 

should be considered 

• we must have a clear framework of governance, 

accountability and authority. 

2.1.3 With its process validated by the 2009 General 

Assembly, the Panel embarked on a series of more detailed 

consultations on five possible models with Presbyteries, 

congregations, Councils and Departments of the Church, 

to stimulate debate on the possibilities for reform. We 

were giving people an opportunity to comment on 

how the current presbytery system could be improved 

in their own areas or a different model implemented. 

What local adjustments would make a difference? What 

implications would it have for supporting functions such as 

communication, decision-making, resourcing and finance? 

2.1.4 There is no one single or normative model of 

church life. The Panel believes an agreed model for an 

alternative structure should take into account the particular 

circumstances in which a presbytery may find itself at any 

given time. For example, Highlands and Islands, central 

belt, urban, suburban, priority area and rural charges will 

have a common operating structure but require sufficient 

flexibility according to regional and local need. The

Panel recognises that one size does not fit all and invites 

Presbyteries to work with them on a more dynamic model 

for the Church. 

2.1.5 To set that process in motion, the Panel proposes 

to set up Presbytery Pilot Regions [PPRs] to plan and 

prepare the Church for reform. 

2.1.6 The Panel believes this is a pragmatic approach. 

We share the widespread conviction of many to whom we 

have spoken and listened that mission should be at the 

forefront of the whole Church’s agenda. 

2.1.7 We recognise and commend the willingness by the 

supporting structures of the Church to delegate significant 

functions to presbyteries. We also understand that simply 

defining a workable model is not enough to persuade the 

Church to move to different way of ‘being church’. 

2.1.8 This report sets out proposals for strengthening 

presbyteries and for re-affirming their mission. It proposes 

that presbyteries should assume greater responsibility 

for their own planning and financial resourcing, be 

encouraged to clearly define their mission, to operate 

flexibly and imaginatively and to develop procedures and 

structures that best fulfil that purpose. 

2.1.9 The Panel proposes a progressive implementation 

of these proposals to begin in September 2010. Those 

presbyteries choosing to participate in the pilot will 

work with the Panel to develop their own structures and 

procedures that support mission. During 2011 and 2012, 

more presbyteries will be encouraged to join the pilot. 

2.1.10 The Panel seeks the General Assembly’s approval 

to develop these proposals along with the appropriate 

bodies of the Church who have committed themselves 

to working with the Panel to provide the detail of how 

an alternative presbytery structure can be resourced and 

sustained by the Church. The Panel will report on progress 

to the 2011 General Assembly. 

PANEL ON REVIEW AND REFORM 19/3 

2.2 A Reformed Tradition 

2.2.1 The ‘Church Without Walls’ report delivered to the 

2001 General Assembly gained widespread support for, 

amongst other things, its recommendation that “the 

shape of the church be turned upside down to affirm the 

primacy of the local Christian community …” 2 

2.2.2 Although such a model has been viewed by many 

as ‘new’, in reality it mirrors that instituted by the reformers 

in the earliest years of the Reformed Church in Scotland. 

Far from turning the church upside down, a model of 

church governance which affirms the primacy of the local 

Christian community, as suggested here by the Panel on 

Review and Reform, returns the Church back to the ‘right 

side up’ of its reformed roots. 

2.2.3 Within the first decade following the Reformation 

Parliament, the Church of Scotland recognised clear 

and distinct roles for the local court (Kirk Session), the 

regional court (Superintendent’s Synod), and the national 

court (General Assembly). Wherever possible, this was a 

bottom-up model with the regional synods being the 

key court. 

2.2.4 The role of the synods was to “consult upon the 

common affaires of there diocies.” 3 The General Assembly 

repeatedly refused to discuss matters which could be 

determined at the regional level. 4 Only those issues that 

a synod felt unable to resolve, could be raised at national 

level. 5 

2 Special Commission anent Review and Reform, Report to the 2001 

General Assembly, Section 2, 36/16 

3 Thomson, T, ed, Acts and Proceedings of the General Assemblies of the 

Kirk of Scotland from the year MMCLX,I, p 29, (Edinburgh, 1939-1945) 


Kirk of Scotland from the year MMCLX,I, pp 52 and 132, (Edinburgh, 1939- 

1945) 


Kirk of Scotland from the year MMCLX,I, pp 191-92, (Edinburgh, 1939- 

1945) 

19

19/4 

2.2.5 This ‘bottom-up’ model encouraged the 

development of local solutions to local problems and 

the regional determination of staffing needs and financial 

allocations in light of local knowledge. It gave primacy to 

the local church, with its local needs, and local solutions. 

Indeed, even those matters which were determined at a 

national level acknowledged the primacy of the regional 

level and it was not uncommon to see General Assembly 

deliverances modified as Synods took local factors into 

account when promulgating national policy. 6 

2.2.6 It is just such a model that we present in this 

report. A model which recognises local needs, affirms local 

knowledge and values local solutions. 

2.3 The Proposal 

There is unfinished business when it comes to the Regional 

Church. At present, a considerable degree of power is 

concentrated at the centre because there is no adequate 

repository for it elsewhere. In the event of the Regional 

Church being reshaped in the way envisaged by Church 

without Walls at least part of the function of equipping, 

resourcing and supporting local communities might pass 

to Presbytery, thus perhaps achieving a better balance 

between local initiative, regional responsibility and 

national oversight. The central administration could and 

perhaps should become smaller. However, there are, and 

are likely to continue to be, things that cannot effectively 

be done by congregations or Presbyteries alone. 7 

2.3.1 The Panel proposes to test a new model of regional 

church by establishing a scheme the purpose of which 

is to encourage presbyteries to focus on mission in the 

local context and to experiment with different forms of 

operation appropriate to their own situations. At the time 

of writing the Panel has already begun discussions with 

6 St Andrews University Muniments, manuscript MS30415 

7 Special Commission on Structure and Change, Report to the 2008 

General Assembly, 25/10, 6.2 


a small number of presbyteries and is inviting others to 

become involved. This is not about structural change for 

the sake of it but about renewal and engagement within 

and beyond existing structures where the presbytery is 

the regional resource and support for delivery of local 

mission initiatives. 

2.3.2 There would be a number of Presbytery Pilot 

Regions each consisting of a presbytery or group of cooperating 

presbyteries. The Panel would work alongside 

these presbyteries on an approach to regional church 

which would have an impact on every aspect of church 

and parish life. 

2.3.3 As well as geographical boundaries, and to test 

the practicality of the local management of funds, the 

pilot regions would also have financial boundaries within 

which they would have the freedom to adjust and make 

such changes as would be required to make the church in 

that area more effective in living out its purpose. 

2.3.4 The Panel’s consultations with Presbyteries 

demonstrated their wish to be mission-oriented rather 

than administration-driven. The primary objective of the 

pilot scheme is to strengthen presbyteries in ways that 

enable them to further the mission of the Church, to 

share the Gospel with all, and to provide resources and 

effective encouragement for the total Christian effort 

within the region. They would need to be adaptable to 

change and continual review, flexible enough to be aware 

of the possibilities for different forms of ministry, and open 

to exploring new directions where missional imagination 

could be realised. 

2.3.5 Because presbyteries will have challenges 

particular to their geography or demography, there will be 

different outcomes in different regions. 

2.3.6 The Panel encourages those involved in the 

pilot to be creative in their approaches to effective 

organisation. Structural change alone cannot improve the

life of presbyteries. Function should drive structure – not 

the other way round – so any change must demonstrate a 

benefit to the overall presbytery system. 

2.3.7 The pilot scheme will be monitored as it proceeds 

to determine how the procedures and structures could be 

further developed or adjusted. 

2.4 The Vision 

The vision of the Church of Scotland is to be a 

church which seeks to inspire the people of Scotland 

and beyond with the Good News of Jesus Christ 

through enthusiastic, worshipping, witnessing, 

nurturing and serving communities. 8 

2.4.1 Any proposal for change in the structure at a 

presbytery level should facilitate the achievement of 

the vision for the Church of Scotland. It should facilitate 

worship and inspiration, a more comprehensive oversight 

of resources, and relational support for local mission. 

“The single biggest reason organisational changes 

fail is that no-one thought about the endings 

or planned to manage their impact on people. 

Naturally concerned about the future, planners and 

implementers usually forget that people have to let 

go of the present first. They forget that while the 

first task of change management is to understand 

the destination and how to get there, the first task 

of transition management is to convince people to 

leave home.” 9 

2.4.2 Any proposed structure and all elements within 

it should be in harmony with the vision and it should 

always be possible, even during implementation, to 

demonstrate that this is the case. Placing shared values 

at the core of proposals for change emphasises that our 

values are fundamental to the development of all the 

critical elements of any presbytery structure. The Church’s 

8 Panel on Review and Reform report 2006, 19/11, 8.1.2 

9 Bridges, William, Managing Transitions, Nicholas Brealey, 2003 


structure, strategy, systems, style, staffing and skills all 

stem from the call to follow Christ into service – the core 

purpose of the church. 

2.5 The Mission and structure of the Presbytery Pilot 

Region 

Where there is no vision the people perish. 

(Proverbs 29:18, AV) 

It impacts upon us and upon our world; we are never 

the same again once we determine exactly where it is 

we are trying to go. It influences our learning, our 

resources and how we use them, as well as affecting 

our relationships. (Panel on Review and Reform, 

Report to the General Assembly 2005) 

2.5.1 The Role of Presbytery 

2.5.1.1 The role of the presbytery in the national church 

is to 

• encourage worship, mission and ministry in the 

presbytery area; 

• strengthen and support local congregations and their 

ministries; 

• provide oversight of congregations, ministers and 

elders. 

2.5.1.2 Governance, business and administration should 

support the primary missional function of the Church. 

2.5.1.3 The Panel envisages the establishment of 

resource groups which would concentrate on specific 

issues affecting the Presbytery Pilot Regions and its 

parishes such as youth ministry, the unemployed, property, 

or issues of geographical location. Congregations would 

be invited to send representatives to those groups whose 

interests matched their own, so encouraging co-operation 

between local churches and a commitment to address 

issues that cross parish and presbytery boundaries. 

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19/6 

The groups would provide the focus of the presbytery’s 

work in mission and ministry and determine the level of 

support required. Group members need not necessarily 

be presbytery members. 

2.6 The Aims of the pilot scheme 

2.6.1 The aims of the pilot scheme are: 

(a) to encourage each presbytery involved, whether 

as an individual presbytery or as one of a group of 

presbyteries in a Presbytery Pilot Region to: 

• see the mission for the presbytery as its purpose 

for being and as the focus of its activity; 

• be adventurous and enterprising in the activities 

it undertakes to fulfil that mission; 

• plan and think beyond the perceived constraints 

of the current presbytery system of operation 

and support, in terms of the types of ministry 

that it uses, and in terms of the allocation of staff 

and resources; 

• develop a detailed plan for the undertaking 

of mission across the presbytery or region, 

bringing together an audit of the region, the 

mission focus and the available resources; 

• develop and operate structures, processes and 

relationships in the presbytery region with other 

bodies, that allow it most effectively to fulfil its 

mission; 

• develop structures and processes that embody 

trust as well as accountability; 

• exercise its duty of care, oversight and 

encouragement of congregations through the 

process of Local Church Review. 

(b) to evaluate the developments that arise in the pilot 

scheme that could be applied to other areas of the 

national church. 

2.7 The Advantages of the pilot 

2.7.1 The Panel’s proposals would aim to 

• clarify the role of presbytery; 

• give more authority to the presbytery; 


• guide the presbytery in performing its essential functions; 

• reconfigure presbyteries to support congregations as 

they plan the best way forward. 

2.7.2 The proposals would contribute to the 

achievement of some of the aspirations expressed by 

presbytery representatives during the course of the Panel’s 

consultations: 

• We need a change of spirit, spiritual growth, spiritual 

change and reformation; vision for the Church and 

enthusiasm in the congregations. 

• We need empowerment, courage to use the authority 

we already have, the capacity to take more, the liberty 

to try new ideas: perhaps we already have this, but are 

unaware of it. 

• We need to accept and initiate change, to evaluate our 

performance and to improve. 

• We need a change of language and of style. 

2.7.3 The proposals should help to overcome some of 

the frustrations encountered: 

• The processes of Presbytery seem bureaucratic, 

ineffective, and not clearly contributing to the work of 

congregations or the personal revitalisation of those 

participating. 

• The role of Presbyteries is not clear. 

• Congregations have little contact with the Presbytery 

and question its value. 

• Presbyteries often have insufficient people prepared 

to commit time to the work required to be done, 

overstretched with demands from the General Assembly 

and Councils and Departments of the Church. 

2.7.4 Each presbytery would develop a detailed plan 

based on an overall vision for the region, an audit of its 

social, economic, religious and spiritual environment, 

an understanding of the financial basis and the capacity 

and vision of the congregations, together with a set of 

objectives for the future. 

• The Presbytery Plan would not need to be ‘approved’: 

the presbytery itself would develop and implement it.

2.7.5 The presbytery would have increased flexibility in 

how it operated and greater control over its funds and the 

use to which they are put. 

• A presbytery could choose a structure and a method 

of operation that suited its own needs and identified 

mission. 

• Additional funds could be raised from within the 

presbytery to meet particular needs. 

2.7.6 A presbytery would have greater discretion to 

determine its own structure and set up its own operational 

mechanisms, sub-committees and reporting processes. 

• This would involve a wider range of people eg the 

membership of the mission groups, resource groups. 

• Other committees need not be limited to members of 

the presbytery meeting. 

• The presbytery would have the flexibility to be creative, 

adventurous and enterprising. 

• It would allow a structure that is relationally focused, 

fosters trust, enabling personal support and encouragement 

of ministers and elders. 

• It would free up ministers and elders allowing more 

time for worship, witness, nurture, and service. 

• There could be a reduction in the number of presbytery 

meetings with consequent savings in travel, time and 

costs. 

2.7.7 The Panel strongly believes our recommendations 

would work better with a wider resource base from which 

to operate. This could mean that a number of presbyteries 

unite and work together with a combined budget. A larger 

organisation of presbyteries would have the following 

advantages: 

• the availability of a greater pool of people with 

appropriate skills, leadership, training and experience to 

carry out governance tasks; 

• a regional structure that is more efficient and financially 

sustainable; 

• a reduction of duplicated resources across the country; 

• a greater resource base for paid positions and 


specialist ministries; for example, a Presbytery Mission 

Development Officer to foster mission development 

and growth or a Presbytery Administrator to deal with 

routine administration and finance which frees others to 

concentrate on worship, witness, nurture and service; 

• resolution by those less involved where ‘difficult 

decisions’ have to be made about a congregation or 

minister with the possible negative effect on personal 

relationships. 

2.8 A Mission Project 

2.8.1 The missionary calling of the church begins 

with the local. The Panel proposes to work with each 

presbytery region and with the Mission and Discipleship 

Council to develop a mission-based focus appropriate to 

the local situation, creating a church culture around local 

community. 

2.8.2 The united effort of all congregations in the 

Presbytery Pilot Region would be needed to ensure the 

rational use of resources and a mission sufficiently varied 

to make room for all. If the Church is fragmented, her 

mission is fragmented. 

2.9 Structure unspecified 

2.9.1 What is the optimum structure that would deliver 

these core functions in a way that is unique to the culture 

and mission of each presbytery? 

2.9.2 The shape and functions of the presbytery should 

be determined by the key factors which would achieve its 

mission: 

• What is the church for? 

• Why are we here? 

• What is our function? 

• How are we to serve in this place at this time? 

2.9.3 The Panel’s consultations found there was 

dissatisfaction with the large and diverse agendas 

considered at many presbytery meetings; some expressed 

the view that “I am not needed at this meeting” or that 

19

19/8 

‘This is a waste of my time’. Meetings were often felt to 

be boring and to provide little personal fulfilment or 

stimulation. There was also concern at non-attendance 

at some presbytery meetings, at the large size of others, 

and a reluctance or inability of many to participate. For a 

presbytery meeting to be effective: 

• Each member must find that the meeting adds value 

to his or her life, either because he or she believes they 

are contributing effectively to something important or 

because they value the fellowship. 

• The meeting should be well managed. 

2.9.4 Many presbyteries have established, or are 

experimenting with, meeting formats to make them 

more attractive, effective and fulfilling for those who 

attend them. Wigtown and Stranraer Presbytery, like 

many other small presbyteries, has a limited number 

of people available, had a heavy committee structure 

shadowing the Councils and Committees of the Church, 

and poor attendance at meetings which often resulted 

in a convener’s report being delivered at the Presbytery 

meeting. People wanted to be more involved but did 

not want to spend more time on Presbytery business. 

The Presbytery moved from multiple committees to 

just three (Oversight and Superintendence, Finance and 

Fabric and Special Interests, with co-ordination through 

a Moderator’s Group). These Committees are well led and 

attended, have significant agendas and the Presbytery 

hears and debates well-prepared reports. Presbytery 

meetings are limited to four plenary sessions per year, 

each preceded by a significant time of worship. Most of 

the business is taken forward by Committee meetings 

held on other months. 

2.9.5 Because of its geography, the Presbytery of 

Europe operates differently to most others in the Church. 

It has the same relationship to the Councils and the 

General Assembly as do other Presbyteries and consists 

of fourteen charges (two of which are outside Europe) 

and two associated congregations. There are two 


Presbytery meetings each year held in turn in different 

congregations’ towns, and usually held over a weekend. 

This allows a mixture of worship, business, fellowship 

and chat over an extended period. Most of the formal 

business which requires decisions throughout the year 

is undertaken by the Presbytery Business Committee 

which communicates regularly by teleconferencing 

and occasionally in person. In addition, there are 

four Committees: Superintendence, Mission, Finance 

and Property, Education and Training. Individuals are 

appointed by the Presbytery to take responsibility for 

matters such as safeguarding, adult training, financial 

overview and property surveys. 

During the weekend of the main Presbytery meetings, 

time is set aside for committee meetings and plenary 

sessions. The Presbytery feels that the smooth 

operation of its work is due to the careful preparation 

undertaken by committees before the main business 

meetings. Access to the internet by all the ministers or 

Presbytery members and the availability of broadband 

facilities to all but one enables papers to be distributed 

electronically, and fast communication is the norm. 

Meeting only twice a year enhances the importance 

of those meetings and encourages good attendance 

(nearly always 100%). Partners are welcome to join in 

the events. A disadvantage of the success of this model 

is the increased financial burden that results from so 

many wishing to attend! 

2.10 Some Proposed Pilot Regions 

2.10.1 The pilot scheme should represent the range of 

churches in Scotland, including the Highlands and Islands, 

urban, rural and city-based. 

210.2 The Panel is having discussions with a number 

of presbyteries who might be willing to help develop 

the pilot and encourages the involvement of groups 

of neighbouring presbyteries to participate in the 

development and implementation of these proposals.

2.11 The Role of presbytery as a support to the local 

church 

2.11.1 The Panel sees the local church as the primary 

way in which the Church participates in God’s work. 

• Congregations are the focus of the action as they 

discern their vision of what God is doing. 

• The regional church is the focus of support – the place of 

oversight, regional resourcing, encouragement, regional 

planning, co-ordination, and accountability. 

• The national church is the focus of essential servicing, 

policy development, and national networking. 

2.12 Planning 

Suppose one of you wants to build 

a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate 

the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 

For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, 

everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow 

began to build and was not able to finish’. Or suppose 

a king is about to go to war against another king. 

Will he not first sit down and consider whether he 

is able with ten thousand men to oppose the 

one coming against him with twenty 

thousand? (Luke 14:28-32, NIV) 

2.12.1 Developing a plan for the region 

2.12.1.1 Presbytery Pilot Regions would be expected to 

present a detailed five year plan for the region which would 

be updated annually. Currently, the plan produced by each 

presbytery often consists of little more than numbers of 

ministers and where they should be allocated. 

2.12.1.2 Each presbytery has a wide area of responsibility: 

they have to review and understand the overall situation in 

the presbytery, to ascertain what is God’s will, to determine 

what is the capacity for action, what is the vision of God’s 

people in that situation and to what extent they can be 

encouraged to achieve it. 


2.12.1.3 A presbytery has to do those things that 

individual congregations cannot do, taking account of 

differing strengths, of the potential for different types of 

ministries that are beyond the capacity of an individual 

congregation. Because the challenges cross parish 

boundaries, they are best dealt with in a co-ordinated way. 

This could be through partnerships with churches outside 

the Church of Scotland, mission work, or by seeking links 

with community bodies. 

2.12.1.4 A presbytery should undertake an audit or 

review to identify the mission for whole area. This would 

form the basis of a plan which has clear objectives, is 

sufficiently challenging and inspirational to harness 

people’s energy and commitment but realistic enough to 

be achievable. (SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, 

Relevant and Time-limited). 

2.12.1.5 The plan would set out the existing and 

proposed deployment of ministries and finance together 

with the rationale behind any proposals for additional 

resources. The plan should: 

a) identify the mission of the presbytery for the forthcoming 

planning period; 

b) identify the circumstances and needs of the 

presbytery; 

c) identify such resources as leadership, ministry, property 

and finance in accordance with the presbytery’s vision. 

2.12.1.6 For the duration of the pilot scheme, plans for 

the Presbytery Pilot Regions would be submitted via the 

Panel on Review and Reform to the Ministries and Mission 

and Discipleship Councils and to the Finance Group of the 

Council of Assembly. 

2.12.2 Implementing the Plan 

2.12.2.1 Having produced a plan, the Presbytery Region 

would be solely responsible for its implementation. 

2.12.3 Linking to the Local Church Review and plan 

2.12.3.1 The presbytery would set objectives both 

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informed by and informing the plans of congregations, 

and based on the proposed Local Church Review process 

(see section 3). In this way, the mission of the local church 

would be a fundamental part of the presbytery’s mission. 

In the first few years, until the Local Church Review process 

is in full operation, the presbytery would have to rely on 

other means, including existing good practice, to establish 

a full understanding of the work and mission of all its 


2.12.4 Ministers and Ministries 

2.12.4.1 Every Christian seeks to respond to the call of 

God in their lives and to serve him in ways in which their 

skills and God-given talents can be put to best use. In the 

context of the church, that service can take many forms, 

which together make up the pattern of ‘ministry’ to the 

community in which the church is situated. This includes 

all categories of professional ministries (from counsellors 

to chaplains and parish ministers). (We have different gifts 

according to the grace given to us. Prophesying, serving, 

teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others, 

leadership, showing mercy, loving. [Romans 12: 6-9, NIV]) 

2.12.4.2 In the implementation of its plan, a Presbytery 

Pilot Region would be able to establish a range of posts 

and to appoint people to them. It would have discretion 

over the nature, remit, locus, and duration of appointment 

and have control of funds, including salaries and expenses. 

The management of finances, accounting processes 

including salary payroll, income tax and National Insurance 

deductions would continue to be handled by the financial 

departments of the Church. 

2.12.4.3 The Presbytery Pilot Region would continue to 

ordain and induct ministers and appoint: 

Readers Chaplains Parish 

Development Staff 

Auxiliary 

Ministers 

Ordained local 

ministers 


Non-stipendiary 

ministers 

Deacons Youth workers Mission 

Co-ordinators 

Pastoral 

workers 

Presbytery 

advisers 

Counsellors 

Other presbytery and parish support and development 

staff 

It was he who gave some to be 

apostles, some to be prophets, some to 

be evangelists, and some to be pastors and 

teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of 

service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge 

of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the 

whole measure of the fulness of Christ. Then we will no 

longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves … 

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all 

things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, 

Christ. From him the whole body, joined and 

held together by every supporting ligament, 

grows and builds itself up in love, 

as each part does its work. 

(Ephesians 4 11-16, NIV) 

2.12.4.4 The type of ministries would vary according to 

each region. In a rapidly-changing society, there will be 

an increasing number of places where the ‘call’ of one fulltime 

paid person will be unsustainable or less than ideal. A 

church that is open to a variety of styles and is creative in 

placing particular ministries, would be better equipped to 

meet the challenges and seize the opportunities that arise. 

2.13 Finance 

2.13.1 The Overall financial situation of the Church 

of Scotland 

2.13.1.1 Most of the finance for the Church of Scotland 

comes from the offerings of church members and is spent

in local parishes, but those two lines of financial flow have 

often been kept separate. Expenditure by the Church of 

Scotland exceeds income by 9% and heavy drawings are 

being made on its capital investments (see the Ministries 

Council’s Report to the 2010 General Assembly section 1.4). 

2.13.1.2 The present financial basis for operation is not 

sustainable. Over the next year or so, presbyteries and 

Councils and Departments of the Church will have to 

address the issue of balancing income and expenditure. 

There is no doubt that narrowing the discrepancy between 

income and expenditure for the Church of Scotland will 

mean a reduction in the finance available, whatever the 

system of resource allocation. 

2.13.1.3 Currently, Ministries and Mission Contributions 

from each congregation are based solely on the income 

of the congregation over the previous three years. The 

General Assembly determines the allocation of funds to 

the various Councils. With 87% of the total budget, the 

Ministries Council is responsible for the provision of funds 

for ministries (comprising largely stipends, salaries and 

allowances) in accordance with the approved presbytery 

plans. This allocation takes account of three factors: 

geography (rural, urban etc), population, and whether or not 

it is a priority area. The calculation for Ministries and Mission 

Contributions from a congregation and the allocation of 

funds for ministries would continue as before. 

2.13.1.4 Any presbytery involved in the pilot would 

have the same resources allocated to it as it would have 

had were it not in the scheme. The Panel expects that 

the increased flexibility would encourage better use of 

finances for ministry. 

2.13.1.5 As well as funding ordained ministers, the 

Ministries Council funds Emerging Ministries, Priority Area 

Staff, and other Presbytery and Parish Workers. The Mission 

and Discipleship Council funds Regional Development 

Officers. 


2.13.1.6 For at least the first two years of the scheme’s 

operation, participating presbyteries would be given 

staff support, for example, a Presbytery Mission 

Development Officer from the Mission and Discipleship 

Council. 

2.13.1.7 Presbyteries would have the discretion 

to determine the amount that each congregation 

contributes and the use to which those funds could be 

put. They would also be able to raise additional funds and 

determine how they would be used within their regions. 

This is an extension of the present provision which allows 

presbyteries 3% flexibility. It is hoped that bringing 

responsibility for decision-making on how funds are 

allocated closer to the place where they are raised would 

promote an increased sense of ownership and willingness 

to give amongst those involved. The accounting process 

to realise these proposals is likely to leave the responsibility 

for collecting the Ministry and Mission Contributions from 

congregations with the General Treasurer’s Department. 

2.13.2 Pilot funding for the presbyteries 

2.13.2.1 While the project is developing, it is anticipated 

that additional staff support will be required to help 

presbyteries with their new responsibilities. The Panel 

envisages that some staff, or at least the equivalent funds, 

could be released from the supporting structure to the 

presbyteries. 

2.13.2.2 The Panel believes that a presbytery of 50 to 60 

charges would need 

(a) Staff able to undertake and lead mission, eg one fulltime 

mission co-ordinator, (Mission and Discipleship 

Council Mission Development Officer proposed) 

£45,000 

(b) Staff to provide leadership in planning and finance. 

(One person full-time) £35,000 

19

19/12 

(c) General administrative support (one person full-time or 

volunteers) £25,000 

2.13.2.3 The project itself would need 

(a) Project Manager £60,000 pa 

To co-ordinate the project, a member of staff at Associate 

Secretary grading could be seconded from one of the 

Councils or Committees most closely involved, or should 

be appointed on a temporary two year contract. 

(b) Travel and Meeting Costs 

The expenses incurred for meetings of the various 

committees set up as part of the pilot scheme have to be 

identified. £10,000 pa 

(c) Equipment Costs 

It would be economically effective to ensure that every 

member of the key committees has access to sufficiently 

good computing equipment to allow the majority of 

the meetings to be conducted by teleconferencing and 

individual meetings by video conferencing. 

12 suitably networked computers for four regions. 

£12,000 

2.13.3 Staff development 

2.13.3.1 In any organisational process of change, it is 

essential to train staff in their new vision, and new duties. For 

the pilot to be effective, people taking senior responsibility 

in each Presbytery Pilot Region must possess the requisite 

skills for which training should be provided as appropriate. 


Management 

• Management of people including the role of a leader 

and of a manager, management of volunteers, staff 

review processes 

• Personal development, including self-appraisal 

• Management of information 

• Planning, strategic and tactical, management of projects 

• Management of finance including budgeting, cost 

control, preparation of funding applications 

People skills 

• Facilitation of groups, committee management 

• Listening skills, counselling, conflict management 

Review processes 

• Local Church review processes, analysis, timelining, 

forward visioning; presbytery review. 

2.13.3.2 The primary responsibility for ministry 

development rests with the Ministries Council which 

currently handles the main in-service training. Staff 

development should be encompassed within the current 

training provision for the Church. However the Panel 

considers that a separate training budget of £15,000 in 

2011 and 2012 would be necessary for the Presbytery Pilot 

Regions. 

2.13.4 Operating costs of a presbytery 

2.13.4.1 The operating costs of a Presbytery Region are 

set out below and are based on three presbyteries (A, B, 

C) currently working in isolation. For simplicity, costs have 

been rounded up. 

The last column of the table indicates what might be 

expected if the three presbyteries were to operate as one 

region. 

A B C Co-ordinated 

Number of charges 28 25 22 69 

Ministries and Mission Contributions (net) £1,19k £900k £810k £2,730k 

Ministries allocation to presbytery plan* £1,000k £1,160k £1,020k £3,070k 

Presbytery dues collected £16k £17k £18k £47k


Expenditure funded from presbytery dues 

Salary/Honorarium to Presbytery Clerks £4k £5k £3k £15k 

Administrative and secretarial staff (part-time) £2k £1k £2k £5k 

Costs, equipment, communication, stationery £6k £4k £4k £12K 

Expenses related to congregations eg training, 

surveys and mission 

£4k £7k £9k £20k 

* This excludes calculations of stipend allowances, glebe rents and vacancy allowances 

2.13.4.2 The above typifies what it costs to run a 

presbytery region. To allow an in-depth examination of 

these financial implications the Panel is pleased to have 

the co-operation of the Finance Group of the Council of 

Assembly, the Mission and Discipleship and Ministries 

Councils who will work with the Panel to bring detailed 

costings to the 2011 General Assembly. 

2.14 Representation and accountability in the pilot 

region 

2.14.1 Representation 

The Panel recommends that Presbytery Pilot Regions 

should be represented on the Councils of Assembly 

initially through the Panel on Review and Reform, subject 

to review, so that both central and regional functions have 

a clear line of communication which encourages a shared 

vision across the Church. 

2.14.2 Presbytery review and audit 

2.14.2.1 The Panel’s proposal is that presbyteries should 

undertake a peer review at periodic intervals, perhaps 

every seven years. 

2.14.2.2 Although there is an argument for a review 

process to be introduced for all presbyteries, irrespective 

of whether or not they are part of the pilot scheme, at this 

stage the proposal is that review should take place only in 

those presbyteries involved in the pilot. 

2.14.2.3 Presbytery Review would follow the same 

approach as the proposed Local Church Review process 

based in part on the information which produces the 

current presbytery plan (see section 3). 

2.15 The Role of presbytery in relation to the 

Councils of the Church 

2.15.1 If there is to be a major devolution to presbyteries, 

then the range of that responsibility would need to be 

redefined in relation to the Councils of the Church. 

2.15.2 For devolution to be eff ective: 

• the presbytery must wish to, be prepared to, and have the 

capacity to undertake the additional responsibilities; 

• there needs to be a strong common understanding of 

mission and policy throughout the organisation; 

• planning is crucial; it becomes an interactive process 

with diff erent levels developing their plans, interacting 

and remodelling, based on the combined views and 

vision of all; 

• responsibility for making decisions must be linked to 

fi nancial responsibility: delegation only works if fi nancial 

responsibility is also delegated. 

2.16 Governance 

2.16.1 The structure of the Church of Scotland in which 

the relationship between the different parts of the Church 

is expressed and conceived of in terms of jurisdiction and 

law is not an approach that sits easily with the Gospel 

virtues of service and humility, and is seen by some as the 

cause of a system of relationships based on mistrust rather 

than on trust. The relationships in the Church should be 

based on the love of God and love for, and trust in, one 

another. Rules for the proper conduct of any organisation 

are necessary, but the legal framework under which 

presbytery operates does not necessarily encourage a 

supportive system in presbyteries. 

19

19/14 

2.16.2 The Church of Scotland has inherited and developed 

a complex order and system of organisation which cannot be 

lightly discarded. Do the Courts of the Church restrict rather 

than encourage innovation and creativity? 

2.16.3 Presbyteries are expected to fulfil a number of 

key functions, the majority of which are governed by the 

legal framework of the Church and contained in the Acts 

of the General Assembly. These are categorised as follows: 

(1) Planning and Ministry: to manage the number and 

shape of parishes and ministries in the presbytery; 

(2) Administration and Finance: to make decisions or 

delegate tasks to appropriate bodies; finance and property; 

(3) Supervisory and Judicial: to manage the health of 

congregations; to undertake discipline which require the 

presbytery to operate as a formal court of law; 

(4) Policy: functions which express the “mind of 

presbytery” on matters of public or church concern. 

A fuller list is set out in the Panel’s report to the 2009 

General Assembly. 10 

2.16.4 We have created this legal framework for ourselves. 

Too often the mindset within our presbyteries has been 

one which sees this framework as being restrictive rather 

than a tool which allows the freedom to be creative and 

innovative, permission-giving, encouraging congregations 

to fulfil their missional calling. 

2.17 Development and implementation 

2.17.1 A project management approach 

The pilot scheme would be further developed in 

conjunction with groups of presbyteries and the Councils 

of Assembly with a view to the pilot beginning in the 

autumn of 2010. 

10 Panel on Review and Reform, Report to the 2009 General Assembly, 

19, s 8,3 


2.17.2 Regional Implementation Teams (RIT) 

Each Presbytery Pilot Region would establish a Regional 

Implementation Team with responsibility for developing 

and implementing the pilot scheme in that region. 

2.17.3 Pilot Management Group (PMG) 

A Pilot Management Group would comprise the leaders of 

the implementation teams, three members of the Panel on 

Review and Reform and one representative each from the 

Ministries Council’s Planning and Deployment Task Group, 

the Mission and Discipleship Council, and the Finance 

Group of the Council of Assembly (General Treasurer) and 

a Project Manager (full-time temporary contract). The Pilot 

Management Group would act as the project management 

group for the pilot scheme as a whole. The Group would 

be responsible for specifying the objectives for the project, 

providing guidance, direction, encouragement, and coordinating 

the areas as they develop independently. It would 

be responsible for the development and management of 

the project and would report to the Panel. It is proposed 

that the membership of this group would remain stable for 

the duration of the pilot scheme. 

The Pilot Management Group would report regularly on the 

operation of the pilot scheme to the Panel and through them 

to the appropriate Councils and Departments of the Church. 

2.17.4 The Panel 

The Panel on Review and Reform would provide overall 

policy direction. It would also produce the final report on 

the pilot for presentation at a future General Assembly. 

2.17.5 The Advisory Group 

An Advisory Group would be set up by the Panel to 

provide advice to the Pilot Management Group and to the 

Panel on all major policy issues such as fi nance, church law, 

personnel issues, resources and staff allocations. It would 

include representatives from: 

• Each Presbytery Pilot Region 

• Panel on Review and Reform’s Regional Church subgroup

• Mission and Discipleship Council 

• Ministries Council’s Planning and Deployment Task 

Group 

• General Treasurer’s Department 

• Office of the General Assembly 

2.18 Development Issues 

2.18.1 In preparation for reform through the stepped 

process of a pilot, factors to be borne in mind include: 

• Is there a shared vision throughout the region? 

• How does the Presbytery Pilot Region re-organise and 

align to a devolved structure? 

• How are decisions made? 

• How does the Presbytery Pilot Region co-ordinate 

activities? 

• Where are the lines of communication? Explicit and 

implicit? 

• What Acts and Regulations and processes need to be 

repealed, replaced, or renewed? 

• How eff ective is leadership? 

• How eff ective are the regional structures? 

• What additional staff and resources are necessary for 

the eff ective operation of the region? 

• Are there gaps in required competencies? 

2.19 Communication 

2.19.1 Good communication is fundamental at every 

level of the pilot scheme. There must be: 

• a clear communication policy which sets out what 

information goes to whom, who sends it, how often 

and by what means (electronic newsletter, web page, 

email, etc); 

• established and resourced mechanisms to enable good 

communication and for the dissemination and sharing 

of information; 

• provision to be made for away-days and where 

appropriate, training for members of the Presbytery 

Pilot Regions; 

• mechanisms for remote communication to be 

established. 


2.20 A Church under reconstruction and unafraid of 

change 

The Book of Nehemiah 

is an important one for church 

leadership. It is a significant model for the church 

today: the origin of vision through prayer, the need to 

share vision, and enable and empower others to become 

involved in making it happen, and the need to maintain 

leadership through periods of conflict and opposition. 

(Panel on Review and 

Reform, Strategy Paper, 2009) 

2.20.1 Nehemiah challenged his people with a 

compelling vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He 

created an atmosphere which encouraged people to 

speak up. He recruited the leaders of the city to do the 

work. He used forty leaders with their teams working sideby-side 

and shoulder-to-shoulder to rebuild the wall. Some 

built large sections; others built next to where they lived. 

They each did according to their ability and resources. 

The wall was just the pilot project for Nehemiah’s plan to 

restore the nation. He had mechanisms in place to enable 

feedback about progress. 

2.20.2 The Panel has tried to follow Nehemiah’s model 

as it works to 

1. offer a method to determine an alternative presbytery 

structure 

2. ensure that enough time is allowed to do the task 

thoroughly 

3. highlight the financial implications of reform 

4. ensure the appointment of staff with the appropriate 

skills 

5. provide training in place for those who need it 

6. create an opportunity for all presbyteries to participate 

throughout the process. 

2.20.3 It is our reformed tradition that we have been 

able to improve – sometimes quite radically – yet we 

19

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retain our identity and our sense of calling and purpose as 

God’s people. We must constantly seek to re-articulate our 

vision, re-interpreting what it means to bring the ordinances 

of religion to the people in every parish of Scotland through a 

territorial ministry. 

2.20.4 The whole witness of the Bible points to a God 

who calls his people out and on from where they are, not 

knowing where they are to go, and the true image of the 

Church is of the community of the future and not of the 

past. 

2.20.5 The Panel offers a vision for taking measured 

steps to reform the regional structure of the Church 

to align with a mission strategy. We are excited by the 

challenge and opportunity that lies before us and trust 

that the wider Church will become enthused by the 

prospect of together reforming a church whose structures 

would be more focused on bringing the kingdom closer 

to the people of Scotland. 

3. Local Church Review 

3.1 In 2008, the General Assembly gave the Panel an 

instruction “… in consultation with the Mission and 

Discipleship Council and Legal Questions Committee to 

monitor and review the ‘Future Focus’ Pilot Scheme with 

Glasgow Presbytery and selected congregations, with a 

view to bringing appropriate legislative amendments to 

Act II 1984 to the General Assembly of 2009.” 

3.1.2 Accordingly, the Panel continued its review 

of the superintendence process, begun in 2006, and 

in particular the comments and recommendations of 

those who had been involved in the ‘Future Focus’ Pilot, 

but the time available did not allow the Panel to address 

all the attendant issues before bringing forward a fi nal 

recommendation in May 2009. Following a further period 

of study and research, and after further consultation with 

the Legal Questions Committee, the Panel is now able to 

bring a fi nal proposal containing the necessary legislative 

amendments to the existing Acts. 


3.1.3 The Panel’s consultations have demonstrated 

that too often the experience of Quinquennial Visits has 

been of ‘ticking the boxes’, of major issues left unsaid and 

unattended, of no follow-up, of a bureaucratic process 

with no action arising and no benefit perceived. There 

needs to be a shift in emphasis to focus on the purpose of 

the Presbytery Visit as set out in Section 2 of Act II 1984: 

The object of the visit is to strengthen the hands 

of the minister, Kirk Session, offi ce bearers, and 

members, to advise them should anything appear 

to be unsatisfactory in the state of the congregation 

or not in accord with church law and order, and in 

general to give counsel and encouragement as 

may be suitable to the circumstances of the case. 11 

3.1.4 Is the primary object of the visit to advise 

congregations of that which is unsatisfactory or should we 

instead focus on encouraging congregations in worship, 

witness, nurture and service and to set priorities and plans? 

3.1.5 While the Act is designed to do both, the Panel’s 

research indicates that 90% of Presbyteries support 

the practice of forward planning 12 and that there was 

a clear preference for support and encouragement of 

congregations by the presbytery rather than an emphasis 

on enforcement of church law. 13 

3.1.6 Any changes to the current Act should therefore 

reflect a more positive and deliberate emphasis on support 

and encouragement of congregations as they set out their 

priorities and plans for the future. 

3.1.7 To reflect this, the Panel proposes that the term 

‘Presbytery Visit’ be replaced by the term ‘Local Church 

11 Act anent Quinquennial Visitation of Congregations (as amended by 

Acts VI, 1992, II 2001, VI 2004, XV 2006, VII 2007 and IV 2009), s 2 

12 Panel on Review and Reform Report to the 2008 General Assembly, 

s 4.3.6 

13 Panel on Review and Reform Report to the 2008 General Assembly, 

s 4.4.2

Review’ as this more accurately describes the emphasis 

that should be placed on the purpose and focus of this 

part of the superintendence process. The process would 

involve much more than just a visit and would focus on 

the local church and its future plans. 

3.1.8 The specific aims of the Review and the 

requirements to be met are laid out in Appendix 1 of 

this report. Presbyteries should be given more discretion 

to develop within the stated requirements a system of 

Local Church Review appropriate to their own particular 

situations. The Panel offers guidance at Appendix 2 and 

encourages the use of good practice adopted by other 

presbyteries and review processes long established in 

other organisations. 

3.1.9 Local Church Review would facilitate a conversation 

between Presbytery and a congregation in order to enable 

the latter to express its vision for the future and identify the 

resources required to undertake its mission. The Review 

would also establish whether there are any issues which 

should be addressed. 

3.1.10 The purpose of the review would be to establish: 

a) The congregation’s own analysis of its purpose and 

vision for the future. This should include all aspects 

of the church’s work as defi ned by that congregation, 

including worship, service, fellowship, discipleship, 

evangelism, social outreach, congregational life, 

Christian education, fi nance, fabric, and ministries 

support in relation to the local, national and 

international mission of the Church. 

b) The nature of the working relationships amongst 

offi ce-bearers, and between the offi ce-bearers and 

the minister. 

c) The values that shape and direct the life of the 

congregation. 

d) How the life and work of the congregation has 

developed since the last review. 

e) What challenges have been encountered, and how 

these have been or can be dealt with. 


f ) How the congregation plans to implement its vision 

for the future. 

g) What resources the congregation needs for its 

development, change and growth, and the source of 

such resources. 

3.1.11 The process of church review would lead to a 

‘Plan of Action for the Local Church’. Such a plan should 

bring together the church’s vision of the local church for 

its mission over the next five years, taking account of its 

present position, finances and other resources. 

3.1.12 The report should set recommendations, give 

advice, and where appropriate set a timetable for action, 

preferably one which has been agreed at the final church 

review meeting. 

3.1.13 The presbytery would expect to learn about the 

congregation’s achievements, the difficulties faced, and 

how it could contribute to the congregation’s welfare 

and development. The report should not be a pass/fail 

judgement but a full account of the church which provides 

the congregation with a clear plan towards which to 

work. The whole process is worthless, however, if its only 

outcome is a nice plan on a shelf and a nice report written 

about the review. 

3.1.14 Where issues of concern cannot be resolved 

during the visit, it would become the responsibility of 

the Superintendence Committee to seek a satisfactory 

solution. Where local resolution cannot be achieved, a 

request to the Ministries Council to provide mediation 

or facilitation services should be considered. If this is not 

possible, then it would proceed under Act I, 1988 or by 

submission of a report to the General Assembly through 

the Legal Questions Committee. 

3.1.15 The Local Church Review process and the 

congregation’s forward plan would feed into the overall 

Presbytery Plan which in turn would provide a snapshot 

of the entire presbytery to help the congregation’s own 

analysis of its position within that. 

19

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3.1.16 Such a review process is not a novel one. It is well 

established in many public organisations and its principles 

are well established in Scripture, for example: 

And so encourage one another and help one 

another, just as you are now doing … pay 

proper respect to those who work among you, 

who guide and instruct you in this Christian life. 

(Thessalonians, 5, 11-12, NIV) 

3.2 Future Focus and Local Church Review 

The Panel reported to the 2009 General Assembly that its 

review of the ‘Future Focus’ Pilot provided a good working 

model for Local Church Review. This model in essence 

consists of a three-stage process: 

1. The Preparatory Phase where a congregation would 

complete a series of questions in advance. 

2. The Consultation Phase where a Visiting Team from 

presbytery would hold a visit, or series of visits, to discuss 

the advance questions as well as facilitating discussion on 

worship, witness, nurture and service. 

3. The Reporting Phase where a draft report would be 

completed by the Visiting Team in consultation with the 

congregation before being submitted to the presbytery. 

3.2.2 ‘Future Focus’ is a facilitated resource that invites 

congregations to share their stories of how they see 

themselves at that particular moment in their history. It 

contains practical examples of how congregations and 

presbyteries can work towards an agreed vision which will 

encourage the setting of goals and the planning of future 

mission strategies. Drawing up a forward plan provides 

a benchmark against which congregations can measure 

their effectiveness in achieving their aspirations. ‘Future 

Focus’ as a resource will help identify a starting point for 

the journey which offers some analysis, reflection, visionbuilding 

and understanding of the journey of change and 

determines how congregations and presbyteries set key 

objectives in planning for the future. 


3.2.3 During the ‘Future Focus’ process, a thumbnail 

sketch of the parish and any changes they have noticed is 

recorded. Questions are asked about what pleases them and 

what concerns them about the congregation. Details about 

membership, worship attendance, leadership structure, 

fabric and fi nance are also recorded. Questions are posed for 

discussion, for example, is there a general sense of health or 

unease? How is the spiritual life of people being deepened? 

Is this a learning congregation? What biblical passages or 

themes shape the life of the church? 

3.2.4 With the help of a trained facilitator, a congregation’s 

needs and aspirations will emerge. The entire process 

assumes there are no shortcuts to forward planning. 

3.2.5 From the experience of the Glasgow Pilot scheme 

during 2008-09, the Panel believes Local Church Review 

provides the mechanism that creates an objective 

benchmark for making the strategic resource deployment 

and appraisal decisions that are required in implementing 

and reviewing a Presbytery Plan. The review provides 

the opportunity for congregations to take ownership of 

their local mission plans. At the same time it gives the 

presbytery the ability to engage with local congregations 

in a meaningful and realistic way when assessing whether 

the mission goals are achievable within the constraints of 

an agreed Presbytery Plan. 

3.2.6 Without a robust locally-driven process which 

leads to agreed and owned mission goals, it is not clear 

how presbyteries would be able to make reasonable, fair 

and transparent decisions about the way forward for the 

Presbytery Plan in a given area. If the Presbytery Plan is 

questioned in the future by local congregations (which 

is increasingly likely with predicted reductions in ministry 

posts), it will be vital that there is a clearly equitable and 

open decision making process which must be based on 

good quality interaction with the local congregations. 

3.2.7 The Panel commends the process of review and 

the associated materials designed for the Future Focus

Pilot as a tool for Local Church Review. In particular, the 

materials were seen to encourage reflection about past, 

present and future and made room for all to participate. In 

addition, the process itself was viewed positively in that the 

visits were deemed to be a good experience for both the 

visitors and the congregations being visited. One reviewer 

summed up the experience in these words: “The process is 

a considerable improvement on the existing arrangements 

for Quinquennial Visits – in being more extended (thus 

allowing for fuller, deeper discussion) and participative, 

and in being more future-orientated and focusing on 

setting priorities and producing recommendations.” 

3.3 Conclusion 

3.3.1 The Panel is convinced, arising from the work it 

has undertaken on the ‘Future Focus’ Pilot Scheme and 

on the wider body of consultation and research into the 

operation of the Quinquennial Visitation Scheme, that 

Local Church Review offers the Church a way forward that 

encourages and facilitates visionary thinking, provides a 

thorough evaluation of a congregation’s worship, witness, 

nurture and service and better equips the church to look 

to the future with confidence. 

3.3.2 Along with the proposed new Act anent Local 

Church Review comes a set of Guidelines to facilitate the 

process. These Guidelines can be found in Appendix 2 

together with a further Appendix outlining the information 

that would be required in advance of a visit. The Panel 

acknowledges the contribution of the Glasgow Presbytery 

Pilot Scheme in developing sections of the Guidelines and 

commends them to the church. 

4. Overseas Mission in the Life of the Local 


4.1 Introduction and methodology 

4.1.1 The 2008 General Assembly agreed that the Panel 

for Review and Reform and the World Mission Council be 

asked to: “… commission a study into the effect of overseas 

mission on the life of local church communities where they 


have an interactive partnership with an overseas project”. 14 

Dr Austin Reid and Dr Virginia Cano of WBL Consultants 

were commissioned to produce a report that would 

present a detailed picture of the number, extent and 

impact of overseas mission work undertaken by Church 

of Scotland congregations, with recommendations on 

how those effects might be enhanced or otherwise 

modified. 

4.1.2 This is a brief report arising from that study. The 

full report may be found on the Church of Scotland 

website at http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/councils/ 

reviewreform/rrresources.htm 

The extent of overseas mission undertaken by Church 

of Scotland congregations was studied by analysing the 

responses to a questionnaire issued to all churches. It was 

designed to elicit information on the existence of a link or 

partnership, on its nature and on the activities undertaken 

in that relationship. 

4.2 The Concepts of mission and partnership 

4.2.1 The study looked at mission in the Church of 

Scotland and in local congregations, and particularly the 

role of partnership in mission. The Church’s view of the role 

of mission has changed over the years from one largely 

of evangelisation to one where mission is recognised as 

being a partnership between churches in Scotland and 

churches and organisations overseas, but still with a role 

for the mission partner. This is in line with the deliverance 

of the General Assembly that congregations “… research 

an area of the world church and establish a personal 

partnership with a congregation or project.” 15 The essential 

elements of mission in this context have been identified as 

evangelism, personal witness, and social responsibility. 

14 Church without Walls Report to the General Assembly 2008, deliverance 

s 8 

15 Special Commission anent Review and Reform Report to the General 

Assembly 2001, deliverance s 11 

19

19/20 

4.2.2 The essential elements of partnership were 

identified as mutual respect, trust and friendship, mutual 

benefit, and communication. 

4.3 Partnerships and links 

4.3.1 The study found that churches had a great variety 

of links and partnerships: with churches, with individual 

mission partners, with communities, hospitals, schools, 

orphanages (grouped in this report as ‘local trusts’), and 

with missionary organisations and international charitable 

bodies (classed as ‘trusts more remote from a local 

community’). 

4.3.2 They were not all one-to-one relationships. Some 

mission partners had links with several Scottish churches. 

Some churches had partnerships and links with various 

people, other churches, mission bodies and international 

charities. There are more links, therefore, than churches, 

eg 100 churches had links with a mission partner, but 

between them had 116 such links. 

4.3.3 The study found a great range in the levels of 

mission activity. In the congregations 

a) some churches had no active engagement 

b) some churches had limited engagement in the form 

of a link to one mission partner, or to a remote trust 

c) some churches had an active partnership with a 

church or other organisation such as an orphanage 

or hospital, or a strong link with a mission partner and 

were active in support and had engaged in visits and 

correspondence 

d) a small number of Scottish churches were 

exceedingly active having what appeared to be close 

relationships with a range of mission partners, a close 

relationship to one or more mission societies, and an 

active engagement with one or more churches or 

other organisations. 

4.3.4 The partnerships span the globe linking Scotland 

to over 50 countries. Out of 162 world-wide, 47 are with 

trusts and partnerships within Malawi. 


4.3.5 The survey of all the churches revealed a 

widespread misapprehension that the Church of Scotland 

has approved or recognised partnerships, and that 

partnerships and links not so recognised are not entirely 

proper, regarded as ‘informal’ arrangements and not 

Church of Scotland ones. There is also an understanding 

that the Church of Scotland ‘appoints’ mission partners 

to churches. This perception hinders the congregations’ 

own development of partnerships. Congregations need 

greater encouragement to pursue their own links and 

partnerships so there should be a record of every possible 

type of link and partnership and not just those recognised 

by the Council. 

4.4 Mission partners 

4.4.1 The links of churches to their mission partners are 

varied. In many cases, the mission partner was a member 

of the congregation who had taken up Christian work 

overseas. In some cases a group of churches, generally 

geographically contiguous, supported one mission 

partner: over half (62) of the 116 links between churches 

and mission partners were concentrated in eight people. 

Not all of these links showed active involvement by the 

church but in some, the mission partner had established 

written contracts with their supporting churches indicating 

a high level of commitment and of organisation. Some of 

the mission partners were appointed and employed by 

the Church of Scotland. 

4.4.2 We found that charities had been established 

by or for some mission partners, closely linked to their 

work. We found cases where a mission partner, previously 

supported by a missionary body, had moved to ‘go it alone’, 

establishing lines of support from churches or setting up a 

trust or charity as a means of gaining the financial benefits 

of charitable status. 

4.4.3 A further 3 of the partnerships in the study are 

community-based, legally separate from any church 

although still maintaining links to the initiating church. 

The reasons for them seeking separate charitable status

included a wish for greater community involvement or 

to be independent. The establishment of a partnership 

as a separate entity or as a charity did not change its 

aims. The impetus, however, which leads it to become an 

independent body might also lead it to shed its Christian 

connections. 

4.5 The Benefi ts derived from partnerships and links 

4.5.1 Congregations were asked to respond to the 

following statements: 

a) We have learned more about the world, and the 

church’s work in the world. 

b) We have benefi ted by being able to help others. 

c) It has lifted our eyes from local problems and put 

these in a larger context. 

d) We have seen other models of church operation and 

worship. 

e) The congregation has been brought closer together. 

f ) The faith of some of our congregations has been 

strengthened. 

4.5.2 Taking account of the different numbers of 

partnerships and links, this showed that, for the last five 

of the six topics listed above, the benefits arising from 

partnerships with churches were greater than those arising 

from partnerships with trusts, and these were greater than 

links with mission partners or links with remote trusts. On 

only the first topic did links to individual mission partners 

provide more benefit than partnerships with trusts but still 

less than partnerships with churches. 

4.5.3 From this and from the detailed study, we 

conclude that the development and encouragement of 

partnerships with churches and other trusts contributes 

greatly to the health of the local church. 

4.5.4 The perceived benefits of partnerships with 

churches and trusts were examined in more detail in the 

15 case studies examined. This showed that a partnership 

with a church or community overseas provided enormous 

benefits to members of the congregations involved. 


It provided participants with a new and changed 

perspective. Issues at home or in the church were seen 

in different terms and in a broader context; problems that 

seemed huge seem less important. 

4.5.5 People no longer see the social habits and culture 

in Scotland as being ‘just the way things are’ but as factors 

that can be challenged and changed. Working with other 

people from the church or the community has provided a 

bond. Working together to achieve something, especially 

if it was difficult, has a uniting benefit, and some churches 

set out on a partnership with that as an explicit intention. 

There is a gain in personal development and selfconfidence 

from facing challenges and overcoming them, 

whether through organising a visit or travelling abroad. 

4.5.6 Partnerships have given churches and their 

congregations a better knowledge of the world and of 

Christianity in different countries. It has helped to establish 

a realisation that there is much to learn from other people. 

There has been a sense of sharing hopes and cares, 

of walking the Christian life together, and of growing 

friendship. It has given the churches a different idea of 

worship. There is a strong sense of being needed: 

What I do can be of help and change lives. 

What I do is important to other people and 

therefore to me. 

4.5.7 The sense of success has proved attractive to 

people in the community, especially to young people 

and has drawn people into the partnership have included 

those without a church connection, 

I am of value. 

I have been successful in helping. 

The partnership has given church members an 

opportunity to talk to people in the community 

about their faith and the work of the church. 

19

19/22 

4.5.8 Partnerships initiated to help others have changed 

the lives of those participating and consequently the 

churches and communities to which they belong. 

These benefits are particularly true for those who visited 

the overseas partner, or who interacted with overseas 

visitors whilst in Scotland, but it is also true of those who 

had less direct contact. 

4.5.9 Apart from the sense of sharing described above, 

the benefits to the overseas partners which were most 

often mentioned, were the sense that they were cared for 

and loved and that they really mattered to the Church of 

Scotland partners. 

4.6 Aims of partnerships 

4.6.1 The study found that in general, partnerships had 

three main aims: 

• Christian witness and fellowship 

• friendship and sharing 

• social responsibility, co-operation and help. 

4.6.2 This study found a difference in the aims of 

different partnerships. Church-to-church partnerships 

always included Christian witness and fellowship as an 

aim, but this was not seen as an alternative or inimical to 

practical support. Partnerships with a community or trust 

did not have Christian witness and fellowship as an aim 

but emphasised a social relationship. Nonetheless, this did 

not exclude friendship and sharing. 

4.6.3 In some partnerships, the objectives were not 

clearly articulated and few partnerships had a mechanism 

for evaluating the achievement of their aims. 

4.6.4 Partnerships could be initiated for many reasons: to 

engage young people, to participate in Christian mission 

or sometimes just to add excitement to church activities. 

Many churches established formal agreements but these 

do not seem to be essential. However, the process of 

developing an agreement, and the symbolic nature of 

a tangible record are helpful. Partnerships decline and 


sometimes die. Many include a formal review point where 

continuation or termination is decided. 

4.7 Challenges 

4.7.1 The establishment and development of 

partnerships face many challenges: 

• Ownership – this is being addressed in most churches 

with a high level of ownership of the partnerships. 

• Imbalance of resources – most partnerships have 

recognised that they are benefi ciaries as well as donors. 

However, this is a continuing challenge for all since the 

sense of doing good can easily drift into a superiority 

donor mentality, with damaging consequences on the 

relationship. 

• High expectations, culture, accountability, planning and 

the development of mutual respect. 

• Communication – friendships need steady communication, 

particularly with partners in developing 

countries. There are many potential blockages, including 

organisational, technological and human factors. 

Communication takes time and eff ort, without which 

there can be no conversations, no sharing, no friendship 

– and no partnership. Visits provide the essential faceto-face 

interaction and are highly valued but they are 

also expensive and need to be planned with clear aims 

in mind. The main form of communication is email. 

Partnerships have been instrumental in both partner 

communities in developing important links between 

church and community and among community groups 

(eg schools), spreading the idea of co-operation, and 

providing the opportunity to learn about and from 

others. 

4.8 Recommendations to support the development 

of partnerships or twinnings 

4.8.1 The study of the partnerships has demonstrated 

that a partnership between a Scottish church and an 

overseas church or community, when working well, has 

an extensive and beneficial impact on the church and 

community in Scotland.

4.8.2 To promote partnerships the following are needed: 

a) Support 

Areas where support is needed to establish and strengthen 

partnerships should be identified. These will include: 

• updating communication skills - blogs, Skype, 

cheap telephoning protocols, using mobile phones 

in developing countries, video production, social 

networks 

• fi nding solutions to communication problems in 

developing countries 

• developing project management skills in Church 

of Scotland churches and in the overseas partners’, 

including leadership, accountability, good governance 

• addressing social issues pertinent to each world cultural 

area 

• developing legal and technical skills in establishing an 

organisation as a charity or as a company 

• setting out the aims of partnerships and written 

agreements 

• co-operating with non-church agencies to raise funds 

for projects. 

b) Resources 

Resources for churches should be established in the areas 

identifi ed. Where such materials are already available, they 

need to be collated and confl ated. They should include: 

• written material eg leaflets that could form a handbook 

• workshops 

• training videos 

• networks of experts 

c) Mechanisms for sharing experience 

There should be mechanisms for allowing experiences to 

be shared, including: 

• a ‘mentor’ system whereby someone from an 

experienced partnership mentors a new recruit 

• a yearly conference of partnership churches 

• use of network communications eg video conferencing 

to develop identity and mutual support 


• a blog or web page for Scottish partnerships to which 

all churches, and not only recognised twinnings, can 

contribute. 

d) Motivation 

• Existing staff should be encouraged and empowered. 

Some staff in some central role are needed to coordinate 

the work. This could be a mixture of full-time 

and part-time posts. 

• Establish a regional network of experienced people 

to support the establishment and development of 

partnerships. 

e) Finance and policy 

Although there is a strong case for funding to be allocated 

to support these endeavours; congregations should be 

responsible for raising much of their own funds and for 

sourcing outside funds. 

Where finance is allocated in support of a partnership, the 

criteria for funding should be made explicit and public. 

At the initial stage of the partnership, the requirement of 

certain essential elements should be clearly set out: good 

leadership, planning and organisation, clear objectives and 

aims, good communication, volunteer workers – in the 

absence of which many partnerships currently languish. 

4.9 Thanks 

The Panel wishes to record its thanks to the World 

Mission Council who provided administrative support 

and contributed to the cost of the research. In particular, 

thanks are due to Ms Carol Finlay, World Mission Council 

Associate Secretary (Local Development), who so willingly 

attended meetings and gave the Group unstintingly of 

her experience and knowledge of mission partnerships. 

In the name of the Panel 

DAVID S CAMERON, Convener 

MARINA D BROWN, Vice-convener 

19

19/24 

APPENDIX 1 

OVERTURE ANENT LOCAL CHURCH REVIEW 

The General Assembly adopt the Overture the tenor 

whereof follows, and transmit the same to Presbyteries 

under the Barrier Act, directing that returns be sent in to 

the Principal Clerk not later than 31 December 2010. 

The General Assembly, with the consent of a majority of 

Presbyteries, hereby enact and ordain as follows: 

1. The Presbytery shall conduct a review of every 

congregation in the Presbytery, normally once every 

five years. This is without prejudice to the right 

and responsibility of the Presbytery to make other 

superintendence visits as it deems necessary. 

2. The object of the review by members of the 

Presbytery is to give counsel and encouragement to the 

congregation; to facilitate the congregation in setting out 

their priorities and plans for at least the next five years; 

and where anything unsatisfactory is found in the state of 

the congregation or not in accord with church law and 

order they shall give advice or take supportive or remedial 

action. 

3. The review may be conducted as two separate 

exercises (and if appropriate by different representatives of 

the Presbytery), for the purposes of sections 4 and 5 below. 

4. The Presbytery shall satisfy itself on the following 

matters and any other matters relating to the 

implementation of the law of the Church and the 

deliverances of the General Assembly: (To aid the Visiting 

Team initial information on these areas should be provided 

by the congregation as part of the advance information 

sent to the Visiting Team before the visits begin) 

(a) the administration of the Sacrament of Baptism to 

infants in accordance with Act V, 2000; 

(b) whether offi ce bearers are representative of the 

congregation’s life, for example in terms of age and 

gender; 


(c) whether the congregation’s current form of 

constitution serves its future mission; 

(d) whether the employment status of members of 

staff , the formal relationships among them and 

the prioritisation of work amongst them serves the 

congregation’s mission eff ectively; 

(e) compliance by the Kirk Session with the church law 

and civil law relating to Safeguarding; 

(f ) compliance with those provisions of Act XII 2007 

regarding the provision and maintenance of manses; 

(g) implementation of the fi ndings of the most recent 

property surveys; 

5. The Presbytery shall undertake a review of the 

work of the congregation and an exploration of the 

future direction of the mission of the congregation 

using guidance materials provided by the Mission and 

Discipleship Council. 

The purpose of the review is to establish: 

(a) The congregation’s own analysis of its purpose and 

vision for the future: this should include all aspects of 

the church’s work as defi ned by that congregation, 

including worship, service, fellowship, discipleship, 

evangelism, social outreach, congregational life, 

Christian education, fi nance, fabric, and ministries 

support in relation to the local, national and 

international mission of the Church. 

(b) The nature of the working relationships amongst 

offi ce-bearers, and between the offi ce-bearers and 

the minister. 

(c) The values that shape and direct the life of the 

congregation. 

(d) How the life and work of the congregation has 

developed since the last review. 

(e) What challenges have been encountered, and how 

these have been or can be dealt with. 

(f ) How the congregation plans to implement its vision 

for the future.

(g) What resources the congregation needs for its 

development, change and growth, and the source of such 

resources. 

6. The process of review shall involve the production of 

an action plan for the congregation expressing a vision of 

the local church for its mission over at least the next five 

years, taking account of the resources available and the 

current Presbytery Plan. 

7. The review shall include a visit by a team appointed 

by the Presbytery to the local church, where they will 

meet with members of the ministry team, elders and other 

representative members of the congregation. 

8. The structure of the review by the Presbytery 

representatives shall reflect the needs of the local church. 

It may include more than one visit, different meetings with 

different groups, follow-up meetings, separate meetings 

with the minister, separate meetings with office bearers and 

such other meetings as it considers necessary. The leader 

of the Visiting Team or his or her duly appointed deputy 

shall take the chair at all aforementioned meetings. 

9. In all cases the Visiting Team (or teams) shall submit a 

full report (or reports) to the Superintendence Committee 

of the Presbytery and to the minister and Kirk Session. The 

Visiting Team shall make every effort to agree the terms 

of its report with the Kirk Session, and shall indicate in the 

submitted report any outstanding areas of disagreement. 

The report shall narrate the current circumstances of the 

congregation, the intentions and plans of the minister 

and Kirk Session, the action plan referred to in section 

6 and make recommendations for action and support 

by the Presbytery, and a time-table for subsequent 

superintendence and congregational action. 

10. The Superintendence Committee shall, after due and 

careful consideration of the report of the Visiting Team, 

submit a final Report to the Presbytery with its findings 


and a note of any comments received from the minister 

or Kirk Session. The minister or Kirk Session or any other 

party having an interest may claim to be heard by the 

Superintendence Committee or the Presbytery when the 

report is being dealt with by either body. 

11. Once approved by the Presbytery, the Superintendence 

Committee shall forward a copy of the report to other 

relevant Committees of the Presbytery mentioned as part 

of the report’s recommendations for action and support. 

12. In the event of the Presbytery finding itself unable to 

express satisfaction with the state of any congregation, it 

shall instruct the Superintendence Committee to make 

further inquiry and to endeavour to remedy what is 

deemed to be unsatisfactory. If, after this further enquiry, 

the Presbytery finds that it is still unable to express 

satisfaction, it shall proceed under Act I, 1988. 

13. The Presbytery shall have the ability to develop 

the process to fit its own needs, provided only that the 

requirements set out in this Act are fulfilled. 

Consequential Amendments 

14. The following Acts and Regulations are hereby 

repealed or amended: 

(1) Act II 1984 is hereby repealed. 

(2) Act III 2000 s.39 is hereby amended by the deletion 

of the words “Act II 1984 anent Presbytery Visits (as 

amended)” and the substitution of the words “Act 

XXX 2011 anent Local Church Review”. 

(3) Act VI 2002 s.2 is hereby amended by the deletion of 

the words “Act II 1984 anent (as amended)” and the 

substitution of the words “Act XXX 2011” 

(4) Act VI 2004 is hereby amended by the deletion of 

section 20. 

(5) Regulation 2, 2004 is hereby amended by the deletion 

of the words “Presbytery visits” and the substitution of 

the words “Local Church Reviews”. 

19

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APPENDIX 2 

LOCAL CHURCH REVIEW 

GUIDELINES 

The specifi c aims of Local Church Review and the 

requirements to be met are laid out in the Act anent Local 

Church Review. Beyond that, Presbyteries may develop 

their own systems within the stated requirements. The 

following guidelines are designed to help Presbyteries 

develop a system of Local Church Review appropriate 

to their needs. It is important to note that these 

guidelines are not exhaustive and are not intended to 

restrict Presbyteries to a particular way of fulfi lling their 

obligations in terms of the Act. 

Advance preparation 

The Leader of the Presbytery Visiting Team should contact 

the minister of the congregation in advance to outline 

the process and to suggest dates for the visit or series of 

visits. 

A group of key office bearers should be appointed to: 

(1) Provide information in advance of the Presbytery Visit 

(see Appendix 3). [This information should become part of 

a database of basic statistical and contextual information 

on the congregation, and on the parish that the local 

church seeks to serve. Presbytery should keep a record of 

this to assist with future reviews.] 

and 

(2) To meet with the Presbytery Visiting Team prior to the 

Presbytery Visit to the whole congregation. 

Pre-Meeting with key offi ce bearers 

The Presbytery Visiting Team should meet with the group 

of Key Office Bearers to explain the new process in detail, 

and to confirm the date(s) of the visit(s). 

The meeting with key office bearers should review at least 

the areas set out in section 5a) to g) of the Act anent Local 


Church Review. This visit should encourage the key office 

bearers to: 

a) Express the life of the congregation as they see it, 

sharing what has gone well in the past ten years, what has 

been difficult, where they see the congregation’s strengths 

and weaknesses and how they discern God to have been 

at work in their midst. 

b) Look forward for at least the next five years to 

identify the changes that are likely to take place in the 

congregation and parish as well as the opportunities and 

challenges that might present themselves within the 

same time frame. 

c) Review the database of basic statistical and contextual 

information on the congregation, and on the parish that 

the local church seeks to serve. 

d) Discuss how the congregation understands its role 

within the Presbytery Plan. 

e) Express what resources might help the congregation 

to better worship, witness, nurture and serve. 

f ) Satisfy itself on the matters listed in Section 4(a) to (g) 

of the Act Anent Local Church Review. [This may also be 

done as a separate exercise under the terms of Section 3 

of the Anent Local Church Review, Appendix 1.] 

The Presbytery Visit 

Having reflected on the meeting with key office bearers 

the Presbytery Visiting Team will meet with the other 

office bearers and members of the congregation. Already 

having a picture of the work and future desires of the 

congregation the Presbytery Visiting Team will review the 

congregation’s work and explore the future direction of the 

mission of the congregation in a way that is appropriate to 

the congregation by facilitating a wide ranging discussion 

on the life of the congregation and parish and the mission 

of the congregation locally, nationally and globally.

Plan of Action 

The process should result in a Plan of Action for the 

congregation. The plan should bring together the vision of 

the congregation for its mission over the next 5 years, taking 

account of its present position, its capacity and finances. 

This should highlight the following as a minimum: 

• A plan of action for the forward mission and ministry 

of the church with goals that are Specifi c, Measurable, 

Achievable, Realistic and Time–limited (SMART goals) 

• Resources available locally including human resources, 

buildings and fi nance 

• New resources required and who shall provide them 

The Final Report 

The report should set recommendations, give advice, and 

where appropriate it should set a timetable for action, 

preferably, a timetable agreed with the Kirk Session. The 

Plan of Action outlined above should be included in the 

report. The report should outline the achievements of the 

congregation, any difficulties faced, and what Presbytery 

or the congregation itself can do to contribute to the 

welfare and development of the congregation. 

The following questions are given as a helpful guide for the 

Presbytery Visiting Team to consider as they write their report. 

These are to be seen as neither exhaustive nor prescriptive: 

Where things are going well: 

• How can the Presbytery affi rm and nurture this further? 

• How can the Presbytery encourage the sharing of this 

vitality with others? 

Where the congregation is facing up to specific challenges 

(internally or externally): 

• What changes are needed in attitudes, relationships, 

strategy or structure? 

• What specifi c resources are needed to meet this 

challenge eg developing worship, discipleship, practical 

skills in fi nance/fabric, deepening spirituality? 

• What are the potential partnerships with other agencies, 

other churches? 


• What support is needed to resolve internal confl ict/ 

dysfunction? 

Where the congregation can no longer sustain this model 

of church life or engage in effective mission: 

• What other form of Christian presence would they 

consider? 

• What other partnerships would they consider? 

• What resourcing is needed to equip the congregation 

for a new future? 

• What is the pastoral process of closure and/or 

dissolution? 

Where the congregation is no longer in synch with the 

community: 

• What long-term process is needed to help them 

reconnect? 

• How will this process be facilitated and by whom? 

Review as a Continuous Process 

The process of review should be a continuous process and 

not just seen as that which is done by the Presbytery Visiting 

Team. The provision of good data provides the basis for 

good reflection, and is not an alternative to the reflection; 

the reflection provides the basis for a plan of action, and 

the plan of action leads to action. The cycle then repeats, 

the actions that are undertaken should be reviewed and 

reflected upon with a view to further improvement. This 

continuous cycle may be represented as follows: 

review 

act refl ect 

plan 

19

19/28 

APPENDIX 3 

LOCAL CHURCH REVIEW 

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN ADVANCE 

Factual Information 

Please provide information and comment on the following 

areas of congregational life: 

1. Membership: statistics for the past ten years including 

estimated age profi le; 

2. Worship: average weekly attendance (numbers, age 

profi le, gender), style, musical range, use of audio 

visual equipment, innovations; 

3. Pastoral Care: number of baptisms, weddings, funerals 

per year, specifi c demands of the situation, ways of 

sharing responsibilities; 

4. Christian Nurture: numbers involved in Christian 

nurture: children, young people, young adults, adults; 

resources used; 

5. Mission: specifi c mission initiatives – local or 

international, school involvement or other 

chaplaincies, evangelism training and strategies, 

communication; 

6. Leadership: staffi ng, numbers of offi ce-bearers 

including age and gender profi le, training, structure, 

constitution; 

7. Buildings: usage, state of repair, suitability, projects; 

8. Finance: accounts, budget, allocations, shortfalls, 

Christian giving plans, special projects, statistics for 

givings over ten years; 

9. Support for Minister or Ministry Team: administrative 


support, travelling expenses, study leave, additional 

staff needs; 

10. Wider Church: relationship with Presbytery, Councils 

of the Church and ecumenical relationships; 

11. Community: relationship with community groups or 

agencies; 

12. Presbytery Plan: what are the interim steps and 10 year 

conclusions for your congregation in the Presbytery 

Plan? How do you see these working out? 

Legal Information 

Please provide information on the following legal 

requirements that a congregation must fulfil: 

1. The administration of the Sacrament of Baptism to 

infants in accordance with Act V, 2000; 

2. Whether offi ce bearers are representative of the 

congregation’s life, for example in terms of age and 

gender; 

3. Whether the congregation’s current form of 

constitution serves its future mission; 

4. Whether the employment status of members of 

staff , the formal relationships among them and 

the prioritization of work amongst them serves the 

congregation’s mission eff ectively; 

5. Compliance by the Kirk Session with the church law 

and civil law relating to Safeguarding; 

6. Compliance with those provisions of Act XII 2007 

regarding the provision and maintenance of manses; 

7. Implementation of the fi ndings of the most recent 

property surveys.

COMMITTEE ON THE PARISH DEVELOPMENT FUND 

May 2010 


“Being involved in the project really has totally 

changed my life. I did not know what was going 

to happen to me when I got out of jail and I don’t 

know what I would have done or where I would 

have gone without the support of the project or of 

my befrienders, who are now my friends. I am now 

at college, I am living in my own flat, and I am really 

proud of myself”. (User of project for ex-offenders) 

“When I was younger the doors of this church 

seemed closed to my kind of family, but not now. 

I’m even helping out now in one of the clubs for 

the kids”. (Woman who grew up near to the church 

and now volunteers for the project) 

“More creative activity is seen in the life of the 

immediate congregation from a spin-off children’s 

craft group that has sprung up, not directly involved 

in the project but has come from the project. This 

affects and influences our worship space which has 

been fabulous to see.”(Community Arts Project) 




2. Rejoice with those congregations who, through the support of the Fund, have found new and exciting ways of 

engaging with their communities during this last year. 

3. Thank the Fund Committee and staff for their diligence in assessing grant applications, making appropriate awards 

and supporting and monitoring congregations as they deliver their respective projects. 

4. Approve the Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, Section *.*) and commit the Parish Development Fund in 

partnership with others, to its effective delivery over the next seven years. 

REPORT 

“So many of the church members who work as 

volunteers in the project have commented that the 

project has given them an opportunity to put their 

faith into action in a challenging and exciting way. 

This has given them increased confidence to take 

part in other aspects of church life, such as worship, 

eldership and church organisations.”(Youth Project) 

1.1 Since 2003 the Parish Development Fund has been 

fulfilling the vision of the Church Without Walls report 

(2001) which proposed the establishment of a fund to be 

“primarily concerned with obtaining and dispensing funds to 

enable congregations and groups of congregations to create 

and develop relevant forms of ministry for the 21st century”. 

Over the past seven years grants from the Fund, together 

with support provided by staff, have helped to transform the 

ministries of many congregations throughout the country 

as they have developed practical initiatives responding to 

identified needs within their local communities. And it is 

not just ministries we have seen transformed. By taking 

risks and reaching out to those who are often the poorest 

or most vulnerable and marginalised, congregations 

themselves and the individuals they are supporting have 

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20/2 

found new life. Across Scotland we have seen partnerships 

formed between Church of Scotland congregations, 

across denominations, and between churches and other 

agencies and organisations. 

1.2 Churches throughout the land are working in ways 

which many of them never thought possible as they provide 

much needed support and activities for vulnerable children 

and young people; or run community cafes; or provide 

valuable befriending services for older people; or support 

schools to challenge and cross sectarian and ethnic divides; 

or draw local people into involvement with creative arts; 

or provide counselling and listening services for troubled 

young people and adults; or open their arms to embrace 

those struggling with addictions. The list is endless! 

2. More than Money 

2.1 The work of the Parish Development Fund is far more 

than merely the handing out of money. 

2.2 Support to Churches and Projects 

2.2.1 When churches first make an enquiry about 

the Fund they are put in touch with the Fund staff. The 

Co-ordinator and the Development Workers, who each 

have responsibility for a specific geographical area of the 

country, then offer a range of advice, guidance and support. 

The nature of this will depend on the specific needs of the 

church or project but often includes helping churches to 

clarify their vision and aspirations, offering advice on local 

community research, exploring matters of governance 

and management structures and giving advice about 

funds and fundraising. In 2009 the number of first time 

enquiries significantly increased with staff responding to 

almost 100 during the year – clear evidence of the vision 

and aspirations of more and more congregations and, 

therefore, of continuing demand on the Fund. 

2.2.2 The support offered can be ongoing, if required, 

as the churches develop their plans and, in time, come 

forward with an application. If successful the link with staff 

will continue throughout the life of the grant with staff 


combining the role of support with that of monitoring 

and evaluating the use of grants given. In other words, the 

relationship between the Fund and projects doesn’t end 

once a cheque has been signed! 

2.2.3 In addition to this ongoing support, in 2009 three 

Induction Events were held – in Stirling in January 2009, in 

Aberdeen in June 2009 and in Glasgow in November 2009. 

These events brought together representatives of staff and 

committees of newly or recently funded projects. They 

offered the opportunity to network with others, to hear 

more about the working of the Fund and our expectations 

of projects, and to explore topics of common interest and 

concern such as evaluation, safeguarding or supporting 

volunteers. All three events were very positively received 

by participants. 

2.2.4 Two more editions of the PDF Newsletter were 

published in 2009. These were distributed to projects, to 

all Church of Scotland Ministers and to a range of other 

recipients. The Newsletters focus on stories from projects 

which highlight the work they are doing and are thus a 

very effective way of illustrating the impact which the 

Parish Development Fund is having around the country. 

The December 2009 edition picked up on the Christmas 

theme of celebration and highlighted the awards and 

achievements gained by many of the projects we fund. It 

was a delight to receive stories from projects celebrating 

individuals receiving certificates and awards in recognition 

of achievements and projects themselves gaining external 

recognition for the quality of their work. 

2.3 Promoting the Fund 

2.3.1 In addition to the direct work with congregations 

and projects, the Fund staff also take advantage of 

opportunities to promote the Fund. 

2.3.2 In January 2009 the Co-ordinator delivered a 

workshop on the Fund as part of the Church Without Walls 

‘Re-energise’ conference in Aviemore. Participants had the 

opportunity to hear directly from representatives of two

projects in receipt of funding, namely, the St Andrew’s 

Family Support Service in Dundee and the Cornertsone 

Café Project in Evanton. 

2.3.3 In March 2009 the Co-ordinator took part in a ‘Meet 

the Funders’ event for faith communities in Glasgow. This 

was an opportunity for people from churches and faith 

communities to meet a range of grant funders and to hear 

about the work they do and the kinds of projects they 

support. A number of contacts were made which were 

subsequently followed up. 

2.3.4 In September 2009 the Co-ordinator and one of the 

Development Workers delivered two workshops as part 

of the Church & Society Conference. Participants heard 

about the work of the Fund and had the opportunity to 

ask questions and discuss scenarios. Once again contacts 

were made which enabled follow-up conversations to 

take place in the weeks that followed. 

2.4 Working with other Councils 

2.4.1 Ministries Council 

2.4.1.1 Priority Areas Committee 

The main focus of the work with Ministries Council is 

through the Priority Areas Committee. The Co-ordinator 

is a co-opted member of the Committee and during the 

year attended Committee meetings and, along with the 

Convener and staff, took part in the Priority Areas Forums. 

These Forums are hosted by a priority area congregation 

and bring together representatives of all Councils of the 

Church and are an opportunity for Council members to 

hear directly from those living and worshipping in our 

poorest communities. Through involvement in these 

areas the Parish Development Fund contributed to the 

development of the Priority Areas Action Plan 

2.4.1.2 Priority Areas Action Plan 

2.4.1.3 The 2009 General Assembly reaffirmed the 

Church’s ongoing commitment to its work in priority area 

parishes – the poorest 5% of neighbourhoods in Scotland. 

It approved seven strategic priorities for that work and 

COMMITTEE ON THE PARISH DEVELOPMENT FUND 20/3 



2.4.1.4 Priority to the poorest and most marginalised 

is a commitment shared by the whole Church and the 

Parish Development Fund will demonstrate this through 

its specific commitment to the following priorities within 

the Action Plan: 

• we will take our work to the margins: this is a core 

element of the work of the Fund. We require that 

churches demonstrate that they are responding to 

those in most need within their communities. Through 

our administration of the Priority Areas Staffing Fund 

(see section 3.2 below) we directly engage with those 

congregations working in the poorest areas. 

• we aim to have worship at the heart of all that we do: a key 

requirement for churches in receipt of funding from the 

Parish Development Fund is that they can demonstrate 

the ways in which the work they are engaged with 

is having an impact on the congregation itself. We 

will now require churches to ensure that the hugely 

important work they are doing out in the community 

is not disconnected from the worshipping life of the 

congregation. We will ask churches to explore how 

their worship might change and evolve as a result of 

the work they are doing and encourage them to share 

with others any specific ideas and resources which they 

might develop. 

2.4.1.5 The Parish Development Fund welcomes the 

Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council, Section 

1.3) and looks forward to working with the Priority Areas 

Committee, other Councils & Committees of the Church 

as well as a wide range of broader partners to deliver the 

Priority Areas Action Plan over the next seven years. 

2.4.1.6 Emerging Ministries Fund 

2.4.1.7 The Emerging Ministries Fund (EMF) is now in its 

second year of operation. The Parish Development Fund 

Co-ordinator is part of a group of four individuals who 

review Initial Registration forms from potential applicants 

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20/4 

and offer comment to assist with the decision making. 

2.4.1.8 PDF staff are also in regular contact with EMF 

staff to discuss specific pieces of work being undertaken 

by churches. This process is designed to ensure both the 

sharing of expertise and the avoidance of misunderstanding 

concerning the respective criteria of each Fund. 

2.4.1.9 In September 2009 one of the Development 

Workers, along with the Ministries Support Officer 

responsible for the EMF, took part in a joint training day for 

representatives of a group of parishes in the Borders. 

2.4.2 Church and Society Council 

2.4.2.1 Links have been strengthened with the Church 

and Society Council during 2009. As previously mentioned 

the Fund contributed to the Council’s Conference in 

September 2009 and also during the year a representative 

of the Council was co-opted onto the Parish Development 

Fund Committee. 

2.4.2.2 In July 2009 the Co-ordinator was invited to join 

the Council’s Debt & Unemployment Working Group. The 

Working Group was formed as part of the work of the 

Council’s Community Reference Group with the remit 

to produce a report which illustrates the ways in which 

churches can offer practical responses to the problems of 

poverty, debt and unemployment. The Co-ordinator was 

able to bring to the group’s attention a number of projects 

supported by the Fund which are seeking to respond to 

the needs of those affected by these issues. The report of 

this group appears within the Church and Society Council 

Report. 

2.4.3 Mission & Discipleship Council 

2.4.3.1 The Parish Development Fund has ongoing links 

with the Mission & Discipleship Council mainly through 

liaison with the Council’s Regional Development Officers 

(RDOs). At various times, depending on the nature of 

local developments, the Fund’s Development Workers 

link closely with the appropriate RDO. This sharing of each 


other’s understanding and perspective helps to prevent 

duplication of effort and enhances the quality of the 

support being offered to the local church. 

2.4.3.2 In November staff attended roadshows organised 

by the Council to promote the ‘Future Focus’ resource for 


3. Other Issues 

3.1 Priority Areas Staffing Fund 

3.1.1 Since 2007 the Committee has been managing 

the Priority Areas Staffing Fund (PASF) on behalf of the 

Ministries Council, as agreed by the General Assembly of 

2006. Through this fund, the Ministries Council provides 

additional funding for work in the Church’s priority 

area parishes and is responsible for setting the policy 

and criteria for disbursement of funds. Those churches 

designated as priority area parishes - there are fifty-eight 

parishes on the main list and twenty five parishes on the 

‘supplementary’ list – are entitled to apply for funding from 

the PASF specifically towards the costs of extra staffing to 

support their work within their local community. £50,000 

per annum has been given to the PDF Committee as the 

administration ‘fee’ for the PASF. 

3.1.2 During the first two years of administering the 

PASF it was recognised that the level of applications to 

the Fund had been lower than was anticipated or hoped 

for. Despite the efforts of staff to increase awareness of 

the PASF amongst priority area congregations it was 

recognised that staff had delivered as much support as 

capacity allowed and that a new approach may be more 

fruitful. 

3.1.3 The Evaluation of the Parish Development Fund, 

which took place towards the end of 2008, recognised 

the challenges of promoting the PASF and being able 

to offer the level of support required by priority areas 

congregations. The report recommended “a ‘dedicated 

package’ of promotion and support in order to reach a level 

of approximately 10 applications per year.” (Evaluation of the

Parish Development Fund of the Church of Scotland, Dr 

Eleanor M Logan, 2008) 

3.1.4 Following discussions with the Priority Areas 

Committee it was agreed to ‘sub-contract’ to the 

Transformation Team the work of promoting the PASF 

and supporting congregations through the development 

process to the point of application. The team, which is part 

of Faith in Community (Scotland), already has a dedicated 

brief to provide community development support to the 

35 priority area parishes within Glasgow as well to other 

faith communities in the city. It was agreed that £35,000 of 

the administration fee will be paid to the Transformation 

Team to promote the PASF and provide advice, guidance 

and support to priority area parishes throughout the 

country. 

3.1.5 This work by the Transformation Team began in 

June 2009 and is beginning to bear fruit. It is anticipated 

that there will be between 8 – 10 applications for PASF 

forthcoming during 2010. 

4. Grants Available 

4.1 Prior to 2009 there were two types of grant available 

from the Fund; the Main Grant of up to £45,000 over 

three years, access to which required a full and rigorous 

application process, and a Small Grant of up to £1,500 

for training or research purposes. It was increasingly 

recognised however that churches were often looking 

for one-off grants of up to around £5000 to enable them 

to try out or ‘pilot’ ideas they had for action. However, in 

order to access this kind of sum, they had to submit a full 

application and be subject to the same rigorous process 

as those applying for full three year funding. 

4.2 In response to this the Committee introduced at the 

beginning of 2009 a Pilot Grant of up to £5,000. Criteria 

and guidelines were produced and the application 

process simplified to enable churches to apply for a Pilot 

Grant by sending a letter which details their proposal 

under a number of set headings. There is no deadline for 


these applications and the Convener and Co-ordinator act 

‘under powers’ to make a decision, aiming to do so within 

four weeks of the application being received. As reported 

below six such applications were awarded during 2009. 

4.3 The previously entitled ‘Small Grant’ is now defined 

specifically as a Training & Research Grant with the 

application process unchanged. As reported below 

there were fourteen such awards made during 2009. 

This represents a considerable increase over previous 

years and is indicative of the extent to which the input 

from Development Workers is encouraging churches and 

projects to take the time and effort to undertake initial 

research and training to lay the groundwork for a full 

application at a later stage. This grant is also available to 

churches and projects already in receipt of a main grant 

and a number of grants were given to such projects to 

enable them to undertake specific training for staff or 

committee members. 

5. Grants Awarded 

5.1 Main Grants totalling £622,000 (2008 – £765,000) 

over periods from one to three years were awarded to 22 

projects. Of this amount £169,000 was awarded from the 

Priority Areas Staffing Fund. It is worthy of note that the 

£453,000 which was granted from the Parish Development 

Fund was in response to requests for £706,729. The total 

cost of the work being carried out as a result of these grant 

awards is approximately £2.4million, with the balance of 

funding required being sought from charitable trusts, 

additional local giving, statutory agencies and locally held 

funds. 

5.2 Pilot Grants totalling £32,100 were awarded to 7 

projects for the purpose of testing new ideas in practice. 

5.3 Training & Research Grants totalling £14,725 were 

awarded to 14 projects for activities such as committee 

skills training, staff training & development and community 

research. 


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20/6 

5.4 Main Grants Awarded 

Edinburgh: Arts Worker Project, Gilmerton New 

Church a total grant of £11,000 for two further years 

of continuation funding towards the cost of an Arts 

Worker 

“The initial pilot project of the Arts Worker has proved 

tremendously successful, drawing interest in drama and arts 

activities from young adults across Gilmerton. The GNC Arts 

Worker oversees the ReNEWal theatre group, conducts various 

workshops at neighbouring schools in conjunction with 

and in addition to their current drama curriculum, and has 

established links with the wider Edinburgh arts community 

to get Gilmerton’s young people involved in various theatrical 

productions and festivals in the city. We are hopeful that this 

exposure will provide Gilmerton’s young people with chances 

to use their artistic expression as a way of strengthening both 

themselves and the community at large.” 

Edinburgh: Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland Kirk - 

grant of £12,000 for one further year of continuation 

funding towards the cost of a Development Officer. 

“The Greyfriars Community Project (GCP) has been developing 

over the last 5 years as a partnership between Greyfriars 

Tolbooth & Highland Kirk and the Grassmarket Mission; both 

are committed to being alongside the most vulnerable and 

marginalised members of our community. The GCP vision is 

to get alongside people who are poor, marginalised, excluded, 

homeless, unemployed, struggling with addiction or mental 

illness. More than the traditional ‘handout’ of a soup kitchen, 

we want to give people a ‘hand-up’ through developing social 

enterprises, training and skills development and building 

people’s confidence and self esteem. We believe that all our 

citizens deserve to reach their potential and enjoy success.” 

Irvine and Kilmarnock: The Sky Project - a grant of 

£5,000 for one further year towards core project costs 

“Using a high ratio of trained staff, and consistent boundaries, 

we use initiatives to help children and young people develop 

positive relationships with their peers. They learn to work 

within boundaries whilst being supported to manage their 


behaviour. They are encouraged to make positive relationships 

with their peers and adults with opportunities to embrace new 

positive challenges and experiences. We never bar a child, but 

working with boundaries and consequences, we enable them 

to look at their behaviour, and/or perhaps refer them to a 

more supportive service ie befriending or a smaller group.” 

Ardrossan: Arran Youth Foundation a total grant of 

£27,000 over three years towards staff costs 

“AYF will provide a safe warm environment for young people on 

Arran who are not attracted to traditional youth organisations 

and certainly not to any faith based establishment. Currently 

there is no such place where young people can meet in the 

evening, that offers a place free of threat and where respect 

for self and each other is nurtured. The AYF working group 

was started to initiate contact with the youth in school and to 

ask them to express their own felt needs. The youth themselves 

said the centre would be a big help as there is simply no place 

open after 5pm in the evening - no meeting place, no café and 

few games facilities.” 

Greenock & Paisley: St Martin’s Parish Church: SMART, 

Port Glasgow a total grant of £27,000 from PDF 

over three years and £45,000 PASF over three years 

towards the cost of a Youth Development Worker and 

sessional staff 

“The church is situated within a community of high social 

needs, brought about by industrial decline. We clearly see the 

issues that young people are facing and in particular recognise 

that young people who would have normaly found skilled 

employment in the ship yards are now experiencing alienation 

and hopelessnes through a shortage of apprenticeships and 

employment. The project wishes to provide early intervention 

with children to break the cycle of hopelessness and to work 

with young people in developing the necessary skills and 

resources to enable and create opportunities to act on their 

often hidden desire for change within their lives. It will help 

build bridges between faith communities through joint 

initiatives and give those in need someone they can turn to 

for support.” 


Greenock & Paisley: Supporting Parents, Greenock 

New Charge Development a total grant of £24,000 

from PDF over three years and £34,000 PASF over three 

years towards the cost of a Development Worker 

“Through our work in the community we have come across 

children and young people with significant unmet emotional 

needs, behavioural issues and who have a poor relationship 

with their parents. Our ethos as a church has been to consult 

and to initiate and develop partnerships, so networking, 

joint promotion and where possible a sharing of resources, 

training and activities is envisaged. As a church we not only 

complement, in general, what is being provided by other 

groups and agencies, but as we are genuinely holistic, we 

recognise parents and children’s intrinsic spirituality. The 

Supporting Parents project will, as its name suggests, focus on 

parents, it will seek to support parents by listening to them, 

mentoring them and by providing specific programmes.” 

Glasgow: Bridging the Gap a total grant of £18,000 

over two years towards the cost of a Project Worker 

“Our programme is about easing the transition from Primary to 

Secondary school for vulnerable young people. Based in local 

schools the project targets P7 and S4 ‘at risk’ pupils identified by 

the schools. Our staff trains older pupils to give regular support 

to younger pupils. By building a pathway to non-academic 

achievement and networks across cultural, national, and 

sectarian divides we make a valuable contribution towards 

individual involvement and a cohesive community in the 

Southside of Glasgow. We are planning to deliver a programme 

in the Gorbals Primary Schools to promote awareness and 

understanding of refugee and asylum seeker issues. This will 

include discussion and question and answer sessions with local 

asylum seekers and refugees culminating in an event bringing 

together all participants, parents and members of the local 

community in a cultural celebration.” 

Glasgow: Cathcart Trinity – Cathcart Youth Ministry 

Partnership - a total grant of £30,000 over three years 

towards the cost of a Youth Worker 

“The purpose of CYMP is to resource, support and encourage 


Christian Youth and children’s ministry within the South 

Glasgow community as a witness to our shared vision and 

passion of bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the young 

people we are called to serve and to nurture them to grow in 

their relationship with Him. This project is being developed in 

direct response to identified community needs. The Cathcart 

Youth Ministry Partnership has enabled three local churches 

to focus resources and finances in a partnership response 

to meeting these needs and providing a central point to 

encourage growth and development within each partner 

church and the wider community they would seek to serve.” 

Glasgow: “Givin’ It Laldie”, Gorbals Parish Church 

a total grant of £22,000 from PDF over three and 

£45,000 PASF over three years towards the cost of a 

Community Musician 

“Givin’ it Laldie is about opening up new opportunities for 

residents of all ages in the Gorbals to live healthier, happier 

lives through active involvement in music making, with a 

particular focus on the socially excluded and vulnerable. 

We have been active in Gorbals for many years and are 

committed to making a distinctive contribution to the lives 

of all who live there and we believe that this project has the 

potential to do that. The project will be structured around 

singing based workshops for a variety of children’s and 

adults’ groups, delivered at different locations in the Gorbals. 

Our proposal, to use music as the medium for personal and 

community development, is new, and responses to our pilot 

study are extremely encouraging.” 

Glasgow: Iona Jacob Project a total grant of £18,000 

for two further years of continuation funding towards 

core costs 

“Jacob is the only through-care scheme for young ex-offenders 

which offers voluntary work, pastoral befriending, and 

housing support. No other scheme offers this. Volunteers are 

given the chance not to return to jail. I cannot underestimate 

- this is huge! And they learn a skill. And they are linked to 

a congregation. Isn’t that amazing? We want to offer this 

to more ex offenders. Put simply, Jacob utterly transforms 


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peoples’ lives, long-term! And it influences, challenges and 

builds Community. It really does. 

It changes the lives of ex offenders, a despised social group, 

by giving them work, professional skills, housing, and a link 

to a church community. Practical and spiritual growth are 

supported together, hand in hand.” 

Glasgow: The Meeting Place, South Carntyne Parish 

Church a total grant of £6000 PDF towards the cost of 

an Outreach Worker 

“The purpose of The Meeting Place @ South Carntyne Trust 

is to advance the Christian faith in the Carntyne area of 

Glasgow by providing various activities within the Church for 

the community of South Carntyne; to build bridges between 

church and community for individuals and families, through 

outreach clubs for parents and toddlers, children, young 

people, and with adults through the Meeting Place Cafe. 

While maintaining a strong Christian emphasis, the project 

is open to all members of the community regardless of race, 

sex, creed or colour. We go into the community of Carntyne to 

share the love of God in a practical and caring way.” 

Glasgow: The Wheel Trust a total grant of £6,000 over 

two years towards the cost of a Project Worker 

“The Wheel Trust is about long term relationships between 

God, young people, leaders and local church. Faithfulness is 

an important element of any relationship. The ability of local 

congregations to sustain and progress youth work is often 

limited by the enthusiasm, time commitments and changing 

lifestyles of younger volunteers and the other priorities of 

the congregation. This can lead to young people feeling 

abandoned, volunteers disillusioned and churches frustrated. 

The Wheel Trust provides strategic direction and practical 

resources of leadership, training and coordination. The aim is 

not to replace the youth work of local churches but to inspire, 

sustain and develop it.” 

Hamilton: Hyzone a total grant of £8000 for two further 

years of continuation funding towards staff costs 

“Hyzone is a relational youth project, committed to responding 


to the needs of young people who chose to engage with us. We 

have concern for development of the whole person, and seek 

to encourage young people to reach their physical, emotional, 

mental and spiritual potential so that they may find life in all 

its fullness, whatever form that might take for them. Hyzone 

has invigorated current faith practice with a new sense of 

shared and collaborative work across real boundaries. Local 

young people who have little knowledge of the church can 

relate to a sense of what difference faith based living makes to 

lifestyle. Some adults do care!” 

Hamilton: North Motherwell a total grant of £20,000 

for two further years of continuation funding towards 

the cost of the Project Worker 

“The Project has given opportunity for the two local churches 

to work closely together and so be a sign of unity in an area 

where sectarian division still exists. We would be surprised 

if there is another community in Scotland in which two 

churches of different traditions work so closely together eg 

this year St. Bernadette’s (RC Church) participated fully in 

our ‘Christian Aid’ events, with minister, priest and members 

of the community sleeping out in a ‘Third World Shack’ and 

St Bernadette’s hosting a Christian Aid Benefit Concert, 

that was jointly arranged. Fair Trade, support of Congolese 

Refugees, Recycling Poroject and now the New Opportunities 

has brought the Congregations even closer together.” 

Falkirk: Larbert Churches Youth Trust a total grant 

of £27,000 over three years towards the cost of a 

Christian Youth Worker 

“This project aims to strengthen and enrich the Christian 

input in the lives young people attending Larbert High 

School and feeder primaries through the employment and 

support of a youth worker. All of the local congregations 

were aware of their lack of effectivness in communicating 

the gospel to the vast majority of young people in the area. 

The 6 local Churches of Scotland came to a jointly held view 

that a Christian youth worker could contribute to the social 

and spiritual development of young people. In obedience to 

Scripture (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:39), our concern is primarily 


for young people themselves, to provide ways in which their 

self-esteem, self-image and lifes-styles could bring them 

purpose and peace, rather than to fill our pews with young 

people!” 

Dunfermline: Bridge 2 Youth in Kincardine: a total 

grant of £20,000 for two further years of continuation 

funding towards core costs 

“If we should be challenging young people, educating them 

to make informed decisions about their life, we believe this is 

at the heart of what we are doing. Challenge norms, equip 

young people to question and see and achieve their potential 

and choice. We offer a variety of informal education activities, 

programmes and experiences which are recreational, social 

and fun. We support young people through the transitions 

they experience in moving from childhood to adulthood. We 

create an environment where young people feel comfortable 

and safe, a place to call their own, to provide a service for 

them and with no hidden agenda attached and give young 

people the opportunity for their views to be heard.” 

Kirkcaldy: Glenrothes Area Christian Youth Trust - 

GROW a total grant of £10,000 for two further years of 

continuation funding towards staff costs 

“We believe that our original vision has been more than 

justified. Only 5% of young people in the Glenrothes area have 

a church connection, while 98% attend school. It continues 

to make sense to provide a Christian worker who can provide 

the young people in our schools with repeated opportunities 

to explore and respond to the message of Jesus. Opportunities 

for the GROW worker in schools more than doubled from 50 in 

2006/7 to 133 in 2007/8. There continues to be an increasing 

demand for the worker to contribute to the RME and PSD 

aspects of the curriculum. The number of young people 

attending residential events has also increased. These allow 

young people to explore and grow in a personal faith.” 

St. Andrews: Holy Trinity St Andrews - a grant of 

£30,000 over three years towards project staffing and 

core costs 

“This project is about reaching out to young people and 


building relationships using the arts as a tool. It involves 

young people learning about leadership and understanding 

the creative nature of God as well as developing their skills. 

We are doing this because there is a demand directly from 

local young people themselves for these projects and also 

because we have the people already in place to carry out this 

work currently working in a voluntary capacity. Our project 

is based in the church hall, community centre and the local 

schools with an office at the church.” 

Perth: Comrie /Western Strathearn a total grant of 

£34,000 over three years towards project staffing and 

core costs 

“The local people of Strathearn have identified, through 

discussions at the Comrie Development Trust that there 

were relatively few organised activities for children, and even 

less for young adults, where they can be “Off the street” but 

protected in a challenging world. This project intends to set 

up a café environment for children [aged 8-12] and to extend 

and enhance the Teenage Café (aged 13-19). The Youth and 

Families Worker will assess and determine the needs of young 

families and develop a suitable plan to approach and meet 

these needs through community involvement. We believe 

that all members of the local communities will benefit. The 

older people sometimes feel that they have little contact with 

the younger age groups (and vice versa). By involving different 

age groups from throughout the villages, our project will 

hopefully, breakdown these barriers.” 

Perth: Auchterarder Community Church Centre 

(ACCC), Auchterarder a total grant of £27,000 over 

three years towards staff costs 

“We’re about enhancing the lives of young people, especially 

those who need it most and have yet to find God relevant to 

them. We have around 100 young folk engaged in a vibrant 

range of youth activities spread across the week, outside 

and inside the church. Our work involves people from our 

own church and those from the Episcopal, Free and Roman 

Catholic churches in town and, importantly, those with no 

church. For example, our holiday club, “Teepee in the Park”, 


20

20/10 

involved dozens of kids from across the town. The imminent 

opening of the new Auchterarder Community Church Centre 

in January 2010 will provide an exciting platform to broaden 

our impact and activities with the town’s young folk.” 

Dundee: Hot Chocolate - a total grant of £8,000 for 

one further year of continuation funding towards the 

core work of the project. 

“Hot Chocolate has worked with the community of young 

people who gather in the city centre of Dundee to run dropin 

sessions, group work, art and music projects, outdoor 

activities and residentials and significant one-to-one support 

for individuals. This work has covered issues of homelessness, 

domestic abuse, drug use, alcohol problems, criminal 

behaviour, depression, family breakdown, CV writing, support 

in education or finding training or employment, and much 

more. This has not only given quality youth work oportunities 

to the young people, but additionally challenged prejudices 

perceived by the young people, encouraged young people’s 

community involvement, and allowed the church to engage 

with the wider community in many arenas across the business, 

statutory and voluntary sectors.” 

Angus: Havilah Arbroath a total grant of £42,000 over 

three years towards staffing costs 

“The Havilah Project is a drop-in facility accessible to all but 

intended principally for men and women battling with drug 

addiction. Through the development of relationships, and the 

gradual build up of trust, our aim is to guide those we work 

with towards significant lifestyle change and, ultimately, 

freedom from addiction. We are engaging in this work out 

of our belief that all of these young men and women are 

precious in the sight of God and deserving of unconditional 

love and support rather than judgement.” 

Aberdeen: Blue Horizon a total grant of £18,000 over 

two years towards projects staffing and core costs 

“Our youth workers are closely involved with young people 

who are at risk of exclusion from school and who, in some 

cases, are excluded. They are often the most stable point 

in a young person’s life, and are constantly looking for 


ways to widen the Horizons of young people. This provides 

opportunities for those young people not only to be involved 

in fun and healthy recreational activities but also to change 

their lifestyles in a positive way, to look at their own aims and 

to reach for a future very different from the bleak one they felt 

had been theirs.” 

Moray: Step by Step in Moray - a total grant of £23,000 

over three years towards the cost of a Family Worker 

“Step by Step in Moray provides a welcoming environment 

for isolated & vulnerable families through a parent and 

toddler group and a befriending service. These parents may 

have mental health issues, or drug or alcohol problems and 

will often be quite young. This group of parents do not feel 

comfortable in traditional parent and toddler groups, but 

need opportunities to share experiences with other parents 

at a similar stage in their lives, while enjoying playing with 

their child; they often need a listening ear. The project has 

started in Elgin and will develop in other areas of Moray as 

appropriate.” 

5.5 Pilot Grants Awarded (£32,100) 

The Olive Grove, Inverness: Crown Parish Church - £5,000 

Brucefield Toddlers - £5,000 

Bridgeton St Francis in the East, Glasgow - £5,000 

The Shack Youth Project - £5,000 

Kilmarnock : Howard Centre / Chill Nite Club - £2,100 

Inverness Churches Winter Care - £5,000 

St Andrews Clermiston - £5,000 

5.6 Training & Research Grants Awarded – £14,725 

(£7,350) 

Route 81 Youth Project, Garelochhead - £385 

Bridging the Gap, Gorbals, Glasgow - £1,500 

Noah’s Ark Parent/Carer & Child Group, St Andrew’s West 

Church, Falkirk - £900 


SMART Community Project, St Martin’s Church, Port 

Glasgow - £1,440 

The Parish Churches of Maxton & Mertoun lnkd w. Newton 

lnkd w. St Boswells - £1,500 

Clackmannanshire LISTENERS - £1,200 

Laigh West High Kirk; Grange Church; and St John’s 

Onthank Kilmarnock - £1,500 

The Gateway: Parish of Hutton, Fishwick & Paxton - £1,500 

Trinity Parish Church, Galashiels - £1,000 

Sandhead Learning & Research Centre, Kirkmaiden linked 

with Stoneykirk - £1,150 

Penicuik North Kirk – Cosy Café and Open Door Café - 

£300 

Hammy’s Out of School Care, Greenock - £850 

Shettleston New Parish Church - £500 

Cairns Counselling Service, Aberdeen - £1,000 




MARTIN FAIR, Convener 

ROLF H BILLES, Vice-Convener 

GRAHAM LUMB, Co-ordinator 

ADDENDUM 

Rev W Martin Fair 

During his four years at the helm Martin Fair has been a 

totally committed Convener - committed to the PDF and 

the work it has supported - the opening up of church, 

the encouragement of Christian service, the support 

for ordinary people with exceptional visions. Martin is a 

believer in people and wherever possible likes to show 

God how His people have grown and still have further to 

grow. 

An interested parent, engaging minister, positive staff 

supporter, excellent listener and intelligent speaker, Martin 

has been a constant reminder to the Church and PDF 

team that God has big dreams and enjoys when we work 

together to make them come true. One of the genuine 

guys! Thanks, Martin. 


ROLF H BILLES, Vice-Convener 

GRAHAM LUMB, Co-ordinator 

20



THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND PENSION TRUSTEES 

May 2010 

1. Scheme Statistics 

As at 31 December 2009, the three Church of Scotland 

Pension Schemes had a total combined membership of 

5668 with assets under management of approximately 

£280m. 

2. Schemes’ Overview 

2.1 The year since the 2009 General Assembly saw the 

continuation of a diffi cult period for all UK Defi ned Benefi ts 

Schemes. After a weak end to 2008 and beginning of 2009, 

world stockmarkets recovered, showing a gain of some 

23% from last year’s General Assembly to the end of 2009, 

at which point the triennial actuarial valuations fell due. 

During the same time, however, Government policy of 

quantitative easing supported bond prices, depressing 

yields which adversely aff ected the valuation of pension 

liabilities. 

2.2 Discussions took place over the course of 2009 

with the Employing Agencies and the Schemes’ Actuary 

with a view to planning for the December 2009 triennial 

valuations and specifi cally to move towards an agreed 

position to fund the cost of future benefi ts and the defi cit 

recovery plans in respect of benefi ts already accrued. This 

was facilitated by setting up a Pensions Working Group at 

which all Employing Agencies and the Pension Trustees 

were represented. 


REPORT 

2.3 At the time of writing this Report, the fi nal results 

of the 2009 Valuations are not known. However, the 

discussions which took place throughout the year within 

the Pensions Working Group enabled the Trustees to work 

closely with the Council of Assembly’s Finance Group 

and the Employing Agencies to go as far as possible to 

establish a set of assumptions which will yield contribution 

levels which are aff ordable within the respective budgets. 

Of course, the assumptions set by the Trustees must be 

prudent and are subject to approval by both the Schemes’ 

Actuary and the Pensions Regulator. 

2.4 After taking advice from the Schemes’ Actuary, the 

Trustees decided with regret not to award any discretionary 

increases to pensions in payment from 1 January 2010 

and, furthermore, not to apply any increase to the 2010 

rate of Standard Annuity within the Ministers’ Scheme. This 

is the second year in succession where no discretionary 

increases have been awarded and the Trustees are aware 

of the implications of such decisions which are not taken 

lightly. 

2.5 The Trustees’ discretion applies to pensions which 

accrued in respect of pensionable service prior to April 

1997; increases to pensions in payment in respect of 

service after that date attract statutory increases, though 

the rate applicable from 1 January 2010 is based on the 

underlying annualised Retail Prices Index applicable at 

21

21/2 

September 2009; that fi gure was negative, and, so, no 

statutory increase will apply in 2010. No reduction in 

pension was made and no retrospective reduction will be 

applied to later increases. 

2.6 During 2009, the Trustees commenced a process of 

fundamental review of investment strategy. Historically, 

the Trustees have based their strategy on a high exposure 

to equities and, whilst that approach has served the 

Schemes well over the longer-term, enabling benefi ts to 

be increased, the Trustees are in the process of analysing 

whether a revised policy may be more appropriate for the 

future. Specifi cally, in setting suitable long-term strategies, 

the Trustees are mindful of the need to focus on ensuring 

that the shorter-term volatility of underlying asset values is 

constrained to allow the Employing Agencies to manage 

this aspect of their budgets within tolerable limits. 

2.7 In 2009, the updated Rules for the Staff Scheme were 

signed-off and, at time of writing, the Trustees are at an 

advanced stage in the process of updating the National 

Mission Scheme Rules, which will include a renaming of 

the Scheme to refl ect the current situation within the 

Church. The Ministers’ Scheme Rules were updated in 

2008, so, once this further task is complete, the Rules of 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND PENSION TRUSTEES 

all Schemes will refl ect a more modern approach. It is 

expected that further work will be required in consultation 

with the respective Employing Agencies. 

2.8 Scheme Governance has become an increasingly 

important factor in any UK Pension Scheme. Accordingly, 

the Trustees have an established Training Objective and 

are committed to ensuring new Trustees have induction 

training within 6 months of being appointed. All Trustees 

are encouraged to work through the ‘Trustee Knowledge 

and Understanding’ toolkit on the Pensions Regulator’s 

website. Additionally, during 2009 a training time slot was 

introduced as a regular agenda item at the Trustees’ main 

quarterly meetings. Subjects covered in 2009 included 

an overview of the powers and duties of a Pension 

Trustee; the Regulator’s expectations and requirements; 

measuring assets and liabilities; risk management and 

various investment based topics. 


W JOHN McCAFFERTY, Chairman 

ARTHUR J PRIESTLY, Vice-Chairman 

STEVEN D KANEY Pensions Manager


As will be seen from the return detailed in Appendix 

I, the Overture anent Discipline of Elders, Readers and 

Office-bearers, sent to Presbyteries by last year’s General 

Assembly, received sufficient support to be presented for 

enactment. 

2. Amendments 

The Legal Questions Committee (hereafter ‘LQC’), which 

sponsored the Overture at last year’s General Assembly, 

is grateful for a number of helpful suggestions for 

improvement of the terms of the new Act. It believes 

they are all suggestions that can be incorporated into 

the text without requiring further consultation under the 

Barrier Act, and that they will commend themselves to the 

General Assembly. 

2.1 In section 1(b) the addition of the words ‘(whether or 

not a member of a Kirk Session)’ removes any doubt that 

all elders should be subject to the provisions of the Act. 

2.2 In section 8 the addition of the words ‘(or within a 

longer period for which the Presbytery can reasonably 

show necessity)’ addresses the implications of the 

Presbytery’s failure to begin the process within the seven 

day time-limit. 

RETURNS TO OVERTURES 

May 2010 




2. Convert into a Standing Law of the Church the Overture anent Discipline of Elders, Readers and Office-bearers as 

revised and set out in Appendix II. 

REPORT 

2.3 In section 11 the addition of the words ‘civil or’ 

enables the Presbytery to suspend proceedings where a 

concurrent civil action (and not only a criminal one) may 

require first to be concluded. 

2.4 In section 25 the addition of the words ‘or Presbytery 

itself’ extends the grounds of appeal to include procedural 

failings by the whole Presbytery and not only by its 

Committee. 

2.5 In section 27 a new final sentence has been added to 

ensure that Respondents need never face any element of 

the process alone, even if they are not accompanied by an 

adviser provided by the Presbytery. 

3. Comments commended by the Legal 


Several comments were made, which the LQC believe 

should be borne in mind by Presbyteries as the legislation 

is implemented. 

3.1 All legislation and regulations passed by each 

Assembly should be promulgated throughout the Courts 

of the Church. This legislation in particular should be 

brought to the notice of those who are especially subject 

to its terms. 

3.2 Presbyteries should take particular care to be clear and 

22

22/2 

transparent in determining what behaviour constitutes a 

disciplinary offence in terms of the definition in section 

1(a). Cultural variation across the country, and the nature 

of our Presbyterian system, will result in differences from 

one Presbytery to another, but courts should try to avoid 

needless inconsistency in the application of the Act. 

3.3 Presbyteries should be especially careful in situations 

where the Respondent is both an office-bearer and an 

employee. It will be important to ensure that action is 

taken in accordance with the correct legislation; and in 

some cases it may be necessary to consider action under 

more than one process. 

3.4 Presbyteries should always exercise best practice 

by keeping the Respondent informed at every stage, not 

forgetting to advise him/her formally at the point at which 

any process is abandoned. 

3.5 Kirk Sessions should be rigorous in providing pastoral 

support to all parties within their parishes at the earliest 

opportunity, since time may elapse before the Presbytery 

becomes formally involved and acquires its own pastoral 

responsibilities at that stage. 

3.6 Where the Committee decides, in terms of s.17, that no 

further action should be taken, Presbyteries must not treat 

the Respondent as if he or she were guilty of the allegation 

made. In particular, instructions relating to future conduct 

should be carefully and sparingly used, and never in a way 

that gives the impression of constituting a reprimand. 

3.7 The LQC agrees that, whenever the General Assembly 

has cause to amend Act III 2001, care should be taken to 

check whether there are any consequential or parallel 

amendments to be made to this legislation, so that in the 

respects in which they are designed to be similar, they do 

not fall out of step with each other. However, the LQC is 

clear that the two pieces of legislation are used in very 

different circumstances, and any amendment must be 

examined on its own merits. 

RETURN TO OVERTURES 

4. Comments resisted by the Legal 


The LQC considered some comments which either did 

not produce agreement or did not seem to require 

amendment of the text of the Overture. 

4.1 Section 1(f ): The LQC did not agree with a suggestion 

that all cases should involve someone from another 

Presbytery, to ensure justice and independence. The 

intention of this legislation is to achieve those ends by 

changing the court of first instance from the Kirk Session 

to the Presbytery. It would be regrettable to suggest that 

a Presbytery cannot be capable of impartially exercising 

non-routine superintendence over the charges in its 

bounds; but the section as it stands allows for exceptional 

use of external help where it is particularly needed, and 

this should suffice for unusual cases. 

4.2 Section 8: One Presbytery had difficulty identifying 

the recipient of the Presbytery’s powers; but the LQC has 

no doubt that these are located in the Superintendence 

Committee and not (as in Act III 2001) the Investigating 

Committee. The difference stems from the fact that the 

Presbytery remains the adjudicating authority in this new 

legislation, and so cannot devolve its own responsibilities 

to a group which will be subject to its judgement in due 

course. 

4.3 Section 11: The LQC did not agree with the 

Presbytery which believed that Presbyteries should have 

the opportunity to disregard the status of a criminal 

conviction where it believed there had been a miscarriage 

of justice. Whatever the relationship between church 

courts and criminal courts may be, a miscarriage of justice 

in the latter should be addressed by a criminal appeal; and 

it is wholly inappropriate that a church court should make 

judgements on the actions of another court as if it had 

some kind of appellate function over the civil magistrate. 

4.4 Section 12: The LQC did not agree that a formal 

minute should be taken of the very first consideration of

circumstances by the Committee. This stage is preliminary 

to attempts at mediation, and does not yet constitute any 

part of a formal disciplinary investigation. 

4.5 Section 16: One Presbytery was concerned that a 

complainer with a poor record of credibility might force 

the abandonment of a genuine complaint because it failed 

the good faith test in 16(1). However, as the Committee of 

Presbytery takes all the tests in section 16 together, the 

fact that relatively little weight might be given to one 

factor need not be fatal to the process. 

4.6 Section 22: One Presbytery was concerned that the 

Presbytery appeared to have the power to give repeated 

fresh instructions to its Committee, or replace it, or 

otherwise go to any length to over-ride its conclusions. 

The LQC is satisfied that the normal prohibition on a court 

re-visiting an issue without due cause should provide 

protection to those subject to the legislation, and enable 

Respondents to challenge unreasonable repetition of 

process by the Presbytery. 

4.7 Section 27: The LQC did not agree that the adviser 

must be a member of the Presbytery, or that it must 

be a paid appointment. The Overture is designed 

to apply to those who do not have a professional or 

otherwise patrimonial interest in the proceedings, so the 

requirement for advice or representation is very different 

from the requirements in Act III 2001. For this reason the 

Committee does not agree that consideration should 

be taken of circumstances in which the office-bearer is 

exercising his or her professional skills pro bono, and might 

engage legal representation in proceedings under this 

legislation: its provisions will clearly apply to an individual 

only in their capacity as elder (etc), and would not be 

used in a situation of alleged professional incapacity or 

impropriety. 

RETURN TO OVERTURES 22/3 

4.8 Miscellaneous 

4.8.1 The LQC did not agree that the Committee of 

Presbytery would require to be clerked by someone 

outside its own membership, since there is no precedent 

for this in other comparable processes. 

4.8.2 In the light of proposed changes to Act III 2001 

(on discipline of ministers and others) brought by the 

LQC itself this year, it did not need to adopt most of the 

consequent amendments of that Act suggested by one 

Presbytery. 

4.8.3 The LQC strongly disagreed with the comments 

of two Presbyteries, which suggested that a centralised 

system (like that of Act III 2001) should be adopted for 

discipline of elders and others. The Committee believes 

that the principle of subsidiarity requires disciplinary 

functions to be exercised by the lowest court reasonably 

capable of doing so. The LQC observed that a different 

Presbytery was concerned about what it saw as greater 

centralisation, and accepts that Presbyteries may produce 

opposing comments on Overtures under the Barrier Act. 

4.8.4 The LQC did not agree with the Presbytery which 

suggested that Kirk Sessions should retain the discretion to 

exercise discipline or to refer the matter to Presbytery. The 

possible difficulties of conflict of interest might prejudice 

the exercise of that discretion just as much as any other 

element of the process, if kept at Kirk Session level. 

In the name and by the authority of the Committee 

FINLAY A J MACDONALD, Convener 

22

22/4 

APPENDIX I 

OVERTURE ANENT DISCIPLINE OF ELDERS, 

READERS AND OFFICE-BEARERS 

No of Presbyteries Members voting for 

Approving Disapproving Approval Disapproval 

41 4 2263 105 

APPENDIX II 

OVERTURE UNDER THE BARRIER ACT 

OVERTURE ANENT DISCIPLINE OF ELDERS, 

READERS AND OFFICE-BEARERS 

The General Assembly adopt the Overture the tenor whereof 

follows, and transmit the same to Presbyteries under the 

Barrier Act, directing that returns be sent in to the Principal 

Clerk not later than 31 December 2009. 

The General Assembly, with the consent of a majority of 

Presbyteries, enact and ordain as follows: 

1. For the purposes of this Act: 

(a) ‘disciplinary offence’ shall mean: 

(i) conduct which is declared censurable by the 

Word of God, Act of the General Assembly or 

established custom of the Church or 

(ii) a breach of a lawful order of any court of the 

Church; 

(b) ‘Respondent’ shall for the purposes of this Act 

only mean an elder (whether or not a member 

of a Kirk Session), reader or other office bearer 

against whom a complaint has been made; 

(c) ‘office-bearer’ shall for the purposes of this 

Act only mean an individual who serves on a 

Congregational Board, Deacons’ Court or Board 

of Management, or any other body deemed by 

the Presbytery to form part of the governance 

arrangements of the congregation, or on any 


Committee of any of these bodies or of a Kirk 

Session or Presbytery, and shall for the avoidance 

of doubt include all Clerks and Treasurers 

whether or not such individuals serve as voting 

members of any such governing body; 

(d) ‘complaint’ shall for the purposes of this Act only 

mean a complaint that a disciplinary offence has 

been committed; 

(e) ‘Presbytery’ shall mean the Presbytery in whose 

bounds is the congregation of which the 

Respondent is a member; 

(f ) ‘Committee of Presbytery’ shall mean a 

Committee of Presbytery of three persons, of 

whom at least one will be a minister and one an 

elder, and any one of whom may be a member 

of another Presbytery appointed for this purpose 

in terms of Act VI 2002 (as amended) section 2. 

2. For the avoidance of doubt it is declared that any 

proceedings under this Act are part of the exclusive 

jurisdiction of the Church and in accordance with the 

Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church 

of Scotland in Matters Spiritual, as hereby interpreted 

by the Church. 

3. For the avoidance of doubt, where an individual 

against whom an allegation of a disciplinary offence 

is made is a minister, licentiate, deacon or graduate 

candidate, the provisions of Act III 2001 anent 

Discipline of Ministers, Licentiates, Deacons and 

Graduate Candidates shall apply and the Presbytery 

shall proceed in terms of that Act. 

4. For the avoidance of doubt, where an individual 

against whom an allegation made in terms of this 

Act is an employee of any Court or Committee of the 

Church, and that allegation arises within the context 

of that individual’s employment, the provisions of 

civil employment law shall apply.

5. Where an allegation is made to which the provisions 

of Act IV 2007 anent Bullying apply, this Act may not 

be invoked. 

6. When in the course of proceedings under Act II 

1984 (anent Presbytery Visits) or Act I 1988 (anent 

Congregations in an Unsatisfactory State) the Presbytery 

receives notice of circumstances indicating that a 

disciplinary offence may have been committed by an 

elder, reader or other office-bearer, it may either proceed 

simultaneously in terms of this Act or resolve to initiate 

proceedings under this Act following the completion of 

the existing proceedings. 

7. A Presbytery shall initiate investigatory proceedings as 

soon as it comes to the notice of the Presbytery that 

the name of a person over whom it has jurisdiction has 

been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register or included 

on the Disqualified from Working with Children List 

(DWCL) kept by Scottish Ministers under Section 1(1) 

of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003. 

Allegation of Disciplinary Offence 

8. On receiving notice of circumstances indicating that 

a disciplinary offence may have been committed, 

the Superintendence Committee of the Presbytery 

shall within seven days (or within a longer period for 

which the Presbytery can reasonably show necessity) 

appoint a Committee of Presbytery, as defined in 

section 1(f ). For the avoidance of doubt it is expressly 

declared that in so appointing the Superintendence 

Committee shall have all the powers of Presbytery. 

9. At the request of the Committee of Presbytery, or 

on its own initiative, the Presbytery may at any time 

impose upon the Respondent an administrative 

suspension, being an instruction by the Presbytery 

to the individual to abstain from the exercise of all 

the functions of his or her office until proceedings 

under this Act are finally disposed of; and it shall not 

constitute a form of censure. 


10. If at any stage of proceedings under this Act the 

Respondent admits to any or all of the allegation(s), 

and the Committee of Presbytery is willing to accept 

such an admission and abandon its consideration of 

any part of the allegation not admitted, the Committee 

shall, with the consent of the Respondent, produce 

a Report for Presbytery recommending summary 

disposal of the case in terms of section 24. 

(1) In the event that the Presbytery approves the 

decision of the Committee, the Presbytery shall 

proceed to dispose of the case in terms of section 

24. 

(2) In the event that the Presbytery does not 

approve the decision of the Committee, it shall 

give such further instruction to the Committee 

as is necessary. 

11. The Committee of Presbytery may sist proceedings 

pending the outcome of any civil or criminal 

proceedings which relate to the allegation or part 

of the allegation. Where the allegation made to the 

Presbytery is the same as a charge brought against 

the Respondent in criminal law, a criminal conviction 

shall be deemed by the Presbytery to satisfy the 

standard of proof, for the purposes of this Act. 

12. The Committee of Presbytery shall meet separately 

with the complainer (if any), with the Respondent, 

and with any other individuals the Committee 

believes it appropriate to meet. The purpose of these 

meetings shall be to ascertain a preliminary account 

of the circumstances. 

13. The Committee of Presbytery shall, if it believes it is 

appropriate to do so, institute steps to effect mediation 

or conciliation between or among the parties, and 

these steps and their outcome shall be reported to 

Presbytery through the Superintendence Committee. 

The report to Presbytery need not contain the names 

22

22/6 

of any of the parties in the event that the steps have, 

in the opinion of the Superintendence Committee, 

resolved the complaint without the need for further 

action on the part of the Presbytery. 

Investigation of Complaint 

14. In the event that the complaint has not been 

resolved through the steps referred to in section 13, 

the Committee of Presbytery shall consider whether 

to carry out an investigation. 

15. The Committee of Presbytery shall intimate in writing 

to the Respondent the nature of the offence alleged 

and the nature of the evidence purported to exist in 

support of the allegation and shall offer him or her the 

opportunity to make any answer thereto, provided 

that he or she shall not be obliged to answer. 

16. In considering whether to carry out an investigation 

the Committee of Presbytery shall have regard to all 

the relevant facts, and in particular 

(a) the bona fides of any person making an 

allegation that a disciplinary offence may have 

been committed; 

(b) any representation by the person who is the 

subject of the allegation; 

(c) the preliminary account ascertained in terms 

of section 12; and 

(d) the gravity of the alleged offence. 

For the avoidance of doubt the standard of proof 

throughout proceedings shall be the balance of 

probabilities. 

17. If the Committee of Presbytery decides that it is not 

appropriate to carry out an investigation in respect of 

all or any of the allegations made, the Committee of 

Presbytery shall report that decision to the Presbytery 

for its approval. 

(1) In the event that the Presbytery approves 

the decision of the Committee, it shall recall 

any administrative suspension imposed in 


terms of section 9. Without prejudice to its 

existing powers of superintendence, the 

Presbytery may issue an instruction to the 

Respondent regarding his or her conduct. 

Any disobedience of that instruction may be 

treated as a disciplinary offence. 





18. If the Committee of Presbytery decides to initiate 

investigatory proceedings it shall: 

(a) give notice to the Respondent of the decision 

to investigate the case and of the allegation or 

allegations which are to be investigated; 

(b) give notice to the Presbytery of that decision 

and of the allegation or allegations which are 

to be investigated; and 

(c) give notice to the Legal Questions Committee, 

which shall appoint a legally qualified assessor 

to advise the Committee of Presbytery on 

matters of law and procedure, if it has not 

done so by invitation at an earlier stage. 

19. On receipt of the notice referred to in section 18(b), 

the Presbytery shall make such arrangements as 

appear to it appropriate for the provision of pastoral 

support for the Respondent and his or her family, for 

the person or persons who made the allegation and 

for any witnesses within the bounds of the Presbytery. 

20. The Committee of Presbytery shall carry out such 

investigations as it deems necessary to determine 

whether a disciplinary offence may have been 

committed, and shall keep a Record Apart of the 

investigatory proceedings. 

21. Before reaching any conclusion, the Committee of 

Presbytery shall make known to the Respondent the 

substance of the complaint made against him or her

and the nature of the evidence existing in support 

of the allegation and shall offer him or her the 

opportunity to make any answer thereto; provided 

that he or she shall not be obliged to answer. 

22. Upon consideration of the allegations and evidence 

submitted and of any answers given, the Committee 

of Presbytery shall be entitled to resolve that no 

further investigation shall be carried out if there is 

no case to answer. In that event, it shall report to the 

Presbytery for approval. 

(1) In the event that the Presbytery approves 

the decision of the Committee, it shall recall 

any administrative suspension imposed in 

terms of section 9. Without prejudice to its 

existing powers of superintendence, the 

Presbytery may issue an instruction to the 

Respondent regarding his or her conduct. 

Any disobedience of that instruction may be 

treated as a disciplinary offence. 





23. In the event that the Committee of Presbytery decides 

to proceed further in terms of this Act, it shall bring 

a report to the Presbytery in numbered paragraphs 

stating its findings in fact and a recommendation as 

to disposal of the case. The Presbytery shall hear and 

dispose of the Report. 

Disposal of Complaint 

24. The Presbytery shall dispose of the case as seems 

appropriate to it. The disposals available to the 

Presbytery shall include the following, and may 

consist of a combination of elements: 

(a) instruction to any party regarding future 

conduct; disobedience of such instruction 

constituting the disciplinary offence of 

contumacy; 


(b) reprimand, which shall be an expression 

of disapproval of particular behaviour with 

counsel regarding future conduct; 

(c) removal from a particular office held, including 

removal from membership of a Kirk Session; 

(d) deprivation of status as an elder, subject to 

future restoration by the Presbytery, or of status 

as a Reader, subject to future restoration by the 

Presbytery in consultation with the Ministries 

Council. 

Miscellaneous 

25. All decisions made by Presbyteries in terms of this 

Act shall (subject to the provisions of section 26) 

be subject to the normal rights of appeal to the 

Commission of Assembly, but such appeal can 

be brought only on one or more of the following 

grounds: (a) that there were irregularities in the 

process, (b) that the final decision was influenced by 

incorrect material fact, or (c) that the Committee of 

Presbytery or the Presbytery itself acted contrary to 

the principles of natural justice. 

26. An appeal brought by any party against any actions 

taken in terms of sections 8-21 inclusive of this Act 

shall be regarded as an intermediate appeal and shall 

not sist the Committee of Presbytery’s process. 

27. No legal expenses in connection with proceedings 

under this Act shall be met from the funds of the 

Church. At the request of the Respondent the 

Presbytery shall appoint a person familiar with the 

practice of church law to act as an adviser to him 

or her. If not accompanied by such an adviser, at 

all stages of the proceedings under this Act the 

Respondent shall be entitled to be accompanied by 

one individual chosen by the Respondent, who shall 

not have the right to speak. 

Consequential Amendments 

28. Act XI 1707 (the ‘Form of Process’) and Act XIX 1889 

(Act on Forms and Procedure in Trial by Libel and in 

22

22/8 

Causes Generally) shall cease to apply in relation to 

proceedings under this Act. 

29. Act III 2000 (Consolidating Act anent Church Courts) 

(as amended) is hereby further amended by the 

addition in sub-section 37(1), after ‘execution,’ of 

the words ‘and, subject to the provisions of Act YYY 

2010,’ 


30. Act VI 2002 anent Co-operation by Presbyteries (as 

amended) is hereby further amended by the removal 

in section 2 of the word ‘or’ and the addition, to the 

end of section 2, of the words ‘or YYY 2010’.

MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH ASSEMBLY 

OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 2009 

At Stirling and within the University Campus 4 – 7 September 

2009 

Debate One - Identity 

The National Youth Assembly: 

1. Believes that we as a Church should seek to recognise 

and celebrate people as individuals with individual 

gifts and talents, and not to generalise. We should: 

a) Seek to develop these gifts and talents. 

b) Value building relationships over organising 

evangelistic events. 

c) View people as works in progress and not the 

finished article. 

2. Would like the Church of Scotland to explore the 

emerging aspects of Positive Psychology as a way of 

forming relationships with people, particularly those 

on the edges of the church. We would encourage the 

Church to develop resources and make these available 

to all groups and leaders working in the Church. 

3. Believes that inappropriate responses by the Church 

of Scotland to the identity of individuals and groups 

has been a very real barrier to them feeling part of 

the church. 

4. Urges the Church to explore ways of supporting 

growth in Christian identity for all ages, recognising 

the current work of COSY in this area. 

5. Urges the Church of Scotland to continue supporting 

the young people of the Church as they move 

through education and into the world of work. We 

encourage the Church to help with pastoral support, 

offering guidance both spiritually and generally, as 

young people develop their identity through these 

difficult challenges. 

6. Believes that the Church of Scotland should respond 

positively to identity issues by providing opportunities 

for social interaction: 

a) Between young and old by creating ways for 

them to work together. 

b) By encouraging social and community events 

within churches to build relationships. 

c) By encouraging all local churches to engage 

with a partner church somewhere else in the 

world. 

d) By developing small group networks for folk 

to meet together, share their stories and build 

relationships. 

7. Believes that the Church of Scotland should 

acknowledge that people within the Church, despite 

the fact that they are Christians, experience identity 

problems. 

8. Encourages churches to make spiritual support 

groups available for everyone in the parish regardless 

of whether or not they are a member. 

9. Believes that the Church of Scotland should not 

make people conform to one identity. Instead it 

should embrace diversity, with its own identity being 

‘Everyone is welcome’. 

Debate Two - Wealth 


1. Urges the Church of Scotland to take the lead in 

opening discussions on personal finance and to 

provide support in helping with issues of stewardship. 

2. Recognise that while Western society encourages 

materialism, which is unacceptable, the Church 

should not condemn individuals but should work 

with them to combat materialism. 

3. Would like the Church of Scotland to prioritise 

spending on people. Local churches should be 

encouraged to invite disadvantaged groups into 

their churches to use their resources in whatever way 

is appropriate. 

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23/2 

4. Suggests greater discussion of collective tithing. There 

should be increased accountability and transparency 

from the Church as to where financial contributions 

go. Individual churches should have more of a voice 

in where their contributions go. 

5. Urges the Church of Scotland to continue to work 

with people of other denominations and faiths in 

trying to eradicate poverty. 

6. Believes that the Church of Scotland should continue 

to support the work of Christian Aid in its tax justice 

campaign and should build stronger links with 

projects tackling poverty. 

7. Feels that the church should be at the forefront 

of tackling the structures that keep people poor 

and encourage people to see poverty as not 

being restricted to financial issues, with other 

factors including spirituality, health and education. 

Local issues should not be neglected in favour of 

international ones. 

8. Would like to see the Church make tackling poverty 

a priority and to see it as an act of worship. The use 

of biblical texts as a means of communicating the 

necessity and impetus for working to eradicate 

poverty should be encouraged. 

9. Recognises that churches do a lot of good work in 

tackling poverty and encourage this to be fed back 

through stories about this. 

10. Believes that the Church should play a key part in 

tackling poverty through educating people and 

being active in the community. The local church 

should be key to identifying local needs in order to 

prioritise eradicating poverty in Scotland. 

11. Would like churches to ensure that people in 

congregations who are struggling financially can be 

honest and receive help without having to feel they 

have to keep up a ‘respectable’ façade. 

12. Encourage the Church of Scotland to be more 

involved in practical work both at home and abroad 

(eg building projects) in charities and projects, other 

than just providing financial support. 

NATIONAL YOUTH ASSEMBLY 

13. Commend and encourage the continuation of ethical 

investment practices by the Church of Scotland. 

14. Urge individual Church members to review their 

giving with a view to giving more sacrificially in order 

that the good work of the Church may continue. 

Debate Three - Spirituality 


1. Affirms that spirituality is a crucial part of the Christian 

faith and believes that the Church of Scotland is 

not good at engaging with this. The Church should 

help people mature in their spirituality by openly 

confronting it and not hiding from it and by providing 

more accessible resources and pastoral care. 

2. Believes that every aspect of life has a spiritual 

dimension (eg use of money, relationships, values, 

suffering). 

3. Would like to see people in the Church helped to 

develop a healthy relationship with silence, including 

during Church services. Where practical, a dedicated 

space should be provided in churches for meditation 

and reflection, both in and out of “Church hours” and 

open and advertised to the general public. 

4. Would like to see more emphasis placed on 

spirituality in preaching, possibly including questions 

for contemplation and discussion. 

5. Encourages the creative use of big posters/billboards 

in prominent public places, with messages to inspire 

people spiritually. 

6. Encourages Church communities and individuals 

within those communities to share their stories and 

faith experiences, with the relevant support. 

7. Recognises that traditional services are of spiritual 

value, but would like to see more exploration of 

alternative worship both in and out of services for 

example, art exhibitions, film liturgies, poetry, i-pod 

reflections and labyrinths. 

8. Would like to see the promotion of opportunities for 

learning such as “Adult Sunday School” and programs 

like Alpha or Living the Questions.

9. Thinks that spirituality should be spoken about and 

practised from Sunday school age so that children 

are aware of it, for example through “Godly Play”. 

10. Suggest that it is useful to look at spirituality in an 

Inter-Faith way. 

11. Would like to see an event exploring alternative 

worship and spiritual development, possibly on the 

theme of “Live faith and share life” (rather than live life 

and share faith). 

Debate Four - Inter-Faith Matters 


1. Believes that the Church should do more to combat 

stereo-typical views of what Christians are like and 

understand that all faiths have extremists, including 

Christianity. There is a need to extend education 

about all faiths to avoid stereo-typing based on 

biased media reporting. 

2. Thinks that there should be more Inter-Faith 

gatherings and conferences at local, national and 

international levels, with better advertising to increase 

awareness of this work and its importance. 

3. Consider consulting with local police forces and 

outside agencies to ascertain priority areas where 

Inter-Faith dialogue is required. 

4. Encourages the use of Inter-Faith meals as a means 

of sharing faith and belief to build meaningful 

relationships while being sensitive to other customs. 

5. Encourages the Church of Scotland to promote 

Inter-Faith Dialogue overseas in areas such as Israel/ 

Palestine and Africa. 

6. Challenges local churches to extend loving friendship 

and conversation to people of other denominations 

and faiths and to love their neighbours regardless of 

faith or absence of faith. We should accept people 

for who they are, treat them with respect, and never 

pity. When talking with anyone we should have no 

agenda for converting them. 

7. Encourages the Church of Scotland to offer more 

NATIONAL YOUTH ASSEMBLY 23/3 

practical support to congregations engaging in Inter- 

Faith relationships. This could include an expansion of 

the role of Inter-Faith workers and the development 

of a volunteer network. 

8. Encourages the Church of Scotland to recognise the 

values which we share with other faiths and which 

should inform and encourage practical work on issues 

such as poverty, conflict resolution and justice. Faith 

groups should work together for increased dialogue 

with all levels of government. 

9. Are aware that ignorance breeds prejudice whereas 

knowledge breeds understanding. It’s crucial to build 

lasting relationships before tackling religious issues. 

We need to be educated about other faiths and try to 

educate other faiths in what we believe and why we 

believe it, promoting mutual understanding. 

10. Encourages the Church of Scotland to reach out 

to those who feel threatened and fearful of new 

cultures and religions in their area in the hope that 

such feelings won’t escalate. 

11. Would like the Church to consider ways in which 

communities can have dialogue with people of other 

faiths while being careful to avoid tokenism and 

condescension. 

12. Encourage ongoing Religious Education programmes 

in schools with the involvement of churches and other 

faith groups, as part of commitment to promoting 

understanding about different faiths among wider 

society. 

13. Encourage Inter-Faith dialogue at all levels of the 

Church, including opportunities for people from 

other faith communities to speak to churches about 

their beliefs. 

14. Want to encourage ecumenical discussions so that 

Christians of all denominations can work to improve 

inter-faith relationships. 

IAN MCLARTY, Moderator 

CATHERINE HAY, Clerk 

23

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON 

THE REVIEW OF CHARITY GOVERNANCE 

May 2010 

Executive Summary of Report 

In 2007, the General Assembly agreed that the charity 

trustees for ‘The Church of Scotland, Scottish Charity 

Number SC011353’ should be all the members of its 

Councils and Committees. The part of the Church 

registered under this charity number does not include any 

Presbyteries or congregations of the Church of Scotland 

(some Presbyteries and all congregations have separate 

charitable status). (1.1) 

This meant that some 450 people are the ‘declared’ charity 

trustees, but most of them could not be considered to have 

general control and management of the administration of 

the charity. It is at least questionable whether this group of 

people would in fact be accepted as the charity trustees. 

(3.3) 

In the light of this, and mindful of the principles of “good 

governance”, the Council of Assembly sought to regularise 

matters at the General Assembly of 2009. (3.3) 

Sections 2 and 3 of the Deliverance of this report, in identical 

terms, were considered by the Assembly last year on the 




2. Appoint the voting members of Council of Assembly to act as the charity trustees for the Unincorporated Councils 

and Committees of the General Assembly (The Church of Scotland, Scottish Charity Number SC011353) with 

immediate effect. 

3. Require that the members of the various Councils and Committees of the General Assembly apply to their duties 

the same standards as are required of charity trustees. 

REPORT 

Report of the Council of Assembly. Rather than approve 

these sections of the Deliverance, the Assembly decided 

in favour of a counter motion to set up this Committee to 

look into charity trusteeship and charity governance in the 

Church. (1.2 & 1.4) 

The Committee delineated its remit and ascertained that 

charity trustees are the persons in general control and 

management of the administration of a charity. Thereafter, 

it conducted a series of consultations. (1.6-1.9 & 2.1-2.3) 

The Committee has given consideration to retaining the 

status quo and to other alternatives. The General Assembly 

has already given the Council of Assembly a remit and 

powers which result in the Council of Assembly being in 

general control and management of the administration 

of the Assembly’s Councils and Committees. Therefore, 

they are de facto the charity trustees. The Committee is of 

the opinion that designating the voting members of the 

Council of Assembly as the charity trustees of the Church 

of Scotland simply recognises the current remit of the 

Council of Assembly and should not be seen as changing 

its relationship with the other Councils and Committees, 

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24/2 

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE REVIEW OF CHARITY GOVERNANCE 

nor with the General Assembly. It further agreed that all 

members of the Assembly’s Councils and Committees 

should apply to their duties the same standards as are 

required of charity trustees. (3.4-3.8) 

The Committee has highlighted additional areas 

which require to be considered in furtherance of good 

governance: a) a skills audit, which will be considered in a 

Supplementary Report, and b) conflict of interest require 

consideration by both the Nomination Committee and 

the Council of Assembly, with c) transparency a matter 

for the charity trustees. Communication and trust are 

hugely important issues which the whole Church must 

strive to maximise as communication and trust must work 

effectively in both directions. (4.1-4.7) 

1. Background to our Task 

1.1 In 2007, the General Assembly agreed that the 

charity trustees for ‘The Church of Scotland, Scottish 

Charity Number SC011353’ should be all the members 

of its Councils and Committees. The part of the Church 

registered under this charity number does not include any 

Presbyteries or congregations of the Church of Scotland 

(some Presbyteries and all congregations have separate 

charitable status). 

1.2 At the General Assembly of 2009, the Council of 

Assembly moved the following sections in their Deliverance 

to the General Assembly: 

“Appoint the voting members of the Council of 

Assembly to act as the Charity Trustees for the 

Unincorporated Councils and Committees of the 

General Assembly (The Church of Scotland, Scottish 

Charity number SC011353) with effect from 1 June, 

2009. 

Require that members of the various councils and 

Committees of the General Assembly apply to 

their duties the same standards as are required of 

charity trustees.” 

1.3 The voting members of the Council of Assembly 

comprise the Convener, Vice Convener and 10 elected 

members together with the Conveners of the Councils. 

The Secretaries of the Councils together with the Principal 

Clerk, the Solicitor of the Church and the General Treasurer 

(and the new Secretary of the Council of Assembly, when 

appointed) are members of the Council of Assembly but 

have no voting rights. 

1.4 However, the following counter-motion won the 

eventual vote: 

“The General Assembly appoint a committee of 

nine members to 

1. review the implications for the governance of 

the Church of Scotland of contemporary standards 

and practices in the running of charities 

2. consult the Principal Clerk, the Solicitor of the 

Church, the Council of Assembly, the Panel on 

Review and Reform, and others as appropriate 

3. and report to the General Assembly of 2010.” 

1.5 The mover of this counter-motion wanted the 

General Assembly to receive 

“a proper report on which to base their decision 

which outlines the possible courses of action that 

would improve the Church’s governance and the 

implications of these options.” 

1.6 Our deliberations as a Committee have been 

restricted to the charity trusteeship and governance 

of the charity registered with number SC011353, ie the 

Assembly’s Unincorporated Councils and Committees. 

1.7 We, the members of the Special Committee, decided 

that we needed to try to delineate the implications of the 

original idea that the voting members of the Council of 

Assembly members should be the charity trustees for 

all the General Assembly’s Councils and Committees, 

namely:

SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE REVIEW OF CHARITY GOVERNANCE 24/3 

- Would the nature of the Council of Assembly be changed 

and would its relations with the other Councils and 

Committees be changed? If so, in what way? 

1.8 We also needed to ask: 

– if there was an alternative to what had been proposed? 

– whether the role of the General Assembly and 

Presbyterian principles of governance would be 

changed under any new scheme? 

1.9 Lastly, we wanted to test the anecdotal perception 

of an increasing culture of regulation in the Kirk. 

2. Consultations 

2.1 In accordance with our Remit, we consulted with the 

Principal Clerk, the Solicitor of the Church, the Council of 

Assembly (who chose to be represented by members of 

their Governance Group) , and the Panel on Review and 

Reform (its Convener) and the Committee is grateful for 

their perspectives and their time. 

2.2 We decided that “others as appropriate” (Remit: Clause 

2) should be: 

• the existing charity trustees of the Church of 

Scotland charity (SC011353), ie all the members of 

the Unincorporated Councils and Committees of the 

General Assembly. The Committee is grateful to all the 

Councils and Committees for making space in their 

already busy agendas and welcoming us so courteously. 

At these consultations we also made it clear that written 

responses from individual charity trustees would be 

welcomed. 

• representatives from OSCR: we are grateful to the Acting 

Head of Inquiry and Investigations and the Acting Head 

of Charity Services for the time and care they gave to us 

in a very busy period for them. 

• representatives of the Scottish Council for Voluntary 

Organisations (SCVO): the Deputy Chief Executive and 

Director of Corporate Affairs and the Policy Officer were 

very generous with their time and attention. 

• an independent lawyer, expert in Charity Law: Ms Anne 

Swarbrick, Head of Charities, Messrs Anderson Strathern, 

Solicitors, generously accepted our request for help. 

2.3 In November 2009, the Committee also decided 

to widen the consultation to all Presbyteries and we are 

grateful for the 19 responses we received by the end of 

January, despite the late notice. 

3. Findings 

3.1 What is a charity trustee? 

Before any of these issues can be understood or discussed, 

the definition of a charity trustee must be known. The 

Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 

(2005 Act) gives us a definition: 

“‘charity trustees’ means the persons having 

the general control and management of the 

administration of a charity.” The Act also sets out 

the general duties of a charity trustee: 

“A charity trustee must, in exercising functions in 

that capacity, act in the interests of the charity and 

must, in particular - 

(a) seek, in good faith, to ensure that the charity 

acts in a manner which is consistent with its 

purposes, 

(b) act with the care and diligence that it is 

reasonable to expect of a person who is managing 

the affairs of another person, ………………..” 

3.2 The duties and responsibilities of a charity trustee 

of a standard charity are no different to those of charity 

trustees of a Designated Religious Charity (DRC) like the 

Church of Scotland. In the case of the Church of Scotland, 

this status of DRC respects the principles acknowledged 

by the Westminster Parliament when enacting the Church 

of Scotland Act 1921 that the State should not interfere 

in matters falling within the spiritual jurisdiction of the 

Church; these include doctrine, government, discipline 

and worship. A DRC is exempt from the provisions of 

24

24/4 


the 2005 Act relating to the appointment, discipline and 

removal of charity trustees. These are areas where OSCR 

and the Civil Courts cannot interfere and remain within 

the sole province of the religious charity, in the case of 

SC011353, the General Assembly. 

3.3 The position at present 

“Charity Trustees are required to exercise “general 

control and management of the charity.” In 2007, 

the General Assembly, on the recommendation 

of the Council, agreed that the charity trustees 

for the Unincorporated Councils and Committees 

should be all the members of these Councils and 

Committees, a number totalling around 450. 

What this means is that every member of every 

Council or Committee is a charity trustee not only 

for their own area of work, but for all the Councils 

or Committees. The question therefore arises as 

to what extent, say, members of the Assembly 

Arrangements Committee can exercise “general 

control and management” of the Social Care 

Council, or members of the Church and Society 

Council can act as effective trustees in respect of 

the work of the World Mission Council.” (The Report 

of the Council of Assembly to last year’s Assembly, 

2.1.4.2) 

3.4 Why change the status quo? Why can’t we just leave 

things the way they are? 

We found widespread agreement that the status quo 

cannot be considered good governance, for the reasons 

well-expressed by one Presbytery: 

• The number of 450 is too large and unwieldy for good 

and effective governance. 

• Individual trustees are only involved in a small part of 

the work of the Church and may have no knowledge of 

what is being done by other Councils and Committees. 

• The Trustees do not meet as a body and are 

not responsible for supervising the work of the 

Unincorporated Councils and Committees of the 


• The trustees are not responsible for approving 

the Accounts of the Unincorporated Councils and 

Committees of the General Assembly (this should be a 

duty of charity trustees but in the case of the Church 

of Scotland this was delegated to the Stewardship and 

Finance Committee and now to the Council of Assembly). 

3.5 If the voting members of the Council of Assembly 

become the charity trustees for all the General Assembly’s 

Councils and Committees: 

Would the nature of the Council of Assembly be changed 

and would its relations with the other Councils and 

Committees be changed? 

We came to recognise, in the counter-motion debate 

and in our consultations with some Councils and 

Committees, a common thread of misunderstanding of 

the existing remit of the Council of Assembly: that it is 

solely a co-ordinating body, when that is actually not 

the case. The Committee was concerned at the level of 

misunderstanding of the Council of Assembly remit. The 

fear engendered by this misunderstanding was that to 

bestow charity trusteeship on the voting members of the 

Council of Assembly would give it supervisory control 

over the other councils and committees. The Committee 

is of the view that it would not because the Council 

of Assembly already has that supervisory control. The 

introduction of its Remit, agreed by the General Assembly 

in 2004 (Reports 10/22; Appendix 1), states: 

“The Council of Assembly shall be a standing 

Committee of the General Assembly to which it 

shall be directly accountable and to which it shall 

report through its Convener. The General Assembly 

has conferred on the Council the powers as 

described in the following remit and in particular 

the powers of supervision of its Agencies (said 

Agencies being as defined in the Appendix) in the 

matters as detailed therein.”


And part 2 of the Council’s Remit and Powers, again agreed 

by the Assembly in 2004, reads - “To monitor, evaluate and 

co-ordinate the work of the Agencies of the General Assembly, 

within the context of policy determined by the Assembly.” 

Although changes were made to the Council of Assembly’s 

Remit in 2009, the introduction and part 2 of the Remit 

and Powers remain unaltered. 

3.6 The General Assembly has already given the Council 

of Assembly a remit and powers which result in the Council 

of Assembly being in general control and management 

of the administration of the Assembly’s Councils and 

Committees. Therefore, they are de facto the charity 

trustees. The Committee is of the opinion that designating 

the voting members of the Council of Assembly as 

the charity trustees of the Church of Scotland simply 

recognises the current remit of the Council of Assembly 

and should not be seen as changing its relationship with 

the other Councils and Committees, nor with the General 

Assembly. 

3.7 Is there an alternative to what was proposed? 

The Committee considered a number of other options 

raised during its consultations and deliberations: 

3.7.1 A new body of Trustees, one from each Council 

and Committee, and/or one from each Presbytery, 

sitting above and across all the Councils and 

Committees, including the Council of Assembly. 

The difficulty would be that this body would have to be 

in ‘control and management’ and the General Assembly 

would have to give it the powers currently exercised by 

the Council of Assembly. The new body would in effect 

replace the Council of Assembly. The Committee noted 

that the Councils were already represented on the Council 

of Assembly and some Committees were represented by 

the Convener of the Support and Services Council. 

3.7.2 Give each Council and Committee independent 

charitable status 

It was acknowledged there would be significant additional 

cost implications in such a course of action. It would entail 

a lot more accounting and regulatory controls; moreover, 

all would be required to act independently of each other, 

encouraging a move away from co-ordinated strategy in 

the Kirk’s central agencies. The charity trustees appointed 

would be required to act in the interests of the council 

or committee to which they were appointed and not 

necessarily in the interests of the Church of Scotland as 

a whole. Any subdivision of the charity would result in 

financial difficulties as funds would be ring fenced for 

that particular area of work. Therefore, the Committee 

concluded that separate charitable status for the Church’s 

Councils and Committees could be a threat to the 

Presbyterian government of the Church of Scotland. 

3.7.3 Incorporate some or all of the councils as, for 

example, companies limited by guarantee 

The Committee noted some parts of the Church are 

already incorporated, eg the Church of Scotland General 

Trustees is a statutory corporation incorporated by an Act 

of Parliament. A company limited by guarantee is another 

incorporated vehicle for a charity: such companies are 

regulated by both OSCR and the Registrar of Companies. 

In addition, there are proposals to bring in a new form 

of Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) 

which would be regulated as a charity only and not as a 

company, thereby cutting out one layer of regulation. The 

objections listed under 3.7.2 similarly apply. 

3.7.4 A few returns to our consultation questions asked 

“why we have to have charity trustees” since the Church 

has its own Court system. All charities are required to have 

charity trustees, e.g. trustees of a public trust, directors of 

a charitable company, leaders of a BB Company, Elders in 

a congregation etc. 

In the Church of Scotland, the General Assembly is the 

Supreme Court of the Church but is not in general control 

and management of the day to day administration of the 

Church as it only meets once a year and has a different 

composition from one year to the next. The church needs 

24

24/6 


to have charity trustees who are in general control and 

management of the administration of the charity: this is an 

obligation laid down by legislation and more importantly 

a matter of good governance. 

3.7.5 A few consultees also suggested the option for the 

Church not to be a registered charity. 

The Church has chosen to be registered as a charity and 

has a lot to lose if it is not a charity. The Church as a whole 

benefits from the repayment of tax through Gift Aid which 

is in the region of £11 million per annum. Capital Gains 

Tax, Inheritance Tax and other fiscal exemptions would be 

lost and the Church would be required to pay Corporation 

Tax on surpluses, etc. The Committee is of the opinion that 

the consequences of not being a charity far outweigh the 

regulatory burden of being a charity. 

3.8 Would the role of the General Assembly and 

Presbyterian principles of governance be changed 

under any new scheme? 

The Special Committee is quite clear that the Council of 

Assembly is a creature of, and derives all its powers from 

the General Assembly. Therefore, it sits under the Assembly 

and has been given no locus in relation to Presbyteries 

or Kirk Sessions. It has an extensive remit, but just as its 

powers have been given to it by the Assembly, so can the 

Assembly take these powers away. 

The Church wants and needs its central administration to 

be run well, both economically and efficiently. The Council 

of Assembly acts on behalf of the General Assembly in 

relation to the administration. It has powers in relation 

to the spending of the Councils and Committees of the 

Church and it has introduced across-the-board procedures 

and controls for all Councils and Committees, eg staffing 

recruitment is scrutinised by the Staffing Group of the 

Council of Assembly. 

To quote from the Report of the Council of Assembly to 

the 2005 General Assembly: 

“The Council is keenly aware that a considerable 

degree of trust has been placed in it by the General 

Assembly. At the same time it is very clear that 

its authority is limited and derives, not from any 

inherent power in itself, but entirely from the 

remit given to it by the Assembly. The Council 

understands its role as standing in the place of the 

Assembly throughout the year with a responsibility 

to defend the decisions of the Assembly and ask 

questions which the Assembly itself has neither the 

time nor detailed background information to ask.” 

Therefore, the Council of Assembly stands in place of the 

General Assembly throughout the year and is not a threat 

to the Assembly. Its remit includes the following powers: 

“To deal with urgent issues arising between 

meetings of the General Assembly, provided that 

(a) these do not fall within the jurisdiction of the 

Commission of Assembly or of any Presbytery 

or Kirk Session, (b) they are not of a legislative or 

judicial nature and (c) any action taken in terms 

of this clause shall be reported to the next General 

Assembly.” 

The General Assembly makes the policy, not the Council 

of Assembly. 

The Committee particularly sought to clarify whether the 

Council of Assembly would be able to avoid the authority 

of the General Assembly in fulfilling its responsibilities as 

the body of charity trustees; or could it say to the Assembly 

that the Assembly cannot decide something? The answer 

is, “no”. The General Trustees and the Pension Trustees 

have a different status and do not need to defer to the 

authority of the Assembly in certain matters. The Council 

of Assembly, however, is a body set up by the Assembly, 

acts on behalf of the Assembly and its powers are given 

to it by the Assembly. Therefore, it is technically different 

from the General Trustees and the Pension Trustees. The 

General Trustees are a Statutory Corporation bound by the


terms of statute and as a charity in its own right must act 

in the interests of the charity and the Pension Trustees are 

bound by Pension legislation. 

When looking at the Church of Scotland, we are considering 

who should be the charity trustees of an unincorporated 

association. The policy is made by the General Assembly; 

the trustee body is appointed by the General Assembly 

to be in general control and management of its 

administration. The Committee can distinguish no threat 

to that supremacy in any possible model. 

3.9 Is the increasing culture of regulation experienced 

in the church being laid at the door of OSCR more 

often than is appropriate? 

Yes. The Church has chosen to become a charity and has, 

therefore, chosen to take on new ways of doing things 

in order to conform with civil law. OSCR have not made 

demands nor imposed any regulations on the Church of 

Scotland. The majority of changes we have experienced, 

and are now considering, have come from the Church 

itself in the pursuit of better governance. Some changes 

have been necessary because of new Regulations, eg 

the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 

and the Charities References in Documents (Scotland) 

Regulations 2007. Prior to the passing of the 2005 Act, 

the Church of Scotland was a Designated Religious Body 

which entitled it to a great number of exemptions from 

the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 

1990. This included a blanket exemption from compliance 

with the previous Accounts Regulations for charities. For 

this reason the ‘milestones to compliance’ for Church of 

Scotland bodies were far greater when the 2005 Act and 

Regulations came into force. 

The OSCR officials with whom we consulted, far from 

reminding us of any regulatory demands we still needed 

to meet, were pleased that the Church of Scotland was 

taking steps to improve its own good governance and 

encouraged us all to continue down that path. 

4. Other Considerations of Good Governance 

(a) Skills 

4.1 The remit and skills required for members of the 

Council of Assembly, including their role as charity trustees, 

must be set out to guide the Nomination Committee 

in selecting future members. In consultation with the 

Council of Assembly and Nomination Committee, we 

hope to present to the General Assembly a Supplementary 

Report outlining these skills together with proposals for a 

transparent selection process. 

(b) Conflicts of Interest 

4.2 When trustees are appointed, there requires to be 

a continuing sensitivity to the issue of remuneration. 

When the charity trustees are selected for the skills they 

can provide to the Council of Assembly as the charity 

trustee body, consideration needs also to be given by the 

Nominations Committee, the Council of Assembly and 

the General Assembly to an appropriate balance between 

those in receipt of payment of stipend or salary from the 

Central Fund and those not in receipt of payments from 

the Church of Scotland. In our view, as a matter of good 

governance, remunerated Trustees ought not to be in the 

majority. 

This would reflect the decision of last year’s Assembly 

that the Council of Assembly should agree the stipend on 

the recommendation of the Ministries Council, because 

the majority of members of the Ministries Council are 

recipients of stipend. Now, only those voting members 

of the Council of Assembly who are not in receipt of a 

stipend or salary from the Central Fund agree the stipend 

for the Church. 

(c) Transparency 

4.3 In the interests of good governance, opportunities 

should be given for the voting members of the Council of 

Assembly to meet alone as charity trustees. 

(d) Representation 

4.4 It is our belief that all Councils and Committees 

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should have a clear route into trustee representation on 

the Council of Assembly. They must know “who speaks for 

us?” 

During our consultations we have become aware of 

certain anomalies, eg The Guild and the Housing and 

Loan Fund which are not agencies within the remit of the 

Council of Assembly. If the General Assembly decides to 

abolish the Support and Services Council, there requires 

to be consideration of how the constituent committees of 

that Council continue to communicate with the Council 

of Assembly. 

(e) Communication 

4.5 The view was expressed to us several times that 

the good governance and administration of the Church 

depend primarily on good communication. Clear and 

transparent two-way lines of communication between the 

Council of Assembly and the Councils and Committees are 

needed. Although Conveners and Secretaries of Councils 

are members of the Council of Assembly, their role in 

ensuring the effectiveness of this communication must be 

underlined. The Council of Assembly will need “to monitor, 

evaluate and co-ordinate” the communication practices in 

and amongst the Kirk’s central agencies. 

4.6 There will need to be some thought given to how 

the powers of the Council of Assembly are understood 

by Councils and Committees, and this will be particularly 

important when the future Council Secretary becomes the 

line manager of their senior staff members. The “general 

control and management” function of Trustees will depend 

on improving the level of awareness amongst council 

and committee members of the powers of the Council of 

Assembly (and the limits to these powers). 

(f) Trust 

4.7 The Committee has been made very aware that one 

of the key issues facing the Church of Scotland nationally, 

regionally and locally is trust. Quite a number of our 

consultations evinced an undercurrent of distrust, which 

often proved to be baseless. Someone once described 

Presbyterianism as “organised distrust”, designed to ensure 

that no individual or small group accrues too much 

power. The dispersal of power remains part of our good 

governance, but it is a matter of concern and sadness 

to hear so many echoes of innate distrust. That concern 

must be addressed for the sake of good governance in the 



DAVID W LACY, Convener 

GRAHAM K BLOUNT 

ELAINE DUNCAN 

CAROLE HOPE 

DAVID LEWIS 

PAT MUNRO 

GILBERT C NISBET 

TOM WATSON 

GEORGE J WHYTE

SPECIAL COMMISSION ANENT THE THIRD ARTICLE 

DECLARATORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND IN MATTERS SPIRITUAL 

May 2010 



1. Receive the Report 

2. Pass a Declaratory Act anent the third Article Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland in Matters 

Spiritual in the following terms: 

The General Assembly declare as follows: 

(1) The Church of Scotland reaffirms the principles enshrined in the third Article Declaratory and declares anew 

its commitment to be a national church with a distinctive evangelical and pastoral concern for the people and 

nation of Scotland; 

(2) The Church of Scotland asserts that, while this commitment is recognised by Act of Parliament, namely the 

Church of Scotland Act 1921 and Articles Declaratory appended thereto, its true origin and entire basis lie not 

in civil law but in the Church’s own calling by Jesus Christ, its King and Head; 

(3) The Church of Scotland remains committed to the ecumenical vision set out in the seventh Article Declaratory 

and, in pursuit of that vision, stands eager to share with other churches in Christian mission and service to the 

people of Scotland; 

(4) The Church of Scotland understands the words “a national church representative of the Christian faith of the 

Scottish people” as a recognition of both the Church’s distinctive place in Scottish history and culture and its 

continuing responsibility to engage the people of Scotland wherever they might be with the Gospel of Jesus 

Christ. 

(5) The Church of Scotland understands the phrase “bring the ordinances of religion to the people in every parish 

of Scotland through a territorial ministry” to mean a commitment to maintain worshipping, witnessing and 

serving Christian congregations throughout Scotland. 

3. Call upon the whole Church to give heed and respond with a sense of real urgency to the challenges coming from 

the Ministries Council, the General Trustees and those charged with the Church’s stewardship and distribution of 

resources. 

4. Affirm the key role of Presbyteries in the delivery of the commitment expressed in the third Article Declaratory as 

understood by the Church and instruct Presbyteries anew to engage with the process instructed by the General 

Assembly of 2008 to create a Presbytery structure which can more effectively manage the deployment of the 

Church’s ministerial and other resources. 

5. Instruct the Ecumenical Relations Committee, in consultation with the Ministries Council and relevant Presbyteries 

of the bounds, to seek discussions with sister churches with a view to identifying areas where a sharing of ministries 

and buildings would enable a more effective ministering to communities throughout Scotland and to report to the 

General Assembly of 2012. 

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6. Instruct the Ministries Council to give consideration to the establishing of arrangements similar to the Shetland 

arrangements for other remote areas and to report to the General Assembly of 2011. 

7. Urge ministers of word and sacrament to give prayerful consideration to serving urban priority area and remote 

rural parishes. 

8. Instruct the Ministries Council, as it takes forward the Presbytery planning process, to engage with the General 

Trustees and Presbyteries on the development of a strategic plan for church buildings and to report to the General 

Assembly of 2012. 

9. Instruct the Ministries Council in consultation with the Worship and Doctrine Task Group of the Mission and 

Discipleship Council to consider authorising identified and appropriately trained individuals to celebrate the 

sacraments in the absence of an ordained minister and to report to the General Assembly of 2011. 

10. Instruct the Ministries Council, in consultation with the Legal Questions Committee, to review the helpfulness of 

Act VI, 1984 anent Congregations in Changed Circumstances with regard to ministerial flexibility and to report with 

proposals to the General Assembly of 2011. 

11. Thank and discharge the Special Commission. 


1.1 The tradition of placing the proposed deliverance 

at the very beginning of a General Assembly report is 

rather like opening a novel with the final chapter in which 

all is revealed. To read the deliverance is to see, before 

reading any further, precisely where the report is heading. 

Nevertheless, the Commission trusts that commissioners 

will read on and follow the reasoning which has led to the 

conclusions reflected in the deliverance. 

1.2 The Special Commission believes that the Church 

does indeed have a divine call and duty in this regard 

and holds with passion to the commitment enshrined 

in the third Declaratory Article. The Commission also 

dares to hope that the General Assembly will capture its 

enthusiasm for rising to the challenges and embracing the 

opportunities which the spirit of the Article lays upon the 

Church today. These include a readiness to take difficult 

decisions on the distribution of resources, an acceptance of 

the need to develop fresh models of ministry and mission, 

a new willingness to work ecumenically and a refusal to 

REPORT 

adopt some kind of “supermarket model” which maintains 

a Church presence only where there is the “customer base” 

which makes it economically viable to do so. 

1.3 In the course of one meeting of the Commission all 

the ministerial members acknowledged that the parish 

dimension was an integral part of their calling and a crucial 

aspect of their ministries. Along with the other members 

they are grateful for the opportunity which the work of the 

Commission has given over the past two years to test those 

convictions. It is now the Commission’s earnest hope that 

the General Assembly will judge that it has exercised due 

diligence and accept the recommendations which it brings. 

2 Background 

2.1 The Special Commission was appointed by the 

General Assembly of 2008 with the following remit: 

1. to consider the relevance of the Third Article 

Declaratory in today’s Scotland. 

2. to investigate and report upon the relationship 

between the Third Article Declaratory and the 

current:

(a). Parish staffing policy and Presbytery 

Plans. 

(b). Financing of the Church’s work. 

3. To consider the effect upon the Church of 

Scotland and its structures if the Third Article 

Declaratory was retained, modified or removed 

taking full account in its deliberations of the 

Church of Scotland’s declared priority for the 

poorest urban and rural parishes as the Gospel 

imperative facing the whole Church. 

4. To make recommendations regarding the 

future of the Third Article Declaratory. 

5. To report to the General Assembly of 2010. 

and instruct the Selection Committee to 

bring names to a future session of the General 

Assembly taking full account of the need for 

appropriate representation from the poorest 

urban and rural parishes in Scotland. 

2.2 This remit arose from the report of an earlier Special 

Commission on Structure and Change. This had been 

set up by the General Assembly of 2006 following a 

petition which raised issues concerning the structure and 

organisation of the Church with particular reference to the 

relationship between local congregations and the central 

administration. 

2.3 The relevant text of that previous Commission’s 

report is in the following terms: 

The Third Article Declaratory 

1.1 The Third Article Declaratory of the 

Constitution of the Church of Scotland reads: 

“This Church is in historical continuity with the 

Church of Scotland which was reformed in 1560, 

whose liberties were ratified in 1592, and for whose 

security provision was made in the Treaty of Union 

of 1707. The continuity and identity of the Church 

of Scotland are not prejudiced by the adoption of 

these Articles. As a national Church representative 

SPECIAL COMMISSION ANENT THE THIRD ARTICLE 25/3 

of the Christian Faith of the Scottish people it 

acknowledges its distinctive call and duty to bring 

the ordinances of religion to the people in every 

parish of Scotland through a territorial ministry.” 

1.2 The Church is accordingly constitutionally 

committed to providing a ministry, understood 

as including a ministry of Word and Sacrament, 

in every part of Scotland without exception. It 

appears to us that everything that we have been 

called upon to consider in the areas of structure, 

finance and the allocation of resources, flows from 

the imperative contained in the Third Article and, 

in particular, its third sentence. It is the requirement 

to bring the ordinances of religion to the people 

in every parish of Scotland through a territorial 

ministry that determines that congregations 

must be maintained, irrespective of their ability 

to support themselves and therefore that other 

congregations must take on the burden of that 

support. It has implications for how resources are 

to be allocated. 

1.3 We believe that the time is right for the 

Church to look critically at the Third Article and 

decide whether it should be retained, amended or 

removed altogether. 

1.4 We question whether any valuable principle 

is dependent upon retaining the Third Article. We 

would agree with the view expressed in Church 

Without Walls that it is a statement that needs 

to be examined and questioned at the beginning 

of the twenty-first century. It may be that as a 

result of such an examination the Church will 

conclude that the time has come humbly to lay 

down the title of “National Church” and accept 

a new title such as “A Church for the Nation”. It 

may be thought more meaningful for the Church 

to “represent to” the Scottish people the Christian 

faith rather than to assume that the Church of 

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25/4 

Scotland is “representative of the Christian faith of 

the Scottish people”. We are one of many Christian 

denominations within our country and it may 

be that an ecumenical outlook would be more 

effective in reaching all Scotland with the Gospel. 

Major changes would not necessarily see the Kirk 

lose its Presbyterian identity. The Presbyterian 

Church in other countries has survived without 

being “national” in its context. Our self-identity 

would change in some ways but so would the 

ability to earn greater respect within the nation. 

The example of Jesus as the humble servant would 

seem to provide a helpful model. 

1.5 Whether there is a continuing role for the Third 

Article is helpfully discussed in a section of Church 

without Walls. We have included that section as 

an Appendix to this report. We commend it to the 

Church as a starting point in its consideration of 

the question. 

[Note: The extract from the CWW report 

referred to in the immediately preceding 

paragraph can be found at Appendix 2 to 

this report.] 

3. Introduction to the Third Article Declaratory 

3.1 For ease of reference the Articles as a whole, along 

with the text of the Church of Scotland Act, 1921 are 

printed as Appendix 1 to this report. 

3.2 The text of the third Article Declaratory is also set out 

in the extract quoted above. 

3.3 The Articles Declaratory of the Church of Scotland 

in Matters Spiritual were drafted in the first and second 

decades of the twentieth century as a fundamental part of 

the process which led to the passing by Parliament of the 

Church of Scotland Act, 1921 and the union of the Church 

of Scotland and the United Free Church in 1929. 


3.4 While it is clear that the focus of the remit given to 

the Special Commission is on the final sentence of Article 

III a brief commentary on the Article as a whole may be 

helpful in setting the broader context. 

3.5 The text begins with a reference to historic continuity. 

The Commission believes that this is fundamental to our 

self-understanding as a Church. James Cox’s Practice 

and Procedure in the Church of Scotland begins with a 

chapter on the constitution of the Church. This opens 

with the following declaration on the question of historic 

continuity: 

The Church of Scotland entered on a new era 

in its long and chequered history when, on 2nd 

October 1929, its sundered sections became 

once more united under the old name: but it was 

not a new Church that came into existence on 

that date. In like manner a new chapter, perhaps 

rather a new volume, of its chronicles was begun 

when in August 1560 there was accomplished the 

Reformation so greatly needed, so marvellously 

achieved by the blessing of God; but then also it 

was not a new Church that suddenly sprang into 

being. That achievement was not its origin but 

its re-formation, without loss of its identity. The 

Church of our fathers has a much longer lineage 

and a much greater heritage than is comprised in 

four centuries. It has been built up stage by stage 

‘upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 

Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone.’ 

The Church of Scotland is a part of the One Holy 

and Catholic Church. 1 

3.6 The Act of 1592 Authorising Presbyterian Church 

Government is described by the historian Dr Douglas 

Murray as “the high-water mark of Scottish Presbyterianism 

and the recognition by the State of the spiritual claims of 

1 James Cox, Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland, 6th edition, 

p1

the Church.” 2 Murray further points out that this Act, which 

became known as the “Golden Act”, built on the provisions of 

an earlier statute of 1567. By this earlier measure Parliament 

had acknowledged that spiritual authority now resided in 

the Reformed rather than the pre-Reformation Church. 

3.7 The other historic reference in the Article is to the 

Treaty of Union. Dr Murray comments that these two 

statutes were included for a particular reason: “the statute 

of 1592 had secured the liberties of the Church and the 

Treaty of Union had made provision for the security of the 

Church.” 3 

3.8 As in 1567, so in the process which gave rise to 

the Articles Declaratory emphasis was placed on the 

recognition by Parliament of a spiritual authority which 

the Church received from Christ alone (see Article IV). Not 

until the General Assembly with the consent of a majority 

of Presbyteries had legislated to adopt the Articles 

Declaratory did the provisions of the Church of Scotland 

Act become operative. (See The Church of Scotland Act, 

1921, section 4) 

3.9 It is also of interest to note the use of the term “national 

church” rather than “established church”. The latter term had 

been used of the 1690 settlement following which the 

Church of Scotland became referred to as “the Kirk by Law 

Established”. Following that settlement continuing tensions, 

largely over the relationship of church and state and the 

spiritual independence of the Church, led to the eighteenth 

century Secessions and the Disruption of 1843. Given that 

the Union desired in the early years of the twentieth century 

had somehow to balance the establishment principle with 

the Church’s spiritual independence it was clear that the 

term “national” would be more appropriate than the term 

“established”. In this connection it is relevant to point out 

that the United Free Church, while fearful of anything which 

might suggest a freedom fettering establishment, also 

2 Douglas Murray, Rebuilding the Kirk, p13 

3 Murray op. cit. p99 


regarded itself as a national Church with a calling to minister 

to all the people of Scotland. 

3.10 Finally, it should be observed that the Article talks 

of a National Church, not the National Church. Murray 

describes this as “not an exclusive claim” or one which 

would “detract from that role being carried out by other 

Churches, such as had been done by the UF Church” 4 Any 

difference lay in state recognition. This had been accorded 

to the pre-union Church of Scotland and was now 

carried forward into the united Church as an expression 

of the national recognition of religion. At the same time 

the language used spoke of “call and duty”, not privilege 

and establishment. The consequent commitment to a 

territorial ministry was a missionary opportunity embraced 

by a Church with a national perspective, not a legal 

requirement imposed upon it. 

4. Meetings and Consultations 

4.1 The Commission met ten times between June 

2008 and February 2010. In the course of these meetings 

consultations were held with a variety of individuals and 

bodies, namely: The Rev James Stewart (member of the 

Special Commission on Structure and Change), the Ministries 

Council, the Stewardship and Finance Committee, the Head 

of Stewardship, the Ecumenical Relations Committee, the 

Ecumenical Officer, the Church Relations Officer of the 

Scottish Episcopal Church, the Priority Areas Committee, 

the Panel on Review and Reform, the General Trustees and 

the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). 

4.2 In March 2009 members of the Commission spent 

two days visiting Priority Areas parishes in Glasgow, 

namely Colston Milton, Cranhill and Ruchazie. During the 

course of the Glasgow visit meetings were also held with 

representatives of suburban congregations on the south 

side of Glasgow and an “open” meeting was held within 

the parish of Gorbals. 

4 Murray op.cit. p 95 

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4.3 In April 2009 Commission members visited the 

Presbyteries of Caithness and Sutherland. 

4.4 All Presbyteries were sent the remit of the 

Commission and the extract from the report which gave 

rise to its appointment and invited to comment. Twentysix 

Presbyteries did so and a summary of the comments 

received is included in this report. A number of submissions 

were also received from Kirk Sessions and individuals in 

response to an invitation published in Life and Work. 

4.5 All Scottish local authorities were made aware 

of the work of the Commission and invited to submit 

observations on the role of the Church of Scotland within 

their communities. A number of authorities responded to 

this invitation and excerpts from their responses appear 

later in the report. The views of national government were 

also sought from both Holyrood and Westminster. 

4.6 The Convener and representatives of the Commission 

met with Mr Fergus Ewing, MSP, the Minister for Community 

Safety in the Scottish Government. 

4.7 Written comments were received on behalf of the 

Secretary of State for Scotland in the United Kingdom 

Government. 

4.8 A written submission was received from the Scottish 

Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). 

4.9 The Commission considered the 2003 Report on 

the Church and Social Capital commissioned by the then 

Board of Social Responsibility from the Urban Studies 

Department of Glasgow University. 

4.10 Finally, having regard to the fact that work in the same 

general area was being undertaken by the Ministries Council 

and the Panel on Review and Reform a consultation was held 

with representatives of these bodies in October 2009. 

5. Comments from Presbyteries 

5.1 As part of its process of consultation the Commission 


invited all Presbyteries to comment on its remit and in 

particular on that part of it which was to investigate and 

report upon the relationship between the Third Article 

Declaratory and the current parish staffing policy and 

Presbytery plans. Twenty-six Presbyteries responded and 

the Commission is grateful for the care and thought which 

has been given to the framing of those responses. 

5.2 It is noteworthy that in every response, though with 

varying degrees of emphasis, Presbyteries were in favour 

of the retention of the Third Article Declaratory. It is 

clear that Presbyteries viewed the Third Article not as an 

onerous obligation but as a Gospel imperative. A number 

of Presbyteries drew attention to the differences between 

the Scotland of 1921 and of today and questioned whether 

it was now appropriate to speak of the “Christian Faith of 

the Scottish people” or to claim that as “a National Church” 

the Church of Scotland is “representative” of that faith. 

There was however no appetite for a major re-drafting of 

the Article. 

5.3 There was widespread support in Presbyteries for 

the view that the “Call and Duty” should be shared with 

other denominations though some Presbyteries drew 

attention to the practical limitations of an ecumenical 

approach in as much as the geographical cover of other 

denominations is patchy and they face similar financial 

and staffing constraints as the Church of Scotland. 

5.4 The necessity for a flexible approach to Ministry 

was a recurring theme in many of the responses from 

Presbyteries. There were calls to mobilise the whole people 

of God and for a greater empowerment of the Eldership as 

a vital resource of the Church. 

5.5 The continued commitment to the poorest in both 

urban and rural communities was stressed in almost all 

the responses received. 

5.6 Few Presbyteries addressed in specific terms the 

question of the relationship between the Third Article and

parish staffing policy and Presbytery plans but of those 

which did, none reported that the Article had a restricting 

effect on Presbytery plans or staffing policies. In regard 

to parish staffing, some Presbyteries made comment on 

the present legislation and policy on tenure of Ministers 

of Word and Sacrament as a constraining factor in the 

deployment of personnel but this is a matter beyond the 

remit of the Commission. It is, however, under the active 

consideration of the Ministries Council. 

5.7 Throughout the responses there was recognition of 

the problems arising from duplication of charges arising 

from the 1929 Union with the attendant burden of the 

maintenance of congregational buildings; there was no 

plea for the maintenance of the status quo but there was 

remarkable unanimity on the privilege accorded to the 

Kirk to provide a territorial ministry across Scotland to the 

whole of its people. 

6. Comments from Local Authorities 

6.1 The following local authorities responded to the 

invitation to make comment to the Commission: Aberdeen, 

Argyll and Bute, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, East 

Renfrewshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Highland, Orkney, Perth and 

Kinross, Shetland, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian. 

6.2. These comments came in some cases from the 

Chief Executive, in others from a variety of officials. The 

Commission is grateful for the time and care given by 

these officials to assisting in its work. 

6.3 At both national and local government levels there 

was recognition and appreciation of the role played 

by the Church of Scotland and other denominations 

in communities around Scotland. There was also some 

negative feedback. A few quotations will help give a 

flavour: 

• The Council acknowledges the importance of the 

role of the Church of Scotland and other faithbased 

organisations to local communities. There 


are many examples of valuable charitable and 

voluntary contributions made in local parishes 

throughout the Highlands, including work with 

young and disadvantaged members of our 

communities………Adopting an approach 

that would focus the local presence of the 

Church only on areas that are fi nancially able to 

support it would undoubtedly have an impact 

of communities in the Highlands. (Highland 

Council). 

• In Glasgow local churches and faiths of all 

denominations have been at the forefront 

of activity to tackle some of the City’s most 

challenging issues. Church of Scotland 

ministers and congregations have been very 

active in supporting the city’s Asylum Seeker 

accommodation programme. There are also 

excellent examples of anti-poverty work within 

Glasgow’s most deprived communities either by 

the Church or through the Church’s inter-faith 

work. (Glasgow City Council) 

• While the churches (sic) role in adding to the 

social capital of its membership can still be seen 

as important, if it wishes to contribute to the 

wider social capital of Scotland as a whole it must 

make more eff ort to break out of its ‘comfort zone’ 

and engage with wider communities. (Aberdeen 

City Council). 

• There are key areas where the Church could assist 

in bringing about positive change to enhance 

community life and this could include how the 

Church uses its physical assets to encourage 

broader use of buildings for the greater good 

of the community in partnership with us….. 

An(other) area where the Church may be able 

to develop the role in advancing social capital is 

through our young people, specifi cally how we 

might support each other in developing youth 

outreach services…(East Renfrewshire Council). 

• The Council knows of a number of examples 

25

25/8 

where the Church and its ministers play an 

important role in relation to community 

engagement and regeneration activities…the 

Council would be concerned about any potential 

changes in ministry which could diminish the 

contribution to local regeneration eff orts. (South 

Lanarkshire Council). 

• Evidence that membership of the Church of 

Scotland and other Christian Churches is in 

decline might suggest that the traditional role is 

less important to an increasing number of Scots. 

I hope it is not because we lack faith but more 

because the institutions which support and 

develop faith have not ‘moved with the times’. 

(West Lothian Council). 

• If at the conclusion of your deliberations there 

is any change to this position (the commitment 

enshrined in the Third Article) then it might 

mean there was no Church presence in areas 

of Dundee, especially those that suff er from 

multiple deprivation. In this eventuality there 

is the possibility that the citizens of these areas 

could lose much of the good work that is done 

in local communities by the Church and its 

representatives. (Dundee City Council). 

• The Council recognises the Church as a 

signifi cant stakeholder in the delivery of adult 

social care and early intervention, as well as 

supporting a substantial volunteering network in 

the community. The Council is keen to maintain 

and develop ways of communicating with the 

Church locally. We are interested in working 

in partnership with local churches and their 

congregations across East Lothian. We would 

welcome the opportunity to meet with local 

Presbyteries and build relationships with them. 

We consider this to be important in sustaining 

community benefi ts highlighted above as we 

both face a tougher fi nancial outlook. (East 

Lothian Council). 


7. Key Points from Consultations 

7.1 Priority Areas Committee 

7.1.1 At its January 2009 meeting the Commission met 

with representatives of the Ministries Council Priority 

Areas Committee. It will be recalled that the remit to the 

Commission specifically instructed it to take full account of 

the stated priorities of recent General Assemblies, namely 

a commitment to the poorest and most marginalised 

as “the gospel imperative facing the whole Church.” The 

Commission heard a powerful rebuttal of the argument 

that, in the modern age, the concept of place no longer 

matters. On the contrary, the Commission was told that 

place is particularly important in Priority Areas, where there 

is limited social mobility and people tend to live their entire 

lives in their home community. The notion of territoriality 

is thus crucial. The Commission was informed that in 

Priority Areas the Church is the ‘life and fabric’ of the local 

neighbourhood – it is not only a building, but a people too. 

The line between Church and community is blurred, and 

people identify with the Church even if they do not attend 

worship. The congregation also becomes an enabling force 

for attracting and supporting amenities which enhance the 

life of the community. Were the Church to withdraw from 

these areas the loss would be incalculable. 

7.1.2 However, the point was also made to the 

Commission that such a commitment to a territorial 

ministry and presence did not necessarily mean a 

commitment to a traditional Ministry of Word and 

Sacrament. Rather, the emphasis should be on the 

development of new models of ministry which would 

be able to respond effectively to the relevant context. 

The Commission was told that worship is at the heart of 

everything that goes on within priority areas and that the 

sacraments are particularly important in places where 

wounds and pain are very raw. 

7.2 Stewardship and Finance Committee/Head of 

Stewardship 

7.2.1 At a consultation held in November 2008 the

Commission learned that, approximately one-third of 

congregations (or groups of linked congregations) are net 

contributors to the Parish Ministries Fund. The Commission 

was also informed that, when asked in what circumstances 

it was appropriate for congregations to receive financial 

support with their ministries costs, the answer given by 

Presbytery stewardship representatives was “in remote 

rural areas and in urban priority areas”. It was pointed out 

to the Commission that many congregations receiving 

such support were in neither of these categories and that 

this situation was not sustainable in the longer term. 

7.3 Ministries Council 

7.3.1 At the same meeting in November 2008 the 

Commission was advised that the Ministries Council 

regarded the territorial ministry as fundamental to 

planning and deployment policy and that the Council 

was committed to an equitable distribution of ministries 

across the whole nation. However, the implementation of 

this policy came up against three problems: 

(1) Larger and larger parishes were being created 

and these stretched relationships between 

ministers and members. 

(2) Questions of fi nancial sustainability were arising 

with only 35% of congregations meeting their 

ministries costs. 

(3) Many vacancies were protracted with real 

diffi culties arising in fi lling these, particularly in 

more remote areas. 

7.3.2 Since that discussion the Commission has 

become aware of the work being done by the Ministries 

Council to address these problems in the next stage of 

the Presbytery planning process through the deployment 

of a variety of ministries and a range of ministry models. 

The Commission notes that these developments will be 

reported to the General Assembly by that Council, along 

with an assessment of the number and types of ministries 

the Church can expect to afford in the years ahead. 

7.3.3 The Commission is also aware that the Ministries 


Council is again looking at the question of tenure and 

notes the relevance of this discussion for the strategic 

deployment of the Church’s ministries. 

7.4 Ecumenical Relations 

7.4.1 The Commission’s consultation in January 2009 with 

representatives of the Ecumenical Relations Committee 

and the Church Relations Officer of the Scottish Episcopal 

Church was assisted by a paper which examined the 

territorial ministry from an ecumenical perspective. 

7.4.2 The Commission learned that there are places 

already in Scotland – both rural and in certain parts of larger 

towns - where a congregation of another denomination is 

looked on by those around it as serving the function of 

a parish church. A case in point is a Methodist Church in 

Netherton, on the outskirts of Wishaw, which is the only 

church in a large area of housing. There is also in place 

an ‘ecumenical welcome’ mechanism, produced through 

ACTS and recognised by the National Sponsoring Body for 

Ecumenical Partnerships. This is designed to be used where 

there is only one church available in an extended area and 

where it is unreasonable to expect people to make their 

way to the nearest congregation of their own tradition. 

Its use requires the permission of the relevant authority – 

Bishop, Presbytery etc and it allows people to participate 

fully in the life of a congregation, including in some 

instances, with the appropriate permission of the Bishop, 

the reception of the Sacrament by Roman Catholics. 

7.4.3 The Commission was also told that there are places 

in the Highlands where the Scottish Episcopal Church or 

the Free Church has a considerable presence. In Shetland, 

the Methodist Church is strong. It was suggested that in 

such places it may be possible for a territorial Christian 

presence to be maintained in co-operation with such 

churches. At the same time it was recognised that there 

are areas where all the churches struggle. 

7.4.4 The Commission was also informed of a recent 

conversation amongst denominational Ecumenical 

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Officers which indicated that, were the Church of Scotland 

to depart from its territorial responsibility, the whole 

church in Scotland would lose something important. In 

such circumstances it would be likely that other churches 

would feel a need to rise to the challenge. However, it is 

recognised that their resources are also stretched. Certainly 

there is a willingness amongst Scottish churches to explore 

the concept of ecumenical team ministry (not necessarily 

exclusively clergy), to provide ministry in a given area. 

7.5 Panel on Review and Reform 

7.5.1 Also in January 2009 the Commission consulted with 

the Convener of the Panel on Review and Reform on its remit 

to bring forward proposals for a new Presbytery structure to 

the 2010 Assembly. It was noted that the 2008 Assembly 

had acknowledged the need for new arrangements which 

could empower Presbyteries to become more effective 

agents of mission. In the Panel’s view there were a number 

of Presbyteries which were “on the edge of viability” and it 

was necessary to develop a new vision of the Presbytery as 

more than a business meeting. 

7.5.2 While it is for the Panel to develop its proposals and 

commend them to the General Assembly the Commission 

fully shares the Panel’s view of the crucial role Presbyteries 

have to play in enabling the Church’s ministries throughout 

Scotland. 

7.6 General Trustees 

7.6.1 The Commission met with representatives of the 

General Trustees at its meeting in October 2009. Given 

that the Presbytery planning process, as noted from the 

consultation with the Ministries Council, is based upon 

the commitment to territorial ministry it is relevant to note 

that Act VII, 2003 (the legislation which governs Presbytery 

planning) requires Presbyteries to give consideration not 

only to ministries deployment but also to the use and 

maintenance of buildings. 

7.6.2 The Trustees stated that their work was essentially 

grounded in the third Article Declaratory since this is 


the basis on which they undertake their two charitable 

objectives, namely, the support of parish ministry and the 

assisting of congregations to provide suitable buildings 

for parish ministry. It is also the basis on which they move 

assets from those who have to those who do not. The 

Trustees acknowledged that the assets under their care 

– glebes, manses, churches, halls etc – were historically 

provided from local landowners with a view to maintaining 

a ministry to and within the local territory. 

7.6.3 The Commission heard that it was a matter of 

concern to the General Trustees that, while recognising 

that buildings are key local resources, the Church as a 

whole has no effective buildings strategy. In the view 

of the Trustees this is a major risk. The Trustees feel that 

the existing Presbytery planning process must be taken 

seriously and the buildings element dealt with robustly 

and honestly. 

7.6.4 The Commission also learned that there are 

situations where there is a sharing of facilities with one 

building accommodating church sanctuary, health centre, 

and community services centre, eg at Auchtergaven and 

Moneydie in Perthshire. 

7.7 Glasgow Visit 

7.7.1 In March 2009 members of the Commission 

spent two days visiting churches in Glasgow. This 

included the priority area charges of Colston Milton, 

Cranhill and Ruchazie. In addition the Commission invited 

representatives of a number of suburban congregations on 

Glasgow’s south side to meet with them. These included 

Broom, Burnside: Blairbeth, Cathcart: Trinity, Eaglesham, 

Giffnock: Orchardhill, Giffnock: Park, Giffnock: South, 

Greenbank, Mearnskirk, Merrylea, Netherlee, Newlands: 

South, Newton Mearns, Rutherglen: Stonelaw, Shawlands, 

Stamperland and Williamwood. Finally the Commission 

held an “open” meeting within the parish of Gorbals and 

engaged in discussion with individuals who accepted the 

invitation to attend.

7.7.2 In the priority area parishes the Commission was 

challenged on the question of how success and failure 

are measured in the life of a local church. Attendance 

at Sunday worship and financial offerings may suggest 

failure when compared with other congregations, though 

levels of per capita giving can be exemplary. At the same 

time the contribution to the life of the community can 

be highly significant in terms of supporting struggling 

individuals and maintaining social networks. For example, 

the Commission learned from the Chief Executive of 

a local Housing Association that without the Church 

the Association would not exist. A Malawi exchange 

programme with Ruchazie has been valued by all parties 

in terms of addressing issues of poverty and community 

and how these are viewed in different cultures. 

7.7.3 The Commission recognises the challenge to the 

whole Church to continue funding priority areas where 

worshipping communities are small but wider community 

activities are significant in contributing to what one 

minister referred to as “well being, wholeness and life in all 

its fullness.” 

7.7.4 The Commission was also told of the importance of 

the parish minister to the community. In the priority area visits 

the Commission had to overcome perceptions that they had 

come to audit the need for a minister in that particular place 

and were left in no doubt that the local congregation would 

view the loss of ministerial provision as “disastrous”. 

7.7.5 An interesting observation was made on the word 

“parish”, which is traditionally understood inclusively to 

refer to the sphere of work beyond the congregation. In 

one priority area the Church notice board announces not 

a “Parish Church” but a “Community Church” because the 

perception locally is that “parish” implies that the Church 

is for the members, whereas “community” signifies that it is 

for all. 

7.7.6 The Commission also noted the connections 

between the work being carried out in these communities 


and the appreciative comments submitted from Glasgow 

City Council. (see para 6.3) 

7.7.7 The meetings with office-bearers from a number 

of south Glasgow suburban churches threw into sharp 

focus the issue of wealthier churches contributing 

significant sums of money (and a significant proportion 

of their members’ offerings) to support work such as that 

carried out in priority areas parishes. There was a ready 

recognition of the need for this work, a concern that it 

should be encouraged and expanded and a willingness 

to support it. At the same time there were voices which 

indicated that those congregations which were significant 

net contributors to the Ministries and Mission Fund 

should have some kind of say in how “their money” was 

being spent. The Commission also heard a challenge to 

this approach on the grounds that, as one minister put it, 

“once the money is in the plate it’s the Lord’s, not yours”. 

That said the Commission readily affirms the importance 

of responsible stewardship in the use of the Church’s 

centrally controlled budgets and the need to reassure the 

wider membership of the Church that such stewardship is 

exercised. 

7.7.8 The Commission also noted the concerns relating 

to an ageing and declining membership being asked 

to contribute more and more to central funds against 

a background of desire to fund local outreach work, for 

example through the employment of a youth worker. 

7.7.9 The discussion also included the topic of “twinnings” 

between congregations within the Church of Scotland. 

These enable a congregation to share at a most practical 

level in the Church’s wider work. The Commission was told 

that when these work well they provide a valuable twoway 

flow of information and enrichment. 

7.7.10 In the meeting at Gorbals the Minister of Gorbals 

Parish Church underlined the connections between inner 

city and outer suburb by stating that priority areas work 

is done on behalf of everybody. His congregation was 

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doing work that neighbouring suburban congregations 

could not undertake. However, he readily acknowledged 

that without the support provided by such neighbouring 

congregations that work could not be delivered in the first 

place. 

7.8 Visits to Caithness and Sutherland 

7.8.1 Bearing in mind the priority identified in its remit, 

reinforced in the consultation with Stewardship and 

Finance, the Commission decided to visit not only urban 

priority area parishes but also remote rural ones. Two 

days in April 2009 afforded members the opportunity of 

travelling around a number of parishes in Caithness and 

Sutherland. 

7.8.2 While the geography was very different from the 

Glasgow visit similar issues arose, eg the same anxiety 

that the Commission had come to conduct some kind of 

viability audit with potential resource implications. More 

positively, there was evidence of congregations learning to 

depend less on ordained ministry and accept more in the 

way of parish responsibilities. This was perhaps inevitable 

given that in one charge a minister was responsible for a 

five-way linkage. The Presbytery provides training in the 

leadership of worship. 

7.8.3 The Commission was also made aware of the 

difficulty in filling vacant charges and was led to reflect 

on the meaning of the congregation’s right of call when 

parishes attracted few if any applicants. However, it 

was noted that attracting teachers and doctors is also 

difficult. In this connection reference was made to 

special arrangements which were in place to attract such 

professionals and it was noted that the Church makes 

similar provision, though only in respect of Shetland. These 

Shetland arrangements provide for five year contracts with 

additional assistance towards travel costs and re-location 

to the mainland at the end of the period. 

7.8.4 The Commission was advised that Caithness 

Presbytery has the highest percentage of vacancies of 


any Presbytery. At the time of the visit it had three parish 

ministers and two parish assistants, one of whom was 

about to retire. There are a number of long-term locums 

and a reliance on ministers from beyond Scotland, eg 

Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. 

7.8.5 One office-bearer observed that the Church was 

already withdrawing from Caithness in that ministers were 

not choosing to serve there. 

7.8.6 The Commission also heard criticism of the fact that 

a deacon who was now authorised to conduct marriages 

was not permitted to celebrate the Sacraments. 

7.9 Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) 

7.9.1 The Commission is grateful to Mr Jon Harris of 

COSLA who accepted an invitation to attend its August 

2009 meeting. He spoke to a Joint Action Plan recently 

adopted by the Scottish Government and COSLA which 

had been made available to members of the Commission. 

This addressed issues of community empowerment and 

detailed a variety of projects. Mr Harris suggested that, as 

the largest charitable organisation in Scotland, the Church 

should be key to the process of community support but 

observed that its profile was not as high as it might be due 

to the insularity of some congregations. On the other hand 

it was readily acknowledged that in some communities 

the Church is the only community agency remaining with 

its buildings the only community facility. 

7.10 Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations 

(SCVO) 

7.10.1 The Commission received a helpful paper from 

the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). 

This referred to “the enormous historical contribution of 

the Church to the development of Scotland’s voluntary 

sector” and drew attention to the “values of service to 

others, probity, financial donations in life and legacy, a 

commitment to education and personal development 

and service to those in need in their parishes”. The paper 

acknowledged both the changing context in which the

Church now operated and the changes in the structure 

of the Church itself with its diminishing membership 

and rationalisation of its agencies. Despite that the paper 

noted that “there are many communities in which it is 

the churches which provide the social centre point for 

the whole community. Church halls in many cases serve 

also as village halls, and can transcend denominational 

boundaries, a process helped, paradoxically, by wider 

secularisation. The church hall provides facilities through 

all age groups and income bands for those who wish to 

take part in the wide gamut of social activity that adds 

value and real life to our communities.” 

7.10.2 The paper concluded: “While the nature, size and 

governance of the parishes themselves may continue to 

evolve, and the nature of the social and human capital 

afforded by the Church to Scottish society is continually 

changing, it still has the capacity, the spiritual and moral 

commitment to serve that society, and in the process 

uphold the core values of Scottish civil society and the 

charitable and voluntary sector, that it has done so much 

to embed at the heart of our national life. It would be a 

matter of serious concern if there were to be any major or 

sudden retreat from the Church’s ongoing ability to deliver 

highly valued physical and human capital in the service of 

the people of Scotland.” 

7.10.3 Finally, in this section the Commission shares two 

“stories” which it heard from ministers working in areas 

which rely heavily on the commitment to maintain a 

territorial ministry throughout Scotland. These are included 

with the permission of the ministers. 

Island of Coll: Argyll 

Situated West of Mull, 2 hours 40 minutes sailing from 

Oban (varies slightly depending on weather and ferry 

used), 3 sailings per week in winter; 1 sailing per day in 

summer, though on certain days there is a return visit to 

Coll on the way back from Tiree. 


Linked with Connel, on mainland, 5 miles North of Oban, 

where minister lives. 

Population of Island: 164: Membership of congregation: 

15 

Presbytery Plan calls for minister to spend 4 weeks a year 

on Coll. 

Weekly worship during the summer, taken by ministers 

who can use the manse for a holiday. 

Monthly worship during the winter. 

The Minister, the Rev George Cringles writes: 

The Basis of Linking with Connel requires that I visit the 

island and conduct worship there at least four times in the 

year. Depending on circumstances the nature of the services 

will vary. I try to include communion on two occasions 

(sometimes three) and also have a family service that will 

include the island Choir - the Coll Singers, and the children 

of the local primary school on special Sundays - eg harvest 

thanksgiving. I have made it my policy to try and visit the 

island for one of the main festivals every second year. So 

far this has included Easter, Harvest, Remembrance and 

Pentecost. I have yet to pluck up the courage to go over 

at Christmas! At other times I will visit for funerals and 

weddings or other pastoral needs as required. Funerals 

tend to be held on days when the ferry calls twice and 

take place in the two hours between the ferries so there is 

no need for an overnight stay. I also try to get over for the 

school end of term summer service. This is normally on a 

Thursday when the ferry goes on to Barra and I have six 

hours on the island between the boats. There is a manse 

on the island and I usually try to stay for a week at a time 

during which I will do as much visiting as I can fi t in and 

also spend some time in the primary school. 

During the winter there is provision in the basis of linking 

for one service a month. This has not always been possible 

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due to various factors - sometimes there are insuffi cient 

church folk on the island to have a service - I have been 

over in January and had a congregation of 3. Sometimes it 

is just diffi cult to fi nd anyone to go over, and at other times 

the ferry gets disrupted by the weather. Two of the elders 

have undergone basic training in leading worship and 

they will readily conduct worship if no one else is available. 

Indeed they sometimes have more than one service in the 

winter months if there is suffi cient demand. 

Provision is made in the basis for weekly worship between 

Easter and the end of September. This is normally provided 

by visiting preachers - ministers (quite a few who have 

retired), readers and lay people, who enjoy a holiday in the 

manse in exchange for the Sunday service (they are asked 

to make a small contribution towards the cost of heat and 

light etc). This system seems to work quite well. There are 

the regulars who like to return every year, and others who 

fi nd that once is enough! It is usually easy enough to fi ll up 

the summer Sundays. It is Sundays at the beginning and 

the end of the season that always prove more diffi cult. It is 

a system which seems to be advantageous to all parties - 

the visitors enjoy a cheap holiday while the congregation 

doesn’t have to worry about paying pulpit supply and 

travelling expenses, which they simply could not aff ord. 

Attendance at worship varies a great deal. They depend 

very much on visitors and holidaymakers in the summer to 

boost the congregation (which only consists of 15 members 

and a small number of adherents). Apart from my contact 

with the primary school there is no other children’s work 

associated with the Church. The Kirk Session consists of 

three elders and there are two other Board Members. 

Average attendance is between 6-10 in the winter and 

12 - 24 in the summer, although there are exceptions 

such as Easter when numbers can reach as high as 65. We 

celebrated the centenary of the church building last year 

when we enjoyed two very well attended services on the 

Centenary Week-end. There is no other active church on 

the island. The Free Church is eff ectively closed and there 


are very few Free Kirk folk left. I am delighted to say that 

one of them has even been joining with us for worship. The 

Parish Church is therefore the only remaining source of 

Christian work, witness and worship on the island. I feel it is 

vital to do all we can to maintain that work and encourage 

the Lord’s people in what is a far from easy situation. 

Glasgow: Gorbals 

Inner city, Priority Area parish to the immediate south of 

Glasgow city centre. Bounded by industrial estates to the 

east and west, by the M74 extension to the south and the 

River Clyde to the north. 

Population of parish: 9,000 (rising to 15,000 when 

regeneration master plan is complete). 

Membership of Congregation: 97 

Presbytery plan shows Parish Minister and one other post, 

currently fi lled by Associate Minister. 

Worship on Sundays at 11 am. Midweek service suspended 

during transition to new building. 

The Minister, the Rev Ian Galloway writes: 

I understand the fi nancial pressures being experienced by 

those congregations who are the net fi nancial givers – and 

appreciate that to give beyond the bounds of the parish 

substantially is costly in terms of what local mission can 

be pursued. However I also consider that supporting local 

mission in other, poorer, places is a high calling worthy of 

our fi nancially strongest congregations. The return on such 

investment will sometimes be hard to determine, though I 

know that within Priority Areas a range of examples can 

be given that enable measurement in both fi nancial and 

human terms. 

Of course Gorbals is the place I know best, and here we can 

point to Bridging the Gap – 11 years on with a budget of 

£200k and making a measured and evaluated diff erence

to hundreds of lives each year (and now not only in Gorbals 

but also in Govanhill, the neighbouring and also extremely 

poor community – where our most recent initiative is 

working with Roma children). Meanwhile the Church’s 

most recent proposal is to raise £40k a year to bring music 

to Gorbals in work we hope will develop to bring people 

together across the developing social mix. None of this 

would happen without the support of the wider church for 

ministry here. 

We also have a few people who have chosen to belong 

here though they live in more affl uent places. In a way they 

embody the same issue but this is not possible or indeed 

appropriate for many people. 

When I look round our congregation I am, as always, aware 

of vulnerability and suff ering as well as resilience and 

strong character. Lone parents and their children, kinship, 

caring granny, unemployed men, recovering alcoholic, 

gambler deep in debt, people with chronic diseases and 

cancers to manage, elders still faithfully taking decisions in 

their late eighties not through choice but necessity. 

The odd thing is that, even in transition without a building 

(though one is getting nearer) the congregation may even 

be growing……… 

I am deeply grateful to the Church of Scotland’s 

redistributive model which is, I think, a real and lasting 

witness to the God we serve and is so deeply countercultural 

as to be more radical now than ever. 

All in all, I think we need to develop clear priorities and fi nd 

better ways of enabling congregations to take pride in the 

way their fi nancial giftedness is put at the service of the 

whole church. 

If we are to depart from the parish model – and by that 

I mean across Scotland – I think that we have to do so 

because there is a strong sense of God’s call – to all of us – 

to discover how our discipleship will evolve in a new shape. 


That has to be about much more than money, and until 

we hear the debate move in that direction I have some 

diffi culty in recognising God’s hand on the tiller of this 

particular change. 

8. The Commission’s Deliberations 

8.1 The Special Commission on Structure and 

Change 

8.1.1 As noted above the remit to review the Church’s 

commitment to the third Article Declaratory arose from 

the deliberations of the Special Commission on Structure 

and Change which reported to the General Assembly of 

2008. 

8.1.2 As the members of the new Commission began 

their task they expressed some surprise at the language 

used by the previous Commission when referring to the 

Article. The text of the Article speaks of a “distinctive call 

and duty to bring the ordinances of religion to the people 

in every parish of Scotland through a territorial ministry”. 

This was seen by those who framed the articles as a natural 

response to the missionary challenges facing Scotland at 

the time and was embraced as something fundamental to 

the role of a national Church. Both uniting churches were 

committed to this approach and the union of 1929 brought 

together their significant resources. Thus provided for, the 

united Church was well placed, indeed uniquely placed, to 

take on this challenge and opportunity. 

8.1.3 Having regard to this background members of the 

new Commission were somewhat taken aback to find 

this “distinctive call and duty” described as a “burden”. The 

Commission was also disturbed to note that the earlier 

Commission, having called for a review, then appeared to 

go on to suggest a conclusion to that review by questioning 

whether any valuable principle was dependent upon 

retaining the Article. 

8.2 Church Without Walls 

8.2.1 It is apparent that the previous Commission set 

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great store on the report of the Special Commission on 

Review and Reform, known more familiarly as Church 

Without Walls, which had reported to the General 

Assembly of 2001. This report, and all that has flowed from 

it, has undeniably breathed new life into many areas of the 

Church and given birth to a variety of imaginative initiatives 

around the Presbyteries. Our Special Commission studied 

what Church Without Walls had to say about the third 

Declaratory Article and also studied the report of the Panel 

on Doctrine brought to the General Assembly of 2005, in 

response to an instruction by the 2001 Assembly, to study 

the implications of Church Without Walls for the theology 

of the Church. The extract from the CWW report quoted by 

the previous Commission and an excerpt from the Panel 

on Doctrine’s report are both set out as appendices to 

this Report (Appendices 2 and 3) so that commissioners 

can weigh the arguments. The Special Commission on 

Structure and Change made no reference to the Panel’s 

theological critique in its report. 

8.2.2 Essentially the Panel sought to counter-balance 

some of CWW’s emphasis on the local congregation as the 

“primary expression of the Church” It asked: “What are the 

implications of the new emphasis on a more autonomous 

local congregation as the primary expression of the 

Church, linked with others through informal networks 

rather than primarily through a Presbytery? Does the 

call for structures that emphasise relationship rather 

than regulation suggest that the system of interlocking 

courts and councils is no longer effective? What of the 

downgrading in several places of historical precedent 

as an influence as the Church continues to reshape for 

mission in a contemporary context?” 

8.2.3 In reflecting on questions such as these the Panel 

offered cautionary words regarding “the relevance of 

balance within the Church of Scotland’s ecclesiology” 

and reminded the Church that this balance “has fed the 

strong sense of mutual responsibilities of congregations 

within Scotland and its vision for a coverage of the whole 


nation and for the life and mission of the Church beyond 

our national boundaries.” The Panel acknowledged 

that “there is a need for some serious engagement on 

the practicalities of this vision”. However, it expressed a 

concern that “in CWW we have hints of a shift towards 

a theology merely of the local congregation.” It 

continued: “Some of the Report’s proposals feature such 

a concentration on the local and a limiting of liabilities 

in the Church as may diminish its ownership of a truly 

‘catholic’, ie whole + universal vision. We should be 

prompted to pause over such advocacy of ‘localisation’ 

as may obscure the responsibilities of each in each place 

to be linked with all the rest.” Indeed, the Panel went 

as far as to suggest that “in its greater emphasis on the 

autonomy of the local church the Report (CWW) almost 

seems to be proposing a congregationalist policy within, 

or as a replacement for existing Presbyterian structures”. 

8.2.4 Our Special Commission, while in no way seeking 

to denigrate the benefits which have come from Church 

Without Walls or to question the importance of local 

congregations, found itself expressing sympathy with the 

Panel’s argument. Certainly, the synopsis of comments 

arising out of our Commission’s wide-ranging consultation 

indicate a clear desire to maintain that balance which 

affirms the need for local congregations to have both 

room to grow and freedom to develop mission focussed 

initiatives within their communities. At the same time the 

Commission again and again heard expressed a strong 

desire to affirm the connectedness of our congregations 

within the Church of Scotland and to retain the kind of 

commitment expressed in the third Article Declaratory. 

8.2.5 Accordingly the Commission came to a point 

where it concluded that the question before it was not 

whether to retain or delete the third Article Declaratory 

but rather the question of how the principles it enshrined 

might most effectively be implemented in today’s context. 

Before developing such proposals the Commission turned 

its attention to the nature of this context and in particular

to the assertion that the society in which we now operate 

is increasingly secular. 

8.3. A Secular Society? 

8.3.1 The Commission was well aware that one of 

the major assumptions behind the drive to re-examine 

the third Article Declaratory was an understanding of 

contemporary Scotland as a thoroughly secular society. 

From such an assumption it followed that one could no 

longer presume even a passive acceptance of the Christian 

faith among today’s Scottish people. It is certainly the 

case that, according to most measures of religiosity, there 

has been a decline in religious observance and Church 

attendance in Britain and continental Europe in the 

20th and 21st centuries. Whether that makes Scotland a 

‘secular society’ however, is a moot point. There are various 

explanations available as to the character and nature of 

the multi-valent phenomenon variously described as 

secularism. 5 Assessing and analysing the reasons for the 

decline in formal Church membership is a somewhat 

fraught process and it would be rash to assume that a 

‘post-Christian’ society simply presents the same challenge 

to the mission of the Church as ‘pre-Christian’ society. 

8.3.2 Whilst it is undoubtedly true that all the usual 

indicators for measuring religious adherence in Britain 

- formal Church membership, participation in Sunday 

schools, the number of paid religious professionals, the 

marking of rites of passage through baptisms, marriages 

and funerals - all show a persistent tendency towards 

decline, nevertheless one cannot simply assume from this 

5 See for example, Peter L Berger, (Ed), The Desecularisation of the World: 

Resurgent Religion and World Politics, Eerdmanns, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 

1999, Callum G Brown, The Death of Christian Britian – Understanding 

Secularisation, Routledge Press, London: 2001, Steve Bruce, God is Dead: 

Secularisation in the West, Blackwell; Oxford: 2002. Grace Davie, Religion 

in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging, Blackwell, Oxford: 1994. 

G David, Paul Heelas & Linda Woodhead, Predicting Religion, Ashgate, 

Aldershot, 2003. Charles Taylor, A Secular Age, Belknap Press, London: 

2007. 


that the people of Scotland are necessarily ‘secular’. 6 There 

remains what the sociologist, Grace Davie, has called a 

‘lingering attachment to religious (or ‘spiritual’) beliefs 

among largely un-churched populations.’ 7 

8.3.3 Davie’s point is that whatever might be happening 

in terms of formal Church membership and attendance 

such figures hardly point to a ‘secularised’ society per se. 

She prefers to speak of the ‘un-churching’ of European 

populations rather than the ‘secularising’ of society. Thus 

the much heralded phrase, ‘believing without belonging’. 

Davie concludes, ‘While many Europeans have ceased 

to participate in religious institutions, they have not 

yet abandoned many of their deep seated religious 

inclinations’ 8 

8.3.4 This is not a naively optimistic view, however, as 

Davie goes on to argue that ‘so far enough of the religiously 

inactive in Europe have retained a nominal attachment to 

their churches that the churches representative role is still 

possible… whether this will remain true for much longer 

is an extremely pertinent question.’ 9 

8.3.5 One can take issue with Davie’s interpretation of the 

evidence and certainly, from the Church’s point of view, 

the notions of ‘believing without belonging’ and ‘vicarious 

religion’ are hardly sufficient substitutes for committed 

Christian discipleship. To that end we are in a new missional 

situation. However, the lingering attachment to the 

Christian faith that persists in these studies, the very fact 

that the discourse for articulating and verbalizing spiritual 

and religious needs (or the rejection thereof ) is still largely 

couched in terms and concepts that are derived from the 

6 See S Bruce, ‘The Demise of Christianity in Britain’ in Predicting Religion, 

op cit., p55 Bruce of course is a trenchant advocate of the secularisation 

thesis and gives the indicators for such a view here, explanations for what 

is happening to Church membership and Christian belief generally. 

7 Grace Davie, Europe: ‘The Exception that Proves the rule’ in Predicting 

Religion op cit p65-84. 

8 G Davie, Predicting Religion, p82 

9 G Davie op cit p83 

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Christian message, the persistent expectation that the 

Church is somehow there for them, means that we are 

not simply in a post-Christian or completely secularized 

situation and any account of the Church’s mission would 

have to take note of that fact. 

8.3.6 Davie’s findings are reinforced in our context by 

the 2001 Census returns which addressed the question of 

religious affiliation for the first time. Just over two-thirds 

(67%) of the Scottish population declared themselves 

as currently having a religion. (It should be noted that 

positively stating that you had no religion was an option 

exercised by 28%). 65% of the population declared 

themselves to be Christian with 42% per cent identifying 

themselves as belonging to the Church of Scotland, 16% 

Roman Catholic and 7% other Christian. 10 Whatever these 

figures might purport to show, and however unsatisfactory 

they might be with regard to numbers regularly attending 

public worship and practising the Christian faith, it 

nevertheless suggests that Scotland is not by any means a 

society that regards itself as ‘secular’ in any simplistic sense 

of that term. 

8.3.7 To all this might be added the recent resurgence of 

the notion of ‘spirituality’ in many areas of Scottish society 

- most notably health-care and education. 11 The notion 

of ‘spirituality’ is admittedly quite far removed from that 

of active Christian discipleship, but the fact that there is 

recognition that ‘spirituality’ is a vital and important part 

of what it means to be a human being is surely something 

to be welcomed by the Church as an opportunity 

for meaningful mission. Whatever else this important 

development portends it surely lays to rest the idea that 

contemporary Scottish society is ‘secular’ in any simple 

and narrowly construed definition of that term. 

10 (Analysis of Religion in the 2001 Census, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ 

Publications/2005/02/20757/53570) 

11 See http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/documents/publications/classa/030 

309SpiritualCareMatters.pdf 


8.4 The People in Every Parish of Scotland 

8.4.1 The Commission has found much to commend in 

the traditional territorial system based on the geographical 

parish. It is also well aware that such a system is not 

the only way of organizing and structuring the life and 

worship of the Christian church. The parish based system 

is integrally bound up with the historical development 

of ‘Christendom’ and the ways in which church and state 

mutually supported one another as both developed 

within the context of emerging European society. As 

such the Church is surely free to organize its life in the 

ways which are most appropriate to the challenges of the 

day. Moreover, the parish based system, albeit perhaps 

perceived as more administrative than mission oriented, is 

our specific context and forms part of the rich hinterland 

of religious life in this country. One minister who met 

with the Commission spoke movingly of ‘being proud of 

the fact that wherever he set foot in Scotland he was in a 

parish and that the people there had someone appointed 

to care for them.’ 

8.4.2 It is also worth pointing out that although the 

concept of a ‘mixed economy’ church of the future is much 

in vogue, it is perhaps not always emphasized enough that 

such a ‘mixed economy church’ will include the traditional 

parish system. Thus the Archbishop of Canterbury - 

usually credited with the coining of that phrase- does 

not envisage that the Church of England will abandon 

a territorial and parish based system of ministry anytime 

soon. For example, he writes, ‘parochial presence speaks 

of a relation of loyalty between church and society….The 

parochial system and the world of ‘emerging church’ both 

assume that the Church must show itself to be credible by 

being where people are, literally and culturally.’ 12 

8.4.3 As already noted members of the Special 

Commission found echoes of these insights as they 

12 Rowan Williams, ‘Theological Resources for re-examining church’ in 

Stephen Croft (Ed.) The Future of the Parish System, Church House Publishing: 

London, 2006 p54.

visited various areas of the country and heard about a 

sense of ‘place’ that continues to have meaning for many 

communities around Scotland, be they urban deprived, 

remote and rural, discrete village or city suburb. Time 

and again the point was made that the Church has to be 

sufficiently ‘local’ to be accessible, present and recognisable 

to the particular community it seeks to serve. Members of 

the Commission had no particular investment in the term 

‘parish’ as such and, again as previously noted, observed on 

the visit to Ruchazie a preference for the term ‘community 

church”. Whatever term is used the point is that it should 

reflect the sense of being close enough to belong. A former 

Moderator, writing on this very theme, refers to the ‘highcalling 

and privilege’ of serving the nation in this way. He 

uses the language of ‘vocation’ and sees the concept of a 

parish based ministry as a faithful response to our calling 

and vocation to serve the people of Scotland in the name 

of Christ. 13 

8.4.4 It is the Commission’s considered view that in future 

years this calling will be expressed in a variety of ways and 

will ask much from the Church in terms of creativity, insight 

and engagement. At the same time the Commission 

believes that it is likely that local and identifiable 

communities of faith incarnated in particular places will 

be a rich part of the fabric of the ‘mixed economy’ church 

for the foreseeable future. Thus Martyn Percy writes, ‘The 

shift from the parochial to the local might not be entirely 

deleterious. In the future, patterns of ministry will no 

longer be configured solely through geographical space 

and its constraints. For the Church to find its place in the 

modern world, it will have to create new spaces for new 

communities and different opportunities for differentiated 

niche groups. Such a vision might appear to threaten 

the very concept of a parish church; but it might also be 

its saviour. To be a parish church, a church must find a 

community and locate itself within it, incarnating the life 

13 Andrew McLellan, Prospects for the Parish Ministry and the National 

Church, Theology In Scotland: St Mary’s College, St Andrews, p56 


of God there in ways that are both local and catholic. In 

the complex, porous and ambiguous spaces of our future, 

the Church will need to find its places in society once 

again, if it is to continue to offer a religion that is public, 

performative and pastoral.’ 14 

8.5 Through a Territorial Ministry 

8.5.1 It appeared self-evident to the Commission that 

the framers of the Articles Declaratory did not intend by 

the phrase “a territorial ministry” to mean an enduring 

commitment to maintain a set of church buildings and 

a full-time ordained minister in every parish as at 1929. 

Any suggestion that that might have been the case is 

readily scotched by the equal commitment of the newly 

united Church to the work of unions and readjustments. 

From the start it was understood that the union involved 

a rationalisation of resources and an ultimate return 

to something approaching the parish pattern which 

existed before post disruption rivalry erected the plethora 

of buildings which still dominate townscapes across 

Scotland. 

8.5.2 As reported earlier the Commission has been made 

aware of the terms in which the Ministries Council will be 

reporting to the General Assembly on the affordability of 

the current numbers of ministries serving the Church and 

the need to address this matter. This is the business of the 

Ministries Council and will come before the Assembly on 

the report of that Council. However, it is certainly relevant 

to the interpretation and application of the third Article 

Declaratory. 

8.5.3 As noted, the Commission has also been made 

aware of the concerns of the General Trustees over the 

lack of an overall buildings strategy for the Church and 

the large sums of money spent year by year on buildings 

which are arguably no longer fit for purpose in terms of 

modern needs and expectations. Again these matters do 

14 Martyn Percy, Many Rooms in my Father’s House, the Future of the Parish 

System, 2006, p14 

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not lie within the remit of the Special Commission but they 

are certainly relevant to the distribution and deployment 

of the Church’s resources and that, in turn, relates to 

the issue of how the Church ensures a distribution and 

deployment which enable it to fulfil the “distinctive call 

and duty” expressed in the third Article Declaratory. In this 

connection it might be noted that the concerns over the 

Article expressed by the Special Commission on Structure 

and Change were set out in a section of its report headed 

“Resource Allocation”. 

8.5.4 Our Commission has also noted the point made 

by the representatives of the Stewardship and Finance 

Committee, namely that some two-thirds of charges do 

not meet the costs of their own minister. Many of these 

charges will not meet the priority criteria identified and 

agreed by Presbytery stewardship representatives for 

support in funding ministry, namely urban priority and 

remote rural charges. Taking this together with the 

concerns of the Ministries Council and General Trustees it 

is not difficult to see why the previous Special Commission 

drew attention to the resource implications of Article III. 

However, in the considered view of our Commission the 

Church should not abandon the commitment expressed 

in the Article but, rather, address the problems which 

lie in the way of its implementation. Part of the solution 

lies, as already suggested, through more ecumenical 

co-operation. However, much of the answer lies with 

the Church itself and its willingness to grasp the issues. 

Accordingly, the Commission exhorts the General 

Assembly to give heed and respond with a sense of real 

urgency to the challenges coming from the Ministries 

Council, the General Trustees and those charged with the 

Church’s stewardship and distribution of resources. 

8.5.5 These admonitions are also addressed to 

Presbyteries which have a crucial role to play in strategic 

forward planning and the distribution of resources. The 

Special Commission on Structure and Change, which gave 

rise to our Commission with its remit to review the third 


Article Declaratory, also persuaded the General Assembly 

to remit to the Panel on Review and Reform the task of 

bringing forward a new Presbytery structure for the Church. 

Commenting on the frequently heard complaint that 

there is too much power located in 121 George Street the 

Special Commission on Structure and Change observed 

that that was the case because there was no other suitable 

repository for it. The answer, it suggested, was to overhaul 

the present Presbytery structure with a view to creating 

Presbyteries which were resourced to manage substantial 

resources and equipped to make significant decisions 

affecting the life and witness of the Church within their 

own bounds. The Panel will report to the Assembly but the 

Commission again sees the connectedness of the work 

in which the Panel is engaged with the other elements 

already referred to and believes that all of this together 

has the capacity to enable the contemporary Church of 

Scotland to live out the aspirations of those who framed 

the Articles Declaratory a century ago. 

8.5.6 In connection with the understanding of the specific 

phrase “territorial ministry” the Commission considers 

that this should be understood in the widest sense of 

ministry, namely the ministry of the whole people of God. 

In the immediate future the living out the commitment 

of Article III may well involve an increasing number of 

communities where the ministry is exercised largely by the 

eldership and membership of the Church, albeit under the 

oversight of an ordained minister. One proposal which the 

Commission therefore makes is that consideration be given 

to permitting identified and suitably trained individuals to 

celebrate the sacraments in the absence of a minister. This 

ties in with thinking of the Ministries Council on ordained 

local ministry and the Commission commends the idea 

to the General Assembly. The Commission also notes the 

potential for increasing reliance on non-stipendiary forms 

of ministry and the opportunities afforded by modern 

technology in areas such as video conferencing and web 

casting.

8.5.7 The Commission is also aware that the Ministries 

Council is considering the question of ministerial tenure. 

This has been on the agenda for a number of years and 

one tangible fruit of a previous consideration of the 

matter can be found in Act VI, 1984 anent Congregations 

in Changed Circumstances. This allows for the Presbytery 

to dissolve a congregation which has been subject 

to changed circumstances beyond the control of the 

Church, even though the minister had been inducted on 

full tenure. The classic example of the kind of situation 

which the Act sought to address was the congregation 

to which a minister had been inducted, say, twenty years 

previously, but over the years the whole fabric of the parish 

had changed significantly, many members had moved 

away from the area and there was no longer any viable 

membership base for future recruitment; yet the minister 

could remain in post, preaching to largely empty pews, for 

another twenty years. The Commission understands that 

the Ministries Council is looking at this legislation which, 

incidentally, has never been used, and would encourage 

that Council in its review. 

8.6 A Church Representative of Christian Faith of the 

Scottish People 

8.6.1 As noted this phrase has been challenged 

very strongly by CWW and others and the challenge 

is a reasonable one in a context where many Scottish 

Christians belong to other denominations and many Scots 

belong to a variety of faith communities or none. The 

suggestion has been made that the Article be amended to 

speak, not of the Church as “representative of the Christian 

faith of the Scottish people”, but as “representative of the 

Christian faith to the Scottish people.” However, such an 

amendment is not without its difficulties, conveying as 

it does a sense that the Church of Scotland is somehow 

more authentically representative of the Faith than other 

Christian denominations. It is interesting to note that this 

debate is not new. In fact it took place back in 1918 when 

the Articles were being framed but, at the end of the day, 

the text as we have it was the one agreed. 


8.6.2 However, going beyond this specific amendment 

the Commission had a more general concern over 

“tinkering” with a statement of its time in an attempt to 

bring it up to date. The process of amending the Articles 

Declaratory is cumbersome. It requires any amendment 

to be adopted by three successive General Assemblies 

with the approval of two-thirds of “the whole of the 

Presbyteries of the Church” in the intervening years. To 

date the only amendment which has been made was 

the deletion of the words “Provincial Synods” from Article 

II following the abolition of synods in 1992. An earlier 

attempt to make amendments relating to the status of 

the Westminster Confession of Faith between 1972 and 

1974 cleared the various hurdles but eventually failed 

when it came before the 1974 General Assembly for final 

approval. Given the potential for drafting by committee 

on such a vast scale the Commission came to the view 

that the text of the Articles should be left unchanged 

but that the General Assembly should declare anew 

the sense in which it understands the Article and how it 

applies the principles it expresses. 

8.6.3 Certainly in interpreting the phrase today we need 

to stress (see above) that a ‘post- Christian’ Scotland is not 

the same as a ‘pre-Christian’ Scotland. (In some ways it is a 

more difficult mission context.) Using Rowan Williams’ idea 

that a ‘parochial presence speaks of a relationship of loyalty 

between church and society’ (which he acknowledges is 

at times a deeply awkward and dangerous thing!) Williams 

develops the idea of the churches’ availability (mediated 

through a local parish presence), as a sign of ‘God’s 

accessibility’. He also speaks of the ways in which a proper 

sense of Christian ‘solidarity’ with wider society picks the 

diverse sets of human historical relationships in which 

we live and makes of them a symphony of difference to 

be enjoyed and celebrated. According to Williams, parish 

church and emerging church are faced with precisely the 

same set of problems in terms of how we witness to the 

distinctiveness of the Christian community in its obedience 

to God’s call while at the same time recognising all the 

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chance factors of history and culture that will make it 

easier or harder to be committed to Jesus’ company. 15 

8.6.4 Following this understanding of the parish 

based system, as sign of God’s presence to the people 

and exhibiting in God’s name the divine initiative and 

invitation to them to respond, the Commission believes 

that we should not withdraw from that visible sign of 

God’s commitment to the people without considerable 

thought and reflection of the ways in which that might be 

interpreted. If the parish based system has indeed been a 

relation of ‘loyalty’ (to which we might also add faithfulness) 

to the people in God’s name the Church should not be the 

first to draw back from that loyalty. 

8.6.5 Indeed, such a move might very well have 

unintended and retrograde consequences. More 

positively, as Professor David Fergusson has argued, the 

Reformed tradition has traditionally advocated ‘not the 

abandonment of secular society but a critical support 

for its institutions and practices.’ 16 To this we might add 

–‘and a desire for their transformation according to the 

values of the Kingdom of God.’ It would be regrettable if 

an abandonment of the idea that the Church of Scotland 

somehow represented the ‘people of Scotland’ led to a 

diminution in the wider political and social witness of the 

Church. Therefore, it is still perhaps appropriate to speak 

of the Church of Scotland as the Church ‘of’ the people 

of Scotland in terms of our belonging to them through 

the historic pattern of service that we inherited post 1560 

and 1690. This is not an inalienable or fixed way of being 

the church today, but it has been our particular privilege, 

calling and vocation and we would be well advised to 

think carefully about all the implications before departing 

from it. As such the ‘of/to’ distinction might be regarded as 

a distinction without a difference if we interpret this as a 

responsibility to engage the people of Scotland wherever 

they might be with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

15 Rowan Williams, The Future of the Parish System, p54 

16 David Fergusson, The Future of the Kirk, p14 


8.6.6 In forming this view the Commission was 

encouraged by a leading article in the Herald newspaper of 

18 July 2009. Addressing the implications of the economic 

recession for the Church of Scotland the article noted 

the remit of the Special Commission and commented as 

follows: 

The eff ort of keeping a presence in every corner 

of Scotland is becoming an increasingly uneven 

struggle, despite a long-running tradition of crosssubsidy. 

Currently 408 charges (35%) help support 

the remaining 745. Without this help many 

churches in sparsely populated rural areas and 

those in poor multiply deprived urban communities 

would have been forced to close long ago. These 

congregations, though often small in numbers, 

often provide vital support and stability for their 

hard-pressed communities. This response to the 

poorest and most marginalised is formalised in the 

identifi cation by the Church of Urban Priority Areas 

as targets for concern. Many see this in terms of a 

gospel imperative and central to what they do. 

However, one option now under consideration is to 

abandon the territorial ministry in favour of going 

only “where there is suffi cient demand”, eff ectively 

turning the Church of Scotland into the Church of 

the Suburbs. 

This is too big an issue for the Church to tackle on its 

own. Certainly kirk members should be encouraged 

to give a fi tting proportion of their wealth as many 

already do. But there is an onus on those who, while 

not active, still consider themselves part of the kirk 

and who would miss it if it disappeared. And in 

the case of historic or socially important buildings 

churches also deserve support from society as a 

whole. 

8.7 The Ordinances Of Religion 

8.7.1 The Commission is quite clear that the task of 

bringing the “ordinances of religion” to the people of

Scotland cannot simply be understood as the passive 

supplying of the religious needs of the population on 

request in terms of ‘matching, hatching and dispatching.’ 

The phrase must be interpreted dynamically in missional 

terms, not statically in reactive terms. Our calling is nothing 

other than the challenging of the people of Scotland with 

a vision of God’s kingdom and asking them to respond 

to it in faith and love. That involves worship and the 

celebration of the sacraments to be sure. The Shorter 

Catechism reminds us that the chief end of human beings 

is the glory and praise of God; but ‘diaconal’ service to the 

nation is also involved. Worship and service to the world 

are often falsely opposed and we should resist such a 

facile understanding of what are in truth complementary 

responses to the Gospel. The Commission was reminded 

of Jürgen Moltmann’s work on the two states of Christ 

– exalted and humiliated- which the Church is called to 

make manifest in the world. For Moltmann Christ is present 

in his exalted state in the proclamation of his word, the 

celebration of the sacraments and the worshipping life 

of the Church. He is present in his humiliated state in his 

oneness with the poor and the destitute and the broken 

of the world. The Church makes Christ present in all his 

fullness when it brings these two dimensions together 

and worship and faith are offered in diaconal service to 

the poor and needy. 17 

8.8 A ‘National’ or ‘Established’ Church 

8.8.1 The Commission rejects the idea that the Church’s 

status is based on narrowly legal grounds. That we are ‘a 

national’ church is part of the historic calling and vocation 

17 See Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, London: 

SCM Press, 1977, p129. If the Church appeals to the crucifi ed and risen 

Christ, must it not represent this double brotherhood of Christ in itself, 

and be present with the word and sacrament, fellowship and all creative 

powers among the poor, the hungry and the captives? Then the Church 

would not simply be a ‘divinely human mystery’ but the mystery of this 

double presence of Christ. Then the Church with its mission would be 

present where Christ awaits it, amid the downtrodden, the sick and the 

captives. The apostolate says what the Church is. The least of Christ’s 

brethren say where the Church belongs. 


that we have received and it has given a certain character 

and tone to the life of the Church of Scotland. As already 

remarked it is important to note that the third Article 

Declaratory speaks of “a” rather than “the” national Church. 

We need not claim ‘unique’ possession of that title, but 

suffice to say it has long been our specific calling, privilege 

and duty in the context of the development of the 

religious life of Scotland. In the view of the Commission 

we abandon it at our peril. Equally, the Commission readily 

acknowledges that reaching the people of Scotland is an 

ecumenical task and one to which the Church of Scotland 

contributes along with other denominations as partners 

in the Gospel. 

8.8.2 It has to be acknowledged, however, that this 

affirmation is not based on any great evidence that there 

is at present scope for a ‘top-down’ ecumenical strategy 

which would assist the Church of Scotland in living up to its 

historic calling to serve the people of Scotland. If changes 

in the temper of the nation, combined with our own 

institutional decline, mean that we are severely challenged 

in living out the sentiments of the third Article Declaratory 

the answer is not to abandon the commitment because it 

is burdensome, but to find new ways of fulfilling it. In the 

Commission’s opinion an honest desire and serious call 

for a sharing with our sister churches in ministering to the 

whole of Scotland and in all aspects of Scottish life must 

be part of any new strategy. While there are matters of 

doctrine, worship, liturgy and church polity on which we 

differ, we all share a common call to mission and service 

in Christ’s name. The Commission would remind the 

General Assembly of the “Lund principle” 18 which holds 

that churches should only do separately that which they 

cannot do together and surely, there is much that can be 

18 The Lund Principle is an important principle in ecumenical relations 

between Christian churches. It affi rms that churches should act together 

in all matters except those in which deep diff erences of conviction 

compel them to act separately.It was agreed by the 1952 Faith and Order 

Conference of the World Council of Churches held at Lund, Sweden. 

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achieved by greater co-operation amongst the Scottish 

churches. The Commission understands that our partner 

churches also face similar challenges of reducing numbers, 

both of ministers and active members. They face the same 

difficulties in resourcing and serving congregations on 

the geographical fringes of Scotland and also in some 

of its most challenging areas of poverty and deprivation. 

The time may not yet be right for structural and organic 

union but that does not prevent our encouraging local, 

pragmatic on the ground forms of co-operation which 

enable the churches more effectively to reach the people 

of Scotland today. The work of the Priority Areas Committee 

is an excellent example of what can be achieved. 

8.8.3 By happy coincidence the Commission is 

reporting to the Assembly of 2010 - the year in which 

we acknowledge the birth of the modern ecumenical 

movement in the Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 

1910. What more opportune moment could there be for 

the Assembly to issue a call that the churches in Scotland 

work more closely together in mission and service to the 

people of Scotland? 

9. Conclusions and Recommendations 

9.1 Following the consultations and deliberations 

narrated above the Commission has reached the following 

conclusions and brings these now as recommendations 

to the General Assembly. 

9.2 The Commission recommends that the Church 

of Scotland adhere to the principles set forth in the 

third Article Declaratory and that the General Assembly 

pass a Declaratory Act setting out the sense in which it 

understands the sentiments expressed in the text of 

the Article. Declaratory Acts do not make new law but 

clarify existing legislation or doctrine. The same ends 

might equally be achieved by simple deliverance but the 

advantage of a Declaratory Act is that, unlike a deliverance, 

it becomes part of the standing law of the Church, 

published along with the other legislation of the Church, 


and is thereby more accessible. Given the importance 

of the Church’s understanding of the third Article being 

widely known the Commission judges that it should be 

readily accessible to all who seek it. 

9.3 The proposed Declaratory Act is in the following 

terms: 

The General Assembly declare as follows: 

(1) The Church of Scotland reaffirms the principles 

enshrined in the third Article Declaratory and 

declares anew its commitment to be a national 

church with a distinctive evangelical and pastoral 

concern for the people and nation of Scotland; 

(2) The Church of Scotland asserts that, while this 

commitment is recognised by Act of Parliament, 

namely the Church of Scotland Act 1921 and 

Articles Declaratory appended thereto, its true 

origin and entire basis lie not in civil law but in 

the Church’s own calling by Jesus Christ, its King 

and Head; 

(3) The Church of Scotland remains committed to 

the ecumenical vision set out in the seventh 

Article Declaratory and, in pursuit of that vision, 

stands eager to share with other churches in 

Christian mission and service to the people of 

Scotland; 

(4) The Church of Scotland understands the words 

“a national church representative of the Christian 

faith of the Scottish people” as a recognition of both 

the Church’s distinctive place in Scottish history 

and culture and its continuing responsibility to 

engage the people of Scotland wherever they 

might be with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

(5) The Church of Scotland understands the phrase 

“bring the ordinances of religion to the people 

in every parish of Scotland through a territorial 

ministry” to mean a commitment to maintain 

worshipping, witnessing and serving Christian 

congregations throughout Scotland.

9.4 As well as commending the foregoing Declaratory 

Act the Commission asks the General Assembly to call 

upon the whole Church to give heed and respond with 

a sense of real urgency to the challenges coming from 

the Ministries Council, the General Trustees and those 

charged with the Church’s stewardship and distribution of 

resources. In addition the Commission asks the Assembly 

to issue the following instructions to the relevant agencies 

of the Church: 

1. Affirm the key role of Presbyteries in the delivery 

of the commitment expressed in the third Article 

Declaratory as understood by the Church and instruct 

Presbyteries anew to engage with the process 

instructed by the General Assembly of 2008 to create 

a Presbytery structure which can more effectively 

manage the deployment of the Church’s ministerial 

and other resources. 

2. Instruct the Ecumenical Relations Committee, in 

consultation with the Ministries Council and relevant 

Presbyteries of the bounds, to seek discussions with 

sister churches with a view to identifying areas where 

a sharing of ministries and buildings would enable 

a more effective ministering to communities around 

Scotland and to report to the General Assembly of 

2012. 

3. Instruct the Ministries Council to give consideration 

to the establishing of arrangements similar to the 

Shetland arrangements for other remote areas and 

to report to the General Assembly of 2011. 

4. Urge ministers of word and sacrament to give 

prayerful consideration to serving urban priority area 

and remote rural parishes. 


5. Instruct the Ministries Council, as it takes forward 

the Presbytery planning process, to engage with 

the General Trustees and Presbyteries on the 

development of a strategic plan for church buildings 

and to report to the General Assembly of 2012. 

6. Instruct the Ministries Council in consultation with the 

Worship and Doctrine Task Group of the Mission and 

Discipleship Council to consider authorising identified 

and appropriately trained individuals to celebrate the 

sacraments in the absence of an ordained minister 

and to report to the General Assembly of 2011. 

7. Instruct the Ministries Council, in consultation with 

the Legal Questions Committee, to review the 

helpfulness of Act VI, 1984 anent Congregations in 

Changed Circumstances with regard to ministerial 

flexibility and to report with proposals to the General 

Assembly of 2011. 

9.5 Let the final word come from a Kirk Session 19 which 

responded to the Commission’s invitation in Life and Work 

to submit comments: 

There are no disposable parts of Scotland and no 

disposable people in Scotland. The Kirk has an obligation 

to the whole country and all its people. It does not have 

an obligation, however, to do things as we always did 

them, and in particular to stick to one model of paid, 

full-time ordained ministry. The third Declaratory Article 

should remain, but radical rethinking of how we fulfi l it is 

essential. 

In the name of the Commission 

ALAN D McDONALD, Convener 

19 Kirk Session of Kennoway, Windygates and Balgonie: St Kenneth’s 

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APPENDIX 1 

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND ACT, 1921 

An Act to declare the lawfulness of certain Articles 

Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of 

Scotland in matters spiritual prepared with the 

Authority of the General Assembly of the Church. 


[28th July 1921.] 

1. The Declaratory Articles are lawful articles, and the 

constitution of the Church of Scotland in matters spiritual 

is as therein set forth, and no limitation of the liberty, rights, 

and powers in matters spiritual therein set forth shall be 

derived from any statute or law affecting the Church of 

Scotland in matters spiritual at present in force, it being 

hereby declared that in all questions of construction the 

Declaratory Articles shall prevail, and that all such statutes 

and laws shall be construed in conformity therewith and 

in subordination thereto, and all such statutes and laws in 

so far as they are inconsistent with the Declaratory Articles 

are hereby repealed and declared to be of no effect. 

2. Nothing contained in this Act or in any other Act affecting 

the Church of Scotland shall prejudice the recognition of any 

other Church in Scotland as a Christian Church protected by 

law in the exercise of its spiritual functions. 

3. Subject to the recognition of the matters dealt with in 

the Declaratory Articles as matters spiritual, nothing in this 

Act contained shall affect or prejudice the jurisdiction of 

the civil courts in relation to any matter of a civil nature. 

4. This Act may be cited as the Church of Scotland Act, 

1921, and shall come into operation on such date as His 

Majesty may fix by Order in Council after the Declaratory 

Articles shall have been adopted by an Act of the General 

Assembly of the Church of Scotland with the consent of a 

majority of the Presbyteries of the Church. 

[The Schedule to the Act contains the Articles Declaratory 

of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland in Matters 

Spiritual. These were duly adopted by the Assembly by 

Barrier Act procedure. The Church of Scotland Order in 

Council, 1926, fixed 28th June, 1926, as the date on which 

the 1921 Act would come into operation.] 

SCHEDULE 

ARTICLES DECLARATORY OF THE 

CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH OF 

SCOTLAND IN MATTERS SPIRITUAL 

I. The Church of Scotland is part of the Holy Catholic 

or Universal Church; worshipping one God, Almighty, 

all-wise, and all-loving, in the Trinity of the Father, the 

Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance, equal in 

power and glory; adoring the Father, infinite in Majesty, of 

whom are all things; confessing our Lord Jesus Christ, the 

Eternal Son, made very man for our salvation; glorying 

in His Cross and Resurrection, and owning obedience to 

Him as the Head over all things to His Church; trusting in 

the promised renewal and guidance of the Holy Spirit; 

proclaiming the forgiveness of sins and acceptance with 

God through faith in Christ, and the gift of Eternal Life; 

and labouring for the advancement of the Kingdom 

of God throughout the world. The Church of Scotland 

adheres to the Scottish Reformation; receives the Word 

of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old 

and New Testaments as its supreme rule of faith and life; 

and avows the fundamental doctrines of the Catholic 

faith founded thereupon. 

II. The principal subordinate standard of the Church of 

Scotland is the Westminster Confession of Faith approved 

by the General Assembly of 1647, containing the sum 

and substance of the Faith of the Reformed Church. Its 

government is Presbyterian, and is exercised through Kirk 

Sessions, Presbyteries, [Provincial Synods deleted by Act V, 

1992], and General Assemblies. Its system and principles 

of worship, orders, and discipline are in accordance with 

“The Directory for the Public Worship of God,” “The Form 

of Presbyterial Church Government “ and “The Form 

of Process,” as these have been or may hereafter be 


interpreted or modified by Acts of the General Assembly 

or by consuetude. 

III. This Church is in historical continuity with the Church 

of Scotland which was reformed in 1560, whose liberties 

were ratified in 1592, and for whose security provision 

was made in the Treaty of Union of 1707. The continuity 

and identity of the Church of Scotland are not prejudiced 

by the adoption of these Articles. As a national Church 

representative of the Christian Faith of the Scottish people 

it acknowledges its distinctive call and duty to bring the 

ordinances of religion to the people in every parish of 

Scotland through a territorial ministry. 

IV. This Church as part of the Universal Church wherein 

the Lord Jesus Christ has appointed a government in 

the hands of Church office-bearers, receives from Him, 

its Divine King and Head, and From Him alone, the right 

and power subject to no civil authority to legislate, and 

to adjudicate finally, in all matters of doctrine, worship, 

government, and discipline in the Church, including the 

right to determine all questions concerning membership 

and office in the Church, the constitution and membership 

of its Courts, and the mode of election of its office-bearers, 

and to define the boundaries of the spheres of labour of 

its ministers and other office-bearers. Recognition by civil 

authority of the separate and independent government 

and jurisdiction of this Church in matters spiritual, in 

whatever manner such recognition be expressed, does 

not in any way affect the character of this government and 

jurisdiction as derived from the Divine Head of the Church 

alone or give to the civil authority any right of interference 

with the proceedings or judgments of the Church within 

the sphere of its spiritual government and jurisdiction. 

V. This Church has the inherent right, free from 

interference by civil authority, but under the safeguards 

for deliberate action and legislation provided by the 

Church itself, to frame or adopt its subordinate standards, 

to declare the sense in which it understands its Confession 

of Faith, to modify the forms of expression therein, or to 


formulate other doctrinal statements, and to define 

the relation thereto of its office-bearers and members, 

but always in agreement with the Word of God and the 

fundamental doctrines of the Christian Faith contained in 

the said Confession, of which agreement the Church shall 

be sole judge, and with due regard to liberty of opinion in 

points which do not enter into the substance of the Faith. 

VI. This Church acknowledges the divine appointment 

and authority of the civil magistrate within his own 

sphere, and maintains its historic testimony to the duty 

of the nation acting in its corporate capacity to render 

homage to God, to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to 

be King over the nations, to obey His laws, to reverence 

His ordinances, to honour His Church, and to promote 

in all appropriate ways the Kingdom of God. The Church 

and the State owe mutual duties to each other, and acting 

within their respective spheres may signally promote each 

other’s welfare. The Church and the State have the right 

to determine each for itself all questions concerning the 

extent and the continuance of their mutual relations in 

the discharge of these duties and the obligations arising 

therefrom. 

VII. The Church of Scotland, believing it to be the will 

of Christ that His disciples should be all one in the Father 

and in Him, that the world may believe that the Father has 

sent Him, recognises the obligation to seek and promote 

union with other Churches in which it finds the Word to be 

purely preached, the sacraments administered according 

to Christ’s ordinance, and discipline rightly exercised; and 

it has the right to unite with any such Church without 

loss of its identity on terms which this Church finds to be 

consistent with these Articles. 

VIII. The Church has the right to interpret these Articles, 

and, subject to the safeguards for deliberate action and 

legislation provided by the Church itself, to modify or add to 

them; but always consistently with the provisions of the first 

Article hereof, adherence to which, as interpreted by the 

Church, is essential to its continuity and corporate life. Any 


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proposal for a modification of or addition to these Articles 

which may be approved of by the General Assembly shall, 

before it can be enacted by the Assembly, be transmitted by 

way of overture to Presbyteries in at least two immediately 

successive years. If the overture shall receive the approval, 

with or without suggested amendment, of two-thirds of 

the whole of the Presbyteries of the Church, the Assembly 

may revise the overture in the light of any suggestions by 

the Presbyteries, and may transmit the overture when so 

revised to Presbyteries for their consent. If the overture as 

transmitted in its final form shall receive the consent of not 

less than two-thirds of the whole of the Presbyteries of the 

Church, the General Assembly may, if it deems it expedient, 

modify or add to these Articles in terms of the said overture. 

But if the overture as transmitted in its final form shall 

not receive the requisite consent, the same or a similar 

proposal shall not be again transmitted for the consent of 

Presbyteries until an interval of five years after the failure 

to obtain the requisite consent has been reported to the 


IX. Subject to the provisions of the foregoing Articles 

and the powers of amendment therein contained, the 

Constitution of the Church of Scotland in matters spiritual 

is hereby anew ratified and confirmed by the Church. 

APPENDIX 2 

EXTRACT FROM 2001 CHURCH WITHOUT 

WALLS REPORT RELATING TO THE THIRD 

ARTICLE DECLARATORY REFERRED TO IN 

REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMISSION ON 

STRUCTURE AND CHANGE 

“Assumption 1. The Christian Faith is the “Christian Faith 

of the Scottish people”, assuming that the majority of the 

population hold to that allegiance. 

When the Scottish Census of Church Attendance in 1994 

revealed that only 14% of the population were in church 

on that Sunday, and only 5% of the adult population were 


in any Church of Scotland church, the assumption no 

longer holds. This is one measure of the secularisation of 

Scotland throughout the 20th century. 

While there is more goodwill towards the Kirk than these 

statistics would suggest, Robin Gill’s recent research shows 

that loss of Church attendance does lead to the erosion of 

Christian belief in society. There is no solace in attributing 

Christian belief to a nation that worships at other altars. 

Being Christian in today’s Scotland is different from 

being Christian in 1921. Scotland is multicultural and has 

welcomed new Scots of other faiths. The statement is 

heard in a new political context that is conscious of the 

dynamics of majority/minority interests. 

Assumption 2. The Church was held to be “representative 

of” that majority faith. It was claiming to be the voice of 

the people rather than a voice to the people. 

The Church of Scotland must take her place alongside 

other churches in being a “representative of the Christian 

faith among the Scottish people.” The context is now 

overtly missionary with the collapse of the Christendom 

canopy. Pastoral presence, creative communication, and 

patient persuasion require a more proactive role for the 

Church of Scotland in the 21st century. 

Assumption 3. The “ordinances of religion” were to be 

offered on a supply and demand basis. 

The opportunities for pastoral presence are still our 

privilege at the crucial points of life relating to birth, marriage 

and death – as well as other points of intervention such as 

divorce and remarriage. The congregation that is able to 

be alongside people and accompany them on the journey 

of life, will not lack opportunity to share the Good News of 

Jesus Christ in appropriate and life-changing ways. 

While demand for baptisms and marriages decreases, the 

demand for funerals remains high, requiring a massive 

time commitment from ministers. This commitment alone 


highlights the need to be part of a team ministering in 

the area, if pastoral leadership is to remain fresh, and 

bereavement care is to be appropriately offered. Teams 

will be different in different places. 

Assumption 4. The “territorial ministry” is taken as a norm 

assuming social stability and cohesion. Today we recognise 

the many sector ministries that have emerged in the past 

50 years in industry, hospitals, universities, technology and 

the arts. 

Society is such that everybody lives in a parish, but nobody 

lives in a parish. People belong to networks of friendship, 

work and leisure pursuits, or associate with the “flow cultures” 

of transient groups of people. Apart from rural communities, 

the virtual community of the docu-soaps or the Internet 

may be more real than the neighbour next door. 

The future lies in sharing partnerships with neighbouring 

congregations of various traditions, and tapping into the 

sector specialisms designed to connect with people in 

their work, leisure, or crisis moments. Trust and openness 

will create grassroots “matrix ministry”. 

The parish structure may become a problem when it 

is used as a base for power or possessiveness. When 

put at the service of the Gospel and the whole church, 

it can still be a catalyst to mission. As we learn how to 

work together as one Church in Scotland, the Church 

of Scotland parish church is still perceived as the strong 

partner with a unique power base in the community. 

Christ-formed relationships will reflect the mind of Christ 

who laid aside the place of power to take the way of the 

servant. 

Partner churches have spoken of the generosity of the 

Church of Scotland in many ecumenical ventures, and the 

“charism of the big heart”. Where that spirit is shown locally, 

the potential for partnership in mission is immense. 

Assumption 5. The basic assumption is that the people 

are Christians and we offer a national spiritual health 


service on demand. The result is a deep frustration and 

cynicism among office-bearers who will still speak of 

people not being “Kirk hungry”. They lost their appetite a 

long time ago for church, but there are many signs of a 

spiritual quest that is passing our doors. 

The changed situation is an opportunity, not a threat. Often 

people feel ill-equipped to meet that challenge, which 

requires a capacity for deep listening, a new spirituality 

and a focus on Christian discipleship rather than church 

membership. 

In times past, faith has been passed from one generation 

to another. Today that “chain of memory” has been broken. 

People are mobile, families are fragmented and society 

is less stable. All these factors erode long-term memory 

in our culture. How does the Church nurture long-term 

disciples in a short-term culture? 

Assumption 6. The final observation lies in the issue 

of identity. If the Church of Scotland defines itself as a 

National Church only by statute, it will have at its heart 

a legalistic flaw. The only rationale for the Church of 

Scotland is to declare its identity, purpose and calling 

to be by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. To live in the 

grace of God means to live out the grace of God. The 

parish system is a sign that the grace of God is offered to 

every person in the land, in all its parts and sectors. Grace 

means travelling with God across inherited boundaries 

to be part of the networks of society and understand the 

many sub-cultures around us. 

If the Church of Scotland assumes that it exists by legal 

right and by claims of social influence and power, it will 

lose its life. If it lives by grace and gives away power by 

grace in order to make known the Gospel of grace, then, 

in partnership with the whole Body of Christ, we will share 

in making Christ known in our land. 

If we were to restate the purpose of the Church of Scotland 

in our context, it might include: 


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As part of the world Church, we are committed to the 

spiritual welfare of the whole Scottish nation and to share 

in God’s mission across the world. 

Along with other branches of Christ’s Church, we seek 

humbly to represent the Christian Faith among the 

Scottish people. 

Together, we acknowledge our distinctive call and duty to 

bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in every 

part of Scotland. 

We recognise the call, through a shared ministry of pastoral 

and prophetic evangelism, to serve people in all the 

communities and sectors of their lives. 

As part of the world church we celebrate the privilege of 

partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

As the Church of the Way, we sit loose to every pattern of 

organisation, ready to respond to the call of the Spirit in 

our times. 

As part of the whole church we are called to share the 

whole Gospel with the whole nation – and the whole 

world.” 

APPENDIX 3 

EXTRACT FROM PANEL ON DOCTRINE 2005 

REPORT ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF CHURCH 

WITHOUT WALLS FOR THE THEOLOGY OF THE 

CHURCH 

The future of the Church of Scotland 

The Declaratory Articles have provided the Church of 

Scotland with its constitutional basis since 1921. Within 

these articles the classic, if brief, definition of the identity 

of the Church is to be found. Article I grounds the origin, 

existence and identity of the Church in the purpose and 

plan of God through Jesus Christ, in the life-giving, life 

sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. And then Article III, 

given attention in CWW, is of some significance in that it 

is a concise expression of the contextual identity of the 

Church of Scotland. According to the terms of the Article, 


this identity has two dimensions. One dimension consists 

in the historical continuity of the Church of Scotland with 

the Scottish Reformation and the presbyterian tradition 

ratified and recognised by law; the other dimension 

consists in what might be called the social continuity of 

the Church of Scotland with people and nation. 76 Thus, 

according to the terms of Article III, these two continuities, 

the historical and the social, inform the distinctive 

contextual identity of the Church of Scotland. 

With the rise of ‘post-modern’, ‘post-Christendom’ culture, 

deeply affecting the society in which the church operates, 

this contextual identity of the Church has come under 

increasing pressure and the CWW Report forms part of the 

Church of Scotland’s response to this situation. However, 

with its emphasis on the future of the Church of Scotland, 

the CWW Report has largely neglected the historical 

continuities of the Reformed tradition, its theology and 

polity. With both dimensions of the contextual identity of 

the Church of Scotland, the historical and the social, put 

into question like this, matters of profound import for the 

identity of the Church of Scotland have been raised. These 

are complex issues indeed, and ‘to seek to understand 

one’s own heritage and distinctiveness and to confront 

the exclusive demands of the gospel is not easy. But the 

church confronts a serious crisis - namely the pervasive 

confusion about its own identity, a crisis that can be solved 

only by further serious theological reflection.’ 77 

Should we tread as lightly as CWW implies with the 

Reformed inheritance? The orientation towards change 

and renewal is commendable, but the severing of formal 

bonds of connection both across time and place leads 

to a mixture of messages being given, and all too little 

clarity, sometimes, on what is of greatest importance. We 

need to affirm the significant debts we owe to those who 

have gone before as well as the energies of those who 

dream for the future. The beauty of the historic tradition 

lies in its appreciation of the catholicity or universality of 

the church, its unity as the Body of Christ, and the life- 


creating, community-shaping (Spirit) power of word 

and sacrament. This is an idea that could be fruitfully 

developed in various ways. One needful way would be to 

note how the principle of the unity of the Body of Christ is 

such that the experience of the Church includes not only 

growth (cf. 2 Corinthians 4.15) but suffering and weakness 

(cf. 2 Corinthians 4. 11,12), as a participation in the cross of 

Jesus Christ. If one part suffers then all suffer. In this light 

we are bound to take into consideration the whole Church 

in Scotland, in ecumenical perspective and whether it 

is growing and flourishing or experiencing the brunt of 

decline along with the church elsewhere in God’s world. 

For the sixteenth-century Reformers, the Church was 

understood to exist in two dimensions - the visible and the 

invisible. Our faith is securely rooted in the invisible church 

as well as in the visible, ie the communion of saints as it is, 

and as it shall be, in the Father’s purposes, shaped by Christ 

through his Holy Spirit. It is worthwhile reflecting that the 

circumstances of the visible church in Europe in centuries 

past were in some respects far more chaotic than our own, 

yet here was a constant source of hope and confidence, 

which enabled our forebears to work with a vital sense of 

relativity concerning the historical changes in the outward 

forms and social circumstances of the Church. 

There will be a secure place for the local within this 

honouring of the classic Reformed doctrine of the Church. 

The Reformers’ marks of the Church referred to above, to 

do with Word and Sacraments and discipline, vitally take 

root in the Church within its locality, albeit shaped by 

the catholic or universal truth of the Gospel. The origins 

of community lie in the encounter between the people 

and the Word of God; Word with Sacraments promise life 

in its fullness, and where these are found, there will be a 

dynamic, living, worshipping community of faith. There 

may be a gathering of thousands or only a few, two or 

three in number, but our confidence is placed in the power 

of God to bless the communion of saints past, present and 

future. 



APPENDIX 4 

MEMBERS OF THE SPECIAL COMMISSION 

The Very Rev Dr Alan D McDonald, Minister at Cameron 

linked with St Andrews: St Leonard’s; previous ministries 

at Aberdeen: Holburn Central and as Community Minister 

at Edinburgh:Drylaw, Muirhouse and the Old Kirk (Pilton) 

(Convener). 

The Rev James S Dewar, Minister at Edinburgh: Juniper Green; 

previous ministry at Reay, Strathy and Halladale, Caithness. 

Mr Robin Forrest, Elder at London: St Columba’s, former 

member of the Board of Practice and Procedure. 

Mr Alexander F Gemmill, Elder at Edinburgh: Gorgie; formerly 

a Deputy General Treasurer of the Church. 

Rev Elizabeth Henderson, Minister at Edinburgh: Richmond 

Craigmillar; previous ministry at Edinburgh: Granton. 

Miss Ann Lyall, DCS, Deacon at Ardgour, Morvern and 

Strontian; previous appointments as Chaplain to the 

Homeless Community in Glasgow and as Deacon at Glasgow: 

Castlemilk East. 

The Rev Malcolm M Macdougall, Minister at Eddleston linked 

with Peebles: Old; previous ministry at Edinburgh: Portobello: 

St James’. 

The Rev Dr Peter McEnhill, Minister at Kilmacolm: Old, 

previous ministry at Glasgow: Anderston; formerly Lecturer in 

Theology at Westminster College, Cambridge. 

Dr Judith Taylor, Elder at Cruden, Moderator of the Youth 

Assembly, 2006-2007. 

Clerk to the Special Commission 

The Very Rev Dr Finlay A J Macdonald, Principal Clerk. 

25

JOINT REPORT OF THE MISSION AND DISCIPLESHIP AND MINISTRIES 

COUNCILS ON THE EMERGING CHURCH 

May 2010 



1. Contextual Theology Project: Research 

into new forms and patterns of Church 

The General Assembly in 2008 approved the Ministries 

Council report Building for the Future – From the Grassroots, 

which affi rmed the concept of ‘a mixed economy where 

both existing and fresh expressions of church co-exist, not 

at the expense of each other, but for the benefi t of the 

whole’. At the same General Assembly, permission was 

given to form the Emerging Church Joint Working Party 

as a collaboration between the Ministries and Mission and 

Discipleship Councils. It operates with the following remit: 

(a) to refl ect on what constitutes emerging church and 

to take into account its theological emphases; and (b) to 

consider in faithfulness to God its implications for the local 

church in responding to contemporary challenges and 

adjusting to changes in culture, society and spirituality. 

Its interim report was presented to the General Assembly 

in 2009, which instructed both Councils “to continue to 

off er support, encouragement and critique to those involved 

in the emerging church conversation” and “to identify the 

theological, practical and legal issues raised for a Presbyterian 

polity…and report to a future General Assembly”. It also 

encouraged the Church to understand the emerging 

church as “an intentional, ecumenical conversation about the 

future of the church” rather than a programme to develop a 

new brand of church. 


REPORT 

1.1 The Joint Working Party, in light of further deliberation, 

has now commissioned a research project, with the 

aim of framing a theological response to the practical 

and pragmatic questions arising at the ‘grassroots’. The 

starting point for the research is to select an appropriate 

number of new models of church that are currently 

being funded through the Emerging Ministries Fund 

(EMF) of the Ministries Council, and to consider what are 

the most important common features in the launch and 

development of these new models. It is expected that the 

results of the research will be incorporated into a further 

report to the General Assembly of 2011. 

1.2 By way of background, the Emerging Ministries Fund 

seeks to promote and encourage new forms or patterns 

of church that are recognisably (a) missional; (b) ecclesial; 

and (c) experimental. 

1.3 The research project, therefore, shall have as its 

principal aim addressing the following questions (and 

others arising as the research unfolds): 

• What makes this new form or pattern of church 

‘missional’ and outward looking? 


an approach that is manifestly ‘new’ and evidently 

‘experimental’? 

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authentically ‘church’? 


recognisably ‘reformed’ in theology, practice, 

relationships, ethos or values? 

• How does this new form or pattern of church measure 

or evaluate its ‘progress’ in these early stages of 

development? 

• What have been the critical ‘partnerships’ or ‘relationships’ 

in encouraging progress and development; and what 

other things are needed? 

1.4 In pursuing this approach, the Joint Working Party 

has been infl uenced by the 2002 Panel on Doctrine report 

on the Nature and Purpose of the Church, which was a 

piece of contextual theology. The Panel had been asked 

to respond to a document produced by the World Council 

of Churches on the Nature and the Purpose of the Church. 

They chose to do so by using the real experience of fi ve 

projects supported by the Priority Areas Fund. Rather 

than ‘the academy’ determining ‘a correct response’, the 

grassroots theology of the church supplied it. A similar 

approach will apply in this instance too, relying upon 

the experience and self-understanding of those involved 

in new models and fresh expressions of church to guide 

refl ection on what is, essentially, an exercise in practical 

theology. 

1.5 The Joint Working Party, after careful deliberation 

and lengthy discussion, has appointed John and Olive 

Drane as the most suitable persons to undertake the 

research, both of whom are well equipped and able to 

complete this exercise. Its results are expected to be made 

available to the Joint Working Party in the autumn of 2010, 

supported by at least a couple of occasions in the interim 

when researchers and Joint Working Party together will 

review the progress that has been made and agree any 

necessary adjustments to improve the quality of the 

research fi ndings. 

JOINT REPORT 

1.6 In the meantime, the Joint Working Party commends 

the work on emerging church and emerging ministries 

that has been undertaken by the Development Offi cer 

(New and Emerging Ministries), which is reported upon 

elsewhere in reports to this General Assembly. 

On behalf of the Mission and 

Discipleship and Ministries Councils 

MARK E JOHNSTONE, Convener (Mission and Discipleship) 

STEVEN MALLON, Council Secretary (Mission and 

Discipleship) 

GRAHAM FINCH, Convener (Ministries) 

MARTIN SCOTT, Council Secretary (Ministries) 

APPENDIX 

MEMBERS OF THE EMERGING 

CHURCH JOINT WORKING PARTY 

Rev Neil Dougall, Convener 

Mrs Linda Dunnett 

Rev Dr Doug Gay 

Rev Dr David Graham 

Rev Dr Jared Hay 

Rev Bryan Kerr 

Mr Bill Greenock 

Rev Hilary McDougall 

Ruth Harvey 

Rev David Currie (Development Offi cer, 

New and Emerging Ministries) 

Rev Alex Millar (Mission and Discipleship Council) 

Rev John Jackson (Ministries Council)

COMMISSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NOVEMBER 2009 

May 2010 

At Edinburgh, and within St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, the 

thirteenth day of November 2009 years at 10.30 am, which 

day the Commission of Assembly appointed by the last 

General Assembly in terms of Act VI 1997, being met, was 

constituted with prayer. 

It was moved, seconded and agreed that, in the absence of 

the Convener and Vice-Convener of the General Assembly’s 

Business Committee, Rev David Dutton and Rev Dr Mary 

Cranfi eld, members of the Commission, should act as 

Convener and Vice-Convener respectively for this meeting. 

Dissent and Complaint of Rev Iain Murdoch and Mr 

Alexander Napier against a decision of the Presbytery 

of Hamilton. 

The Commission of Assembly took up consideration of 

the Dissent and Complaint of Rev Iain Murdoch and Mr 

Alexander Napier, elder, against a decision of the Presbytery 

of Hamilton, dated 1 September 2009, to nominate Mr 

Dmitri Ross as a Candidate for the Ministry of Word and 

Sacrament. 

Parties were called. 

There appeared for the Complainers Rev Iain Murdoch. 

There appeared for the Presbytery of Hamilton Rev Arthur 

Barrie, Rev Robert Hamilton, Rev Shaw Paterson and Mr 

David Alexander. 

Rev Dr Martin Scott and Rev John Chalmers were present, 

representing the Ministries Council. 

The Commission received the Report of the Investigating 

Committee appointed by the Legal Questions Committee 

in terms of Section 5(d)(iii) of Act VI 1997 which was 

convened by Rev Andrew MacLean. 

The Principal Clerk made a statement relating to the 

clerking of the Commission for this piece of business. 

Parties were invited to comment. Questions were asked. 

It was moved and seconded: 

That the Clerks should step down for the duration of this 

case. 

It was moved and seconded as a counter-motion: 

That the Clerks should remain for the duration of the 

case. 

On a vote being taken between the motion and counter-motion, 

there voted for the motion 10 and for the counter-motion 56, 

and the Commission of Assembly resolved accordingly. 

The Principal Clerk read the relevant part of Standing 

Order 72. 

Parties were heard. 

Questions were invited. None were asked. 


The Commission of Assembly refuse the Dissent and 

Complaint and uphold the decision of the Presbytery of 

Hamilton of 1 September 2009. 


The Commission of Assembly grant the Dissent and 

Complaint and recall the decision of the Presbytery of 

Hamilton of 1 September 2009. 


Order 72. 

On a vote being taken between the motion and counter- 

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motion there voted for the motion 38 and for the countermotion 

43, and the Commission of Assembly resolved 

accordingly. 

Parties were recalled and judgement intimated. 

The Commission of Assembly suspended its meeting from 

12.50 pm to 1.45 pm. 

Dissent and Complaint of Rev John Munro against a 

decision of the Presbytery of Edinburgh. 

The Commission of Assembly took up consideration of 

the Dissent and Complaint of Rev John Munro against a 

decision of the Presbytery of Edinburgh dated 30 June 

2009 to instruct him to live in the manse of Edinburgh: 

Fairmilehead. 


Order 72. 


Mr Munro appeared for himself. There appeared for the 

Presbytery of Edinburgh Rev Tom Gordon, Rev Dr George 

Whyte, Sheriff Andrew Bell and Mr Charles Godon. 




convened by Rev Alan Dunnett. 

Rev Dr Martin Scott and Rev John Chalmers were present, 

representing the Ministries Council. 


Questions were asked. 

Parties were removed. 


The Commission of Assembly refuse the Dissent and 

COMMISSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NOVEMBER 2009 

Complaint and uphold the decision of the Presbytery of 

Edinburgh of 30 June 2009. 


The Commission of Assembly grant the Dissent and 

Complaint and recall the decision of the Presbytery 

Edinburgh of 30 June 2009. 


Order 72. 

On a vote being taken between the motion and countermotion 

there voted for the motion 65 and for the countermotion 

7, and the Commission of Assembly resolved 

accordingly. 


Appeal of Messrs J H Gemmill, David Sharp and John 

Smith and Others, against a decision of the Presbytery 

of Ardrossan. 

The Commission of Assembly took up consideration of the 

Appeal of J H Gemmill, David Sharp and John Smith and 

Others against a decision of the Presbytery of Ardrossan 

dated 1 September 2009 to unite the parishes of West 

Kilbride: St Andrew’s and West Kilbride: Overton. 


Order 72. 


Mr Sharp and Mr Smith appeared for themselves. There 

appeared for the Presbytery of Ardrossan Rev Johnston 

McKay, Rev James McNay, Rev Brian Oxburgh, Rev Stephen 

Smith and Mr Alan Saunderson. 




convened by Mr Steuart Dey.

Mr John Jackson was present, representing the Ministries 

Council. 





The Commission of Assembly refuse the Appeal and 

uphold the decision of the Presbytery of Ardrossan of 1 

September 2009. 


Order 72. 

On a vote being taken for or against the motion there voted 

For 71 and Against 2, and the Commission of Assembly 

resolved accordingly. 


COMMISSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, NOVEMBER 2009 27/3 

Protestation: Presbytery of West Lothian 

The Commission took up consideration of a Protestation 

by the Presbytery of West Lothian in respect of the Appeal 

of Mrs Jophia Livingstone against a decision of the 

Presbytery dated 28 October 2008. 

Rev Duncan Shaw appeared, representing the Presbytery. 


The Commission of Assembly grant the Protestation and 

declare the decision of the Presbytery of West Lothian of 

28 October 2008 to be fi nal. 

On a vote being taken for or against the motion there voted 

For 80 and Against 0, and the Commission of Assembly 

resolved accordingly. 

This being all the business, the Sederunt was closed with 

prayer at 5.41 pm. 

St Cuthbert’s Church, Edinburgh, 13 November 2009 

27

At Edinburgh, and within the Church Offi ces, 121 George 

Street, the Ninth Day of October 2009 at 10.30 am, the Judicial 

Commission met and was duly constituted with prayer. 

Sederunt: Mrs Aileen A Nimmo, Chairman, and 36 

members as recorded in the Sederunt 

Book. 

Apologies: Apologies for absence were noted. 

The Judicial Commission took up consideration of the 

Appeal of Mr Keith Hall against the Presbytery of Dundee 

in respect of a judgement of the Presbyterial Commission 

of 1 April 2009. 


Members of the Commission introduced themselves by 

name and Presbytery. Parties raised no objection to any 

member of the Commission. 

Mr Hall appeared, represented by Mr Peter Anderson, 

Solicitor Advocate, Messrs Simpson and Marwick, Solicitors. 

There appeared for the Presbytery of Dundee Rev David 

Sutherland, Rev Catherine Collins, Miss Catherine Coull, 

who were represented by Donald Cameron, Advocate, 

instructed by Blackadders LLP. Mr Simon Allison, Solicitor, 

Blackadders LLP, was in attendance. 

The Judicial Commission moved into open session. 

Mr Anderson confi rmed that his client did not intend 

to insist on the fi rst four grounds of his Appeal, and 

accordingly no longer sought permission to withdraw his 

admission of the grounds of complaint. 


REPORT OF THE JUDICIAL COMMISSION 

May 2010 



The Judicial Commission moved into private session. 

Rev Dr Ian McLean moved the following motion, which was 

seconded by Rev John Ferguson: 

The Judicial Commission allow the Appeal, recall the 

censure imposed by the Presbyterial Commission on 1 

April 2009, and impose the censure of reprimand in terms 

of sub-paragraph 1(1)(h)(i) of Act III 2001. 

Mr Robert Hynd moved the following counter-motion, which 

was seconded by Rev Dr Christine Goldie: 

The Judicial Commission allow the Appeal to the extent 

of recalling the censure imposed by the Presbyterial 

Commission on 1 April 2009, and impose the censure of a 

fi xed term suspension from 1 April to 9 October 2009. 

Mr Robert Carr moved the following addendum to the 

motion and counter-motion, which was seconded by Sheriff 

Richard Scott: 

Add, at the beginning, ‘The Judicial Commission, recognising 

that Mr Hall has agreed to undergo (a) training on the 

Ministerial Code of Conduct and issues relating to pastoral 

care, and (b) professional counselling, all under the 

direction of the Ministries Council, allow the Appeal…’ 

The addendum was agreed. 

On a vote being taken between the motion as amended and 

the counter-motion as amended, there voted for the motion 

as amended 19 and the counter-motion as amended 15, and 

the Judicial Commission resolved accordingly. 

28

28/2 

In accordance with Act II 1988 Rules of Procedure section 

11, the fi ndings and fi nal judgement of the Judicial 

Commission were committed to writing, read over to the 

Commission and signed by the Chairman. 

The Chairman intimated that in terms of Act II 1988 Rules of 

Procedure section 12, she would produce written reasons 

for the fi ndings of the Judicial Commission, consulting 

with the members within fourteen days and sending a 

copy of the fi nal reasons to the parties within twenty-one 

days. 

REPORT OF THE JUDICIAL COMMISSION 

Parties were recalled, and the Judicial Commission moved 

into open session. 

Judgement was intimated, and the Chairman expressed 

good wishes to the Respondent and his family as well as 

the Kirk Session and Congregation of Dundee St Mary’s. 

The meeting was closed with prayer. 

AILEEN A NIMMO, Chairman 

FINLAY A J MACDONALD, Clerk

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND ASSEMBLY REPORTS 

May 2010 

Aberdeen, Blue Horizon (Grant awarded) 20/10 

Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) 

Church and Society Council 2/67-68 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 6.3/5, 6.3/9, 6.3/12, 6.3/19-20 

Network of Ecumenical Women in Scotland 14/8 

Trafficking Task Group 14/1, 14/5, 14/14-15 

Afghanistan 

armed forces in 8/1, 8/2-3, 8/10-11 

Church and Society Council 2/4, 2/7, 2/68-72 

Alcohol and drugs abuse 

Church and Society Council 2/14-15, 2/59 

CrossReach 5/2, 5/8 

Allarton House (CrossReach) 5/12 

Angus, Havilah Arbroath (Grant awarded) 20/10 

Ardrossan, Arran Youth Foundation (Grant awarded) 20/6 

Armed services 

and Military Covenant 2/13 

see also Chaplains to HM Forces 

Arnott, Rev A David K (Assembly Business Committee) 6.1/5 

Art and Architecture Committee see Church Art and Architecture, 

Committee on 

Asia 

World Mission Council 7/17 

see also individual countries 

Assembly Arrangements Committee 

450th Anniversary of Scottish Reformation 6.1/2 

Assembly Hall 6.1/4 

Assembly Services 6.1/2 

Blue Book 6.1/1, 6.1/3 

Business Committee 6.1/2 

Commissioners’ Subsistence and Travelling Expenses 6.1/4 

Duration of the General Assembly 6.1/1, 6.1/3 

Nomination Committee 18/2 

Notices of Motion and Assembly Papers 6.1/2-3 

Presbytery Representation 6.1/2 

Rev A David K Arnott 6.1/5 

Rev Dr Marjory A MacLean 6.1/4-5 

Scottish Bible Society Report 6.1/6-7 

The Very Rev Dr Finlay A J Macdonald, Principal Clerk 6.1/5-6 

The Very Rev William C Hewitt 6.1/1-2 

Asylum seekers, Church and Society Council 2/10 

Bahamas 7/36 

and St Andrew’s Nassau and Lucaya Kirk 7/1, 7/28-29 

Bangladesh, World Mission Council 7/18-19, 7/36 

Baptism, Joint Commission on Doctrine (Roman Catholic Church) 6.3/1, 

6.3/6 

INDEX 

Beechwood House, Inverness (CrossReach) 5/2, 5/8 

Benarty, TIBAL Community Projects 2/51-52 

Bequests see Legacies, Donations and Bequests 

Bible see Scriptures 

Boys Brigade (Legal Questions Committee) 6.4/5 

British and Irish Amity Teachers’ Group, World Mission Council 7/39 

Buildings see Central Services Committee; Church Art and Architecture; 

General Trustees 

Caithness and Sutherland, Special Commission anent the Third Article 

Declaratory: visit 25/12 

Cambodia, International Justice Mission 14/3 

Campaigning see Church and Society Council (Christian campaigning) 

Caribbean 


see also Bahamas 

Central Services Committee 6.2/1-5 

117-119 George Street, Edinburgh 6.2/4 

addendum: Convener and Vice-Conveners 6.2/5 

Central Properties Department 

accidents 6.2/4 

arbitrations 6.2/3 

Health and Safety 6.2/3-4 

property 6.2/3 

energy consumption 6.2/1, 6.2/2-3 

Facilities Management 

catering 6.2/4 

Design Services 6.2/4 

Health and Safety 6.2/4 

Maintenance Works 6.2/4 

Security 6.2/4 

Work in Progress 6.2/4 

Human Resources (HR) 

learning and development 6.2/2 

pay 6.2/1 

pay and grading 6.2/1 

policy 6.2/1 

recruitment of senior staff 6.2/1 

staffing levels 6.2/2 

Information Technology 6.2/2 

media relations 6.2/4-5 


Chaplaincies, Ministries Council 3/2, 3/70-72, 3/76, 3/78 

Chaplains to HM Forces, Christian campaigning and peacemaking 2/3, 

2/6, 2/61 

Chaplains to HM Forces, Committee on 

introduction 8/1

addendum: Rev James M Gibson TD 8/3 

Army Cadet Force 150th Anniversary 8/1, 8/3 

Army Cadet Force Chaplaincy 8/9 

Army Chaplaincy 8/6-10 

Scots units 8/10 

Territorial Army 8/8-9 


operational duty: Iraq and Afghanistan 8/1, 8/2-3, 8/10-11 

Presbyterian Church in Ireland Chaplains 8/8 

recruitment 8/1-2 

Royal Air Force Chaplaincy 8/10-12 

Air Training Corps 8/12 

Church of Scotland 8/11-12 

Royal Navy Chaplaincy 8/4-6 

Sending Churches/IAG Discussions 8/2 

SSAFA Welfare Fund 8/1, 8/3 

visits and events 8/2 

Charity Governance, Nomination Committee 18/1-2 

Charity Governance, Special Committee on Review of 24/1-8 

alternatives? 24/5-6 

background 24/2-3 

consultations 24/3 

Council of Assembly and Councils and Committees 24/4-5 

culture of regulation 24/7 

General Assembly and Presbyterian principles 24/6-7 

other considerations of Good Governance 24/7-8 

present position 24/4 

what is a charity trustee? 24/3-4 

why change? 24/4 

Children, see also Church and Society Council; Education; Education and 

Nurture; Safeguarding 

Children and Families, Services to (CrossReach) 5/4, 5/6-7 

China 

Church and Society Council 2/7, 2/72-73 

World Mission Council 7/10-11, 7/19-20 

Christian campaigning and peacemaking see Church and Society 

Council 

Christie, Rev John (Safeguarding Committee) 6.5/6 

Church Art and Architecture, Committee on 4/2, 4/19-23 

Buildings as ‘Tool for Mission’ 4/20 

Church Hall accommodation 4/22 

Co-opted members 4/59 

Committee and General Trustees and Presbytery Planning 4/2, 4/21 

Committee’s Role 4/2, 4/21 

and Congregational experience 4/2, 4/22 

Environmental issues 4/22 

Meetings for 2010 4/58 

members’ gifts and expertise 4/22 

and National Youth Assembly consultation 4/2, 4/21-22 


radio microphones 4/2, 4/22-23 

Theology of Buildings 4/20 

Visualisation of Impact of Alteration 4/20 

Church of England 6.3/1, 6.3/7 

INDEX 

Joint Study Group 6.3/14-19 

Church Hymnary Trustees Report 

CD Rom 10/1 

Church Hymnary 4th Edition 10/1 

Future of the Trust 10/1-2 

Church organists, Safeguarding Committee 6.5/3 

Church of Scotland Trust 9/1-2 

Accounts for 2009 9/2 

Israel 9/1 

membership 9/2 

Pakistan 9/1 

Third Party Trusts 9/1 


addendum: Sandy Horsburgh 2/75 

Afghanistan 2/4, 2/7, 2/68-72 

alcohol and drugs abuse 2/14-15, 2/59 

asylum seekers 2/10 

Caring for the Earth 2/2, 2/6, 2/43-46 

Climate Change Project 2/2, 2/6, 2/12 

Eco-Congregations 2/2, 2/6, 2/11-12, 2/45-46 

China 2/7, 2/72-73 

Chinook helicopter crash 2/13 

Christian campaigning and peacemaking 2/2, 2/3, 2/6, 2/12-13, 2/61-64 

Convener’s Report 2/22 

Economics Commission 2/1, 2/5, 2/23-25 

Ecumenical and Interfaith issues 2/3, 2/6-7, 2/67-68 

Education 

Chaplains in 2/11, 2/66 

Religious and Moral Education (RME) 2/3, 2/10-11, 2/64-66, 2/67 

Religious Observance 2/3, 2/6, 2/10, 2/64-66 

Religious Representatives on LEAs 2/66 

End of Life issues 2/15-16 

organ donation 2/16 

suicide amongst young men 2/1, 2/26 

suicide, assisted 2/5, 2/25-26 

family issues 2/9, 2/52 

financial system and credit crisis 2/4, 2/17 

grid review - previous deliverances 2/5, 2/8-19 

Human Rights 2/3, 2/10, 2/12, 2/60 

human trafficking 2/10 

International Development and finance 2/4, 2/7, 2/16, 2/73-74 

Israel and Palestine 2/14 

living wage 2/3, 2/60 

media and communications 2/5, 2/19-21 

blogs 2/20-21 

Facebook 2/21 

YouTube 2/21 

Mental health issues 2/1, 2/26 

Military Covenant 2/13 

and Mission and Discipleship Council 2/8 


Nuclear weapons 2/12-13, 2/59 

Parish Action 2/1, 2/5, 2/19 

annual conference 2/19

esources 2/19 

visiting Presbyteries 2/19 

and Parish Development Fund 20/4 

poverty and debt 2/2, 2/6, 2/46-58, 20/4 

Cranhill Community Project 2/50 

Dundee, St Andrew’s Family Support Project 2/52 

Gross inequality and the Church 2/56-57 

Gross inequality in Society 2/57-58 

individual stories 2/47-49 

microcredits 2/1, 2/17, 2/26-27 

Project Case Studies 2/50-56 

Ruchazie Community Café 2/50-51 

TIBAL Community Projects - Benarty and Lochgelly 2/51-52 

Priority Areas 2/2, 2/57-58 

prison overcrowding 2/18 

Sri Lanka 2/13-14 

staffing 2/74 

Synthetic biology 2/1-2, 2/5-6, 2/27-43 

Travellers 2/3, 2/6, 2/18, 2/58 

and Youth Assembly 2/9 

and youth issues 2/8 

see also Politics and Government; Society, Religion and Technology 

Project (SRTP) 

Church Without Walls 

Mission and Discipleship Council 4/18 

Special Commission anent the Third Article Declaratory 25/15-17, 

25/28-31 

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) 

Church and Society Council 2/68 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 6.3/2-3, 6.3/19 

Climate change see Environmental issues 

Commission of the General Assembly 27/1-3 

Commissioners’ Subsistence and Travelling Expenses 6.1/4 

Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE), Ecumenical 

Relations Committee 6.3/3, 6.3/19 

Conference of European Churches (CEC), Ecumenical Relations 

Committee 6.3/3, 6.3/19 

Congregations 

and Church Art and Architecture Committee 4/2, 4/22 


Parish Action (Church and Society Council) 2/1, 2/5 

poverty and debt issues 2/2, 2/6 

Presbytery Attestation of Accounts 1/9 

see also Ministries Council 

Constitution of the Church see Special Commission anent the Third 

Article Declaratory 


appointments to Trustee Bodies 1/10 

Audit Committee 1/9-10 


Declarations of Interest 1/4 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 1/1, 1/3-4 

Finance 

Accounting matters 1/9 

INDEX 

Attestation of Presbytery Accounts 1/9 

Budgets 1/6-7 

Legacies 1/7-8 

Ministries and Mission Contributions 1/8-9 

Presbytery Attestation of Congregational Accounts 1/9 

Stewardship 1/7 

HIV/AIDS Project 1/1, 1/4 

Media and Communication 

Annual Review - Reformation 450th anniversary 1/6 

Head of 1/5 

Presbytery training 1/6 

website 1/6 

monitoring, co-ordinating and evaluating role 1/1-2 


Panel on Review and Reform 1/1, 1/10 

Parish Development Fund 1/1, 1/2-3 

Principal Clerk - retirement 1/11 

Principal Clerk and Secretary to the Council - appointments 1/1, 1/4-5 

staffing 1/6 

Support and Services Council 1/1, 1/3 

see also Charity Governance, Special Committee 

Counselling and Support (CrossReach) 5/2, 5/4, 5/7-8 

Cranhill Community Project (Church and Society Council) 2/50 

Criminal Justice 

CrossReach services 5/8 

Joint Faiths Advisory Board on 2/68 

Young Offenders (Iona Community) 17/1, 17/3 

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill (Guild) 14/6 

Deacons see Ministries Council 

Deaf Ministry 3/67 

Delegation of the General Assembly 12/1 

Disabilities see Deaf Ministry; Education; Education and Nurture 

Donations and Bequests see Legacies, Donations and Bequests 

Drugs see Alcohol and drugs abuse 

Dundee 

Hot Chocolate (Grant awarded) 20/10 

St Andrew’s Family Support Project 2/52 

Dunfermline, Bridge 2 Youth in Kincardine (Grant awarded) 20/9 

Dunn, Elizabeth M (Guild Convener) - retirement 14/10 

Eco-Congregations see Environmental issues 

Economics Commission (Church and Society Council) 2/1, 2/5, 2/23-25 

Economics, International Development and finance (Church and Society 

Council) 2/4, 2/7, 2/16 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 

Bible and ecumenism 6.3/10-12, 6.3/17-18 

Church of England 6.3/1, 6.3/7 

Joint Study Group 6.3/14-19 

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) 6.3/2-3, 6.3/19 

Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) 6.3/3, 6.3/19 

Conference of European Churches (CEC) 6.3/3, 6.3/19 

Constitutional basis for ecumenism 6.3/12 

Contributions to Ecumenical Bodies 6.3/20

and Council of Assembly 1/1, 1/3-4 

Delegates to other Churches 6.3/19 

Free Church of Scotland 6.3/6-7 

future work 6.3/12-13 

Joint Commission on Doctrine (Roman Catholic Church) 6.3/1, 6.3/6 

on baptism 6.3/1, 6.3/6 

Joint Liturgical Group 6.3/20 

local ecumenism 6.3/7-8, 6.3/9-10, 6.3/13 

Methodist Church 6.3/5 

National Sponsoring Body for LEPs 6.3/8, 6.3/13 

Review of Policy 6.3/1-2 

Scottish Episcopal Church 6.3/5, 6.3/6, 6.3/7 

Special Commission anent the Third Article Declaratory 25/1, 25/9-10 

and structures of the Church 6.3/8, 6.3/10, 6.3/13 

supporting and resourcing UK and International ecumenism 6.3/8-9 

United Free Church of Scotland 6.3/1, 6.3/6 

United Reformed Church 6.3/5-6 

World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) 6.3/4, 6.3/19 

World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) 6.3/4 

World Council of Churches (WCC) 6.3/3-4, 6.3/19 

see also Action of Churches Together in Scotland 

Ecumenism 

Interdenominational Advisory Group (IAG): armed forces 8/2 

Interdenominational Apologetics Group 4/28-29, 4/59 

Partnership with Fresh Expressions (Mission and Evangelism) 4/14-15 

see also Inter-Faith matters 

Edinburgh 

117-119 George Street (Central Services Committee) 6.2/4 

2010 - 1910 World Missionary Conference 7/1, 7/32-34 

Arts Worker Project, Gilmerton (Grant awarded) 20/6 

Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk (Grant awarded) 20/6 

Education 

and learning disabilities (CrossReach) 5/4, 5/7 

see also Education and Nurture below 

schools (CrossReach) 5/6-7, 5/10-11 

see also Church and Society Council 

Education and Nurture (Mission and Discipleship Council) 4/1, 4/6-12 

adult training 

national leadership and pastoral care 4/11-12 

national leadership and pastoral care Questionnaire 4/11, 4/36-40 

children and younger teens 

Child Friendly Church and Rite! 4/7 

Godly Play 4/8 

Happy Hallowe’en 4/8 

Malawi visit 4/7 

Music and Worship Foundation 4/7 

National Children’s Assembly 4/7-8 


ICAN - Child Adult Network 4/9 

Learning Disabilities 

A Spiritual Home? 4/9 

and Holy Communion (All who can in faith) 4/2, 4/9-11 

Presbytery Disability Advisors 4/9 

Training 4/9 

INDEX 

National Youth Assembly see Youth Assembly 

National Youth Work Strategy 4/2, 4/8 

NiteKirk 4/9 

Threads - weaving faith and life in local church 4/8-9 

Egypt 

Synod of the Nile 7/6 

World Mission Council 7/5-6 

Elders 

Overture anent Discipline of Elders, Readers and Office-bearers 22/1, 

22/4-8 

training as Interim Moderators 3/73 

Eldership 

and women 3/64 

see also Ministries Council (Women in Ministry Report) 

End of Life issues see Church and Society Council 

Energy consumption 

Central Services Committee 6.2/1, 6.2/2-3 

General Trustees 13/5 

Environmental issues 

Caring for the Earth (Church and Society Council) 2/2, 2/6, 2/43-46 

Church Art and Architecture Committee 4/22 

Climate Change Project 2/2, 2/6, 2/12 

Climate Change and World Mission Council 7/22 


Green Travel (Ministries Council) 3/1, 3/10-11, 3/37-40 

Europe, Presbytery of, World Mission Council 7/17 

Evangelism see Mission and Evangelism 

Fabric matters see General Trustees 

Fair, Rev W Martin (Parish Development Fund Convener) 20/11 

Falkirk, Larbert Churches Youth Trust (Grant awarded) 20/8-9 

Family issues 


CrossReach 5/4, 5/6-7 

see also Parish Development Fund (Grants awarded) 

Finance see individual Councils and Committees 

Financial system and credit crisis, Church and Society Council 2/4, 2/17 

Free Church of Scotland 6.3/6-7 

General Assembly 

Commission of 27/1-3 

Delegation of 12/1 

see also Assembly Arrangements Committee; Council of Assembly 

General Trustees 

introduction and composition of Trust 13/1-2 

Care of Ecclesiastical Properties 13/4 

Church Art and Architecture and Presbytery Planning 4/2, 4/21 

Determinations made under Regulations V 1996 13/10 

Determinations under Act VII 1995 13/6, 13/9 

energy 

conservation 13/5 

Heating Oil and LPG 13/5 

procurement 13/5 

Fabric Funds 13/2, 13/8

Fabric projects 13/1, 13/2-3 

Finance 13/6 

Glebes 13/6, 13/9 

insurance matters 13/1, 13/5-6 

Investments 13/6-7 

Listed Places of Worship VAT Grant Scheme 13/1, 13/4 

Priority Areas Action Plan 13/1, 13/3 

Project Development Support 13/3-4 

Reallocation of Endowments 13/6 

Special Commission anent the Third Article Declaratory 25/2, 25/10 

Stipend matters 13/6, 13/9 

Surplus and Redundant Buildings 13/4 

Valuation of Heritable Assets 13/7 

Gibson, Rev James M, TD (Chaplains to HM Forces Convener) 8/3 

Glasgow 

Bridging the Gap (Grant awarded) 20/7 

Cathcart Youth Ministry (Grant awarded) 20/7 

“Givin’ It Laldie” Gorbals Parish Church (Grant awarded) 20/7 

Gorbals: Special Commission story 25/14-15 

Iona Jacob Project (Grant awarded) 20/7-8 

Special Commission anent the Third Article Declaratory: visit 25/10-12 

The Meeting Place, South Carntyne Parish Church (Grant awarded) 20/8 

The Wheel Trust (Grant awarded) 20/8 

Whiteinch (Ministries Council) 3/2, 3/81, 3/85-87 

Glebes, General Trustees 13/6, 13/9 

Greenock and Paisley 

St Martin’s Parish Church (Grant awarded) 20/6 

Supporting Parents, New Charge Development (Grant awarded) 20/7 

Guild, The 

ACTS Network of Ecumenical Women in Scotland 14/8 

ACTS Trafficking Task Group 14/1, 14/5, 14/14-15 

addendum: Elizabeth M Dunn (Convener) 14/10 

annual Guild Theme and Topic Days 14/6-7 

Constitution, proposed 14/1, 14/4-5, 14/12-14 

Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill 14/6 

CrossReach 14/2, 14/3 

Decade to Overcome Violence 14/1, 14/5 

ecumenical links 14/8 

finance 

amounts given to Church 14/11 

income and expenditure 14/11 

project donations 14/11 

Gender Equality study 14/8 

Guild Presbyterial Council 14/7 

Guild Week opportunities 14/1, 14/4 

HIV/AIDS Project 7.1/8, 14/3 

International Justice Mission 14/3 

Just Guild 14/1-2, 14/10 

Leadership Team 14/9 

membership statistics 14/11 

Ministries Council 3/68, 14/3 

Mission Aviation Fellowship 14/3 

Mission and Discipleship Council, partnership with 14/7 

Priority Areas Action Plan (Ministries Council) 14/1, 14/7-8 

INDEX 

Project Partnership Scheme 14/1, 14/2-4 

Regional annual meeting 14/1, 14/6 

Scottish Women’s Convention 14/8 

staff 14/9-10 

Stewardship and Governance 14/8-10 

training and encouragement 14/7 

Women’s National Commission 14/8 

Women’s Suffrage commemoration 14/6 


Hamilton 

Hyzone (Grant awarded) 20/8 

North Motherwell (Grant awarded) 20/8 

Health issues 

Dementia (CrossReach) 5/4, 5/6, 5/12 

Mental health (Church and Society Council) 2/1, 2/26 

Mental health services (CrossReach) 5/4, 5/6, 5/8-9, 5/12 

Ministry of Health and Healing (Ministries Council) 3/75 

Occupational Health (Ministries Council) 3/75 

organ donation 2/16 

Spiritual Care in the NHS (Ministries Council) 3/2, 3/71, 3/78 

see also HIV/AIDS Project 

Health and Safety 


Green Travel (Ministries Council) 3/40 

Hewitt, The Very Rev William C (Assembly Arrangements Committee) 

6.1/1-2 

Hill, Rev Dr Robin (Convener HIV/AIDS Project) 7.1/9 

HIV/AIDS Project 7.1/1-10 

addendum: Rev Dr Robin Hill (Convener) 7.1/9 

and Council of Assembly 1/1, 1/4 

Critical Point 7.1/2 

Faith-based Organisations 7.1/3-4 

the future 7.1/8-9 

Guild Project: “A New Hunger” 7.1/8, 14/3 

HIV in Scotland 7.1/5-6 

Keeping the Promise? 7.1/3 

Malawi: a journey of hope 7.1/5 

“Moderator’s Challenge” 7.1/1, 7.1/7 

Prevention, care and support 7.1/4 

Sharing the message 7.1/6-7 

Souper Sunday 7.1/7-8 

webography 7.1/10 


Holy Communion, and People with Learning Disabilities 4/2, 4/9-11 

Horsburgh, Rev Alexander (Church and Society Council) 2/75 

Housing 

Homelessness services (CrossReach) 5/9, 5/12 

Housing Support Model (CrossReach) 5/4, 5/6 

Housing and Loan Fund for Retired Ministers/Widows/Widowers 

Aim of Fund 15/1 

assistance provided 15/4 

Budget allocation 15/3 

diligence 15/3

Donations & Bequests 15/2 

Funds 15/2 

the future 15/2-3 

HM Revenue & Customs 15/2 

housing loans 15/6 

housing transactions (2009) 15/1 

loan transactions (2009) 15/1-2 

outstanding commitments 15/7 

preliminary applications 15/7 

rental housing 15/5 

staff 15/3 

Human Rights, Church and Society Council 2/3, 2/10, 2/12, 2/60 

Human trafficking 

ACTS Trafficking Task Group 14/1, 14/5, 14/14-15 


India 

2008 violence towards Christians in Orissa 7/9 

World Mission Council 7/9, 7/20 

Industry and the Workplace Chaplaincy 3/72 

Information Technology 

and the Blue Book 6.1/1, 6.1/3 

Central Services Committee 6.2/2 

Child Exploitation and Online Protection 6.5/5 

Church and Society Council 2/19-21 

Church website 1/6 

eCoracle (Iona Community) 17/3-4 

webography (HIV/AIDS Project) 7.1/10 

Insurance matters, General Trustees 13/1, 13/5-6 

Inter-Faith matters 

Christian Muslim Relations in Africa 7/22-23 

Church and Society Council 2/3, 2/6-7, 2/67-68 

Mission and Evangelism 4/15-16 

World Mission Council 7/1, 7/15-16, 7/22-23 

Youth Assembly Debate 23/3 

International Development and finance, Church and Society Council 

2/4, 2/7, 2/16, 2/73-74 

International Justice Mission, Guild, The 14/3 

Inverness, Beechwood House (CrossReach) 5/2, 5/8 

Investments, General Trustees 13/6-7 

Investors Trust, Church of Scotland 

Annual Report and Financial Statements (2009) 16/2 

income distributions 16/2 

investment performance (2009) 16/1-2 

membership 16/2 

Iona Community Board 

Coracle and eCoracle 17/3-4 

Islands work 

Camas (Mull) 17/2-3, 17/4 

Community’s shop 17/2 

Growing Hope Appeal 17/1, 17/2, 17/4 

Mainland work 17/3 

membership 17/4-5 


INDEX 

Wild Goose Publications 17/3 

Wild Goose Resource Group 17/4 

Young Offenders 17/1, 17/3 

Youth development 17/3 

Iona Jacob Project, Glasgow (Grant awarded) 20/7-8 

Iraq 

armed forces in 8/2-3 


Irvine and Kilmarnock, The Sky Project (Grant awarded) 20/6 

Islands work 

Iona Community 17/2-3 

Special Commission anent Third Article: story 25/13-14 

Israel, property in (Church of Scotland Trust) 9/1 

Israel and Palestine 

Bridge-building 7/5 

Christian initiatives 7/4 


International Partnerships 7/26 

Local Christian Presence 7/25-26 

Local Partnerships 7/25 

Messianic Jews 7/4-5 

Parish ministry 7/25 

St Andrew’s Scots Guesthouse, Jerusalem 7/26-27 

Scots Hotel, Tiberias 7/27 

Social Enterprise 7/27 

Tabeetha School in Jaffa 7/26 

World Mission Council 7/3-5, 7/24-27, 7/36-37 

Judicial Commission 


Report 28/1-2 

Kirk Sessions, World Mission Council 7/15 

Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes Area Christian Youth Trust (Grant awarded) 20/9 

Learning disabilities see Education; Education and Nurture 

Legacies, Donations and Bequests 

Council of Assembly 1/7-8 

Housing and Loan Fund 15/2 

Legal Questions Committee 

addendum: Rev Dr Marjory A MacLean 6.4/5-6 

Church Law 

Act amending Consolidating Act III 2000 anent Church Courts 6.4/1, 

6.4/6 

Former Moderators - Commission to the General Assembly 6.4/2 

McGillivray: Introduction to Practice and Procedure 6.4/1-2 

Objections to life and doctrine - amendment to Act VIII 2003 6.4/1, 

6.4/3, 6.4/8 

Reform of Act III 2001 6.4/1, 6.4/2-3, 6.4/6-8 

Standing Order (SO) 72 - Conflict of Interest 6.4/1, 6.4/4-5 

Standing Order (SO) 89 - Declaration of Interest 6.4/1, 6.4/3-4 

Church-State questions: Business Innovation and Skills 6.4/1 

Civil Law, Boys Brigade 6.4/5 

Examination of Records 6.4/5


Overture anent Discipline of Elders, Readers and Office-bearers 22/1-3 

Life & Work (Publishing Committee) 4/19 

Review Group 

brief history 4/30 

Communications of the Church 4/32-33 

current Editor 4/2, 4/3, 4/31-32 

development of Life & Work 4/34 

Editorial Advisory Committee 4/3, 4/33 

Formation of Review 4/29 

former editors 4/31 

journalists 4/31 

membership 4/29-30, 4/35 

and Mission and Discipleship Council 4/33-34 

other consultations 4/32 

processes 4/30-31 

readership perceptions 4/31 

recommendations 4/34-35 

Local Authorities, Special Commission anent the Third Article 

Declaratory 25/7-8, 25/12 

Lochgelly, TIBAL Community Projects 2/51-52 

Macdonald, The Very Rev Finlay A J (Principal Clerk) - retirement 1/11, 

6.1/5-6 

MacLean, Rev Dr Marjory A 

Assembly Arrangements Committee 6.1/4-5 

Legal Questions Committee 6.4/5-6 

Malawi 

HIV/AIDS Project 7.1/5 

Mission and Discipleship Council children’s visit 4/7 

World Mission Council 7/21-22, 7/37 

Media and Communication 



Council of Assembly 1/5-6 

see also Publications; Publishing Committee 

Methodist Church 6.3/5 

Military Covenant see Church and Society Council 

Ministers’ Forum (Publishing Committee) 4/19 


2020 Vision - Building for Sustainable Future 3/2-3, 3/7-8, 3/23-28 

11% reduction 3/25-26 

1000 Ministries 3/25 

Congregational Resourcing 3/24 

Continued Vacancy 3/28 

“It can’t be done!” 3/28 

Levers for Change 3/23-24 

Ministries Budget 3/25 

Planning and Training 3/27-28 

Planning for Variety of Ministries 3/26 

Presbyteries 3/24 

Presbytery Planning 3/24, 3/35-36 

Strands for Future Ministries 3/1, 3/27, 3/29-34 

Sustainable units 3/26-27 

INDEX 

Territorial Ministry 3/24 

Training 3/24 

Accompanied Review 3/2, 3/69 

Act anent Ordination of Professors and Lecturers of Theology 3/1, 

3/12, 3/40 

Chaplaincies 3/2, 3/70-72, 3/76, 3/78 

Conflict resolution 3/1, 3/9, 3/13 

Deacons 

Consolidating and Amending Act 3/2, 3/14, 3/40 

Diaconate Council 3/15, 3/44-46 

Function of 3/43 

Local Association of Diaconate Constitution 3/46-47 

Repeals and Amendments 3/44 

Selection, Training and Ordination 3/41-43 

Superintendence of 3/43-44 

and Emerging Ministries Fund 20/3-4 

Finance 3/2, 3/94-98 

allowances and expenses 3/94, 3/96-98 

budget deficit 3/94, 3/95-96 

pensions 3/94, 3/96 

stipends 3/95, 3/96-97 

Future Models of Training 3/1, 3/5-6, 3/18 

Green Travel 3/1, 3/10-11, 3/37-40 

Guild, The 3/68, 14/1, 14/3, 14/7-8 

Interim Ministry 3/74 

Manses, future of 3/14 

Ministry of Health and Healing 3/75 

Mission and Discipleship Council: Joint Report on Emerging Church 

26/1-2 

Monitoring support to recently ordained 3/77 

New Models of Church Life 3/49-51 

New Models of Community Life 3/51-52 


Occupational Health 3/75 

and Parish Development Fund 20/1, 20/3-4 

Planning and Deployment 3/2, 3/79-93 

Act anent Glasgow: Whiteinch 3/2, 3/81, 3/85-87 

Act XIII 2000 anent New Charge Development 3/2, 3/81, 3/87-93 

Presbytery pastoral advisers and chaplains 3/76 

and Priority Areas 3/1, 3/2, 3/6, 3/18-23, 3/48-49, 14/1, 14/7-8, 20/1, 20/3 

Rural Ministry see Mission and Discipleship Council (Rural Strategy Team) 


Spiritual Care in the NHS 3/2, 3/71, 3/78 

Study Leave 3/73 

Support and Development, Deaf Ministry 3/67 

Tenure, consultations with Presbyteries 3/1, 3/4, 3/16-18 

Training for elders as Interim Moderators 3/73 

Vocation and Training 

Candidates’ Training and Support 3/54-58 

Enquiry & Assessment 3/53, 3/59 

Statistics 3/59-60 

Women in Ministry Report 3/2, 3/58, 3/61-66 

Ministries and Mission Contributions, Council of Assembly 1/8-9 

Ministries, New and Emerging see Mission and Evangelism

Ministry, Rural see Mission and Discipleship Council (Rural Strategy Team) 

Mission, see also Panel on Review and Reform; World Mission Council 

Mission Aviation Fellowship 14/3 


introduction 4/3-6 

resourcing Christ’s Mission 4/5 

and Church and Society Council 2/8 

Church Without Walls 4/18 

Emerging Church, Joint Report with Ministries Council 26/1-2 

Guild, The 14/7 


Publishing see Life & Work; Publishing Committee 

Rural Strategy Team 4/2, 4/23-27 

Church presence at local agricultural shows 4/25 


How Rural is that Parish? Presbytery analysis 4/42-58 

Research Project 4/26-27 

Royal Highland Show 4/24-25 

Rural Church Conference 4/2, 4/27 

Study Leave Course 4/23-24 

Support Network 4/27 

Training for Ministry 4/24 

Scottish Storytelling Centre 4/27-28, 4/59 

‘Why Believe?’ Inter-denominational Apologetics Group 4/28-29, 4/59 

Worship and Doctrine 


human sexuality 4/6 

Scots Language 4/6 

see also Church Art and Architecture; Education and Nurture; Mission 

and Evangelism 

Mission and Evangelism 


developing the local church 4/13 

Development Officer (New and Emerging Ministries) 4/13-15 

Mission 21 4/14, 4/40-41 

New Models in Scotland and DVD 4/14 

Partnership with Fresh Expressions 4/14-15, 4.2 

Faith-sharing and Evangelism 4/17 

caféchurch 4/18 

Outreach in Dormitory Communities 4/17 

Reaching Out 4/17 

future focus: congregational development 4/12-13 

IMPACT 4/16-17 

Inter-Faith dialogue 4/15-16 

Visit of Alan Roxburgh 4/13 

Well, The 4/15 

Moderator 

Challenge and HIV/AIDS Project 7.1/1, 7.1/7 

Committee to Nominate 18/4 

Moderators, former, Commission to the General Assembly (Legal 

Questions) 6.4/2 

Moray, Step by Step in Moray (Grant awarded) 20/10 

Mull, Camas (Iona Community) 17/2-3, 17/4 

Muslims see Inter-Faith matters; World Mission Council 

INDEX 

National Youth Assembly see Youth Assembly 

Nepal, World Mission Council 7/8, 7/19 

Nomination Committee 

Assembly Arrangements Committee 18/2 

Central Services Committee 18/2 

Charity Governance 18/1-2 


Committee on Chaplains to HM Forces 18/2 

Committee on Church Art and Architecture 18/3 

Committee to Nominate the Moderator 18/4 

Council of Assembly 18/3 

Iona Community Board 18/3 

Judicial Commission 18/3 

Legal Questions Committee 18/3 

Ministries Council 18/3 



Panel on Review and Reform 18/5 

Parish Development Fund 18/4 

Personnel Appeal Panel 18/4 

Publishing Committee 18/4 

Safeguarding Committee 18/5 

Social Care Council (CrossReach) 18/5 

Statistical information 18/1 


North Korea, World Mission Council 7/11 

Nuclear weapons (Church and Society Council) 2/12-13, 2/59 

Older People, Services to see Social Care Council (CrossReach) 

Online resources see Information Technology 

Overtures, Returns to 

amendments 22/1 

and Legal Questions Committee 22/1-3 

Overture anent Discipline of Elders, Readers and Office-bearers 22/1, 

22/4-8 

Pakistan 

property in (Church of Scotland Trust) 9/1 

World Mission Council 7/7-8, 7/17-18 

Palestine see Israel and Palestine 

Panel on Review and Reform 

advantages of the Pilot 19/6-7 

Aims of the Pilot scheme 19/6 

Church under reconstruction and unafraid of change 19/15-16 

Communication 19/15 

Council of Assembly 1/1, 1/10 

Development and implementation 

Advisory Group 19/14-15 

Panel 19/14 

Pilot Management Group (PMG) 19/14 

project management approach 19/14 

Regional Implementation Teams (RIT) 19/14 

Development issues 19/15 

Finance 19/10-11

Governance 19/13-14 

Local Church Review 19/1, 19/2, 19/16-18 

and Future Focus 19/18-19 

Guidelines 19/1, 19/26-27 

Information required in advance 19/1, 19/28 

Overture anent 19/1, 19/24-25 

and plan 19/9-10 

Ministers and Ministries 19/10 

Mission Project 19/7 

Mission and structure of the Presbytery Pilot Region 19/5 


Overseas Mission Partnership Project 19/1-2, 19/19-23 

Pilot funding for presbyteries 19/11-12 

Planning 19/9-10 

preparing for reform 19/1, 19/2-3 

Presbytery operating costs 19/12-13 

the Proposal 19/4-5 

a Reformed Tradition 19/3-4 

Representation and accountability in pilot region 19/13 

Role of Presbytery 19/5-6 

Role of presbytery and Councils of the Church 19/13 

Role of presbytery as support to local church 19/9 

Some proposed Pilot Regions 19/8 


staff development 19/12 

Structure unspecified 19/7-8 

the Vision 19/5 

Parish Action, Church and Society Council 2/1, 2/5, 2/19 

Parish Development Fund 

introduction 20/1-2 

addendum: Rev W Martin Fair (Convener) 20/11 


and Council of Assembly 1/1, 1/2-3 

Grants awarded 20/5-11 

Aberdeen, Blue Horizon 20/10 

Angus, Havilah Arbroath 20/10 

Ardrossan, Arran Youth Foundation 20/6 

Dundee, Hot Chocolate 20/10 

Dunfermline, Bridge 2 Youth in Kincardine 20/9 

Edinburgh 

Arts Worker Project, Gilmerton 20/6 

Greyfriars Tolbooth and Highland Kirk 20/6 

Falkirk, Larbert Churches Youth Trust 20/8-9 

Glasgow 

Bridging the Gap 20/7 

Cathcart Youth Ministry 20/7 

“Givin’ It Laldie” Gorbals Parish Church 20/7 

Iona Jacob Project 20/7-8 

The Meeting Place, South Carntyne Parish Church 20/8 

The Wheel Trust 20/8 

Greenock and Paisley 

St Martin’s Parish Church 20/6 

Supporting Parents, New Charge Development 20/7 

Hamilton 

INDEX 

Hyzone 20/8 

North Motherwell 20/8 

Irvine and Kilmarnock, The Sky Project 20/6 

Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes Area Christian Youth Trust 20/9 

Moray, Step by Step in Moray 20/10 

Perth 

Auchterarder Community Church Centre 20/9-10 

Comrie and Western Strathearn 20/9 

Pilot Grants awarded 20/10 

St Andrews, Holy Trinity 20/9 

Training and Research Grants awarded 20/10-11 


and Emerging Ministries Fund 20/3-4 

and Priority Areas 20/1, 20/3 

and Priority Areas Staffing Fund 20/4-5 


Promoting the Fund 20/2-3 

support to Churches and Projects 20/2 

Parliament see Politics and Government 

Peacemaking see Church and Society Council 

Pension Trustees, Church of Scotland 

Scheme statistics 21/1 

Schemes’ Overview 21/1-2 

Pensions, Ministries Council 3/94, 3/96 

Personnel Appeal Panel, Nomination Committee 18/4 

Perth 

Auchterarder Community Church Centre (Grant awarded) 20/9-10 

Comrie and Western Strathearn (Grant awarded) 20/9 

Perth Prison, Visitors’ Centre 5/8, 14/3 

Politics and Government 

Church and Society Council 2/3, 2/6, 2/8, 2/9-10, 2/58-61, 2/67 

General Election 2/59 

Scotland’s Constitutional future 2/3, 2/59 

Trident campaign 2/59 

Poverty and debt 

Church and Society Council 2/2, 2/6, 2/46-58, 20/4 

Eurodiaconia Conference (CrossReach) 5/12 

individual stories see Church and Society Council 

and the living wage 2/3, 2/60 

microcredits 2/1, 2/17, 2/26-27 

Project Case Studies see Church and Society Council 

see also Priority Areas 

Presbyterian Church in Ireland, HM Forces Chaplaincy 8/8 

Presbyteries 

Attestation of Congregational Accounts 1/9 

Attestation of Presbytery Accounts 1/9 

Caring for the Earth (Church and Society Council) 2/44-45 

and Church Art and Architecture Committee 4/2, 4/21 

Church and Society Council visits 2/19 

media and communication training 1/6 

Presbytery Disability Advisors 4/9 

Representation (Assembly Arrangements Committee) 6.1/2 

Rural analysis by Presbyteries/parishes 4/42-58 

and Special Commission on Third Article Declaratory 25/1, 25/2, 25/6-7

see also Ministries Council; Panel on Review and Reform; Parish 

Development Fund 

Principal Clerk and Secretary to the Council - appointments 1/1, 1/4-5 

Principal Clerk (The Very Rev Finlay A J Macdonald) - retirement 1/11, 

6.5/1-6 

Priority Areas 

Church and Society Council 2/2, 2/57-58 

CrossReach 5/12 

General Trustees 13/1, 13/3 

Guild, The 14/1, 14/7-8 

Ministries Council 3/1, 3/2, 3/6, 3/18-23, 3/48-49 

Parish Development Fund 20/1, 20/3, 20/4-5 

Special Commission anent the Third Article Declaratory 25/8 

Prison overcrowding, Church and Society Council 2/18 

Prison visiting, Perth 5/8, 14/3 

Properties and Buildings see Central Services Committee; General 

Trustees 

Publications 

Blue Book 6.1/1, 6.1/3 

Coracle and eCoracle (Iona Community) 17/3-4 

see also Wild Goose Publications 



Ministers’ Forum 4/19 


Saint Andrew Press 4/2, 4/18-19 

see also Life & Work 

Racial justice see Travellers 

Readers, Overture anent Discipline of Elders, Readers and Office-bearers 

22/1, 22/4-8 

Reformation 450th anniversary 1/6, 6.1/2 

Religious and Moral Education (RME) see Church and Society Council 

Renwick, Rev Colin C (World Mission Council Convener) 7/34 

Retired Ministers see Housing and Loan Fund 

Returns to Overtures see Overtures, Returns to 

Review and Reform see Panel on Review and Reform 

Roman Catholic Church, Joint Commission on Doctrine 6.3/1, 6.3/6 

Ronachan House (CrossReach) 5/8 

Ross, Rev Dr Kenneth (World Mission Council Secretary) 7/34-35 

Royal Highland Show (Rural Strategy Team) 4/24-25 

Rubislaw Park (CrossReach) 5/6 

Ruchazie Community Café (Church and Society Council) 2/50-51 

Rural issues see Mission and Discipleship Council 

Sacraments see Holy Communion; Ministries Council (2020 Vision - 

Strands for Future Ministries) 

Safeguarding Committee 6.5/1-9 

addendum: Rev John Christie - retiral 6.5/6 

Advisory Panel 6.5/4-5 

Child Exploitation and Online Protection 6.5/5 

Church organists 6.5/3 

Disclosure Scotland and Administrative Service 6.5/6 

Enquiries Service 6.5/6 

INDEX 

Forgiveness and Proportionality 6.5/1, 6.5/3 

leadership roles and youth organisations 6.5/1, 6.5/4 


Policy Statement of the Church of Scotland 6.5/2 

priority areas for development 6.5/5 

Protection of Vulnerable Groups legislation 6.5/1, 6.5/4 

Referral Service 6.5/6-7 

safeguarding outcomes 6.5/9 

safeguarding structure 6.5/8 

safeguarding training 6.5/4, 6.5/7 

what do we mean by harm and abuse? 6.5/7-8 

Whole Church Safeguarding Service 6.5/4 

St Andrews, Holy Trinity (Grant awarded) 20/9 

St Colm’s College, World Mission Council 7/32 

Salaries 


and the living wage (Church and Society Council) 2/3, 2/60 

see also Stipend matters 

Scientific issues see Society, Religion and Technology Project (SRTP); 

Synthetic biology 

Scots Language, Worship and Doctrine 4/6 


Scottish Churches World Exchange, World Mission Council 7/1, 7/27-28, 

7/39 

Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations 25/12-13 

Scottish Episcopal Church 6.3/5, 6.3/6, 6.3/7 

Scottish Storytelling Centre (Mission and Discipleship Council) 4/27-28, 

4/59 

Scriptures 

Bible and ecumenism 6.3/10-12, 6.3/17-18 


Sexuality, Working Group on Issues in (Mission and Discipleship) 4/6 

Social Care Council (CrossReach) 5/1-13 

introduction to Report: Fit for Purpose 5/2-3, 5/11-12 

Carers’ Conference 5/11 

Central Services and finance 5/3, 5/9, 5/12 

Children and Families 5/4, 5/6-7 

schools 5/6-7, 5/10-11 

Counselling and Support 5/2, 5/4, 5/7-8 

Criminal Justice services, prison visiting 5/8 

Eurodiaconia Conference 5/12 

Governance 5/9 

and Guild, The 14/2, 14/3 

Homelessness services 5/9, 5/12 

income 5/3 

Learning disabilities 5/4, 5/7 

Mental health services 5/4, 5/6, 5/8-9 

Allarton House 5/12 


Our Support 5/13 

Priority Areas Action Plan 5/12 

Qualifications of staff 5/10 

Remit 5/3 

Services Anniversaries (2009) 5/11

Services to Older People 5/4, 5/6 

Day Opportunities 5/4, 5/6 

Dementia and mental health services 5/4, 5/6, 5/12 

Flexible Models of Care 5/4, 5/6 

Housing Support Model 5/4, 5/6 

Quality and Care Awards 5/10 

Rubislaw Park 5/6 

Wellhall Home 5/12 

Shared Services 5/12-13 

staff 5/5 

Substance misuse 5/2, 5/8 

Beechwood House, Inverness 5/2, 5/8 

Ronachan House 5/8 

Society, Religion and Technology Project (SRTP), Project 40 2/1, 2/22-23 

Special Commission anent the Third Article Declaratory 25/1-31 

introduction 25/2 

introduction to Third Article Declaratory 25/4-5 

background 25/2-4 

Caithness and Sutherland visit 25/12 

Church Representative of Christian Faith 25/21-22 

Church of Scotland Act 1921 25/1, 25/26 

Church Without Walls 25/15-17, 25/28-31 

Coll, Argyll: story 25/13-14 

Commission members 25/31 

conclusions and recommendations 25/24-25 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 25/1, 25/9-10 


Glasgow, Gorbals 25/14-15 

Glasgow visit 25/10-12 

Local Authorities: COSLA 25/12 

Local Authority comments 25/7-8 

meetings and consultations 25/5-6 

Ministries Council 25/2, 25/9 

‘National’ or ‘Established’ Church 25/23-24 

Ordinances of Religion 25/22-23 

Panel on Review and Reform 19/1, 25/10 

the people in every parish 25/18-19 

Presbytery comments 25/1, 25/2, 25/6-7 

Priority Areas 25/8 

Schedule: Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church 

25/26-28 

Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations 25/12-13 

a secular society? 25/17-18 

Special Commission on Structure and Change 25/15, 25/28-30 

Stewardship and Finance Committee 25/8-9 

a territorial ministry 25/19-21 

Spiritual Care in the NHS, Ministries Council 3/2, 3/71, 3/78 

Spirituality, Youth Assembly Debate 23/2-3 

Sri Lanka, Church and Society Council 2/13-14 

Staff 



Council of Assembly 1/6 

Guild, The 14/9-10 

INDEX 

Housing and Loan Fund 15/3 


Priority Areas Staffing Fund 20/4-5 

Social Care Council (CrossReach) 5/5, 5/10 


Stewardship and Finance, see also Council of Assembly; Guild, The 

Stewardship and Finance Committee, Special Commission anent the 

Third Article Declaratory 25/8-9 

Stipend matters 


Ministries Council 3/95, 3/96-97 

Study Leave 


Rural Ministry Course 4/23-24 

Suicide issues see Church and Society Council (End of Life issues) 

Support and Services Council, and Council of Assembly 1/1, 1/3 

Sutherland see Caithness and Sutherland 

Synthetic biology (Church and Society Council) 2/1-2, 2/5-6, 2/27-43 

Third Article Declaratory see Special Commission anent the Third Article 

Declaratory 

TIBAL Community Projects - Benarty and Lochgelly 2/51-52 

Training 


for elders as Interim Moderators 3/73 

Guild, The 14/7 

for the Ministry see Ministries Council 

Mission and Discipleship Council 4/9, 4/11-12, 4/36-40 


Parish Development Fund Grants 20/10-11 

and People with Learning Disabilities 4/9 

Presbyteries, in media and communication 1/6 

and qualifications (CrossReach) 5/10 

Safeguarding Committee 6.5/4, 6.5/7 

see also Vocation and Training (Ministries Council) 

Travellers (Church and Society Council) 2/3, 2/6, 2/18, 2/58 

Travelling expenses 

Commissioners 6.1/4 


see also Environmental issues (Green Travel); Ministries Council 

(Finance) 

Trident see Nuclear weapons 

Trinidad 7/36 

Greyfriars St Ann’s and Arouca and Sangre Grande 7/1, 7/29 

United Free Church of Scotland 6.3/1, 6.3/6 

United Reformed Church 6.3/5-6 

Well, The (Mission and Evangelism) 4/15 

Wellhall Home (CrossReach) 5/12 

Widows/Widowers of Ministers see Housing and Loan Fund 

Wild Goose Publications 17/3 

Women in Ministry Report see Ministries Council 

World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), Ecumenical Relations

Committee 6.3/4, 6.3/19 

World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), Ecumenical 

Relations Committee 6.3/4 

World Council of Churches (WCC) 

Decade to Overcome Violence 14/1, 14/5 

Ecumenical Relations Committee 6.3/3-4, 6.3/19 


addenda 

Rev Colin C Renwick (Convener) 7/34 

Rev Dr Kenneth Ross (Council Secretary) 7/34-35 

British and Irish Amity Teachers’ Group 7/39 

Christian Communities in Minority Situations 7/1, 7/2-3 

climate change 7/22 

deaths 7/39 

Edinburgh 2010 - 1910 World Missionary Conference 7/1, 7/32-34 

Faithshare Visitors 7/39-42 

financial assistance 7/13-14 

greater awareness 7/1, 7/14 

Guild, The 14/3-4 

HIV/AIDS Project 7/32 

inter-religious dialogue 7/1, 7/15-16 

Christian Muslim Relations in Africa 7/22-23 

Kirk Sessions 7/15 

lobbying/advocacy 7/15 

local development 7/29-32 

media, uses of 7/13, 7/14 

Mission associates 7/39 


Panel on Review and Reform - Overseas Mission Partnership 19/1-2, 

19/19-23 

pastoral and practical support 7/14 

prayer 7/15 

Response - what does the Lord require? 7/1, 7/11-14 

St Colm’s College 7/32 

Scottish Churches World Exchange 7/1, 7/27-28, 7/39 

staff and family members 7/36-38 

support for partner churches 7/15 

useful resources 7/16 

writing letters 7/15 

Asia 7/17 

Bahamas 7/36 

and St Andrew’s Nassau and Lucaya Kirk 7/1, 7/28-29 

INDEX 

Bangladesh 7/18-19, 7/36 

Caribbean 7/24 

see also Bahamas; Trinidad 

China 7/10-11, 7/19-20 

complexities of 7/10-11 

Egypt 7/5-6 

Synod of the Nile 7/6 

Europe, Presbytery of 7/17 

India 7/9, 7/20 

2008 violence towards Christians in Orissa 7/9 

Iraq 7/6-7 

Malawi 7/21-22, 7/37 

Nepal 7/8, 7/19 

North Korea 7/11 

Pakistan 7/7-8, 7/17-18 

Trinidad 7/36 

Greyfriars St Ann’s and Arouca and Sangre Grande 7/1, 7/29 

Zambia 7/20-21, 7/38 

Zimbabwe 7/23-24 

see also Israel and Palestine 

Worship and Doctrine see Mission and Discipleship Council 

Youth 

Boys Brigade (Legal Questions Committee) 6.4/5 


Iona Community Board 17/3 

Young Offenders 17/1, 17/3 

see also Education; Education and Nurture; Parish Development Fund 

(Grants awarded); Safeguarding 

Youth Assembly 

and Church Art and Architecture Committee 4/2, 4/21-22 



Youth Assembly Debates 

Identity 23/1 

Inter-Faith matters 23/3 

Spirituality 23/2-3 

Wealth 23/1-2 

Zambia, World Mission Council 7/20-21, 7/38 

Zimbabwe, World Mission Council 7/23-24

THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND - Priestfield Parish Church

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