SATURDAY 22 – THURSDAY 27 MAY I. Assembly Office-Bearers and Procedure Committee ....................................... 03 II. Index of Presbyteries ...................................... 04 III. Roll of Commissioners ..................................... 05 IV. Order of Business ............................................. 27 V. Information on Questions, Comments and Motions .................................... 30 VI. Proposed Committees ...................................... 32 VII. Overtures ......................................................... 33 VIII.Supplementary Reports .................................. 44 IX. Minutes ........................................................... 107 X. Standing Orders ............................................. 110 XI. Proposed Amendments to Standing Orders for the Online General Assembly 2021 ......... 138 ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS Scottish Charity Number: SC011353 General Assembly 2021
Transcript
S AT U R DAY 2 2 – T H U R S DAY 2 7 M AYI. Assembly Office-Bearers and
Procedure Committee .......................................03II. Index of Presbyteries ...................................... 04III. Roll of Commissioners .....................................05IV. Order of Business ............................................. 27V. Information on Questions,
for the Online General Assembly 2021 ......... 138
ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS
Scottish Charity Number: SC011353
General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
NOTESTRAININGPlease ensure you sign up for the one of the training events, on whichinformation will be emailed to you separately.
COMMISSIONERS’ TRAVELLING EXPENSES AND SUBSISTENCEEXPENSESPlease note that as this is a fully online event, expenses will not bepaid.
CONTACT USIn the first instance pleaseemail: [email protected] with any queries.
02 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Assembly Office-Bearers and Procedure CommitteeASSEMBLY OFFICE-BEARERS
Title Name NoModerator Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair 739Moderator-Designate Lord Wallace of
Tankerness744
Chaplains Rev Dr Marjory AMacLean
740
Rev Gordon Fraser HMacNaughton
742
Principal Clerk Rev Dr George JWhyte
745
Depute Clerk Ms Christine Paterson 743Procurator Ms Laura Dunlop QC 738Law Agent Miss Mary MacLeod 741Precentor Rev Colin RenwickChief Steward Mr Alexander F
GemmillDepute Steward Mr Neil ProvenAssembly Officer Mr William MearnsDepute AssemblyOfficer
Mrs Karen McKay
PROCEDURE COMMITTEETitle Name NoConvener Rev Donald
McCorkindale746
Vice-Convener Mrs Susan Pym 747
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 03
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Index of Presbyteries31 Aberdeen and Shetland36 Abernethy30 Angus7 Annandale and Eskdale12 Ardrossan19 Argyll10 Ayr
34 Buchan
41 Caithness14 Clyde
8 Dumfries andKirkcudbright
29 Dundee27 Dunkeld and Meigle5 Duns
1 Edinburgh47 England
22 Falkirk24 Fife
16 Glasgow33 Gordon
17 Hamilton
48 International Charges37 Inverness11 Irvine and Kilmarnock
04 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Roll of Commissioners1. Presbytery of Edinburgh
Minister1. Rev Ian W Alexander, Interim
Head of the Faith ImpactForum *
2. Very Rev Dr Russell Barr,(Edinburgh: Cramond)
3. Very Rev Dr Derek Browning,Edinburgh: Morningside
4. Rev Christine Clark,(Healthcare Chaplain)
5. Rev Joanne G Foster,Edinburgh: Inverleith St Serf's
6. Rev Neil N Gardner,Edinburgh: Canongate
7. Rev Keith E Graham,Edinburgh: Murrayfield
8. Rev Peter Graham,(Presbytery Clerk)
9. Rev James J Griggs,Edinburgh: Corstorphine StAnne's
10 Rev Dr Jared W Hay,(Edinburgh: Priestfield)
11. Rev Elizabeth M Henderson,Edinburgh: RichmondCraigmillar
12. Rev Dr James A P Jack,Edinburgh: Duddingston
13. Rev Dr Thomas Kisitu,Edinburgh: St Nicholas'Sighthill
14. Rev Ian A MacDonald,Edinburgh: Holy Trinity
15. Rev Dr Rosie Magee,Edinburgh: St Andrew's andSt George's West
16. Rev Michael Mair, Edinburgh:St David's Broomhouse
20. Rev Peter Nelson, Edinburgh:St John's Colinton Mains
21. Rev Sheena Orr, PrisonChaplain*
22. Rev Malcolm Ramsay,Edinburgh: Willowbrae
23. Very Rev Colin A M Sinclair,Edinburgh: Palmerston Place
24. Very Ref Prof Iain RTorrance Kt, (University ofAberdeen)
25. Rev Samuel A R Torrens,Edinburgh: SlatefordLongstone*
26. Rev Dr Fiona Tweedie,Mission StatisticsCoordinator, OLM
27. Rev Ian J Wells, RathoElder28. Mrs Joanne Baird, Edinburgh:
Leith St Andrew's29. Mr Andrew Bathgate,
Edinburgh: Craiglockhart30. Ms Matilda Boulogne,
Edinburgh: Juniper Green31. Mr Ian R Buckingham,
Edinburgh: Broughton StMary's
32. Mrs Lesley Burt, Balerno33. Mr James R Byers, Edinburgh:
Corstorphine St Ninian's34. Mr James Campbell,
Edinburgh: St Andrew's andSt George's West
35. Mrs Andrena Crawford,Edinburgh: St Andrew's andSt George's West
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 05
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................36. Mr George B Dickson,
Edinburgh: St David'sBroomhouse
37. Mr Duncan Douglas, Dalmeny38. Mr David Drummond,
Edinburgh: Corstorphine Old39. Mr John Duncan, Edinburgh:
Palmerston Place40. Dr Alison Elliot, Edinburgh:
Greyfriars41. Mrs Isobel Gray,
Edinburgh: Meadowbank42. Dr Hazel Hastie, Edinburgh:
Drylaw43. Mrs Doreen Jones, Edinburgh:
Duddingston44. Mr David MacLennan,
Edinburgh: Gorgie DalryStenhouse
45. Mr Hugh McDiarmid,Edinburgh: Newhaven
46. Mr William McKay, Kirkliston47. Mr Chris McNeil, Edinburgh:
Morningside48. Mrs Deirdre Shishodia,
Edinburgh: Cramond49. Mrs Sandra Steedman,
Edinburgh: St Andrew'sClermiston
50. Mr Ian A J Thom, Edinburgh:Greenbank
51. Mrs Carol Turnbull,Edinburgh: CorstorphineCraigsbank*
Kirknewton and East Calder58. Rev Derek R Henderson,
Abercorn l/w Pardovan,Kingscavil and Winchburgh
59. Rev W. Richard Houston,Linlithgow: St Ninian'sCraigmailen
60. Rev A Scott Marshall,Abercorn l/w Pardovan,Kingscavil and Winchburgh
61. Rev Dr Ian D Maxwell, Uphall:South
62. Rev Allison Quilter, PolbethHarwood l/w West Kirk ofCalder, OLM
63. Rev Thomas S Riddell,Linlithgow: St Michael's,Auxiliary Minister*
Elder64. Mr Hugh Brown, Broxburn65. Mr David Cameron, Uphall:
South66. Mr Alan Carruthers, Abercorn67. Mrs Jean Kershaw, Pardovan,
Kingscavil and Winchburgh68. Mr John McFadzean, Whitburn:
South69. Mr Darren Philip, Livingston:
United*70, Mr Keith Stirling, TorphichenDeacon71. Mrs Kay McIntosh DCS,
Edinburgh: Mayfield Salisbury,Pastoral Assistant
06 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................3. Presbytery of Lothian
Minister72. Rev Robin N Allison,
Cockenzie and Port Seton:Chalmers Memorial
73. Rev Geoff T Berry, ArmyChaplain
74. Very Rev Dr John B Cairns,(Aberlady l/w Gullane)
75. Rev Hayley L Cohen,Musselburgh: Northesk
76. Rev Suzanne G Fletcher,Dunglass
77. Rev Dr David J Graham,Dirleton l/w North Berwick:Abbey
78. Rev Ruth D Halley, (Logie)79. Rev Dr Robin E Hill,
Gladsmuir l/w Longniddry80. Rev Keith L Mack, Dalkeith:
St John's and King's Park81. Rev Louise I Purden,
Bonnyrigg*82. Rev Gordon Stevenson,
Dunbar83. Rev John D Vischer, Garvald
and Morham l/w Haddington:West
Elder84. Mr A William Bell, Garvald
and Morham*85. Mr Robert D Burgon, North
Berwick: Abbey86. Mrs Joan E Cape, Penicuik: St
Mungo's87. Mrs Mary T Gordon,
Cockenzie and Port Seton:Chalmers Memorial
88. Mrs Mary S M Graham, NorthBerwick: Abbey
89. Mr Connor MacFadyen,Tranent
90. Mr John D McCulloch,Presbytery Clerk
91. Mrs Abigail Morrison,Longniddry
92. Mr Alexander P MNightingale, Dunglass
93. Mrs Emma T Stewart,Musselburgh: St Andrew'sHigh
94. Mr Iain J Thomson, Bonnyrigg95. Mr Kenneth M Wright,
GullaneDeacon96. Mrs Marilynn J Steele DCS,
(Edinburgh: Granton)4. Presbytery of Melrose andPeebles
100. Very Rev Dr FinlayMacdonald, (Principal Clerk)
101. Rev Sheila W Moir, Maxtonand Mertoun l/w Newtownl/w St Boswells*
102. Rev Margaret D J Steele,Ashkirk l/w Selkirk
Elder103. Dr Patsy Campbell, Carlops104. Mrs Frances Heafield, Ashkirk105. Mrs Isobel Hunter, Skirling106. Mr Peter Sandison,
Galashiels: Old and St Paul's107. Mr Robert Scott, Innerleithen,
Traquair and Walkerburn
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 07
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................108. Mr Robert G Turnbull,
Earlston*5. Presbytery of Duns
Minister109. Rev Andy Haddow,
Coldingham and St Abbs l/wEyemouth*
110. Rev Mike A Taylor, Chirnsidel/w Hutton and Fishwick andPaxton
Elder111. Mrs Susan Patterson, Ayton
and District Churches*112. Mr David S Philp, Presbytery
Clerk6. Presbytery of Jedburgh
Minister113. Rev Lisa-Jane Rankin, Hawick:
Wilton l/w Teviothead*114. Rev Anna S Rodwell, Kelso:
North and Ednam115. Rev Rachel Wilson, Hobkirk
and Southdean l/w RuberslawElder116. Mr R S Elliot, Hawick:
Burnfoot*117. Mr Stuart Kelly, Cheviot
Churches118. Mrs Morag McKeand, Oxnam7. Presbytery of Annandale andEskdale
Minister119. Rev Morag Crossan, Canonbie
United120. Rev Elsie Macrae, Kirkpatrick
Juxta l/w Moffat: StAndrew's l/w Wamphray
121. Rev Dr Robert Pickles,Langholm, Eskdalemuir, Ewesand Westerkirk
122. Rev David Whiteman, Annan:Old l/w Dornock*
Elder123. Mr David Boncey, Kirkpatrick
Juxta124. Mrs Elaine I Irving, Hoddom,
Kirtle-Eaglesfield andMiddlebie
125. Mr Anthony Lane, CanonbieUnited*
126. Mr Ian Scott, Lochmaben8. Presbytery of Dumfries andKirkcudbright
Minister127. Rev Dr David Bartholomew,
Balmaclellan, Kells and Dalryl/w Carsphairn
128. Rev Donald Campbell,Dumfries: St George's*
129. Rev John Notman, Dumfries:Troqueer
130. Rev Valerie J Ott, Gatehouseand Borgue l/w Tarff andTwynholm
131. Rev Mark Smith, Dunscorel/w Glencairn and Moniaive
137. Mrs Elizabeth Tanner,Dumfries: St Mary'sGreyfriars'
138. Mr David Townsend,Dumfries: Northwest
08 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................9. Presbytery of Wigtown andStranraer
Minister139. Rev Eric Boyle, Kirkcowan
l/w Wigtown*140. Rev Alexander I Currie,
Glasserton and Isle ofWhithorn l/w Whithorn: StNinian's Priory
141. Rev Stephen Ogston, Inch l/wLuce Valley
Elder142. Mr Angus Carrick-Buchanan,
Ervie Kirkcolm*143. Mrs Sandra McDowall,
Wigtown144. Mr Robert McKinnel,
Glasserton and Isle ofWhithorn l/w Whithorn: StNinian's Priory
10. Presbytery of AyrMinister145. Rev Lynsey Brennan,
Dundonald146. Rev Kenneth Elliott,
Presbytery Clerk147. Rev Brian Hendrie, Ayr: St
Leonard's l/w Dalrymple148. Rev Dr David Hume, Alloway,
OLM149. Rev Neil McNaught, Alloway*150. Rev John Paterson, Lugar l/w
Old Cumnock: Old151. Rev Dave Prentice-Hyers,
Troon: Old152. Rev Mandy Ralph, Annbank
l/w Tarbolton153. Rev Alastair Symington,
Depute Presbytery Clerk154. Rev Allan Vint, Mauchline l/w
Sorn
Elder155. Dr James Anderson, Girvan:
South156. Mr Bill Duncan, Alloway*157. Mr Gordon MacDonald,
11. Presbytery of Irvine andKilmarnockMinister165. Rev Taylor Brown,
Kilmarnock: South166. Very Rev William Hewitt,
(Presbytery Clerk: Glasgow)167. Very Rev Dr David Lacy,
(Kilmarnock: Kay Park)168. Rev George Lind, (Irvine:
Mure l/w Irvine: ReliefBoutreehill)
169. Rev Alison McBrier, Caldwell170. Rev James McNaughtan,
Kilmarnock: St Andrew's andSt Marnock's
171. Rev John Urquhart, Kilmaurs:St Maur's Glencairn
172. Rev Alec Wark, PresbyteryClerk*
Elder173. Mr Alan Beattie, Kilmarnock:
St Andrew's and St Marnock's174. Mr William Bremner, Irvine: St
Andrew's
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 09
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................175. Mrs Margaret Hamilton,
Kilmarnock: South*176. Mrs Jane Johnston,
Kilmarnock: St John'sOnthank
177. Mr Les Kirk, Dunlop178. Mr Robbie Menzies, Kilmaurs:
St Maur's Glencairn179. Mrs Loraine Strang, Caldwell180. Mr David Whitelaw, Irvine:
OldDeacon181. Mrs Barbara Urquhart DCS,
(Deacon)12. Presbytery of Ardrossan
Minister182. Rev David Albon, Dalry: St
Margaret's183. Rev Scott Cameron,
Stevenston: High184. Rev James McNay, West
Kilbride185. Rev David Watson, Largs:
Clark Memorial*186. Rev David Sutherland
Stevenston: Ardeer l/wStevenston: Livingstone
Elder187. Mr Archie Currie, Kilbirnie:
Auld*188. Ms Veronica A M Fitzpatrick,
Kilwinning: Abbey189. Mrs Jean Hunter, Presbytery
Clerk190. Mrs Bea Nicholson, Saltcoats:
St Cuthbert's191. Mr Magnus Ross, Largs: Clark
MemorialDeacon192. Miss Fiona Blair DCS, Beith
13. Presbytery of LanarkMinister193. Rev Iain D Cunningham,
Carluke: Kirkton194. Rev Bryan Kerr, Lanark:
Greyfriars*195. Rev Louise E Mackay, Lanark:
St Nicholas'196. Rev Andrew D Rooney,
KirkmuirhillElder197. Mrs Lesley Ewing, Carluke:
Kirkton198. Mr Scott M Paget, Lanark:
Greyfriars*199. Mr David M Waters,
Kirkmuirhill200.
14. Presbytery of ClydeMinister201. Rev Gordon Armstrong,
Paisley: Oakshaw Trinity202. Rev Dr Sonia Blakesley,
Paisley: St Mark's Oldhall203. Rev William Boyle, Port
Glasgow: New204. Rev Stuart Davidson, Pioneer
Minister Paisley: North End205. Rev Gray Fletcher, Elderslie
Kirk206. Rev Andrew Frater,
Milngavie: Cairns207. Rev Dr Christine Goldie,
Bearsden: Westerton FairlieMemorial*
208. Rev Pamela Gordon,Barrhead: Bourock
209. Rev Kenneth Gray, Bridge ofWeir: Freeland
210. Rev Dr Alan J Hamilton,Bearsden: Killermont
10 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................211. Rev Karen Harbison,
Greenock: Westburn212. Very Rev Dr Lorna Hood OBE,
Interim Presbytery Clerk241. Rev Scott Blythe, Netherlee
and Stamperland242. Rev James A S Boag, Broom243. Rev Richard Cameron,
Glasgow: Scotstoun244. Rev Stuart J Crawford,
Newton Mearns245. Rev Jane M Denniston,
Campsie*246. Rev Ruth Forsythe,
Spiritual Formation Advisor247. Rev Ian F Galloway, Glasgow:
Gorbals248. Rev James Gemmell,
Glasgow: Carnwadric*249. Rev David Gray, Glasgow:
Govan and Linthouse250. Rev Roy J M Henderson,
Glasgow: PollokshawsOrder of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 11
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................251. Rev Karen E Hendry,
Glasgow: Yoker252. Rev Derek Hughes, Glasgow:
Easterhouse253. Rev Margaret H Johnston,
Glasgow: Kinning Park254. Rev Mark Johnston,
University of Glasgow:Pastoral Studies Tutor
255. Rev Jonathan A Keefe,Glasgow: Robroyston
256. Rev Dr Carolyn Kelly,University of Glasgow:Interfaith Chaplaincy
257. Rev Stuart Love, Glasgow:Clincarthill
258. Very Rev Dr David W Lunan,(Presbytery Clerk: Glasgow)
259. Rev Dr Kleber Machado,Glasgow: St Andrew's West
260. Rev Alasdair R MacMillan,Glasgow: Cathcart Trinity
261. Rev Elaine H MacRae,Glasgow: St Enoch'sHogganfield
262. Rev Gordon MacRae, Stepps263. Rev Stuart C Matthews,
282. Miss Morag Campbell,Glasgow: St David'sKnightswood
283. Mrs Fiona Crawford, NewtonMearns
284. Mr Anthony C D Crow,Glasgow: SandyfordHenderson Memorial
285. Mrs Agnes Dick, Glasgow:Shettleston New
286. Mrs Brenda Dickie, Glasgow:Cathcart Old
12 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................287. Ms Jane Drummond, Glasgow:
Broomhill Hyndland288. Mr Andrew Dunn, Glasgow:
Tron St Mary's289. Ms Rebecca Gebauer,
Glasgow: Wellington290. Mrs Elizabeth Glen,
Glasgow: Blawarthill291. Mr Bill Gray, Glasgow:
Torrance292. Ms Fiona Hay, Glasgow:
Balshagray Victoria Park293. Ms Una L Heaney, Glasgow:
Sherbrooke Mosspark294. Mr Robin C Hutchison,
Glasgow: St John's Renfield295. Mr Raymond Jenkins,
Glasgow: King's Park296. Mr Ross Johnstone,
Williamwood297. Mr Peter Liddell, Greenbank298. Mr Robert Macdonald,
Glasgow: Yoker299. Mr Gordon J MacFarlane,
Glasgow: Clincarthill300. Ms Patricia Mackenzie, Broom301. Mrs Isabel McDerment,
Glasgow: Scotstoun*302. Mr David Mclachlan, Glasgow:
Shawlands Trinity303. Mrs Janette McMaster,
Glasgow: BarlanarkGreyfriars
304. Mrs Margaret O'Neil, Glasgow:Thornliebank
305. Ms Lorraine Robertson,Stepps
306. Mrs Margaret Robertson,Williamwood
307. Mr Harry Sime, Glasgow:Robroyston
308. Miss Jean O Smith, Glasgow:Dennistoun New
309. Mrs Helen Sturrock, Glasgow:Wellington*
310. Mrs Fiona L Watson, Glasgow:Kelvinside Hillhead
311. Ms Edith Watt, Glasgow:Bridgeton St Francis in theEast
312. Mr Andrew Wilkin,Kirkintilloch: St David'sMemorial Park
Deacon313. Ms Ann Lyall DCS, Parish
Assistant Glasgow:Baillieston Mure Memorial l/wGlasgow: Baillieston StAndrew’s
314. Miss Anne MacDonald DCS,Glasgow Royal Infirmary:Hospital Chaplain
315. Mrs Margaret D McLellanDCS, (Glasgow: Merrylea)
17. Presbytery of HamiltonMinister316. Rev Ross Blackman,
Hamilton: Old317. Rev John Brewster, East
Kilbride: Greenhills318. Rev Leslie N Brunger,
Uddingston: Burnhead319. Rev Stewart Cutler,
Stonehouse: St Ninian's LEP320. Rev Dr Peter H Donald,
Airdrie: Cairnlea321. Rev Lorna Fyfe, Coatbridge:
New St Andrew's OLM*322. Rev Joanne C Hood, Hamilton:
St John's323. Rev Lorna I MacDougall,
Overtown
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 13
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................324. Rev Iain M T Majcher,
Bothwell325. Rev Dr Alistair S May,
Motherwell: Dalziel StAndrew's*
326. Rev Dr Gordon A McCracken,Presbytery Clerk
327. Rev Fiona Nicolson,Coatbridge: New St Andrew's
328. Rev Gordon R Palmer, EastKilbride: Claremont
329. Rev Shaw J Paterson,Strathaven: Trinity
330. Rev Graham Raeburn,Newmains: Bonkle l/wNewmains: Coltness Memorial
14 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................360. Miss Maureen M Mackinnon,
North and West Islay361. Mr Ron McInnes, Ardrishaig362. Mr James I Miller, Strathfillan363. Ms Helen Pearson, Kilmore
380. Mrs Anne Coulter, Airth381. Mrs Janette M Craig,
Slamannan382. Mr Christopher Dunn,
Cumbernauld: Kildrum383. Mrs Helen Moir, Cumbernauld:
Condorrat384. Mrs Rena C Moore,
Blackbraes and Shieldhill385. Mrs Eleanor Neilson,
Grangemouth: Kirk of theHoly Rood
386. Mrs Morag M Patterson,Stenhouse and Carron*
387. Mr James C Slater, Falkirk:Bainsford
388. Mr Eric C Smith, BrightonsDeacon389. Mr David Nicholson DCS,
Deacon, Cumbernauld Kildruml/w St Mungo's23. Presbytery of Stirling
Minister390. Rev Dr Valerie L Allen,
Presbytery Chaplain391. Rev Alison E P Britchfield,
Tillicoultry*392. Rev Dr Anthony Foley, Dollar393. Rev Barry Hughes, Stirling: St
Mark's394. Rev Alison M Jack, New
College395. Rev Dawn A Laing, Alloa:
Ludgate396. Rev Sigrid Marten, Balfron397. Rev Scott McInnes, Stirling:
North398. Rev Alan F Miller, Presbytery
Clerk399. Rev Colin C Renwick,
Dunblane Cathedral
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 15
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Elder400. Mr David Briggs, Stirling:
North401. Mrs Marjory Davidson,
Tullibody: St Serf's402. Mrs Mary Gillies, Tullibody: St
Serf's403. Mr Daniel Gunn, Dunblane: St
Blane's*404. Mr Ian McVean, Balfron405. Miss Isobel Munro, Menstrie406. Mrs Val Rose, Alloa: Ludgate407. Mr David Scott, Dunblane
Cathedral408. Mr Michael G S Yuille,
Dunblane: St Blane's409.Deacon410. Mrs Jean T Porter DCS,
Stirling: St Mark's24. Presbytery of Fife
Minister411. Rev Jane Barron, Moderator
of the Presbytery of Fife*412. Rev Graeme Beebee,
Cameron l/w St Andrew's: StLeonard's
413. Very Rev Dr John Chalmers,(Principal Clerk)
414. Rev Amos Chewachong,Newport-on-Tay
415. Rev Douglas Creighton, EastNeuk Trinity l/w St Monans
416. Rev Andrew C Donald,Kirkcaldy: Pathhead
417. Rev John Duncan, Leuchars:St Athernase
418. Rev Elizabeth A Fisk, Culrossand Torryburn
419. Rev Peter S Gerbrandy-Baird,Aberdour: St Fillan's
420. Rev Donald Lawrie,Auchterderran: Kinglassie
421. Rev Jeffrey Martin, Cupar:Old and St Michael of Tarvitl/w Monimail
422. Rev Eileen Miller, Glenrothes:St Margaret's
423. Rev Andrew Morrice,Dunfermline: East
424. Rev Allan Morton, Kennoway,Windygates and Balgonie: StKenneth's
425. Rev Gillian Paterson, Methil:Wellesley
426. Rev Alec Shuttleworth,Tulliallan and Kincardine l/wSaline and Blairingone*
427. Rev David J Smith,Glenrothes: St Ninian's
428. Rev Muriel F Willoughby,Dunfermline: St Andrew'sErskine
Elder429. Ms Marion J Baldie, Falkland430. Lady Sheila Boyd, Leuchars:
St Athernase431. Miss Elizabeth Bracher, East
Neuk Trinity*432. Mrs Sheena S T Briggs,
Glenrothes: St Ninian's433. Mrs Ella Brown, Ceres,
Kemback and Springfield434. Mr Kenneth Brown,
Dunfermline: East435. Mrs Clementina B Dodds MBE,
Culross and Torryburn436. Mr Louis Douglas,
Dunfermline: St Andrew'sErskine
437. Mrs Margaret Dow, Kelty*438. Mrs Linda Gartshore, Methil:
Wellesley
16 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................439. Mr Ian Hamilton,
Auchterderran: Kinglassie440. Mr William Henderson,
Aberdour441. Mr Hugh Mackenzie,
Kirkcaldy: Pathhead442. Mr Philip Owen, Newport-on-
Tay443. Mr George G Owenson,
Dalgety444. Miss Iona M Pringle,
Kennoway, Windygates andBalgonie: St Kenneth's
445. Mrs Catriona J Reidpath,Glenrothes: St Margaret's
446. Mr Peter Robinson, CameronDeacon447. Mrs Pamela Scott DCS,
Lochgelly and Benarty27. Presbytery of Dunkeld andMeigle
Minister448. Rev Benjamin Abeledo,
Blairgowrie449. Rev Michael J Erskine, Alyth*450. Rev Peggy Ewart-Roberts,
Kinclaven l/w Caputh andClunie
451. Rev Neil M Glover, Aberfeldyl/w Dull and Weem l/wGrandtully, Logierait andStrathtay
Elder452. Mr Clifford Cooke,
Blairgowrie453. Mr Alan Dunlop, Aberfeldy454. Mrs Sheila Mannion, Dunkeld455. Mr Steven Tait, Alyth*
28. Presbytery of PerthMinister456. Rev Marc F Bircham, St
Madoes and Kinfauns457. Rev Grant MacLaughlan,
Community Worker withTulloch Net
458. Rev Lynn McChlery,Auchterarder
459. Rev Alex M Millar,Presbytery Clerk*
460. Rev Elisabeth M Stenhouse,Fossoway: St Serf's andDevonside l/w Cleish
461. Rev Anne E Stewart,Chaplain at HMP CastleHuntly
462. Rev Anne Stott, CommunityMinister, Bertha Park
463. Rev Kenneth D Stott, Perth:North
Elder464. Mr Kenith Barclay, Perth:
Letham St Mark's465. Mrs Margaret Bell, Dunbarney
and Forgandenny466. Miss Marjorie Clark, Perth: St
Matthew's*467. Mrs Elizabeth Cunningham,
Dundurn468. Mr George G Hayton, Kinross469. Mr Ian A Roy, Crieff470. Mrs Karin Wilson, St Madoes
and Kinfauns471.Deacon472. Miss Patricia M Munro DCS,
(Perth: Riverside)*
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 17
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................29. Presbytery of Dundee
Minister473. Rev Colin Brough, Dundee:
Fintry*474. Rev Gordon A Campbell,
Chaplain, Dundee University475. Rev Dr James Connolly,
Dundee: West476. Rev Donna Hays, Fowlis and
Liff l/w Lundie and Muirhead477. Rev Anita Kerr, Dundee:
Meadowside St Paul's l/wDundee: St Andrew's
478. Rev Marc Prowe, Invergowrie479. Rev Graham Taylor, (Dundee:
Broughty Ferry St Luke's andQueen Street)
480. Rev James Wilson, Dundee:Whitfield
Elder481. Mr James Colville, Broughty
Ferry New Kirk482. Miss Catherine Coull, Dundee:
Lochee483. Mr Ken McAra, Lundie and
Muirhead484. Mr Gordon McBean, Dundee:
Lochee485. Mrs Margaret McVean, Fowlis
and Liff486. Mr Tim Podger, Monikie and
Newbigging and Murroes andTealing*
487. Mr Alastair Robertson,Monifieth
488. Mr Timothy Xenophontos-Hellen, Dundee: St Andrew's30. Presbytery of Angus
Minister489. Rev Stephen Blakey, The Isla
Parishes
490. Rev Fiona C Bullock, Dun andHillside
491. Rev Michael S Goss, Barryl/w Carnoustie
492. Rev Christine Hay, Arbroath:West Kirk
493. Rev Dr Ian A McLean,Presbytery Clerk*
494. Rev Brian Ramsay,Aberlemno l/w Guthrie andRescobie
495. Rev Geoffrey Redmayne,Montrose: South and Ferriden
Elder496. Mrs Elizabeth Aiken,
Arbroath: West Kirk497. Mrs Joyce Brown, Carnoustie:
Panbride498. Mrs Meg Cowan, Montrose:
South and Ferryden499. Mr Douglas Gow, Edzell
Lethnot and Glenesk500. Mrs Elizabeth Kidd, Brechin:
Gardner Memorial501. Mr Ronald Leslie, Forfar:
Lowson Memorial502. Mrs Irene McGugan,
Dunnichen, Letham andKirkden*
31. Presbytery of Aberdeen &ShetlandMinister503. Rev Keith Blackwood,
Aberdeen: Mannofield504. Rev Dr John A Ferguson,
Presbytery Clerk*505. Rev Dr Frances Henderson,
Transition Minister, Shetland506. Rev David S Hutchison,
(Chaplain, University ofAberdeen)
18 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................507. Rev J Peter N Johnston,
Aberdeen: Ferryhill509. Rev Manson C Merchant,
Dyce510. Rev Scott M Rennie,
Aberdeen: Queen's Cross511. Rev David J Stewart,
Aberdeen: South Holburn512. Rev Prof John Swinton,
University of Aberdeen513. Rev Maggie Whyte,
Aberdeen: St Stephen'sElder514. Miss Pauline M Alexander,
Aberdeen: Woodside515. Mr Jim Donald, Shetland*516. Mr Robert Gunn, Dyce517. Mrs Hazel Hewitt, Aberdeen:
South Holburn518. Mr Ronald Johnstone,
Aberdeen: South Holburn519. Mrs Eunice McConnach,
Aberdeen: Rubislaw520. Miss Alice Merrilees,
Aberdeen: Ferryhill521. Mr William Rae, Aberdeen:
Ruthrieston West522. Dr J Graeme Roberts,
Aberdeen: Ferryhill523.32. Presbytery of Kincardine andDeesideMinister524. Rev David Barr, Glenmuick*525. Rev Dr Melvyn Griffiths,
Maryculter Trinity526. Rev Andrew Morrison,
Stonehaven: Fetteresso527. Rev Brian D Smith, West
Mearns
528. Rev Holly Smith, Mid DeesideElder529. Mr James M Clark, Glenmuick530. Mr David E Laing, Banchory-
Ternan: East*531. Mrs Marion McNeil, Drumoak-
Durris532. Mr David Middleton, West
Mearns533. Mrs Gloria Potter,
Stonehaven: Fetteresso33. Presbytery of Gordon
Minister534. Rev Dr John A Cook, Howe
Trinity*535. Rev Dr Mary Cranfield,
Culsalmond and Rayne l/wDaviot
536. Rev Dr Kay Gauld, Insch-Leslie-Premnay-Oyne
537. Rev Euan Glen, PresbyteryClerk
538. Rev Douglas McNab, NewMachar
539. Rev Sheila Mitchell, Echt andMidmar
540. Rev Dr William Stalder,Methlick
Elder541. Miss Ann Brown, Kemnay*542. Mrs Anne M Campbell, Insch-
Leslie-Premanay-Oyne543. Ms Susan E S Hogg, Daviot544. Mrs Pat Patrone, Meldrum
and Bourtie545. Mrs Somersal Shepley, Howe
Trinity546. Mrs Jeannie Price, Methlick547.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 19
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................34. Presbytery of Buchan
Minister548. Rev James M Cook, Turriff:
St Andrew's l/w Monquhitterand New Byth
549. Rev David I W Locke, Banffl/w King Edward
550. Rev Dr Alan Macgregor,Marnoch
551. Rev Aileen McFie, Maud andSavoch l/w New Deer: StKane's
552. Rev Colin A Strong, NewPitsligo l/w Strichen andTyrie*
553. Rev Sean Swindells, Cruden554. Rev Dr Jeffrey Tippner, St
FergusElder555. Mrs Isabel Cumming, Maud
and Savoch556. Mrs Maureen H Esson, Cruden557. Mr Robert M Esson, Cruden558. Miss U Ruth R Mackenzie,
Peterhead: New559. Mr Kenneth Sim, Sandhaven*560. Mrs Elizabeth Slaven,
Longside561. Mr Steven Wilson, Strichen
and Tyrie35. Presbytery of Moray
Minister562. Rev Jennifer M Adams,
Duffus, Spynie and Hopeman563. Rev Anne Attenburrow,
(Auxiliary Minister, Duffus,Spynie and Hopeman)
564. Rev Eduard Enslin, Cabrachand Mortlach
565. Rev Richard G Moffat, Dykeand Edinkillie
566. Rev Douglas F Stevenson,Cullen and Deskford*
567. Rev Wiekus Van Straaten,Keith: St Rufus Botriphnieand Grange
Elder568. Mrs Ann M C Bowie, Bellie
and Speymouth569. Mrs Iona Kielhorn,
Lossiemouth: St Gerardine'sHigh
570. Mr Stuart Lynch, Elgin: StGiles' and St Columba'sSouth*
576. Rev Charles Finnie, Alvie andInsh l/w Rothiemurchus andAviemore*
Elder577. Mrs Margaret Dick, Cromdale
and Advie*578. Mrs Wilma Grierson, Alvie
and Insh
20 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................37. Presbytery of Inverness
Minister579. Rev Robert E Brookes,
Cawdor l/w Croy andDalcross
580. Rev Thomas M Bryson,Auldearn and Dalmore l/wNairn: St Ninian's
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 21
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................613. Mrs Ina Macpherson, Kildonan
and Loth Helmsdale614. Mrs Kim McCarthy, Dornoch
Cathedral615. Mrs Fiona Risk, Clyne*
41. Presbytery of CaithnessMinister616. Rev Andrew Barrie, Wick:
Pultneytown and Thrumster*617. Rev David Malcolm, Thurso:
St Peter's and St Andrew's618. Rev Lyall Rennie, Pentland.
45. Presbytery of OrkneyMinister638. Rev John Butterfield,
Stromness639. Rev June Freeth, Flotta l/w
Hoy and Walls l/w Orphir andStenness, OLM
640. Rev Iain D MacDonald,Westray l/w Papa Westray*
641. Rev Julia M Meason, KirkwallEast l/w Shapinsay
Elder642. Mrs Sally Bartkowiack,
Stromness643. Mrs Jean Gillespie, Hoy and
Walls644. Mr Colin Gunn, Kirkwall: East*645. Mr Alan Sharp, Westray
47. Presbytery of EnglandMinister646. Rev Alistair Cumming,
Presbytery Clerk*647. Rev Dr James Francis, Army
Chaplain
22 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................648. Very Rev Dr John H McIndoe,
(London: St Columba's)649. Rev John McMahon,
Healthcare Chaplain650. Rev Prof Paul Middleton,
University Chaplain651. Rev Pauline Steenbergen,
Ecumenical Pioneer Minister652.Elder653. Mrs Katie Bennie, Jersey: St
Columba's654. Miss Elizabeth Fox, London:
St Columba's*655. Ms Elspeth Gordon, London:
Crown Court656. Mrs Caroline J Ludlow,
Jersey: St Columba's657. Dr Peter Mills, London: St
Columba's658. Miss Ethel Robb, Guernsey: St
Andrew's in the Grange659. Mr Angus Sneddon, Corby: St
Andrew's48. Presbytery of InternationalCharges
Minister660. Rev Alistair Bennett,
Bermuda: Christ Church,Warwick
661. Rev Derek Lawson, DeputePresbytery Clerk*
662. Rev Ewen MacLean, Gibraltar:St Andrew's
663. Rev Gillian MacLean,Lausanne: The Scots Kirk
664. Rev Lance Stone,Amsterdam: EnglishReformed Church
668. Mrs Heleen Koning,Amsterdam: EnglishReformed Church
669. Mr Scott MacSween, Paris:The Scots Kirk*
49. JerusalemMinister670. Rev Dr John McCulloch,
Jerusalem and Tiberias: StAndrew's*
Elder671. Ms Heather Dobson,
Jerusalem** denotes membership of theCommission of Assembly2021-2022
DELEGATES FROM OTHERCHURCHESUK
The Presbyterian Church ofWales679. Rev Marcus Wyn Robinson,
ModeratorThe United Reformed Church678. Mr Peter Pay, ModeratorThe United Reformed Church(National Synod of Scotland)681. Rev Paul Whittle, ModeratorChurch of England676. Rt Rev James Newcombe,
Bishop of CarlisleThe Baptist Union of Scotland672. Rev Frances Bloomfield,
Convener
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 23
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................The Methodist Church inScotland680. Rev Mark Slaney, Chair of
the Methodist Church inScotland
Religious Society of Friends –General Meeting for Scotland682. Adwoa Bittle (Saturday)683. Elizabeth Allen, Clerk of the
General Meeting for Scotland(Monday and Tuesday)
702. Mary Woodward (Wednesdayand Thursday)
Scottish Episcopal Church677. Rt Rev Ian Paton, Bishop of
St Andrews, Dunkeld andDunblane
The United Free Church ofScotland675. Rev John Fulton, ModeratorRoman Catholic Bishops’Conference of Scotland674. Most Rev Leo Cushley,
Archbishop of St Andrewsand Edinburgh
The Salvation Army673. Major David Cavanagh,
Assistant Secretary forScotland
DELEGATES FROM ECUMENICALBODIESAction of Churches Together inScotland686. Miss Carole HopeChurches Together in Britainand Ireland684. Mr Bob Fyffe, General
SecretaryChurches Together in England685. Rev Dr Paul Goodliff, General
Secretary
DELEGATES FROM OTHERCOUNTRIESAFRICA
Uniting Presbyterian Church ofSouthern Africa696. Rev Dr Lungile Mpetsheni,
General SecretaryPresbyterian Church of SouthSudan and Sudan697. Rev Tut Nguoth, Presbyterian
Relief and DevelopmentAgency
Uniting Church of Zambia693. Mr Bornface Mafwela –
Project OfficerAMERICAS
Presbyterian Church in Canada700. Rev Ian Ross-McDonald,
General Secretary, The Lifeand Mission Agency
THE CARIBBEANUniting Church of Jamaica andthe Caymen Islands694. Ms Janet McConnell, Human
and Mission ResourcesManager
ASIAChurch of Bangladesh699. Rev John Probhudan Hira,
Synod Secretary andPrincipal, St Andrew’sTheological College
Church of South India692. Prof Dr Mathew Koshy
Honorary Director, CSI SynodDepartment of EcologicalConcerns
The Amity Foundation, China691. Ms She Hongyu, Associate
General Secretary
24 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................United Mission to Nepal688. Mr Joel Hafvenstein,
Executive DirectorEUROPE
Spanish Evangelical Church687. Rev Israel Flores Olmos,
General SecretaryEvangelical Church ofWestphalia695. Rev Dr Ulrich Moeller, Head
of Department forEcumenism, Mission andGlobal Responsibility
MIDDLE EASTEvangelical Church of Egypt,Synod of the Nile689. Rev Dr Hani Hanna, Lecturer,
Evangelical TheologicalSeminary Cairo
Middle East Council of Churches701. Department of Service to
National Evangelical Synod ofSyria and Lebanon690. Rev Salam Hanna, Chair of
the committee on Ecclesialand Spiritual Affairs
PACIFICUniting Church in Australia698. Dr Deirdre Palmer, President
CORRESPONDING MEMBERSAssembly Trustees703. Prof Elizabeth Ashcroft705. Mr Alan Campbell707. Mrs Jean Couper710. Mr David Harrison712. Ms Linda Irvine723. Mr James McNeill725. Mr Geoff Miller
726. Ms Ann Nelson728. Mrs Norma Rolls729. Rev Anikó Schuetz Bradwell735. Mr Raymond Young737. Mr Philip ZieglerChief Officer713. Mr Dave KendallHead of Faith Action730. Rev Dr Scott ShackletonChurch of Scotland PensionTrustees718. Ms Lin MacmillanDeputy Treasurer731. Ms Leanne ThompsonEcumenical Relations Committee724. Rev Dr John L McPake711. Rev Alexander HorsburghFaith Nurture Forum720. Rev Angus R Mathieson706. Rev Dr Karen K CampbellFaith Impact Forum709. Ms Carol FinlayGeneral Treasurer716. Mrs Anne MacintoshGeneral Trustees732. Mr Ian T TownsendHead of Communications717. Ms Ruth MacLeodHead of Human Resources721. Mrs Elaine McCloghryLegal Questions Committee714. Rev Victoria LinfordLife and Work Editor722. Mrs Lynne McNeilNomination Committee736. Rev Bill WishartSafeguarding Committee719. Ms Julie Main
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 25
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Scottish Churches'Parliamentary Officer704. Mr David BradwellSocial Care Council708. Mrs Viv Dickenson734. Mrs Sarah WoodThe Guild733. Mr Iain WhyteTheological Forum715. Rev Dr Donald MacEwanTrustees of the Housing andLoan Fund727. Rev MaryAnn Rennie
YOUTH REPRESENTATIVESYouth Representativesappointed by Faith NurtureForum754. Mx Iona Kimmitt765. Ms Ishbel Wright764. Miss Joanne Whyte
PRESBYTERY YOUTHREPRESENTATIONEdinburgh748. Mx Chloe BlackWest Lothian751. Mr Scott GilchristLothian755. Ms Kate MacFadyenJedburgh761. Mr Greg James RobertsonClyde760. Miss Fiona ReidIrvine and Kilmarnock757. Ms Charlotte MurrayGlasgow763. Miss Rebecca StewartHamilton752. Ms Megan Graham
Falkirk762. Mr Stephen StalkerFife750. Miss Hannah DunlopStirling758. Mrs Bethany PringleAngus753. Miss Carla IngramAberdeen & Shetland749. Mr Fraser BorlandKincardine and Deeside 759. Ms Rebekka ReadEngland756. Miss Iris Maxfield
26 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Order of BusinessDay 1 - Saturday 22 May 2021Session 1: 10am-12noon1. Constitution of Assembly.2. Roll of Commissioners laid on
the table.3. Election of Moderator and
Prayer of Consecration.4. Commission to the Lord High
Commissioner to be read andorder given for recording it.
5. Her Majesty’s Gracious Letterto be read and order givenfor recording it.
6. Address by the Lord HighCommissioner and reply bythe Moderator.
7. Address by RetiringModerator.
8. Appointment of theCommittee to PrepareAnswer to Her Majesty’sGracious Letter.
9. Report of the StandingCommittee on Commissions.
10. Submission of the StandingOrders.
11. Appointment of theProcedure Committee.
12. Appointment of Committeeto prepare a minute onDeceased Ministers,Missionaries and Deacons.
13. Intimation of arrangementsfor a celebration of HolyCommunion on Monday 24May, at 10am on Zoom.
Short break14. Presentation of Delegates.
15. Report of the AssemblyBusiness Committee(including Overtures fromPresbyteries wishing tounite) (Reports 1/1 and Orderof Proceedings p29).
16. Report of the Scottish BibleSociety and Presentation ofBible to Moderator (Reports1/4).
17. Report of the Delegation ofthe General Assembly(Reports 2/1).
18. Minutes of the AppealHearings before theMinistries Appeal Panel(Order of Proceedings p91).
BreakSession 2: 1-3.30pm19. Report and Supplementary
Report of the AssemblyTrustees (Reports 3/1 andOrder of Proceedings p64).
Note: Section 9 of theDeliverance will be taken duringthe Report of the Faith NurtureForum20. Close.Day 2 - Monday 24 May 2021Session 3: 1-3.30pm1. Constitution of Assembly.2. Report of the Procedure
Committee.3. Report of the Committee to
draft a reply to HerMajesty’s Gracious Letter.
4. Report of the SpecialCommission on theEffectiveness of thePresbyterian Form of ChurchGovernment (Reports 4/1).
Break
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 27
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Session 4: 4-6pm5. Report of the Legal
Questions Committee(Reports 5/1).
6. Report of the EcumenicalRelations Committee(Reports 6/1).
7. Close.Day 3 - Tuesday 25 May 2021Session 5: 1-3.30pm1. Constitution of Assembly.2. Report and Supplementary
Report of the Faith NurtureForum (Reports 7/1 andOrder of Proceedings p38).Including section 9 of theDeliverance on the Report ofthe Assembly Trustees andthe Overture from thePresbytery of Aberdeen &Shetland (Order ofProceedings p32).
3. Report of the Trustees ofthe Housing & Loan Fund(Reports 8/1).
BreakSession 6: 4-6pm4. Report of the Church of
Scotland Guild (Reports 9/1).5. Report of the Theological
Forum (Reports 10/1).6. Report of the Registration of
Ministries Committee(Reports 11/1).
7. Close.Day 4 - Wednesday 26 May2021Session 7: 1-3.30pm1. Constitution of Assembly.2. Report of the Faith Impact
Forum (Reports 12/1).
3. Report of the IonaCommunity Board (Reports13/1).
BreakSession 8: 4-6pm4. Report of the Social Care
Council (Reports 14/1).5. Report of the Safeguarding
Committee (Reports 15/1).6. Close.Day 5 - Thursday 27 May 2021Please note that there is thepossibility of an extra sessionfrom 10am-12noon. This is simplyan “emergency provision” toallow us to catch up with anybusiness we have not been ableto complete Saturday-Wednesday. The ProcedureCommittee will give as muchnotice as possible if this Sessionis to be held.Session 9: 1-3.30pm1. Constitution of Assembly.2. Report of the Committee on
Chaplains to HM Forces(Reports 16/1).
3. Report of the GeneralTrustees (Reports 17/1).
4. Report of the PensionTrustees (Reports 18/1).
5. Report of the NominationCommittee (Reports 19/1).
6. Report of the SelectionCommittee (if required).
7. Report of the ChurchHymnary Trustees (Reports20/1).
8. Report of the Church ofScotland Trust (Reports21/1).
9. Report of the Church ofScotland Investors Trust(Reports 22/1).
28 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................10. Close.
BreakSession 10: 4-6pm1. Constitution of Assembly.2. Report anent Deceased
Ministers, Missionaries andDeacons.
3. Protestations called for.4. Report on the Printing of
Acts.5. Draft Minutes of Sederunts
not yet submitted to be readif required.
6. Appointment of Committeeto prepare Minutes.
7. Act appointing theCommission of Assembly.
8. Act appointing the nextGeneral Assembly to meet inEdinburgh on Saturday 21May 2022.
9. Presentations to theModerator.
10. Moderator addresses theGeneral Assembly.
11. The Lord High Commissioneraddresses the GeneralAssembly.
12. National Anthem.13. Dissolution.
THE BENEDICTIONNoteIt is hoped that this timetablewill be adhered to but itemscould arise earlier or later thanthe times specified.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 29
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Information on Questions,Comments and MotionsAsking QuestionsYou will see from the StandingOrders that questions are alwaysin order (SO 45). However, theusual time for questions is once aConvener has presented theReport and moved thedeliverance. At this Assembly theConveners’ speeches will havebeen recorded in advance andthen placed on the Churchwebsite ahead of the Assemblygetting underway so that when aReport is called the Convener willsimply offer a short introductionand then we will be straight intoquestions.To ask a question you shouldregister a “request to speak” onthe Assembly Hub against theparticular section of deliverance.It is best to ask general questionsabout a Standing Committee’sReport or work under section 1 ofthe deliverance (“Receive theReport”). For a more specificmatter, register your requestagainst the appropriate section ofdeliverance.If your question concerns amatter within a particularStanding Committee’s remit butto which no reference is made inthe Report, advance notice ofyour question should be given tothe Convener.Making CommentsAgain, you should register a“request to speak” on theAssembly Hub. General commentsshould be registered againstsection 1 (“Receive the Report”);more specific comments shouldbe registered against theappropriate section ofdeliverance.
Moving MotionsAt each Assembly various“motions” are considered. Thesemainly consist of the proposedsections of deliverance appearingin Reports from StandingCommittees. However, anyCommissioner can move a motionto amend a proposed section ofdeliverance, offer an alternativesection to the one proposed or toadd a new section of deliverance.(To remove a section ofdeliverance, see below).If you want to do any of thesethings, you need to submit aNotice of Motion to the Clerksthrough the Assembly Hub. Ithelps everyone if you can give asmuch advance notice as possibleof your motion. The Clerks maycontact you about the text ofyour proposed motion. Details ofhow to submit a motion throughthe Hub will be shared at thetraining events and on a video tobe available to you.When you prepare a Notice ofMotion, you need to decide whatsort of motion you want topropose. Options are:-• amendments – adding words to
or removing words from aproposed section ofdeliverance but leaving thebasic meaning intact. You canalso propose an amendment toanother commissioner’samendment.
30 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................• counter-motions – proposing
an alternative to an existingproposed section ofdeliverance which, if approved,would be distinctly differentfrom the section proposed bythe Standing Committee (ie ifyour counter-motion isaccepted by the Assembly itwould mean that the originallyproposed section falls).
• new section of deliverancealtogether – adding to theStanding Committee’s work oraffirming a priority. Such amotion needs to fall within therelevant Standing Committee’sremit and for this type ofmotion you must give therelevant Convener reasonablenotice in writing.
• If you simply don’t think thatthe Assembly should accept aproposed section ofdeliverance, there is no needto move a motion stating thedirect negative. Instead, usingthe Assembly Hub, you would“register to speak” when theproposed section ofdeliverance is taken and whenyou are called to speak youwould explain why youencourage a vote against it.The Assembly Hub enables youto indicate that you wish tospeak “against”.
The Moderator is the final judgeof the category into which amotion falls.To move your motion on the day,you should go about it as follows:-When the Assembly reaches theappropriate place in the debatefor your motion to be moved, theModerator will know that youhave already put forward a Noticeof Motion because it will be
visible in the Assembly Hub.Other Commissioners will be ableto see your motion and may notein advance, using the AssemblyHub, that they will second yourmotion. At the time your motionis moved, a check will be made ofthe Assembly Hub to see thatthere is a seconder registered. Ifno one is willing to second it, thenyour motion falls. If it isseconded, then the Moderator willask you to read what you propose(or the Clerks might do this) andthe text will be shown on the livefeed. The Moderator will theninvite you to tell the Assemblywhy you believe your proposal isthe right one.Seconding can be formal so aseconder does not need to speakin support of a proposal but ifthey wish to do so, they shouldalso register a “request to speak”on the Assembly Hub.When moving a motion, you willbe given up to five minutes tomake your case. There will thenbe debate at the end of whichyou will be asked if you wish tosay anything else to convince theAssembly. After that, theConvener presenting the Reportwill be asked to give theirresponse, and then the Assemblywill decide on the matter byvoting.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 31
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Proposed CommitteesCommittee to Prepare an Answer to Her Majesty’s Gracious Letter
Very Rev Dr Martin FairRev Gillian Paterson 425Mrs Dorothy GetliffeDCS
591Mr John Cunningham 636
Committee to Prepare Minute onDeceased Ministers, Missionaries and DeaconsVery Rev Dr Martin Fair Principal Clerk
Depute Clerk
32 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
OverturesOverturesPresbyteries of Hamilton and LanarkAct Anent the Union of the Presbyteries of Hamilton and Lanark.................................................................................34Presbytery of Aberdeen and ShetlandOverture Regarding Training for the Full Time Ministry of Word and Sacrament...........................................................37
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 33
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
OvertureOVERTURE ANENT THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIES OF HAMILTON AND LANARK
From the Presbyteries of Hamilton and LanarkWhereas the Presbyteries ofHamilton and Lanark haveconferred together, and haveeach come to the view that it isnecessary for the effective goodgovernment of the Church thatthey have each other's mutualsupport and encouragement in aunited Presbytery and haveagreed the Basis of Union set outin the Appendix to this Overtureat meetings of the Presbyterieson the twenty fourth day ofMarch 2021:It is humbly overtured by theReverend the Presbyteries ofHamilton and Lanark to theVenerable the General Assemblyto enact and ordain as follows:-
ACT ANENT THE UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIES OF HAMILTON AND LANARKEdinburgh, XX May 2021, Sess.
XXNotwithstanding the terms of ActIl 1975, by which the presentoverall Presbytery structure ofthe Church was established, andfollowing the decision of theGeneral Assembly of 2019 toreform the number ofPresbyteries, the GeneralAssembly in the exercise ofpower to readjust the saidstructure as may be requiredfrom time to time enact andordain that:-
1. With effect from 1 January2022 the Presbyteries ofHamilton and Lanark shall beunited in terms of the Basisof Union agreed by them all.
2. The name of the unitedPresbytery shall be thePresbytery of LanarkshireChurch of Scotland, known as‘Lanarkshire Presbytery’ or‘Presbytery of Lanarkshire’
3. The Scottish Charity NumberSC048680 shall be retainedas the Scottish CharityNumber of Presbytery ofLanarkshire Church ofScotland.
4. All ministers and deaconshaving seats in thePresbyteries of Hamilton andLanark in terms of Act III2000 (as amended) shall bemembers of the LanarkshirePresbytery.
5. All Presbytery elders,whether commissioned byKirk Session or appointed bythe Presbytery, shall so longas their commission orappointment run be membersof the LanarkshirePresbytery.
6. All property or fundsbelonging to or held onbehalf of the Presbytery ofHamilton or the Presbyteryof Lanark shall belong to theLanarkshire Presbytery. Anytrust or other special fundsheld by either Presbyteryshall, from the date of theUnion, be dealt with in such away as is competent and asmay be agreed to by theunited Presbytery, subject toobtaining of legal advice onany question of difficultywhich may arise.
34 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Proposed DeliveranceThe General Assembly:1. Receive the Overture.2. Pass an Act uniting the
Presbyteries of Hamilton andLanark to form thePresbytery of Lanarkshire asset out in the Overturereceived from thePresbyteries.
AppendixBASIS AND PLAN OF UNION OF THE PRESBYTERY OF HAMILTON AND LANARK
1. The united Presbytery to becreated by uniting theexisting Presbyteries ofHamilton and Lanark, the newPresbytery to comprise thesixty-four charges as atpresent or as shall be inplace on 31 December 2021.
2. The united Presbytery to becalled the Presbytery ofLanarkshire Church ofScotland, known as‘Lanarkshire Presbytery’ or‘Presbytery of Lanarkshire’
3. The united Presbytery tomeet for its first meeting on5 February 2022, in a venueto be determined, when thenormal pattern of meetingsshall be decided.
4. The united Presbytery toappoint a Moderator to servefrom 1 January 2022 untilSeptember 2023.
5. The united Presbytery toestablish a Presbytery Officewith a full time Clerk andappropriate administrativeassistance along with otherstaffing which may beappropriate and affordable.
6. The Standing Orders for theunited Presbytery shall beapproved by the unitedPresbytery at its firstmeeting.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 35
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................7. The united Presbytery to
establish Mission Areas/Locality Groups and theirremits and appropriatecommittees to enable astructure to be developedthat commits to a principleof subsidiarity and/ ordelegation that allowsdiscussions to take place inthe most effective forum.
The provisional objective of theunited Presbytery shall beSupporting congregations toshare the Good News of JesusChrist through working with eachother, working for each other andbeing with each other.We work with each other byproviding resources, knowledgeand training, based on learningand receiving from each otherand also being accountable toeach other.We work for each other by doingthe things Presbytery can do inorder to free up congregations todo what they are energised to do.Being with each other meansknowing each other, listening toeach other, learning from eachother and supporting each othercollaboratively.We encourage and supportcongregations to provide:Opportunities for worship,fellowship, the teaching of theChristian faith, the enriching ofcommunity life, ensuring thatthe views of the local Church areheard on matters of widerconcern;Pastoral care, advice and supportto people in each parish.
36 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
OvertureOVERTURE REGARDING TRAINING FOR THE FULL TIME MINISTRY OF WORD AND SACRAMENT
From the Presbytery of Aberdeen and ShetlandWhereas:1. The Church of Scotland has
four training paths torecognised Ministries, whichare Full Time Ministry ofWord and Sacrament,Ordained Local Ministry, theDiaconate and theReadership.
2. There are no direct trainingpaths to Chaplaincies such asin Healthcare, Prisons and theArmy and those who areemployed as a Chaplain mayhave been ordained as a FullTime Minister of Word andSacrament, as an OrdainedLocal Minister or as aDeacon.
3. The traditional training forMinistry of Full-Time Wordand Sacrament isdeliberately left broad inorder that candidates movethrough the years of training,primarily accruing experienceof Parish Ministry, yet someupon completion see theircalling in the work ofChaplaincy.
4. Armed Force Chaplaincyrequires a Chaplain to beOrdained by theirDenomination, however theother Chaplaincies (such asthose within the NationalHealth Service and PrisonService) do not requireOrdination, though theseappointments wouldgenerally ask for a certainlevel of training and normallythe approval of aDenomination or Faith Group.
5. The scenarios specificallybeing referred to in thisOverture are those in whichan individual is in a full orpart-time paid appointment(with sufficient contractedhours) and is not serving as avolunteer Chaplain. (Note insome settings the term‘Chaplain’ is often used todescribe work that isvoluntary.)
6. We are referring specificallyto individuals who feel calledto continue serving andministering to others in thesetting of their existingappointment, but who feelthe Call to Ordination, andwho have their Call upheld inthe Church of Scotland’sDiscernment and Assessmentprocess.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 37
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................7. The Church of Scotland
Training Programme for FullTime Ministry of Word andSacrament requirescandidates to undertake a 4th
placement (ProbationaryPlacement) which is full time.Though generally a fairsystem, in terms of theentry point to Call and theprogramme of training formost candidates, this fixedrequirement creates anunfair disadvantage to thejourney of calling for thoseindividuals already serving asChaplains.
8. A solution to this anomalycould be for a Chaplain toseek ordination via theOrdained Local Ministryroute. However, an OLM ispart time, is a voluntaryposition, is under theSupervision of a minister andthe positions which they areplaced into are under theauspices of the Presbyteryand designated within anagreed Presbytery Plan.
9. To be asked to leave theirjob to undertake aProbationary Placement,which is solely focused onParish Ministry, and thenhope to return to theirexisting Chaplaincyappointment seems at oddswith the unique experienceof discerning a calling andfinding a unique vocationwithin which to serve God.Organisations such as theNHS, Prison Service or anEducational Institution wouldnot hold an individual’s jobopen for them for a period of15 months. It is entirelypossible for an individual,already serving God in thevocation theyenvisage God has set apartfor them, to feel that God isdrawing them to continue inthis role, but as an OrdainedMinister with the full optionsof ‘Sacramental Ministry’open to them in that PastoralAppointment.
10. Many other denominationsallow for the flexibility of anindividually orientatedpathway within trainingtowards Ordination forselected individuals who arealready employed within aChaplaincy. This includes inthe Ministry of HealthcareChaplaincy for instance,where many denominationshave an option open to themto select, train and Ordainsomeone already in post.
38 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................11. Serving as a Chaplain is
described by many as a trueCalling. Relationships withinthe care setting are built upand allow for thetransference of comfort,encouragement, guidance,and support. Though‘sacramental ministry’ is notnecessarily an essentialrequisite for carrying out thisvocational role, manyChaplains who are ordainedhave the additionalopportunity for journeyingalongside people atimportant points in their lifethough the administering ofSacramental graces.Examples include: thebaptism of a patient inhospital who feels drawn intoGod’s Love and sharingcommunion with a personwho is terminally ill. Inaddition, some Chaplains areasked to conduct marriagesfor people they have grownin relationship with over aperiod of time whilst perhapssupporting them for otherreasons.
12. Sacramental Ministry goesbeyond the practicalexamples of ministrymentioned above and opensthe door for a Chaplain tocare for the ‘whole’ person.Chaplaincy does notnecessitate Sacramentalministry. However, someChaplains who work as nonordained employees canpoint to clear feelings thatGod is placing a Call toOrdained Ministry upon themand to continue in theircurrent vocation.
13. Where the discernmentprocess of the Church, andNational AssessmentConference, confirm thepresence of a Call for agiven individual, it does notseem fair that the currentoptions for the training ofOrdained Ministers does notallow for flexibility in such acase, to allow the individualto continue through anappropriate trainingprogramme and on to fulfilthe Calling to SacramentalMinistry within their currentvocation and area of service.
14. At a time when the Church isrightly concerned aboutdecreasing numbers of ParishMinisters, it isunderstandable that it shouldencourage people to considersuch a calling. However, acalling to the work ofChaplaincy and serving theChurch denomination in otherappointments outside ParishMinistry, is equallylegitimate.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 39
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................15. The Church of Scotland is
very much aware of thefinancial cost of trainingcandidates, especially ifultimately an individual atthe end of training is calledinto a Ministry other thanParish Ministry when there issuch shortage in this area.However, it should be notedthat in these specific casesoutlined, the cost of trainingis minimal – limited toAcademic Course Fees,Travel and Conference Fees.The requirement to pay acandidate an allowanceduring the years of AcademicStudy in the cases abovewould not be necessary asthat person would continue intheir ChaplaincyAppointment, studying Part-Time. In addition, a stipendduring the ProbationaryPlacement would not berequired.
16. This proposal for anamendment to the Selectionand Training for Full-TimeMinistry Act (Act X 2004) isnot intended to create ashortcut for certainindividuals to seek fast-trackOrdination and is notintended to move the Churchaway from the broadapproach to the TrainingProgramme that generallyworks well. In addition, it isnot seeking the removal ofany steps in the process ofdiscernment, education, andplacement experience forcertain people. Instead, it isto address an anomalywhereby an individual isdisadvantaged, effectivelyhaving their path to buildingon their sense of callblocked, despite their callbeing sustained at NationalAssessment, on account ofalready being employed as aChaplain. Such individuals areplaced in the impossibleposition of being asked toleave their appointment toundertake the traditionalProbationary Placement -built heavily around theexperiences ofParish Ministry - and thenhope to return to theirprevious ChaplaincyAppointment.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................17. It is humbly overtured by the
Presbytery of Aberdeen andShetland to the Venerablethe General Assembly of theChurch of Scotland, that theGeneral Assembly pass anAct amending the Selectionand Training for Full-TimeMinistry Act (ACT X 2004) (asamended by Acts II, X 2005,III 2007, VI 2009, VIII 2011, XI2014, IV 2015, XIV 2016, II2017, XI 2018, I and III 2019and IX and XV 2020) byinserting a new section 22Aas follows:22A. In the specialcircumstance of an individualbeing accepted as aCandidate for the Full TimeMinistry of Word andSacrament (FTWS), who iscurrently employed as aChaplain though notcurrently Ordained, and whohas demonstrated at NationalAssessment a Call to full-time Ministry of Word andSacrament, and yet whobelieves and candemonstrate a Calling tocontinue in their current roleas a Chaplain, the committeehave in their powers theoption of modifying thetraining requirement of Full-Time Probation Placement inthe following terms:(i) All other parts of the
Training Programme(including approvedAcademic Course,appropriate Conferencesand first threePlacements) to becompleted during theyears of AcademicStudy preceding the
Probationary Placement.(Sections 16 and 17, ActX 2004).
(ii) The modifiedProbationary Placementto follow the samerequirements as theProbationary Periodundertaken by aCandidate within theOrdained Local MinisterTraining Programme.(Section 12, OrdainedLocal Ministry Act (ActIX 2011).
(iii) This placement to runalongside thecandidate’s continuationin their salariedemployment as aChaplain.
(iv) All appraisals to becarried out as per thestandard TrainingProgramme for Full-TimeMinistry of Word andSacrament, with anadditional statementrequired in the FinalAppraisal provided by asuitably qualified personwho can testify to thecandidate’s work in theirChaplaincy during theyear of placement.(Most usually a LineManager).
(v) Upon successfulcompletion of thetraining, the candidatewill be granted an ExitCertificate and becomea Graduate Candidatepending Ordination andwill be given an assignedcategory of ‘E’,according to the
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 41
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Registration of MinistriesAct (ACT II 2017).
(vi) Should the saidindividual, at some pointin the future, seek totake up a calling withinanother Ministry of theChurch, an applicationfor a change of categoryin terms of Section 27 ofAct II 2017 will berequired, including thecommittee’s decision onfurther training/placements that theapplicant may be askedto undertake tocomplete before thechange in category isapproved.
Or to do otherwise as toyour Venerable Court mayseem good.
Proposed DeliveranceThe General Assembly:1. Receive the Overture.2. Pass an Act amending the
Selection and Training forFull-Time Ministry Act (Act X2004) (as amended) as setout in the Appendix.
Appendix[ ] ACT AMENDING THESELECTION AND TRAINING FORFULL-TIME MINISTRY ACT (ACTX 2004) (AS AMENDED)Edinburgh, [ ] May 2021, Session[ ]The General Assembly herebyenact and ordain that theSelection and Training for Full-Time Ministry Act (Act X 2004),as amended, shall be furtheramended as follows:1. Insert a new section 22A as
follows:22A. In the specialcircumstance of an individualbeing accepted as aCandidate for the Full TimeMinistry of Word andSacrament (FTWS), who iscurrently employed as aChaplain though notcurrently Ordained, and whohas demonstrated at NationalAssessment a Call to full-time Ministry of Word andSacrament, and yet whobelieves and candemonstrate a Calling tocontinue in their current rolethe committee have in theirpowers the option ofmodifying the training
42 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................requirement of Full-TimeProbation Placement in thefollowing terms:(i) All other parts of the
Training Programme(including approvedAcademic Course,appropriate Conferencesand first threePlacements) to becompleted during theyears of AcademicStudy preceding theProbationary Placement.(Sections 16 and 17, ActX 2004).
(ii) The modifiedProbationary Placementto follow the samerequirements as theProbationary Periodundertaken by aCandidate within theOrdained Local MinisterTraining Programme.(Section 12, OrdainedLocal Ministry Act (ActIX 2011).
(iii) This placement to runalongside thecandidate’s continuationin their salariedemployment as aChaplain.
(iv) All appraisals to becarried out as per thestandard TrainingProgramme for Full-TimeMinistry of Word andSacrament, with anadditional statementrequired in the FinalAppraisal provided by asuitably qualified personwho can testify to thecandidate’s work in theirChaplaincy during the
year of placement.(Most usually a LineManager).
(v) Upon successfulcompletion of thetraining, the candidatewill be granted an ExitCertificate and becomea Graduate Candidatepending Ordination andwill be given an assignedcategory of ‘E’,according to theRegistration of MinistriesAct (ACT II 2017).
(vi) Should the saidindividual, at some pointin the future, seek totake up a calling withinanother Ministry of theChurch, an applicationfor a change of categoryin terms of Section 27 ofAct II 2017 will berequired, including thecommittee’s decision onfurther training/placements that theapplicant may be askedto undertake tocomplete before thechange in category isapproved.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 43
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
Supplementary ReportsIndexSupplementary Report of the Faith Nurture Forum .............................45
Supplementary Report of the Assembly Trustees ..............................77
44 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................
SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT – FAITH NURTURE FORUMProposed DeliveranceThe General Assembly:1. Receive the Supplementary
Report.2. Pass the Presbytery Mission
Plan Act as set out inAppendix 1.
3. Instruct Presbyteries tocomplete the process ofdeveloping and gaining finalapproval of their PresbyteryMission Plan by 31 December2022 noting that Presbyterieswhich are in the process ofunion with other Presbyteriesmay seek to form a sharedPresbytery Mission Plan withthem as the fulfilment of thisinstruction. (Section 2 andSection 7)
4. Agree the number ofministry posts allocated toeach Presbytery set out inAppendix 4 and instruct thatthis be the figure used in theforming of any PresbyteryMission Plan. (Section 7 andAppendix 4)
5. Instruct that all PresbyteryPlans agreed and approved interms of the Appraisal andAdjustment Act (Act VII2003) be suspended from 1June 2021. (Section 2 andSection 3)
6. Instruct that from 1 June2021a) only vacancies and
readjustmentsprocessed in terms ofsection 9(2) of Act VII2003 (which require, forthe avoidance of doubt,
the approval of thePresbytery of thebounds and theconcurrence of the FaithNurture Forum) mayproceed and
b) any vacancies andreadjustments givenpermission to proceedthrough this exceptionshall be ReviewableCharges. (Section 3)
7. Instruct that wherepermission to call in terms ofsection 8 of the VacancyProcedure Act (Act VIII 2003)has been given prior to 1June 2021 the vacancyprocess in a charge maycontinue after 1 June 2021but if that process has notled to the preaching of anominee in terms of section22 of Act VIII 2003 by 30September 2021, such avacancy process shall bediscontinued at that dateunless agreement is reachedbetween the Presbytery ofthe bounds and the FaithNurture Forum that theprocess may be continuedthereafter in terms of ActVIII 2003. (Section 4)
8. Instruct that from 1 June2021 all outstanding appealsunder section 6 of Act VII2003 related to PresbyteryPlans shall be suspended, butthat this shall be withoutprejudice to any right toinitiate a review in terms ofthe Presbytery Mission PlanAct in due course. (Section 5)
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................9. Pass the Local Mission Church
Regulations as set out inAppendix 5. (Section 8 andAppendix 5)
Report1. PRESBYTERY MISSIONPLAN ACTMembers of the Faith NurtureForum have worked with theGeneral Assembly’s LegalQuestions Committee and withthe General Trustees on thePresbytery Mission Plan Act(Appendix 1.) This Act, asindicated in the main Volume ofReports, seeks to:• Name mission as the prime
driver for Planning.• Align the description of mission
with that being used in theFaith Action Plan.
• Commit to a territorial ministryas in the Constitution but alsoset the scene for ecumenicalcooperation in its delivery.
• Bring Ministry Post numbersinto the legislation as amandatory figure, andfacilitate Presbyteriesachieving conformity to theirallocation by 2025.
• Set a framework for a five-year rolling plan (as opposedto a fixed ten years in Act VII2003) and require the FaithNurture Forum to provide afive-year rolling projection ofMinistry Post numbers.
• Simplify the strategic decisionsabout buildings and draw onthe support and guidanceprovided by the GeneralTrustees.
46 Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................• Simplify and speed up the
process whereby the processof arriving at Plan Decisionsand other Planning matters canbe challenged by Kirk Sessionsand Presbyters through theprovision of a bespoke reviewprocess. Outstanding appealswill fall if the new PresbyteryMission Plan Act is agreed bythe General Assembly.
• Maintain a tight control onbudgets by insisting thatshortfalls be dealt with andappointments are properly setup with secure funding andgood HR practice.
• Offer Presbyteries a widerrange of options as they seekto reshape church life and usethe Ministry Posts which theyhave been allocated inparticular to add provision for– Team Ministry, “light touch”local church (Local MissionChurch), online church, newexpressions of church.
• Provide a clearer frameworkfor implementing Plans throughits description of adjustmentprocesses.
2. THE PRIORITY OF MISSIONIn developing the PresbyteryMission Plan Act presented to theGeneral Assembly, questionshave rightly been asked aboutwhere this leaves existing plans,drafted in terms of Act VII, 2003.The Faith Nurture Forum wishes tobe clear about the priority ofmission, and in particular the FiveMarks of Mission, while theAssembly Trustees have beenclear about the financial realities.There is an urgency and thereforethe Faith Nurture Forum asks theGeneral Assembly to instructPresbyteries to begin working on
new plans and to submit a newplan, in terms of the PresbyteryMission Plan Act, reflecting thereduced number of ministries, nolater than 31st December 2022.
3. SUSPENDING EXISTINGPLANS In order to facilitate this work, itmakes sense to suspend allexisting plans, while still allowing,in exceptional circumstances, forcertain vacancies andreadjustments to be processed interms of section 9(2) of the ActVII 2003 (requiring, for theavoidance of doubt, the approvalof the Presbytery of the boundsand the concurrence of the FaithNurture Forum). Recognising toothat circumstances may changewhile these new plans are beingdrafted, the Forum, inconsultation with the LegalQuestions Committee and theGeneral Trustees, asks theGeneral Assembly to instruct thatsuch vacancies and readjustmentsgiven permission to proceedthrough this exception shall beReviewable Charges. This provisowill apply until final plans underthe new Presbytery Mission PlanAct have been agreed andconcurred with by the FaithNurture Forum, and any reviewsarising from these PresbyteryMission Plan Act decisions aredealt with under the proposedreview process.
4. EXISTING VACANCIESPURSUING CALLSFor those congregations pursuinga call at this time, it is only fairthat they should be allowed tocontinue in that process.However, if that process has notled to the preaching of a nomineein terms of section 22 of Act VIII
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................2003 by 30 September 2021, sucha vacancy process shall bediscontinued at that date unlessagreement is reached betweenthe Presbytery of the bounds andthe Faith Nurture Forum that theprocess may be continuedthereafter in terms of Act VII2003 section 9(2). Again, thisallows Presbyteries the discretionto enable congregations which arecritical to the mission of thePresbytery to seek to discernwhether there is a suitablecandidate for these vacancies, inconversation with the FaithNurture Forum.
5. APPEALSGiven that there are outstandingappeals which have been lodgedunder the terms of Act VII, 2003,some of which may still be someway off resolution for a varietyof reasons, it is proposed thatany such appeals be suspended.This would be without prejudiceto any right to initiate a review interms of the agreed PresbyteryMission Plan Act in due course.
6. GUIDELINES AND CODE OFPRACTICEThe Faith Nurture Forum, workingwith the Legal QuestionsCommittee and the GeneralTrustees, will prepare Guidelinesand a Code of Practice, focussingon mission and other underlyingprinciples, a basic outline of whichcan be found at Appendix 2.
7. ALLOCATION OFMINISTRIES NUMBERS7.1.1 The Assembly Trustees intheir forward planning haveindicated that the number ofministries which the Church willbe able to afford by the end of
2025 is 600. Taking into accountthe need for a 10% allowance forvacancies, to allow for movementand flexibility, this means thatthe number of posts – acombination of Ministers of Wordand Sacrament, and MinistriesDevelopment Staff – to beincluded in plans equates to 660.7.1.2 In seeking to tease throughhow these 660 posts might beallocated across Scotland, theFaith Nurture Forum consideredhow to arrive at a distributionwhich was equitable; which wasbased on sound principles; andwhich reflected the Church’scontinuing Priority to the Poor, asaffirmed by successive GeneralAssemblies.7.1.3 The General Assembly of2018 considered a set of advisoryfigures, which related purely toMinisters of Word and Sacrament,and did not include MinistriesDevelopment Staff. Recognisingthat the advisory nature of thesefigures was unsatisfactory, theForum has done further work onweightings and ministriesallocations, drawing on therealisation that the weightingsagreed by General Assembly in2010 and again in 2011 requiredrevisiting.7.1.4 A small group met on threeoccasions, with input from theRev Dr Fiona Tweedie, andreceived papers from theChurch’s Finance Department toconsider whether theseweightings were still helpful. Thecomposition of the group is listedat Appendix 3. In addition, aninformal survey of PresbyteryClerks took place to ascertaintheir views, and the responsesfrom more rural Clerks wereindicative of being supportive ofthe weightings, while the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................responses received from some ofthe more urban Presbyteries wereindicative of finding theweightings less than helpful.7.1.5 In 2011, the allocation ofministries was based on two keyfactors. The first was populationdensity, and, recognising thatpopulation density was radicallydifferent in the rural and remoteparts of Scotland, the weightingsreflected this, with those mostremote and rural parts receiving aweighting of three, and the urbanareas, and predominantly urbanareas receiving a weighting factorof one. The second key factorreflected the fact that themission of the Church was tothose who self-identified asChurch of Scotland in the 2011Census, and also to those whoself-identified as having noreligious affiliation, as well thosewho chose not to answer thisquestion.7.1.6 While a Census took placein England in March 2021, theScottish Census will take place inMarch 2022, with the key findingsto support the revision ofministries allocations not beingavailable until the latter part of2023.7.1.7 In looking at theweightings, and the allocation ofministries numbers, variousoptions were considered. Theseincluded doing away with aweighting system entirely, whileretaining the double weighting forpopulation for Priority Areas;removing the weightings entirely,and removing the doubleweighting of population forPriority Areas, and offering a poolof 30 posts for MDS roles withinPriority Areas, which would havebeen subject to a bidding process;
and introducing a new weightingssystem.7.1.8 The group looking atweightings also had access to thefigures for Ministries and Missionallocations for the period 2019 to2021, and looked at thesealongside the number ofministries allocated to eachPresbytery or cluster ofPresbyteries where Presbyterieshad come together to create anew Presbytery, with the costingof a ministry post equating to£43,698 at 2021 figures. Thereare some questions aboutwhether using the populationdensity statistics is the rightmethod going forward and theForum will consider these andreport back to a subsequentGeneral Assembly.7.1.9 Equally the shape ofPresbytery Reform will requireappropriate adjustments to theseweightings as new Presbyteriesare created to replace existingones. The weightings factors canbe found on the GeneralAssembly pages of the Church ofScotland website.7.1.10 The Forum asks theGeneral Assembly to retain theexisting weightings, recognisingthat further work will take placein the coming year and theallocation of ministries arisingfrom these weightings, capped at660, and distributed accordinglyacross the Presbyteries inScotland, with appropriateadjustments on a percentagebasis for those Presbyteries notsubject to a calculation againstpopulation. These figures are tobe regarded as mandatory, andthe new Presbytery Mission Actindicates this. These ministryfigures can be found at Appendix4.
Order of Proceedings The Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021 49
Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................7.1.11 For the Presbyteries ofClyde and Fife, the Forum offersan aggregate of ministries, andencourages other Presbyteriesworking together to shape a newPresbytery to consider thesefigures as they workcollaboratively.7.1.12 The new PresbyteryMission Plan Act provides for amore dynamic rolling five-yearplanning cycle, with ministryallocations being reported oneach year to the GeneralAssembly. Alongside the reviewof Ministries and MissionAllocations, reported onelsewhere to this GeneralAssembly, it is appropriate towork with the existing weightings,alongside the percentagereduction in ministries numbers,as the baseline for PresbyteryMission Plans with an end date of31 December 2025.7.1.13 These numbers reflectthose who self-identified asChurch of Scotland in the 2011Census, and also those who self-identified with no religiousaffiliation. Recognising that muchhousebuilding has taken placeacross Scotland since the 2011Census, the work done by theReverend Dr Fiona Tweedie inarriving at these figures drawsheavily on the Small AreaPopulation Estimates dataprovided by National Records ofScotland, as at June 2019. TheForum is grateful for DrTweedie’s support in this keyarea of work.7.1.14 The Forum also asks theGeneral Assembly to note thatthere will be a cap on thenumbers of MDS posts within theoverall allocation of ministries, ata higher percentage of theoverall posts than was eventually
the case in the 2011 plans. For2022 this cap will be 120 in thefirst instance.7.2 GuardianshipsIn addition, the provision ofguardianships will continue, butguardianships will be built intoplans as 0.25 of an FTE post; theyreceive two days of pastoralwork and also a Sunday, andthese costs need to be reflectedfully in Presbytery Plans.7.3 Financial Issues inPlanningThe group has taken account ofthe possibility that a Presbyterymight agree a Mission Plan whichsignificantly reduces theaggregate amount of Ministry andMission contributions which itscongregations remit to thenational Church. It is possible fora Presbytery to do so whileacting in good faith and inaccordance with Church law.Whether the Presbytery is a netcontributor or not, this wouldimperil the Church’s ability to payfor 600 ministries. The morePresbyteries produce MissionPlans which result in a reductionof their aggregate Ministry andMission contributions, the greaterthe risk. To mitigate this risk, thegroup believes that the GeneralAssembly should be clear insetting targets for grossaggregate Ministry and Missioncontributions from eachPresbytery. These targets wouldrequire annual revision and mightbe advisory or mandatory.7.4 The group had neither theresources nor the time to bringdetailed proposals to theAssembly. It is also aware thatwork is being done elsewhere onChurch finance which might beardirectly on this issue.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Nevertheless, the grouprecommends that the FaithNurture Forum, working with theAssembly Trustees and LegalQuestions Committee, shouldmonitor the potential impact ofPresbytery Mission Planning onthe finances of the nationalChurch and, if necessary, bringproposals to a future GeneralAssembly.7.5 The Forum will continue tokeep these figures under reviewand will report back to theGeneral Assembly of 2022.
8. LOCAL MISSION CHURCH8.1 In engaging withPresbyteries and congregations,the Faith Nurture Forum, thePrincipal Clerk’s Office and theGeneral Trustees have been alltoo aware of the demands placedon small congregations in theirongoing life and work as theyseek to engage in mission incontext. The burden of finding anInterim Moderator and ofpopulating the offices of SessionClerk, Treasurer, SafeguardingCoordinator and a PropertyConvener, to name but some ofthe local offices required, ischallenging for smallcongregations. There is a positivehistory in the Church of Scotlandof mission stations being a vibrantexpression of local church, andthe regulations on Local MissionChurch referred to below can be asignificant contribution to thatstory.8.2 Accordingly, following theinitiative of the Legal QuestionsCommittee, the Forum brings tothe General Assembly Regulationson Local Mission Church, whichcan be found at Appendix 5.
8.3 These create provision fora congregation, which is small andwhich seeks to continue toworship, to have a continuing life,while recognising that theburdens of continuing with a KirkSession and the associatedoffices, perhaps including a Clerkto the Congregational Board, aswell as the roles indicated aboveare beyond its means. Worshipcould be provided by worshipteams, by online provision, orthrough the offices of a Reader orOrdained Local Minister. Theexperiences of the last year haveshown that different possibilitiesexist and that online worship canbe offered as a deep experienceof the Holy Spirit and thegathered people of God. Some ofthe congregations currentlyexperiencing life underGuardianship may wish, inconsultation with Presbytery, toconsider moving to assume thestatus of a local mission church.
In the name of the ForumROSEMARY FREW, ConvenerKAREN K. CAMPBELL, Vice-
ConvenerANGUS R MATHIESON, Interim
Head of ForumAppendix 1PRESBYTERY MISSION PLAN ACT[ ] 2021Edinburgh, [ ] May [ ], Session [ ]The General Assembly declareand enact as follows: –In requiring Presbyteries to planmission within their bounds, theChurch of Scotland seeks to:-• underscore the Church’s
priority as participating inChrist’s mission.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................• set down a definition of that
mission.• provide a framework for a
Presbytery to express thatpriority in forming a rollingfive-year Mission Plan.
• enable a group of Presbyteriesanticipating union to worktogether on a Mission Plan.
• ensure that a Presbyterymakes best use of the ministryposts allocated to it by theGeneral Assembly.
• insist that a Presbytery takedecisions about the future ofChurch buildings.
• provide a range of ways inwhich a Presbytery maystructure and resource Churchlife.
• engage the Faith Nurture Forumand the General Trustees inassisting Presbytery in theirplanning.
Accordingly, the GeneralAssembly hereby enact andordain:1. DEFINITIONS1.1 For the purposes of thisAct the following terms shallhave the meanings herebyassigned to them:–a) “Adjustment” shall mean a
form of adjustment set outin section 7, sub-sections (1)to (11);
b) An “appointment” shall meanan appointment to a postother than an inductedMinister detailed within theMission Plan and which iseither counted within theallocation of ministry postsfunded by the Parish StaffingFund and allocated to that
Presbytery by the GeneralAssembly or is funded locallyby the congregation and/orthe Presbytery;
c) ”Approved Mission Plan”shall mean a Mission Planthat has been approved bythe Presbytery, the Forumand the General Trustees;
d) “Basis of Adjustment” shallmean the written terms uponwhich Adjustment isimplemented;
e) A “charge” shall mean asphere of pastoral duty towhich a minister is inductedand may include a TeamMinistry Charge as referredto in section 7(10);
f) A “congregation” shall meanan association of persons in aparish whose names are onthe Communion Roll andAdherents’ Roll and who areunder the pastoral oversightof a minister or ministers (oran Interim Moderator) and aKirk Session, for Christianworship, fellowship,instruction, Mission andservice;
g) “ecclesiastical building” shallmean any propertypertaining to a congregationor agency whether or not inuse for the purposes of thecongregation or agency andin particular but withoutprejudice to the foregoinggenerality any Church,Church Hall, Manse, house foran assistant or associateminister, Church Officer’shouse, retirement house,ancillary building oroutbuilding or property whichis let;
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................h) A “Financial Board” shall
mean the body responsiblefor managing the finances ofa congregation, including aCongregational Board,Deacons’ Court, Committeeof Management and KirkSession;
i) the “Five Marks of Mission”shall mean:1. To proclaim the Good
News of the Kingdom2. To teach, baptise and
nurture new believers3. To respond to human
need by loving service4. To seek to transform
unjust structures ofsociety, to challengeviolence of every kindand pursue peace andreconciliation
5. To strive to safeguardthe integrity of creationand sustain and renewthe life of the earth;
j) “The Forum” shall mean theFaith Nurture Forum;
k) “Guidance” shall mean theGuidance accompanying thisAct as referred to in section13;
l) “Historic Properties” shallmean those buildingsspecified by the GeneralTrustees as being of specialhistoric or architecturalinterest which areoutstanding examples of aparticular period, style orbuilding type and “HistoricProperty” shall be construedaccordingly;
m) “MDS” shall mean MinistriesDevelopment Staff, and
refers to appointments ofemployees by the Forum;
n) “Mission” shall be construedas meaning those aspects ofchurch life set out in the FiveMarks of Missionsupplemented by theGuidance;
o) “Mission Plan” shall mean aMission Plan formulated interms of section 2 below andin the form of the templateset out in Guidance;
p) “Mission Plan Review Panel”shall mean the Paneldescribed in the Schedule;
q) The “Presbytery” shall meanthe Presbytery of the boundswhere the charge, agency,partnership or Missioninitiative is located or onlineactivity is rooted; the word“Presbytery” may beconstrued so as to include agroup of Presbyteries, whereappropriate;
r) The “shape of church life”shall mean the arrangementsof congregations, agencies,ministries, partnershipsinitiatives and others,including their physicalresources and onlineactivities, all under thesupervision of thePresbytery;
s) “Vacancy” shall mean thestate in which a charge findsitself when it is without aninducted minister and shallinclude the situation of aprospective vacancy wherean Interim Moderator hasbeen appointed under section6(1) of the VacancyProcedure Act (Act VIII 2003),and “vacant” shall beconstrued accordingly.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................2. THE PRESBYTERYMISSION PLAN2.0.1 Each Presbytery shall berequired to have an ApprovedMission Plan in place in terms ofthis Act by 31 December 2022.2.0.2 It shall be in order for agroup of Presbyteries anticipatingunion to present to the Forum andthe General Trustees a shareddraft Mission Plan in terms of thisAct. For this to become anApproved Mission Plan in terms ofthis Act it must have beenapproved at a meeting of each ofthe individual Presbyteries andthen the final approval of theForum and the General Trusteesmust be obtained.2.1 Content of A MissionPlan2.1.1 A Mission Plan shalldescribe how the Church ofScotland’s engagement withChrist’s Mission is to be shapedand resourced in the followingfive years and to that end shalldemonstrate how the Presbyterywill:-i) ensure that the life of the
Church of Scotland is shapedaround Mission andadequately reflects theoutcomes of Local ChurchReview and ideas for localmission;
ii) sustain the commitment to aterritorial ministry asdescribed in the Third of theArticles Declaratoryappended to the Church ofScotland Act 1921 andaffirmed in Declaratory ActV 2010 including itscommitment to ecumenicalworking;
iii) make appropriate use of suchministry posts as may bepermitted by the GeneralAssembly so that the numberof post holders in eachPresbytery conforms to thenumbers and timescales setby the General Assembly;
iv) ensure that new ways ofbeing Church, other thanstipendiary Ministers of Wordand Sacrament or traditionalMDS appointments, arereflected in the Mission Plan
2.1.2 In doing so the Presbyterywill categorise each ecclesiasticalbuilding as either:-(a) to be retained beyond the
five years from the date atwhich the Mission Plan isapproved or annuallyreviewed, or
(b) to be sold, let or otherwisedisposed of by a specifieddate which is within fiveyears from the date at whichthe ecclesiastical building isfirst categorised as (b).
2.1.3 In order to arrive at thesecategorisations the Presbyteryshall use, and reference,resources and advice provided bythe General Trustees, includingthe Land and Buildings Toolkit (orany successor guidance issued bythe General Trustees).2.1.4 In the case of a (b)categorisation the GeneralTrustees shall be empowered, attheir discretion and inconsultation with the Forum, torefuse any application made inrespect of that building in termsof the Work at EcclesiasticalBuildings Regulations (Regs I 1998)(as amended from time to time).
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................2.1.5 The Mission Plan shall alsorecord those ecclesiasticalbuildings within the Presbyterywhich are Historic Properties,regardless of whether they arecategorised as (a) or (b).2.2 Process for preparing andapproving a Mission Plan2.2.1 Mission Plan is prepared: APresbytery shall prepare a draftMission Plan, in consultation withthe Forum and the GeneralTrustees. To facilitate thePresbytery’s preparation of theMission Plan, the Forum shall, aspart of its input, intimate thetotal number of ministry postsapproved by the GeneralAssembly as referred to atsection 2.4.1 below, and theGeneral Trustees shall, as part oftheir input, provide suchinformation as is available as tosuitability of the ecclesiasticalbuildings for mission. In thecourse of its development thePresbytery shall at regularintervals share the draft MissionPlan with the Forum and theGeneral Trustees. ThePresbytery, the Forum and theGeneral Trustees shall worktogether to develop the Plan,with the Forum and the GeneralTrustees offering advice andguidance on the framing of theMission Plan. Presbytery shalltake into account the Code ofPractice contained in theGuidance.2.2.2 Presbytery meets toapprove the Mission Plan: Thecompleted draft Mission Plan shallbe put to a full meeting of thePresbytery for approval. When aPresbytery has voted to approvea Mission Plan, or to approve aMission Plan following its annualevaluation and development, the
Presbytery’s process shall besisted and an extract minute ofthe decision and a copy of theMission Plan document shall besent to the Forum and theGeneral Trustees for their finalapproval.2.2.3 Approval of the MissionPlan by the Forum and theGeneral Trustees: Upon receipt ofthe Mission Plan, the Forum andthe General Trustees shallconsider whether the Mission Planconforms to section 2.1 aboveand thus whether the Forum andthe General Trustees can grantfinal approval of the Mission Plan,or whether further discussion withthe Presbytery is required. If inthese discussions Presbyteryrepresentatives agree to possibleamendments then the amendedMission Plan will be resubmittedto a full meeting of Presbyteryfor its final approval.2.2.4 Possible referral to MissionPlan Review Panel for assistance:Discussion on the Mission Planamong the Presbytery, the Forumand the General Trustees shallcontinue until final approval ofthe Mission Plan is given by theForum and the General Trustees.If final approval is not in placewithin a period of three calendarmonths after the Forum’s and theGeneral Trustees’ receipt of theMission Plan, the matter shall bereferred to the Mission PlanReview Panel by the Presbyteryand the Panel shall assist theparties to resolve the matter, sothat final approval of the MissionPlan can be given.2.2.5 Extract minute of finalapprovals to Presbytery: Onceboth the Forum and the GeneralTrustees have given finalapproval of the Mission Plan, the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Forum shall send an extractminute to Presbytery indicatingthat the Forum and the GeneralTrustees have granted finalapproval of the Mission Plan.2.2.6 The Approved Mission Plan:When the Forum’s and theGeneral Trustees’ final approvalof the Mission Plan is announcedand recorded at a meeting of thePresbytery, the Mission Plan willthen be considered an ApprovedMission Plan and, subject to theright of review referred to atsection 3 below, steps shall betaken by the Presbytery towardsits implementation.2.3 Annual evaluation anddevelopment of a Mission Plan2.3.1 Each Presbytery shall carryout a process of annualevaluation and development of itsMission Plan so as to maintain inrolling form an accurate,comprehensive and up to dateMission Plan for the shape ofchurch life in the next five yearsin that Presbytery.2.3.2 The process of annualevaluation and development ofthe Mission Plan shall be initiatedby the Presbytery Clerk, andshall proceed in consultation withthe Forum and the GeneralTrustees. Thereafter approval bythe Presbytery, and final approvalby the Forum and GeneralTrustees shall be sought and thisprocess shall follow theprocedure set out above atsection 2.2, save that the periodto achieve final approval of thePlan shall be one month ratherthan three months. After suchevaluation and development, finalapproval and recording of thatapproval at a meeting of thePresbytery, the Mission Plan shall
be re-dated to cover the nextfive years and that shall becomethe Presbytery’s ApprovedMission Plan.2.4 Other provisions as toMission Plans2.4.1 The Forum shall bringannually to the General Assemblyfor approval the proposed totalnumber of ministry posts to befunded by the Parish StaffingFund, allocated among thePresbyteries, in each of the nextfive years, so that there is a five-year rolling plan for suchallocations.2.4.2 In the first ApprovedMission Plan, and in everysubsequent Approved MissionPlan formed after the process ofannual evaluation anddevelopment and approval, theprovisions of section 2.1.1(iii) shallapply.2.4.3 For the avoidance ofdoubt, in including in a MissionPlan provision for Adjustment toachieve the Mission Plan goals,the Presbytery shall not beconsidered to be affecting therights of an inducted Minister. ThePresbytery shall have the right tocall a meeting of the relevantKirk Session(s) and thecongregation(s) to discuss theMission Plan with or withoutconsent of the inducted minister.The inducted minister shall not beentitled to attend and speak atsuch a meeting, but thePresbytery may choose to meetseparately with the inductedminister to discuss the MissionPlan goals.3. REVIEW3.1 Within fourteen days of thedate of the Presbytery meetingat which the agreement of the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Forum and the General Trusteesto the Mission Plan (or to anannual evaluation anddevelopment of the Mission Plan,as the case may be) has beenrecorded at the Presbyterymeeting it shall be open to anytwelve or more members of thePresbytery or to any Kirk Sessionwithin its bounds to seek a reviewof the process used by thePresbytery in preparing andapproving the Mission Plan (or itsannual evaluation ordevelopment) by sendingintimation to the Principal Clerk(who in turn shall inform theForum and the General Trustees).3.2 When a review has beenintimated: any provision of theMission Plan which is not affectedby a request for review may beprogressed under section 4 whilethe review is pending.3.3 The review may only berequested on the grounds set outin the Schedule to this Act.3.4 Such a review shall beconducted by a Mission PlanReview Panel in accordance withprovisions of the Schedule to thisAct.4. IMPLEMENTATION OF THEMISSION PLAN4.1 After achieving the finalapproval of the Forum and theGeneral Trustees to the MissionPlan (or to annual evaluation anddevelopment of the Mission Plan),and when there are nooutstanding requests for reviewto be heard by the Mission PlanReview Panel, the Presbyteryshall proceed to implement theApproved Mission Plan.
5. PRESBYTERY MISSIONPLANS AND PERMISSION TOCALL A MINISTER OR TO MAKEAN APPOINTMENT5.1 A vacant charge in respectof which an Approved MissionPlan exists may be givenpermission to call a minister,subject to the provisions of ActVIII 2003, and further providedthat:(a) the Mission Plan provides
that no Adjustment isrequired before a newminister is inducted, or
(b) the Adjustment described inthe Approved Mission Planhas been fully implemented,or
(c) the Presbytery has alreadynegotiated a Basis for theAdjustment described in theApproved Mission Plan and isable to implement it beforesustaining a call and there isno outstanding request forreview to be heard by theMission Plan Review Panel.
5.2 A vacant charge shall notbe given permission to call aminister if:(a) a Basis of Adjustment has
not yet been agreedbetween the Presbytery andthe congregation, and/or
(b) there is any outstandingrequest for review to beheard by the Mission PlanReview Panel, and/or
(c) there are Mission Plan issuesyet to be resolved in termsof this Act.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................5.3 Appointments may also bemade to other posts (MDS and/orPresbytery and/or locally fundedposts) described in the MissionPlan providing that:(a) there is funding in place for
the envisaged duration of theappointment,
(b) the job description andcontract of employmenthave been approved by theHuman Resourcesdepartment in the nationaloffice in order to ensureconsistency and fairnessacross Presbyteries, and
(c) Presbytery shall satisfyitself as to the status andgood standing of anyminister of anotherdenomination appointed interms of this section 5.3.
6. SUSPENSION OF THEIMPLEMENTATION OF THEMISSION PLAN6.1 On cause shown, andsubject to the right of any twelveor more members of Presbyteryor a Kirk Session to requestreview by the Mission Plan ReviewPanel on the grounds set out inthe Schedule within fourteen daysof the date of suspension, thePresbytery, the Forum or theGeneral Trustees may suspendthe implementation of the MissionPlan in part or whole.6.2 When this happens, thePresbytery and the Forum and theGeneral Trustees shall strive toreach agreement with interestedparties as soon as possible toallow the Mission Plan to bereinstated and implemented.6.3 The Presbytery shall notpermit a congregation to call aminister or an appointment to be
made in terms of the Mission Planwhen such a post is covered bythe suspended section(s) (or asthe case may be, whole) of theMission Plan.7. IMPLEMENTATION OF THEMISSION PLAN THROUGHADJUSTMENT AND OTHERARRANGEMENTS7.0 The Mission Plan mayspecify any of the followingforms of Adjustment and otherarrangements: –(1) UnionTwo or more congregations maybe united to form onecongregation under the UnitaryConstitution, and such union shallinvolve the union of charges,parishes, Kirk Sessions, FinancialBoards, property and funds and,except in special circumstanceswhere provision is made to thecontrary in the Basis of Union, allcongregational agencies andorganisations.(2) LinkingTwo or more charges may belinked to form one charge interms of a Basis of Linking, sothat the congregations are servedby one ministry, the constitutionsof the said congregations being inno other way affected.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................(3) Deferred Union orDeferred Linking(a) When for any reason it is not
possible to unite a vacantcongregation with anothercongregation under theminister of the othercongregation, the Presbyterymay decide to unite them onthe understanding that theimplementation of suchdecision shall be deferred totake place as soon aspracticable after thatminister’s interest hasterminated.
(b) The Basis of Deferred Unionshall provide (i) that thecongregations to be unitedshall elect a minister whoshall be inducted in the firstinstance as minister of thevacant congregation, and (ii)that on the termination ofthe other minister’s interestthe Union shall immediatelybe effective under theminister so elected andinducted.
(c) If another vacancy occurs inthe originally-vacantcongregation before thetermination of the otherminister’s interest, the Basisof Deferred Union shallremain in force and thecongregations shall electanother minister as in (b)above; subject to the provisothat the Presbytery maydecide to recall the Basis ofDeferred Union with a viewto making anotherAdjustment decision.
(d) A linking may be deferred inthe same manner as a unionin terms of subsections (a) to(c) above.
(4) Local Mission ChurchThe Presbytery may determine inits Mission Plan that a LocalMission Church shall be created,either (a) following a union ordissolution effected in terms ofthis Act, or (b) as a new venture.Such a Local Mission Church shallbe established in terms of theLocal Mission Church Regulationsand shall be governed by a Basisof Local Mission Church. Theprocess to create a Local MissionChurch shall be as specified in theGuidance.(5) GuardianshipA charge may continue withoutthe right to call a minister underthe Guardianship of thePresbytery. There shall be a Basisof Guardianship which shallinclude the timing and scope ofthe how the guardianship shall bereviewed. In such a case, thePresbytery will appoint an InterimModerator who will ensure thatappropriate arrangements are putin place to enable the ongoingministry and Mission of thecongregation(s). For the avoidanceof doubt, a Guardianship shallcount as 0.25 towards the totalministry allocation for aPresbytery. A Guardianship shallbe subject to a separate fiveyearly review process at theinstigation of Presbytery,alongside the normal annualevaluation and development ofthe Mission Plan.(6) New Charge DevelopmentThose new charges which havebeen established prior to thepassing of this Act in terms ofAct XIII 2000 may be included inthe relevant Mission Plans, but nonew charges under Act XIII 2000may be specified in a Mission Planafter the passing of this Act.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................(7) Transportation(a) The Presbytery may move a
congregation from one placeof worship to another, and,where that involves a changeof parish, it shall bedesignated “transportation”.
(b) Where transportation iseffected, the Presbyteryshall take such steps ofAdjustment as may benecessary to ensure that theparishes involved areallocated to defined charges.
(8) Parish GroupingsThe Presbytery may declare thattwo or more charges shall haveresponsibility for a single area.The Basis of such an Adjustmentshall determine the extent towhich the charges shall operateas a Parish Grouping, for instancein the sharing of worship,personnel, education resources,mission initiatives, congregationalorganisations etc.(9) DissolutionA charge may be dissolved by thePresbytery of the bounds. TheBasis of Dissolution shall providefor:-(a) The issuing of certificates of
transference to all membersof the congregation;
(b) The allocation of the parishto another charge orcharges;
(c) The transfer to the GeneralTrustees, prior to dissolution,of any heritable propertyheld by or on behalf of thecongregation title to which isnot yet vested in theGeneral Trustees;
(d) The transfer, prior todissolution, of funds toenable the General Trusteesto discharge their obligations(including maintenance,security and insurance) inrelation to any heritableproperty held by or onbehalf of the congregationwhich is designated as aHistoric Property; providedthat such funds shall include(i) all restricted funds(including organ funds) heldfor fabric purposes and (ii)such proportion of allunrestricted funds as may bereasonably required for suchpurposes by the GeneralTrustees; and
(e) The destination of all otherproperty and funds of thecharge(s).
(10) Team Ministry(a) The Presbytery may
determine, in respect of anycharge, the amount ofministerial time required bythe charge, and the numberand nature of postsnecessary, provided that(except in the case of job-sharing) the Presbytery shallidentify one of the inductedministers as moderator ofthe Kirk Session.
(b) Presbyteries are encouragedin designing a Team Ministryto consider the significanceof the role which might beplayed by those other thanMinisters of Word andSacrament and MinistriesDevelopment Staff.
(c) The terms under which aTeam Ministry will operateshall be set out in a Basis ofTeam Ministry agreed by the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Presbytery and all membersof the Team prior to anysuch Team Ministry beingestablished; the Basis shallinclude a dispute resolutionmechanism.
(d) A Team Ministry may becreated in one or other ofthe following two ways:(I) a Presbytery may create
a Team Ministry with aninducted parish minister(who shall be themoderator of the KirkSession) and which mayinclude a deacon, MDSappointments, theappointment of anOrdained Local Ministeror such otherappointment as may bedeemed appropriate inMission Plan discussions,or
(II) alternatively, thePresbytery may createwithin the charge aTeam Ministry consistingof two or more TeamMinistry Charges, toeach of which a parishminister shall beinducted, providedalways that one of theTeam Ministry Chargesshall be identified in theBasis as the oneproviding the moderatorof the Kirk Session. TheTeam may also include adeacon, MDSappointments, theappointment of anOrdained Local Ministeror such otherappointment as may bedeemed appropriate inMission Plan discussions.
(e) Where there are TeamMinistry Charges created interms of paragraph (d)(II)above, the following shallapply:(A) The Team Ministry
Charges shall share thesame congregation andKirk Session and be partof the same Church life.
(B) The ministers inductedto a Team MinistryCharge shall eachoccupy the manseprovided for their use.
(C) The ministers of theTeam Ministry Chargesshall be appointed in oneor other of the followingtwo ways:(i) the ministers may
be called, withappropriatechanges, throughthe vacancyprocesses set out inAct VIII 2003, or
(ii) where a new chargeis being created bya union of chargesand where thereare at the time ofthe proposed unionminister(s) inductedto one or more ofthose charges withunrestricted tenure,it shall becompetent for thePresbytery tocreate TeamMinistry Chargeswithin the newcharge and toinclude such
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................minister(s) withinthe new chargesubject to theiragreement to theBasis of TeamMinistry.
(D) The Team MinistryCharges, save for anyexception at (e)(C)(ii)above, shall beReviewable Charges inthe terms set out insection 9(1) of this Actand may be part-time.
(E) For the avoidance ofdoubt, the minister(s)who are not inducted tothe Team MinistryCharge providing themoderator of the KirkSession will notautomatically succeed tothat Team MinistryCharge on theoccurrence of a vacancybut would be entitled toapply for that TeamMinistry Charge throughthe vacancy processesset out in Act VIII 2003.
(11) New Forms of Church LifeAfter consultation with theForum, the Presbytery maydevise a new form of Adjustmentor ministry, ensuring that suchform is consistent with the Actsand deliverances of the GeneralAssembly. This may include theprovision of online Church, wherethe Presbytery seeks tocoordinate and resource theprovision of online worship andmission by identifyingcongregations, partnerships oragencies which will be given leadresponsibility for such provision;this may include the allocation ofa Mission Plan post or posts. TheMission Plan should demonstrate
how the Presbytery will relate tothose whose belonging isprimarily through networks or thevirtual world.(12) Presbytery MissionInitiativeThe Presbytery may set up aPresbytery Mission Initiative interms of the Presbytery MissionInitiatives Act (Act V 2015).8. AGREEMENT TO UNIONOR LINKING UNDER ANINDUCTED MINISTER8.1 Preliminary8.1.1 No Basis of Union or Linkingshall be distributed by Presbyteryto the office bearers or membersof a congregation where theminister has been inducted on thebasis of unrestricted tenurewithout the consent of thatminister.8.2 Congregational Votes onthe Proposed Basis ofAdjustment8.2.1 When an explicit provisionof a Basis of Union or Linking isthat the minister of one of thecongregations involved shall bethe minister of the united orlinked charge (the new charge)then the following proceduresshall be adopted. All such votesshall be by secret ballot.8.2.2 Where the ministerreferred to in 8.2.1 was inductedon unrestricted tenure to his orher current congregation, thereshall be a single vote taken inthat congregation to approve allthe terms of the Basis. Othercongregations shall vote using thedouble vote system as set outbelow.8.2.3 Where the ministerreferred to in 8.2.1 was inducted
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................on a Basis of Reviewable Chargethere shall be separate votestaken in each congregation oneach of the following matters:-i. to approve the terms of the
Basis, apart from the clausewhich says that the ministerreferred to in 8.2.1 shall bethe first minister of the newcharge; and
ii. to approve the clause in theBasis which says that theminister referred to in 8.2.1shall be the first minister ofthe new charge.
8.2.4 Where a congregation isvacant there shall be separatevotes taken in that congregation,irrespective of whether theminister referred to in 8.2.1 wasinducted on unrestricted tenureor to a Reviewable Charge, oneach of the following matters: -i. to approve the terms of the
Basis, apart from the clausewhich says that the ministerreferred to in 8.2.1 shall bethe first minister of the newcharge; and
ii. to approve the clause in theBasis which says that theminister referred to in 8.2.1shall be the first minister ofthe new charge.
8.3 Procedure Subsequent toCongregational Votes8.3.1 When the vote taken interms of 8.2.2 is “for” then thePresbytery is free to proceed toeffect the adjustment subject toconsideration of the votes takenin terms of 8.2.3 and 8.2.4.8.3.2 When votes are taken interms of 8.2.3 and the vote is“for” in terms of i but “against” interms of ii then the Presbytery
may choose to follow one ofthese options:-i. if the review date for the
Basis of Reviewable Chargehas passed or is imminent, toend the tenure of theReviewable Charge by givingthe minister six months’notice and thereafter enactthe Union or Linking, or
ii. if the review date for theBasis of Reviewable Chargeis some time ahead seek tonegotiate a Basis of DeferredUnion or Linking to cover theperiod until the review isdue.
8.3.3 Where votes are taken interms of 8.2.4 and the vote is“for” in terms of i but “against” interms of ii then the Presbyterymay choose to follow one ofthese options:-i. if the review date for the
Basis of Reviewable Chargehas passed or is imminent, toend the tenure of theReviewable Charge and givethe minister six months’notice and enact the union orlinking, or
ii. negotiate a Basis of DeferredUnion or Linking which will beenacted when either theincumbent minister onunrestricted tenure has lefthis/her charge or, ifapplicable, when theReviewable Charge may bereviewed and its tenureterminated.
8.4 General Provisions forSuch Adjustments8.4.1 A Presbytery may noteffect an adjustment whereby aminister would be imposed on acongregation which has not voted
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................in favour in terms of 8.2.3 ii or8.2.4 ii.8.4.2 In the case of a ministerwho becomes minister of a unitedor linked charge in terms of aBasis of Union or Linking, theunited or linked charge shall beregarded as a modification of thecharge to which he or she hasalready been inducted so that nofurther induction shall berequired; but in all such cases thePresbytery shall conduct aservice of introduction.9. INSTRUMENTS FORFUTURE PLANNING9.0 The Presbytery may utilisein its Mission Plan either of theinstruments for future planningdescribed below.(1) Reviewable Charge9.1.1 In respect of any charge,the Presbytery may decide thatsuch charge shall be a ReviewableCharge, meaning that its nextminister shall be inducted oncondition that the Presbyterymay terminate the tenure of theminister at any time and for anyreason which may seem good tothe Presbytery, on termsspecified in the Basis ofAdjustment and always upongiving the minister six months’notice in writing. On the date oftermination, the minister shall bedeemed to have demitted his orher charge.9.1.2 The minister shall be freeto seek to demit or be translatedas in the ordinary case of anyminister inducted to a charge,provided that, if the ReviewableCharge is that minister’s firstcharge, this constitutesexceptional circumstances interms of section 4 of the
Vacancy Procedure Act (Act VIII2003).9.1.3 Before proceeding toinduct a minister in terms of thissection 9(1), the Presbytery shallsubmit to him or her the Basis ofReviewable Charge, and shallobtain and record his or herwritten acceptance thereof.(2) Transference9.2.1 A parish and charge maybe transferred from the boundsand jurisdiction of one Presbyteryto the bounds and jurisdiction ofanother with the agreement ofboth Presbyteries.9.2.2 In the event ofdisagreement between the twoPresbyteries, the Presbyterydesiring the transference mayrequest a review by the MissionPlan Review Panel in terms of theSchedule within fourteen days ofthe date of the Presbyterymeeting at which a decisiondisputing the transference wastaken, and shall immediatelynotify the other Presbytery of itsrequest.9.2.3 Transference shall be anecessary preliminary to union orlinking of congregations which arenot within the bounds of onePresbytery.10. ACHIEVEMENT OFADJUSTMENT10.1 When the Presbyterydecides to negotiate a Basis ofAdjustment in a charge inaccordance with a Mission Plan, itshall remit to the appropriateStanding Committee, or to acommittee appointed for thepurpose, the task of conferringwith local parties, provided that:
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................(a) Conference with local parties
shall be with the ministersand with the elders and themembers of the FinancialBoard (if any) of thecongregations which may beinvolved in Adjustment, andshould include consultationwith other members of aministry team;
(b) No proposed Adjustmentinvolving the rights of theminister shall be discussedwith the office-bearers ofthe congregation as in (a)above without his or herconsent in writing;
(c) All meetings of office-bearers under this section10.1 shall be called by thePresbytery’s Committee anda minister, deacon or elder,appointed by the saidCommittee, shall act asConvener for the purposesof conference. In no caseshall a minister preside at orattend any meeting calledunder the terms of this Actwhere matters in which his orher interests are involvedare discussed or decided.
10.2 A detailed Basis ofAdjustment shall be negotiatedwith the office-bearers involved,and in the course of thenegotiation its text shall besubmitted to the Forum to ensureit is consistent with the MissionPlan, and to the Principal Clerkand the Solicitor of the Churchwho shall ensure that theprovisions of the Basis are inconformity with Church and CivilLaw. The Basis of Adjustmentshall be voted upon firstly by theoffice-bearers and then by thecongregation or congregationsinvolved, before the matter is put
to the Presbytery for decision.Those entitled to speak and voteat such a congregational meetingshall include those who have beenformally recognised by the KirkSession as adherents of thecongregation. The Presbyteryshall have regard to the decisionsarrived at by the respectiveoffice bearers and congregations,provided always that:(a) no Basis affecting the rights
of a minister shall bepresented to his or her orany other congregationwithout his or her writtenconsent,
(b) any congregation directlyinvolved in and named in anyproposed Basis shall be citedto appear for their interestsat any meeting of thePresbytery at which adecision is to be made interms of this Act.
10.3 Notwithstanding theprovisions of this section 10,while it shall be the duty of thePresbytery to make every effortto secure approval of the officebearers and congregationsinvolved, the right of thePresbytery to effect Adjustmentin terms of this Act is herebyaffirmed, subject to the writtenconsent of any minister orministers whose rights would beadversely affected.11. REVIEW OF A BASIS OFADJUSTMENT11.1 It shall be open to any KirkSession involved in theAdjustment or twelve or moremembers of Presbytery to seek areview of a Basis of Adjustmentby the Mission Plan Review Panel.Such a review shall considerwhether the details of the Basis
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................are in conformity with theApproved Mission Plan and thisAct and must be requested withinfourteen days of Presbytery’sdecision on the Basis.11.2 Such review shallotherwise proceed in line with theprovisions of the Schedule.12. MEMBERS OFPRESBYTERY12.1 For the avoidance of doubtit is hereby declared that anyperson who is both a member of acited congregation and a memberor a corresponding member of thePresbytery (including an InterimModerator) shall be entitled toparticipate in any discussionleading to a decision of thePresbytery in terms of this Actand, where qualified, to votethereon.13. GUIDANCE13.1 The Forum, afterconsultation with the LegalQuestions Committee, shall issueGuidance on the implementationand operation of this Act,including a Code of Practice,which shall be reviewed by theForum in consultation with theLegal Questions Committee, fromtime to time.14. REPEALS ANDAMENDMENTS14.1 The Appraisal andAdjustment Act (Act VII 2003) ishereby repealed except thatsection 9(2) of that Act shallremain in force until ApprovedMission Plans are in place for allPresbyteries.
SCHEDULE- THE MISSION PLANREVIEW PANELA: GENERAL: COMPOSITION,JURISDICTION AND MAKING AREQUEST OF THE PANEL1. Composition (for allJurisdiction matters)The Mission Plan Review Groupshall be a group of fifteenpersons appointed by the GeneralAssembly on the Report of theNomination Committee and in linewith the process for appointingpersons to other judicial bodies.Additionally, the Forum and theGeneral Trustees shall be entitledto make suggestions to the LegalQuestions Committee as topersons who are suitable forappointment to the Group, butthe final decision as to nomineesshall rest with the LegalQuestions Committee. Themembers of the Group shall besuitably experienced members ofthe Church.The Panel shall consist of threemembers drawn from the MissionPlan Review Group. One membershall act as Convener. Thequorum of the Panel shall be two,including the Convener. None ofthe members of the Panel shallbe members of the Presbyterywhose Mission Plan is beingconsidered or reviewed.Where a Mission Plan ReviewPanel has previously been formedto consider a question relating toa particular Mission Plan, if thereis a subsequent request forassistance or review relating tothe same Mission Plan, the Panelshall be formed so as not toinclude the same persons.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................2. JurisdictionThe Panel shall consider thefollowing matters:(a) in terms of section 2.2, an
application by thePresbytery, the Forumand/or the General Trusteesfor the Panel to assist theparties to resolve the matterwhere agreement cannot bereached on a Mission Planamong the Presbytery, theForum and the GeneralTrustees within a period ofthree calendar months oftheir receipt of the MissionPlan;
(b) in terms of section 2.3, anapplication by thePresbytery, the Forumand/or the General Trusteesfor the Panel to assist theparties to resolve the matterwhere agreement cannot bereached on the annualevaluation and developmentof the Mission Plan amongthe Presbytery, the Forumand the General Trusteeswithin a period of onecalendar month of theirreceipt of the Mission Plan;
(c) in terms of section 3, anapplication from any twelveor more members of thePresbytery or any KirkSession seeking a review ofthe process used by thePresbytery in preparing andapproving a Mission Plan or inits annual evaluation anddevelopment;
(d) in terms of section 6, anapplication from any twelveor more members ofPresbytery or a Kirk Sessionrequesting a review of adecision of the Presbyteryand/or the Forum and/or theGeneral Trustees to suspendthe implementation of aMission Plan in part or whole;
(e) in terms of section 9(2), anapplication for review from aPresbytery desiring totransfer a parish and chargefrom the bounds andjurisdiction of one Presbyteryto the bounds and jurisdictionof another (Transference),where there is disagreementbetween the twoPresbyteries; and
(f) in terms of section 11, anapplication from twelve ormore members of Presbyteryor a Kirk Session seeking areview of a Basis ofAdjustment, to considerwhether the details of theBasis are in conformity withthe Mission Plan and this Act;provided always that noprovision of this Act shalloperate so as to have thePanel review its own decisionor give judgement twice onthe same question.
3. Making the request forassistance (Jurisdictionparagraphs(a) & (b)) or forreview (Jurisdiction paragraphs(c) to (f))A request for assistance orreview shall be sent to thePrincipal Clerk (who in turn shallinform the Forum and the GeneralTrustees) within fourteen days ofthe relevant event.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................B: ASSISTANCE (Jurisdictionparagraphs (a) & (b) above)1. Procedure for assistanceThe Panel shall have widediscretion to assist the parties toreach agreement as it sees fit.The Panel shall have power torequire parties to producedocuments and information as tothe provisions of the Mission Plan.C: REVIEW (Jurisdictionparagraphs (c) to (f) above)1. Grounds for requestingreview (Jurisdiction paragraphs(c) to (e) above)A review may only be requestedon the grounds that (a) there wasa material error in Church law, (b)there was material irregularity ofprocess on the part of Presbytery(or the Forum or GeneralTrustees, as the case may be) or(c) the decision of Presbytery (orthe Forum or General Trustees,as the case may be) took intoaccount an irrelevant materialfact or failed to take into accounta relevant material fact.2. Ground for requestingreview (Jurisdiction paragraph(f) above)Such a review may only berequested where it is alleged thatthe details of the Basis are not inconformity with the ApprovedMission Plan and this Act.3. Procedure for review(Jurisdiction paragraphs (c) to(f) above)A request for review shall requireto obtain leave to proceed fromthe General Assembly’sCommittee on Overtures andCases, whose decision shall befinal.
The Panel shall complete areview within three calendarmonths of receiving the requestfor a review (along with allnecessary documentation), savethat the Panel has the discretionto extend this timescale on causeshown.The Panel may choose to proceedwholly on written submissions ormay choose to hold a hearing,which may be online. The Panelmay decide whether or not tovisit the place(s) giving rise to therequest for review and whendoing so may choose whether ornot to meet with local parties.If the Panel chooses to proceedwholly on written submissions itshall notify its final decision to allinterested parties. The decisionshall be in writing and shall setout the grounds upon which itsdecision was reached.If the Panel chooses to hold ahearing, whether in person oronline, procedure shall follow thatof the General Assembly’sStanding Orders and shallnormally be as follows:1. Hearing is opened with
prayer2. Convener makes
introductions3. Convener explains the
purpose of the hearing4. Persons requesting review
are given opportunity tospeak (through onenominated speaker)
5. Respondent (normallyPresbytery) is givenopportunity to speak(through one nominatedspeaker)
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questions of parties7. Respondent has its final word8. Persons requesting review
have their final word9. Parties are removed and
Panel reaches a decision10. Decision is intimated when
parties are recalled or maybe intimated by email toparties; at this stage asummary of reasons for thedecision may be given
11. Hearing is closed withprayer/the Grace/theBenediction
Within fourteen days of thehearing a written decision shall beissued which shall set out thegrounds on which the decision wasreached.4. Possible outcomes(Jurisdiction paragraphs (c) to(e) above)The outcome of the reviewprocess will be either (1) nochange, i.e. to endorse thecorrectness of the decision whichhas been made, or (2) to send thematter back to the decision-maker for the decision to bemade again, with identification ofany deficiencies in its processes.The review is about the legalityof the processes adopted (howthe decision was taken), not thesubstance of the decision made.The outcome will not be adifferent decision.5. Possible outcomes(Jurisdiction paragraph (f)above)The outcome of the reviewprocess will be either (1) toconfirm that the Basis is in
conformity with the Mission Planand this Act or (2) to confirm thatit is not. In the latter case thePresbytery will thereafterrenegotiate the Basis.6. Finality of decisions(Jurisdiction paragraphs (c) to(f) aboveThe Panel’s decision on a requestfor review, however determined,shall be final and there shall beno right of appeal against adecision of the Panel.Appendix 2Mission and other underlyingprinciples1. IntroductionThe Presbytery Mission Plan Actprovides the legislativeframework for the urgent needfor a rapid and adaptive approachto Presbytery Planning. The taskrequires serious and immediateengagement on the part ofPresbyteries, Congregations andall involved in the ministries ofthe Church. The Act outlines theFive Marks of Mission, andadditional Guidelines will beavailable from the Faith NurtureForum about how the Five Marksof Mission can be applied to thetask of shaping Presbytery Plans.Mission is the primary principlefor making strategic decisions onthe use of ministries posts, theuse of Church Buildings, and thewider ministry of the wholepeople of God. The template forour ministry is the ministry ofJesus. The Church’s ministry is aparticipation in the ministry ofJesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry was aministry rooted in and focused onmission, and is seen in Jesus’preaching in the synagogue inNazareth in Luke 4.18, where
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Jesus says:“The Spirit of the Lord is uponme, because he has anointed meto bring good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaimrelease to the captives andrecovery of sight to the blind, tolet the oppressed go free, and toproclaim the year of the Lord’sfavour.”The church has affirmed a numberof important principles that helpto explain what is meant by beinga church focused on mission.Presbyteries in their Plans willtherefore take account of thefollowing:2. CommunitiesEvery community of every size inevery location within Scotland ispart of a Church of ScotlandParish. While population should nolonger be the only principle inshaping Presbytery Plans, it stillremains the starting point. Ourcalling as a church is not primarilyto resource congregations: it ismission to everyone in the land.3. The PoorSuccessive General Assemblieshave affirmed the Gospelimperative is priority to the poor.At a time when resources arescarce, it is tempting to withdrawfrom the most marginalcommunities where churches areoften fragile and small. Howeverpressing those reasons are, thismust be resisted because it goesagainst the Gospel and therepeated view of the GeneralAssembly.4. CongregationsOne of the ways in which theGospel finds expression is incommitted congregations underthe power of the Holy Spirit.These congregations both
express the Gospel, andcommend it to others.Presbyteries in their planning willidentify congregations which areoutward looking, which engagewith their communities, andconsider how these strengths cancontribute to the mission of theChurch.5. Financial ResponsibilityPresbytery Planning does notmean that congregations whichmake a net contribution tocentral funds take priority. Adegree of financial realism isrequired, and it is recognised thatsome congregations are moregenerous than comparable ones,and even in the poorestcongregations, per capita givingcan be much higher than in someof the wealthiest congregations.It makes sense for Presbyteriesto consider the complex financialpicture and allocate ministerialresources to congregations whichtake their financial stewardshipseriously.6. BuildingsThere is a connection betweenministry and church buildings,although that connection isneither uniform nor universal. TheChurch of Scotland has too manybuildings, numerous buildings thatare under-utilised, buildings thatare too large for present dayneeds and buildings that are inthe wrong place. At a local levelhowever, almost every churchbuilding is deemed essential.There is no simple solution to thisproblem. The starting pointhowever should be mission.Presbyteries will want to considerwhich buildings are essential anduseful for the mission theyenvisage.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................7. Linkage or UnionIn terms of charitablegovernance, it is important toattempt to make appropriatelyresourced, mission-mindedgoverning bodies. There should bea presumption against ever-expanding linkages of separatecongregations, which requiremultiple session meetings (andother meetings) for which aMinister might carry responsibilityas well as office-bearers in eachcongregation. Shared missionshould lead to a single governingbody wherever possible, andsupport for individual buildingscan be provided through the useof local fabric care groupsanswerable to a central KirkSession.
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Appendix 3Membership of Group examining weightingsRosemary Frew Convener, and minister at Bowden and
Melrose, Faith Nurture ForumKaren K. Campbell Vice-Convener, and minister at Edinburgh:
Marchmont St Giles, Faith Nurture ForumLesley-Ann Calvert Member of Dundee: The Steeple, and
member, Faith Nurture ForumMike Goss Minister, Barry Parish Church linked with
Carnoustie Church, member, Faith NurtureForum
Alan Hamilton Minister, Killermont Parish Church andmember, Faith Nurture Forum
Richard Lloyd Member of Edinburgh: Queensferry, andmember, Faith Nurture Forum
Ruth Mackenzie Elder, member of Peterhead: New andmember, Faith Nurture Forum
Scott McCarthy Minister, Garthamlock and Craigend East, andmember, Faith Nurture Forum
Angus R. Mathieson Interim Head, Faith Nurture
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Appendix 4Ministries Figures for the period to 31 December 2022Presbytery PresbyteryNumber
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Ministries Figures for the period to 31 December 2022 (continued)Presbytery PresbyteryNumber
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Appendix 5LOCAL MISSION CHURCHREGULATIONS (REGS ZZ 2021)Edinburgh [ ] May 2021, Session[ ]Definitions1. In these Regulations:(a) The term “charge” shall have
the meaning given to it in thePresbytery Mission Plan Act(Act ZZ 2021);
(b) “Leadership Team” shallmean those persons whohave the responsibilities inrelation to the Local MissionChurch outlined in section 6;
(c) “Presbytery” shall mean thepresbytery of the boundswithin which the LocalMission Church is located.
Local Mission Church2(1) A Local Mission Churchshall be a Christian communitywhose purpose is to worship,witness and serve in a distinctgeographical setting.2(2) A Local Mission Churchshall be established in terms ofthese Regulations and a Basis ofLocal Mission Church (hereinafterreferred to as “the Basis”). Theform of the Basis shall beprescribed from time to time bythe Faith Nurture Forum afterconsultation with the LegalQuestions Committee.2(3) A Local Mission Churchshall not own any property,heritable or moveable, nor haveany legal personality. It shall nothave a Kirk Session and shall nothave the right to call a minister.The creation or sustaining of aLocal Mission Church is not
dependent on the provision of achurch building.Creation of a Local MissionChurch3. The process to create aLocal Mission Church shall be asspecified in the Guidanceaccompanying the PresbyteryMission Plan Act.Role of Kirk Session of charge4. A Local Mission Churchshall exist within the territorialboundaries of a charge. All legaland governance matters affectingthe Local Mission Church shall bethe responsibility of the KirkSession of the charge. Inparticular, the Kirk Session shall:(a) ensure that all requirements
of the law of the Church ofScotland and of civil law arefulfilled in relation to theLocal Mission Church;
(b) be the owner/title-holder ofall property whetherheritable or moveable, usedby or within the possessionof the Local Mission Church;
(c) administer all offerings andother monies collected at orin relation to the LocalMission Church;
(d) apply such monies in the firstinstance to meet the costsof the Local Mission Churchfor as long as it exists, afterdiscussion with theLeadership Team, andthereafter as the KirkSession determines.
Oversight by Presbytery5. A Local Mission Churchshall be subject to the oversightof the Presbytery. In particular, areview of a Local Mission Churchand its place in the Mission Plan
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................shall be conducted by thePresbytery at least once everyfive years but without prejudiceto annual evaluation anddevelopment of the Mission Plan.Leadership Team6(1) A Local Mission Churchshall have a Leadership Team asset out in the Basis and this Teamshall include one or morerepresentatives of each of theKirk Session and the Presbytery.6(2) The life and witness of theLocal Mission Church shall be co-ordinated by its Leadership Team,subject to the oversight of theKirk Session and the Presbytery.Without prejudice to thisgenerality, the Leadership Teamshall be responsible for:(a) developing appropriate
expressions of worship,witness and service;
(b) ensuring that the LocalMission Church is adequatelyorganised;
(c) ensuring good communicationwith the Kirk Session; and
(d) assisting with the upkeep ofbuildings (if any), subjectalways to strict adherence tosections 7(a) and (b) below.Any contracts shall beentered into by the KirkSession.
Further provisions7. The following furtherprovisions shall apply to a LocalMission Church:
(a) Neither a Leadership Teamnor any person acting onbehalf of a Local MissionChurch shall have anyauthority or power to enterinto contracts or to incurliabilities on behalf of theKirk Session.
(b) Neither a Leadership Teamnor any person acting onbehalf of a Local MissionChurch shall conductthemselves in such a way(including silence) that mightcause an inference contraryto section 7(a) to be drawnby any person.
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SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT OF THE ASSEMBLYTRUSTEES MAY 2021Proposed DeliveranceThe General Assembly:1. Receive the Supplementary
Report.2. Receive the 2020 Report and
Accounts of The Church ofScotland UnincorporatedCouncils and Committees.(Section 1)
3. Approve the total to becontributed by congregationsin 2022 of £42,000,000 basedon the projection ofcongregational income for2022 and its dispositionamong local congregationalexpenditure, the ParishMinistries Fund and theMission and Renewal Fund.(Section 2 and Appendix I)
4. Note the indicative budgetfor 2022. (Section 2 andAppendices I and II)
5. Urge Presbyteries toprioritise the use of the 2022Discretionary Allowancetowards reducing theamounts of Ministries andMission contributions payableby congregations which arestruggling financially.(Section 2.6)
6. Approve the reappointmentof Ann Nelson as anAssembly Trustee for asecond term; and approvethe appointment of DavidCameron, Barry Hughes andPeter McEnhill as AssemblyTrustees. (Section 4)
Report1. AUDIT OF ANNUALACCOUNTS FOR 2020The external auditors gave anunqualified, or ‘clean’, auditopinion on the Report andAccounts. The Assembly is invitedto receive the 2020 Report andAccounts of the UnincorporatedEntities. Commissioners areinvited to view the Report andAccounts. https://churchofscotland.org.uk/79854
2. CONGREGATIONALINCOME AND 2022 INCOMEDISPOSITION2.1 Introduction2.1.1 The remit of the AssemblyTrustees requires that “TheTrustees shall recommend to theGeneral Assembly the totalamount of the Church’s Co-ordinated Budget for the ParishMinistries Fund and the Missionand Renewal Fund for thefollowing financial year; and shalldetermine the allocation of thebudget for the Mission andRenewal Fund among therelevant Agencies”. The Trustees’recommendations for totalcongregational contributions for2022, and the allocation of these,are to be found in Appendix II.This level of income is requiredto pay for the activities to whichthe Church is already committed.Stability in income is needed tofinance stipends, salaries andother costs of providing ministriesand support to the local Church.2.1.2 The Trustees’ main Reportdetails, at Section 5, thechallenging financial situation
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................facing the Church as a result ofthe Covid-19 pandemic andreaffirms the need for budgetaryprudence and the priority ofresourcing Presbytery reform andsupporting the growth of thelocal Church. In 2020 the Trusteesnoted a reduction of about 3%from 2019 in Ministries andMission Contributions paid byCongregations by the year end,and became aware that someCongregations were using theirreserves in order to maintaintheir contributions. This led to thedecision that, for 2021, thereshould be an overall reduction inaggregate Ministries and Missioncontributions of 18% to relievethe pressure locally. Analysis ofcongregational financial statisticsconfirms that, on average,Congregations’ 2020 incomereduced by approximately 20%.The extent to whichCongregations are able to recoverfrom this reduction in theirincome by 2022 remains to beseen. While there has been muchinnovation, resourcefulness andcreativity within Congregations,which has mitigated some of thefinancial effects caused by theCovid-19 pandemic, the road mapout of the restrictions, andtherefore some of its effects, areoutwith the control of the Churchand the Trustees. The pandemichas perhaps changed thebehaviours and needs of many ofour stakeholders, from ourmembers, supporters, ministersand staff to our service users,partners and beneficiaries.2.1.3 In bringing forward therecommendations for the Co-ordinated budget the Trusteeshave had to carefully considerand make assumptions about:
• The forecast level ofcongregational income
• The number of ministers likelyto be in post in 2022
• The operating position ofCrossReach
2.1.4 All of which has a highdegree of uncertainty and asubstantial potential impact onthe Co-ordinated Budget.2.1.5 With the financial situationof Congregations in mind, for asecond year, the Trustees haveagreed to bring arecommendation of an amountwhich will not fund all of theseactivities and they will part fundthe activities from reserves ofthe Unincorporated Entities. WithCongregations continuing tosuffer the effects of the Covid-19restrictions well into 2021, thereare slim prospects for fullfinancial recovery in 2021 and inall likelihood also in 2022.Therewill be variability acrossCongregations in their ability tocontribute to Ministries andMission. Some may not havereturned to a sustainable position.Others may have made savingsand maintained or even increasedgiving, meaning that theirreserves have not been impactedas badly as they might have been.Congregations have also beengiven relief of 18% in aggregatein their 2021 allocations whichshould help preserve some oftheir reserves although suchdecisions are made at a locallevel. With this financialbackdrop, consideration needs tobe given to a reduction in theamount required fromCongregations in 2022 to anamount somewhere between thereduced contribution requested in2021 of £38,172,000 and the level
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................in the last pre-Covid-19 year, of£46,586,000.2.1.6 The Assembly Trusteespropose that the amount of theBudget to be met bycongregations in 2022 should beset at £42,000,000. Appendix Isummarises the actual andprojected annual income ofCongregations over the period2019 to 2022 and how the incomewill be used – the “IncomeDisposition”. It should be notedthat the reduced contributionsrequired from Congregations in2021 and 2022 have distorted thepercentages shown on Appendix Iwhen compared to previous yearsbecause the amount ofcontribution does not cover therequired expenditure.2.1.7 The projected “OrdinaryIncome” of Congregations for2022 shown in Appendix I is£82,860,000. Projected income isassessable income and is basedon returns of Financial Statisticsfrom Congregations for 2020,rolled forward to 2021 and 2022.This is difficult to forecastbecause of the high level ofuncertainty around congregationalrecovery. Based on theseestimates, the amount retainedby Congregations for localexpenditure is projected to be53.7% (2021 - 51.8%).2.1.8 It should be noted thatcongregational income inAppendix I does not includeextraordinary income, such aslegacies, restricted income notavailable to meet regularexpenditure, receipts for majorfabric projects etc, which areassumed to be used exclusivelyto meet local congregationalexpenditure.
2.1.9 The percentage ofcongregational income allocatedto the Parish Ministries Fund isprojected to be 35.9% (2021 -40.1%) after deducting vacancyallowances, and that to theMission and Renewal Fund to be10.4% (2021 - 8.1%). The FaithNurture Forum receives fundingfrom the Mission and RenewalFund as well as the ParishMinistries Fund. Allocation to theParish Ministries Fund pays for theprovision of Ministries to the localChurch.2.1.10 Much of the work fundedby the Mission and Renewal Fundis directed back to the localChurch in the promotion ofworship, prayer and discipleship;facilitating engagement with localand global communities. The Fundalso provides the Church'sfinancial and legal services;advice on Church judicialprocedures; and regulatorycompliance and safeguardingservices.2.2 Congregational Income2.2.1 The commitment andgenerosity of those who make upthe Congregations of the Churchof Scotland across the countryand beyond is evidenced in theirregular giving, even in this mostchallenging and unprecedentedtime, for which we are all deeplygrateful.2.2.2 The starting point in thepreparation of the indicativebudget for the following year isthe estimation of totalcongregational income for theprevious year, drawn from thereturns submitted by treasurersimmediately after the year end.The calculations for 2022 arebased on 65% of returns receivedto date and available forcomparison. Provisional details for
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................2020 Congregational Income arecontained in Appendix I. Theseshow a decrease of 20.3% in total“Ordinary Income”, with“Offerings” down by only 10.7%due to a tremendous effort tomaintain giving across the Church.This has also helped to maintainthe contribution of Gift Aid taxrecovery which is down by only4.9%.2.2.3 Not unexpectedly, thestarkest reduction is in “OtherOrdinary Income” which suffereda 67% drop due to reducedincome from areas such asoutside organisations (mainly halllets); regular fundraising; andweddings and funerals, all ofwhich were impacted by thepandemic. In normalcircumstances, even a smallpercentage reduction has asignificant impact oncongregational income. In thecurrent circumstances the overallfinancial impact, which isestimated at a reduction in theorder of £18,000,000, potentiallymore, leads to some extremelychallenging times ahead forCongregations and the Church.2.2.4 It is worth noting thatCongregations with higher levelsof giving by standing order wereimpacted less that those withlower levels.2.2.5 Until the onset of thepandemic, there was evidencethat the income of manyCongregations remained steady,although this was not theexperience of all. However,aggregate income was reducing asmembership of the Churchdeclined. It was already clearthat, given the trend of reducingincome, the Church could onlycarry out the activities whichCongregations were able to fund.
By far the largest proportion ofthat work is the cost of parishministries and this is the reasonwhy the Church needs to focus onPresbytery planning as a matterof urgency. The financial effectsof the pandemic have only servedto heighten that urgency.2.2.6 Although early indicationsshow a 67% reduction in “OtherOrdinary Income” in 2020, thisheading includes a number ofdifferent categories of income,and the total can only beconfirmed when the detailedanalysis of congregationalaccounts is completed later in theyear. However it is apparent thatincome from outsideorganisations, previously an areaof growth, is the aspect ofincome which has suffered thelargest reduction over 2020.2.3 Stipend EndowmentIncome2.3.1 The reduction in GrowthFund dividend distributions in 2020and 2021 by the Investors Trustled to reduced income in theStipend Endowment Fund held bythe General Trustees for thebenefit of Congregations. This ispassed through the Faith NurtureForum which bore the effects ofthe reduction in 2020 sincestatements had already beenissued to Congregations with theanticipated annual amount ofstipend endowment income.2.3.2 Early in 2021,representatives of the GeneralTrustees, Faith Nurture Forum andStewardship and Finance staffmet to discuss a new investmentstrategy for the StipendEndowment Fund. The GeneralTrustees’ Report to the GeneralAssembly describes the newstrategy which, if agreed, would
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................cover the period 2021 to 2025 andwould distribute capital as well asincome at a level of £3,200,000per annum over that period. Thisgives a measure of stability tocongregational income over thenext five years while PresbyteryPlans are re-aligned. The budgethas assumed this £3,200,000 aswell as £440,000 of Glebe Rentalincome, but is subject to GeneralAssembly approval of the GeneralTrustees’ proposal.2.4 Parish Ministries Fund(including Stipends and relatedexpenses for Parish Ministers)2.4.1 From Appendix II it will benoted that the projected cost ofParish Ministries for 2022 is£37,818,000 (2021 - £39,583,000).This is a best estimate based onexisting Minister and MinistriesDevelopment Staff (MDS)numbers projected forward totake account of retirements,leavers and joiners. This is,however, difficult to forecast indetail and is closely connectedwith the Presbytery PlanningProcess. As indicated in AppendixI and Appendix II, the proportionof the amount of £42,000,000 tobe contributed by Congregationsto be allocated to the ParishMinistries Fund is £33,373,000.The balance of £4,445,000 will bedrawn from the StipendEndowment Fund, Glebe Incomeand Investment Income.2.4.2 The General Assemblypreviously agreed to a cap onMDS Staff of 120 Full TimeEquivalents (FTE). Furtherinformation is provided under theCo-ordinated Budget (Section 2.7).2.4.3 The 2019 SupplementaryReport of the Council ofAssembly suggested that areview of the Parish Ministries
Fund ring-fencing arrangementsshould be carried out to establishwhether this remains the mostsuitable method of budgeting forParish Ministries costs. Followingthe 2019 General Assembly theTrustees agreed that thesearrangements should bediscontinued and that the ParishMinistries Fund would no longerbe budgeted as a ring-fenceditem, in addition to having tighterparameters over what should beincluded in the Parish MinistriesFund budget.2.4.4 The Faith Nurture Forumwill receive 81% ofcongregational contributionsincluding stipend endowmentincome and glebe rents, directedthrough the Parish Ministries Fund,which includes use for:• the National Stipend Fund
which pays the stipend andother costs of parish ministers;
• ordained parish ministrysupport and development;
• the salaries and other costs ofMinistries Development Staff;
• new, alternative and emergingforms of ministry costs;
• readership costs;• recruitment and education for
ministries, including OrdainedLocal Ministers and the trainingof Probationers;
• parish appraisal costs;• properties costs;• a share of support and
administration costs.2.4.5 However, as described at2.1 in relation to the disposition ofexpenditure, the necessity tocurtail expenditure in 2021 and2022 has resulted in only thedirect stipend and salary costs of
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Ministers and MinistriesDevelopment Staff and vacancyallowances being paid through theParish Ministries Fund.Recruitment, training andeducation; parish appraisal;property; and administrationcosts are no longer included.These essential costs and otherhigh priority work as agreed bythe Assembly Trustees have beenfunded from reserves and theMission and Renewal Fundelement of congregationalcontributions. A review of theParish Ministries Fund to reflectthe new Presbytery Planningprocess will be carried out at afuture date.2.4.6 The MinistriesDevelopment Staff set out in2.4.2 are as agreed within currentPresbytery Plans, employed orappointed by the MinistriesCouncil within the Faith NurtureForum; and the numbers includeDeacons, Associate Ministers, andTeam Leaders. Any parish staffengaged locally by Congregations(and not designated onPresbytery Plans) are not fundedby the Parish Ministries Fund.2.5 Mission and Renewal Fund2.5.1 The Mission and RenewalFund’s share of the IncomeDisposition is 10.4%, afterreleasing £600,000 (2021 -£600,000) from the Fund’sbudgeted, non-congregationalannual income to support theChurch’s work. As detailed in the2019 Report, the Mission andRenewal Fund Reserves werepreviously also used to supportthe budget. However, theAssembly Trustees consider thatreserves, being essentially finite,should not normally be used tosupport regular ongoing work.
2.5.2 Also, as reported by theCouncil of Assembly in 2019, thebalance on the Mission andRenewal Reserve Fund as at 31December 2018 had beenextinguished. The review of Fundsinstructed by General Assembly2018 resulted in reclassificationsof general funds held by theformer Councils, andreorganisation of other fundsthrough OSCR. As a result, thebalance of the Fund as at 31December 2020 was £9,200,000.2.5.3 The Trustees allocateMission and Renewal contributionsamong Forums, Committees andDepartments to meet thefinancing of approved work. TheForums have other income, mainlyfrom investments; and, inaddition, the reserves overseenby the Forums will be used tocover budget deficits arising intheir area of work.2.6 Presbytery DiscretionaryAllowance2.6.1 The Assembly Trusteespropose to maintain the totalavailable for the PresbyteryDiscretionary Allowance for 2022at 5% of the total Ministries andMission contributions due from theCongregations in each Presbytery.This means that around£2,100,000 will be available toPresbyteries for regional or localuse. However, given the financialdifficulties of Congregations as aresult of the pandemic, theTrustees are urging Presbyteriesto prioritise the use of theAllowance for the remainder of2021, and in 2022, towardsassisting with the amounts ofMinistries and Missioncontributions payable byCongregations strugglingfinancially. The Allowance shouldbe targeted to Congregations
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................which, for example, have sufferedreductions in other income suchas hall lets, rather than beingautomatically allocated across allCongregations in a Presbytery.2.6.2 The Stewardship andFinance Department will supportPresbyteries with the provision ofregular information on shortfallsand remaining Allowancebalances. In addition, theCongregational Sustainability TaskForce recently set up by theTrustees will be on hand toprovide advice on dealing withlegal and buildings issues.2.6.3 Presbyteries should beproactive in planning ahead inrespect of a number of changesbeing brought as proposals to thisyear’s General Assembly. InOctober 2020 the Ministries andMission Review Group’s InterimReport to the Assembly indicatedthat the proposed new systemwill see the ending of theDiscretionary Allowance meaningthat alternative ways of funding,or potentially curtailing certainposts and projects will need to beconsidered. The final proposalfrom the Group is included in theTrustees’ main report.2.6.4 New Presbyteries which arecoming into being from 2022 areprovided for in the Co-ordinatedBudget to the equivalent cost ofa Presbytery Clerk and full timeAdministrator and an allowancefor running costs (although thereis flexibility as to the use of thefunding depending on local needs)and Presbyteries will need toconsider ways in which they mayraise further funds for projects orposts they wish to progress orcontinue.2.6.5 The Mission Plan Act andproposed reduction in ministries
numbers will need to be takeninto consideration at this time.2.7 The 2022 Co-ordinatedBudget2.7.1 As well as the issue ofdeclining congregational income,pressures on the National Churchbudget have been of seriousconcern in recent years with theCouncils that were in place until2019 only able to make marginalreductions on programme costsuntil such time as clearlyidentified priorities were agreed.The reorganisation into Forums atthe beginning of 2020; thedevelopment of the Faith ActionPlan incorporating the RadicalAction Plan elements; andimproved accountability measureswere beginning to take shapewhen the effects of the pandemicstruck; and these measuresproved to be invaluable inenabling cost reductions during2020. Compared to the amountbudgeted for 2019, a reduction inexpenditure of £6,600,000 wasachieved in 2020. This related toexpenditure outwith the ParishMinistries Fund and CrossReach.2.7.2 As noted in the mainreport, the budgeted deficit for2021 is £11,400,000. The reducedlevel of congregationalcontributions in 2022 will result ina budgeted deficit for 2022 of£5,100,000. However the focus oncost savings and the continuedprogression towards zero-basedbudgeting for 2022 will beimportant factors in containingthe deficit. The AssemblyTrustees propose that theForums’ expenditure budgets arefrozen at the levels agreed forthe 2021 Budget with only minoradjustments. The expenditurebudgets of the servicedepartments will also be frozen
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................but the budget includes anadditional amount for essentialbuilding repairs and investment ininfrastructure systems. Corefunding for the new Presbyteriesestablished/to be established by2022 has been included in thebudget to secure funding whilstthe long term fundingarrangements are developed. Thisrequires a budget of £120,000 pernew Presbytery in 2022, totalling£600,000. Appropriate funding willbe key in ensuring that theChurch’s governance structurescan be made more efficient, whichin turn will assist in allowing itsministry and mission to flourish.2.7.3 The Co-ordinated Budgetprovides fully for the totalprojected number of currentPresbytery Plan posts which arelikely to be filled during 2022 aspart of the Parish Ministries Fund.2.7.4 Presbytery planning shouldensure the most effective andappropriate use of resources at alocal level. Changes incongregational configuration canlead to a drop in income withoutany corresponding drop inexpenditure. Continued carefulfinancial management of thenational Forums and Committees,and the increase in the proportionof congregational income which isretained for local work, areessential to present a moresustainable picture. The proposedchanges to the Ministries andMission contribution system aredesigned to help achieve this butwhat remains evident is that theChurch is only able to maintainthe level of ministries andmission, both local and national,which its members are preparedto support through theirofferings; diligent stewardship ofthe Church’s resources of people,
property and money remainsparamount.2.7.5 Absorbing furthercompliance and governance costsincluding the cost of Presbyteryreform means that Forums andCommittees will again facechallenging budget decisions for2022. The Trustees continue toscrutinise and prioritise Forumsbids for additional funding for newprojects and posts and haveengaged in careful considerationof other proposed projects,looking at costs and resultantbenefits of the work.2.7.6 The number of Full TimeEquivalent (FTE) staff employedby the Central ServicesCommittee (CSC) has reducedfrom a monthly average of 217FTE in 2019 to an average of 199FTE in 2020. Grant funding topartners has also substantiallyreduced and grant-making andgrant receiving activities arebeing centralised to ensure bettergovernance and sourcing of grantfunding for both congregationsand the National Church.2.7.7 Appendix II showsindicative figures for ProjectedGross Expenditure in 2022 foreach Forum and how this is to befunded, using contributions fromcongregations, income fromexternal sources and annualincome from investments, withany projected deficit being metfrom the reserves of theindividual Forums. This showsProjected Gross Expenditure of£101,173,000 (2021 -£101,755,000). The budgetedincome comprises contributionsfrom congregations £42,000,000(2021 - £38,172,000); investmentincome £2,152,000 (2021 -£2,152,000); external sourcesincluding Stipend Endowment and
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................glebe income and CrossReachservice income, £51,911,000 (2021-£50,036,000); with a deficit fromreserves of £5,100,000 (2021 -£11,400,000). In recent years, inview of the lack of growth incongregational income and thenecessary curtailment in the useof the Mission and RenewalReserve, no allowances weremade within the budget forinflation and Forums andDepartments were required tofund any increased costs fromwithin their budgets. An amounthas been included as acontingency in the 2022 Budget tocover potential cost increasesand/or any restructuring costs. ByAutumn 2021 the Forums willpresent their proposed workprogrammes for 2022 to theTrustees. New work programmescan only be accommodated ifexisting work programmes areended or other savings made. Itwill be increasingly important forForums to include exit strategiesin any budget bids. The progressmade during 2020 in achieving the30% saving against 2019 costswill only be locked in bymaintaining budget discipline. TheFaith Action Plan and the newHead of Faith Action Programmepost will begin to inform spendingplans.2.7.8 Forums will continue to usetheir restricted funds to progresstheir work and the reorganisationof funds through OSCR is freeingup money which was previouslynot available to be spent. TheAssembly Trustees are bound tothe General Assembly to ensuregood governance and controlover all of the funds of theUnincorporated Entities, includingensuring that adequate levels ofunrestricted reserves are held.
2.8 Budgets of Forums,Committees and Departments2.8.1 The Social Care Council CrossReach has faced verychallenging operatingcircumstances during the Covid-19pandemic in both 2020 and 2021.Whilst all services have beenaffected the most significantimpact has been in Older People’sservices. At the time of writingCrossReach has estimated abudget deficit of £1,460,000 for2022. However, because of theuncertainties around recoveryfrom, and longer termimplications of the pandemic, it isnot yet possible to attach anydegree of certainty to this budgetestimate. The complexities of thesector in which it operates; localauthority funding cycles andNational Care Contracts as wellas potential changes in anelection year mean that May 2021is too early to firm up on abudget for 2022.The CrossReachManagement Team is committedto managing operational risks.The budget assumes that therewill be no fundamental changes tothe services provided and thatany increases to the ScottishLiving Wage or National MinimumWage will be cost neutral (fundedby National Care Contracts orservice users). Potential impactsof the Independent Review ofAdult Social Care may befactored into the 2022 budgetlater in the year. Other incomeand expenditure has beenbudgeted in line with 2021, andthe budget anticipates thatCovid-19 will be managed withinnormal operating proceduresrather than being the cause ofsevere disruption because ofoutbreaks. However new Covid-19variants could pose a further risk.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Separately, there has been a lackof investment in propertymaintenance over 2020 and 2021which could result in remedialworks.Finally, the budget does not allowfor contribution to the RedressScheme or liability in respect ofany historical abuse cases, neitherof which can yet be quantified.Early in 2021, the PensionTrustees advised that the closedCrossReach defined benefitpension scheme was fully fundedand that deficit repaircontributions could cease inFebruary 2021. The annual costfor 2022 would have been£620,000 and this recurring savinghas been very warmly welcomedby both CrossReach and theAssembly Trustees.2.8.2 Faith Nurture Forum The Faith Nurture Forum budget,which incorporates the formerMinistries Council and Mission andDiscipleship Council budgets, hasan indicative deficit budget at thispoint of £3,200,000 to be fundedfrom its reserves. This assumesthat the reduced level ofcongregational contributions isallocated to the Parish MinistriesFund and the deficit thereforearises on other Forum costs.Other Forum costs include thecost of recruiting, training andsupporting ministries and theeldership; PartnershipDevelopment and Priority Areas.The Forum is also responsible fortwo trading entities Life and Workmagazine and the ScottishStorytelling Centre.The budget assumes the transferof the Ecumenical RelationsCommittee and Theological Forumbudgets to the Office of theGeneral Assembly in 2022.
As noted in 2.4.1, the budget forParish Ministry costs is difficult toforecast. This is perhaps more soduring the pandemic when therate of retirals has not followedmore recent patterns. Ministersare under no obligation to adviseof their plans for retirement.It is anticipated that the numberof Presbyteries will reduce to 9by the start of 2023. CurrentPresbytery plans will be drawn toa close at the end of May 2021and new plans to fit the newstructure of the Church willrequire to be in place byDecember 2022.2022 will therefore see atransition period to the new plansand the Church will be workingwith existing numbers until then.The budget assumes thatnumbers of ministers retiring willincrease again towards the end of2021; contributing to a reductionin parish minister numbers of 15,to 680.It is then assumed that moreministers will retire in 2022coinciding with the newPresbytery plans beingestablished and the widening ofparish boundaries etc., that willcome with that change. Thebudget assumes a net decrease inparish ministry numbers by 35 in2022, to 645.By way of illustration, otherbudget scenarios have beenconsidered. If the status quo wasmaintained in terms of Ministersjoining equalling those leaving orretiring, the impact on the budgetwould be a cost of £1,400,000. Ifthe rate of reduction of ministerswas the same as forecast for2021, the additional cost impactwould be £280,000. All scenariosinclude 120 FTE MDS.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................At present there are more than120 Ministries Development Staffon the Presbytery plans howeverthe number of MDS was capped at120 until Dec 2020. Currently onlyessential recruitment is takingplace but the 2022 Budgetassumes 120 FTE staff. The workbeing done on the PresbyteryMission Plan Act provides for theallocation of ministries to berevisited and reported on,annually, to the GeneralAssembly, and that will allow forfuture adjustments to the MDSestablishment.None of these costings include astipend or salary increase in 2022.However any increase agreed byseparate processes during 2021would be covered by thecontingency in the overall budget.2.8.3 Faith Impact ForumFaith Impact Forum incorporatesthe former World Mission Counciland former Church and SocietyCouncil.The Forum’s indicative budgetshows a deficit of £444,000. As inthe case of the Faith NurtureForum’s other work, nocongregational contributions havebeen allocated to the Faith ImpactForum in 2022. This is because thecontributions from Congregationsin 2022 are once again at a ratewhich does not cover all costs.The Forum has substantial funds,immediately available both forgeneral and restricted purposes.A block grant of £85,000 is paidannually by the Church toChristian Aid, and this is includedin the Faith Impact Forum’sbudget. The Trustees gratefullyacknowledge the substantialfinancial support provided byCongregations directly toChristian Aid.
The indicative budget shown onAppendix I does not include thework of the Israeli entities whichare not part of the Co-ordinatedbudget process. However theresults of all of these entities areincluded each year in the Church’sconsolidated (“Group”) AnnualAccounts.Detailed 2022 budgets for thetrading subsidiaries in Israel willbe prepared later in 2021. TheGuesthouse in Jerusalem plans tore-open on 2 May following itsrefurbishment and Covid-19closure. The Scots Hotel re-opened on 25 March. The cashposition of the hotel remainspositive and both operations havebookings for 2021.The Forum, through the residualWorld Mission Council as theemploying agency, employs 10mission partners and providesgrant funding to support itsprogramme of attentiveaccompaniment of partnerchurches and organisationsoverseas. The move towards zerobased budgeting has meant areduction in budgeted expenditureby the Forum to £2,200,000 in2022 compared to £3,000,000budgeted for 2020.2.8.4 Office of the GeneralAssemblyThis budget, under the auspicesof the Principal Clerk, includesthe Clerk and office staff; thecost of the General Assembly andthe running costs of theAssembly Hall and theModerator’s flat at RothesayTerrace. Certain costs ofCommittees without Funds suchas the grant to the Church ofScotland Trust are also includedwithin the budget.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................The budget assumes a return toan in person General Assembly in2022.The budgets of the TheologicalForum and Ecumenical RelationsCommittee will also move to thisbudget if approved by theAssembly.The Ecumenical RelationsCommittee has an annual budgetof £193,000. The includessubscriptions to the EcumenicalBodies – the World Council ofChurches (WCC), World Council ofReformed Churches (WCRC) andChurches Together in Britain andIreland (CTBI).The Theological Forum budget is£28,000.2.8.5 Support and ServicesCommittees and DepartmentsThese Committees andDepartments have been listed inAppendix II. They have noreserves and as such need to befunded mainly by congregationalcontributions. The Departmentsprovide services to the national,local and regional Church as wellas to the Church’s otherStatutory Corporations – theGeneral Trustees, the Church ofScotland Investors Trust and TheChurch of Scotland Trust. Theyalso carry out work on behalf ofthe Pension Trustees. Charges aremade to these bodies as well asto the Housing and Loan Fund andNew College. Cross charges arerarely made to Congregations, butwhen they do occur they aremainly for property-relatedtransactions. The central supportand service functions do notcross charge the Forums andCommittees for their servicesother than limited charges forlegal and safeguarding services
provided to CrossReach as notedbelow.The Social Care Council is largelyautonomous in terms of centralservices and charges the costs ofits Central Services costs againstthe service units. There is alsosome cross-working betweenSocial Care and departmentswithin the National Office, such asEstates, Law and Safeguarding.Budgets for the servicedepartments are largely based on2021 budgets, with vacanciesincluded where there will be areplacement. Individual budgetsto do not include cost of livingincreases in 2022 but increasesfor CSC staff working in servicedepartments and the Forumswould be covered by thecontingency in the budget.Key features of the servicedepartment budgets are:2.8.5.1 National OfficeThe 2020 budget included£400,000 for essential repairs onthe George Street property, mostof which could not be carried outdue to Covid-19 restrictions. Aprogramme to maintain the fabricof the building and ensure thesafety of staff and visitors hasbeen agreed in consultation withthe General Trustees and£100,000 is included in the 2022budget for this work.2.8.5.2 Information Technologyand CommunicationsThe budget includes £200,000 ofexpenditure on IT infrastructureprojects in line with the ITstrategy being developed by theIT Programme Board. This willinclude improving our means ofcommunication by moving toglobal use of Church e-mailaddresses and development of
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................the intranet as a platform forresources.2.8.5.3 Office of the AssemblyTrusteesThe budget has been increased toinclude the staff of the former GoFor It Fund and the budget for theSmall Projects Fund of £100,000.The salary of the newlyappointed Head of Faith ActionProgramme is also included here.The department now carries outresearch and analysis functionsincluding high level modelling ofthe Church’s resources to allowfor future planning. The budgetfor the Trustees’ Equality,Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Groupwill be managed by the Office ofAssembly Trustees supported bystaff within the Faith ImpactForum.2.8.5.4 Stewardship and FinanceDepartmentFollowing the departure ofseveral staff during 2020,including three at a senior level,the department has beenrestructured and savings made onsalary cost. Whilst there has beenan increase in running costs ofthe new HR and Payroll systemthe implementation of newmodules for expenses willultimately result in furtherbusiness efficiencies.2.9 Other FundsThe budget shown on Appendix IIdoes not include the Housing andLoan Fund, the Guild and NewCollege which are not part of theCo-ordinated Budget process.2.10 2021 BudgetsThe 2021 budgets approved bythe Trustees are contained in themain report in the Blue Book(Section 39) along with a summaryof the operating results of the
3. SYSTEMS OF INTERNALCONTROLRole of Audit Committee3.1 The Trustees areresponsible for maintainingadequate systems of internalcontrol. The Audit Committee’sremit includes responsibility forreviewing the systems of internalcontrol and for oversight of theInternal Audit function. Thisfunction is delivered by Azets(formerly Scott-Moncrieff) as theappointed Internal Auditorsalongside the work of theChurch’s own Audit andCompliance Officer. Azetsproduce an annual programme ofwork based on an assessment ofaudit risk which seeks to ensurethat all the main areas of activityare periodically reviewed. Auditreports are submitted at the endof each assignment and an annualaudit report is made to the AuditCommittee expressing an opinionon the systems of internalcontrol in place in theUnincorporated Councils andCommittees.3.2 Azets conducted a numberof reviews in 2020 covering thefollowing areas:• Cyber Security at CrossReach• Tendering and Contract
Maintenance at CrossReach• Payroll System, National Office• Risk Management, National
Office3.3 Azets reported to theAudit Committee that, in theiropinion, the Church of Scotlandhas a framework of controls inplace that provides adequate
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................assurance regarding theorganisation’s governanceframework, risk management andachievement of objectives,subject to implementation of:• ongoing actions in response to
and to embed actions from theSpecial Commission report onStructural Change, tostrengthen governancearrangements, increaseaccountability and createclearer delegations ofresponsibility across theorganisation; and
• a range of continuousimprovement actions,addressing the higher-gradedmatters arising from internalaudit reviews. This also appliesto historic/backlog actionimplementation.
4. NEW TRUSTEES4.1 The non-renewable termsof office of three of the originaltrustees, Beth Ashcroft, AlanCampbell and Norma Rolls,conclude at Assembly 2021.Following the process stipulatedin our Constitution and Remit weconsulted with the NominationCommittee, considered therequired skillsets, and issued anopen advertisement whichresulted in a healthy response.After interview we decided toappoint David Cameron, BarryHughes and Peter McEnhill. Davidis Minister of New Laigh,Kilmarnock and brings both parishministry experience and anunderstanding of the challengesfacing the National Church. Barryis Minister at St Mark's, Stirlingand brings to the Trustees anunderstanding of Priority Areaministry. Peter is Clerk for thenew Clyde Presbytery and brings
a valuable connection toPresbytery Reform.4.2 With three Ministers takingthe place of three congregationmembers we are for the timebeing at the maximum number ofMinisters under our Constitution.We were also disappointed at thesmall number of womenapplicants having, currently, beenat a 50/50 balance. We wouldenjoin Commissioners and othersto speak to possible applicantsfrom as diverse backgrounds aspossible, with a view to early2022 when we will advertise for afurther three new colleagues.4.3 We were very pleasedwhen Ann Nelson, who wasappointed for the remainder ofthe term of George Cowie, and sobeing able to serve a secondterm, expressed her interest indoing so. We were delighted toapprove this.
5. CONGREGATIONALSTATISTICS 20205.1 Summary• As at December 2020, there
were 297,435 members of theChurch of Scotland, a fall of5% from 2019, and 33% from2010.
• These figures are a reflectionof the Church of Scotland in2020, a year marked by theCovid-19 pandemic. Gatheringfor worship services wasprohibited for much of theyear.
• Additional questions wereasked to reflect the changes inworship provision, includingavailability of online, oralternative offline worshipprovision.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................• 84% of congregations had
offered online worship; 67%had offered alternative offlineworship and 82% had re-opened for public worshipwhen able to do so. Almost95,000 households areestimated to have worshippedonline, and 17,000 made use ofalternative offline provisions.
• 26% of congregations havepeople of BAME ethnicityrepresented, 7% have peopleof BAME ethnicity in leadership.
• Acknowledge the diligence andstrenuous efforts of Clerks toobtain these statistics andtransmit them to the NationalOffices at times of greatdifficulty.
• Nil return from Presbytery ofLewis and Presbytery ofInternational Charges.
5.2 IntroductionThroughout 2020 the closure ofchurch buildings, on advice fromthe Scottish and UK governmentsin response to the Covid-19pandemic impacted on all areas ofchurch life, including Professionsof Faith, ordination of new Elders,Baptisms, Weddings andAttendance. Once church buildingswere able to reopen, there was acap on the total numbers ofattendees throughout Scotland of50. In addition, social distancingwithin church building requiredrestricting numbers even furtherfor some congregations. Not allchurches who did reopen wereable to do so immediately uponrestrictions being lifted.With this in mind, the 2020congregational statistics shouldbe read and interpreted in light ofthe impact of the pandemic andcare should be taken in anycomparisons to previous years.Information on the number ofthose physically attendingworship and congregationalactivities have not been reportedin this year’s statistics as many ofthese activities changedthroughout the year due to theimpact of restrictions in responseto the pandemic.
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5.3 Congregational Statistics 2020Church-level membership and participation, 2020Congregations within the Church of Scotland come in all shapes andsizes, from large city congregations to small rural or islandcommunities. Table 1 shows the reported participation at the smallest5% and 25% of churches, the median (i.e. middle) church, the largest25% and 5% of churches (i.e. 75th and 95th percentile), and the mean(average) church. A few large congregations can result in a largermean value that may not represent the overall data well – a “typical”church may be better described by the median value.
Table 1: Church participation summary, 2020The “typical”, i.e. median, congregation in 2020 has just over 180members (181), and 10 adherents. In the median congregation thereare also:• no professions of faith in 2020.• 7 children associated with the congregation, but none receiving
communion.• 9 funerals, no baptisms, and no weddings.• The congregation is led by 15 elders.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Over 90% of congregations welcomed no new members throughProfession of Faith, only 6% welcoming any new members in this way.24% of congregations welcomed new members through certificates,and 18% through resolution of the Kirk Session. Children receivedCommunion in 20% of congregations.Persons and Agencies in Scotland for 2020(cf Appendix II of the Reports of the Council of Assembly, 2019)The membership statistics may be stated thus:
Removals by Death 9,833Less Admissions by
Profession190 9,643
Removals byCertificate
1,110Less Admissions by
Certificate679 431
Other Removals 5,466Less Restoration 769 4,697
Total decrease 14,771And shown graphically in Figure 1, below.
Figure 1 Leavers and Joiners in 2020
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Comparative GraphsDue to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic with the closure of churchbuildings during 2020 care should be taken in making comparisons toprevious years, as can be seen in some of the graphs below.Membership
Professions of Faith
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Baptisms
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Table 2: Presbytery reporting
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Table 3: Presbytery membership figures
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Table 4: Presbytery baptisms, weddings, funerals figuresChurch of Scotland congregations conducted 4.2% of weddingscelebrated in Scotland in 2020, and 25.0% of funerals. They baptisedor gave thanks for 1.0% of births (excluding adult baptisms).
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Table 5: Presbytery leadership figuresThere are 25,828 elders in the Church of Scotland of whom 43.1% aremale and 56.9% female, 8.7% of the membership.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Public Worship in 2020Due to the Covid-19 pandemic church buildings were closed, on advicefrom the Scottish and UK governments, for many months during 2020.The 2020 Congregational Statistics highlight that many of thecongregations who were able to reopen once restrictions had eased,did so at different times, with numbers who were able to attend beingimpacted by the size and layout of their building to allow for socialdistancing and the maximum allowable number dependant on localrestrictions once a new tier system was introduced throughoutScotland. Due to the significant differences across congregations, aninitial analysis has demonstrated that it is not helpful to report thesefigures at a presbytery or wider church level in 2020.Additional questions were added to the 2020 Congregational Statisticsto obtain a broader and more realistic picture of worship throughoutthe church in 2020. These are given in Table 6. No responses wereobtained from the Presbyteries of Lanark, Lewis or the Presbytery ofInternational Charges.84% of congregations offered online worship, with 67% makingalternative offline provisions such as phone-in services or worshipsheets. 95,000 households were estimated to have watched onlineworship, and 17,000 to have engaged in the alternative resources.These figures are made up of best estimates from congregations - itis impossible to judge how many people watch on a single device, orwho re-watch a service. They are offered as indicative of the onlineengagement with the congregations of the Church of Scotland.Additional information provided alongside the additional questionsshowed that some local radio stations also broadcast Church ofScotland services to those in the local area.82% of congregations had re-opened their church building for publicworship in 2020 when able to do so.An ecumenical report, “Adapt and be Flexible - the Mission Doesn’tStop!” The Scottish Church and the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedthat 96% of churches in their sample were able to offer onlineworship.[2]The value reported here (84%) is rather less, perhaps due tothe larger numbers of congregations completing these congregationalstatistics details, or other denominations being able to offer moreonline material.The same report, at p17, also noted that 75% of churches in Scotlandhad re-opened for some form of public worship. The figure reportedhere, 82%, is likely to be higher due to congregations owning theirown buildings in contrast with some other denominations, and perhapswhere online provision has not been able to be made.
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Table 6: Presbytery public worship figures
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Congregational Statistical Returns – Young People(cf Appendix III of the Reports of the Council of Assembly, 2019)Work with children and young people was greatly affected by theCovid-19 pandemic. The figures presented here need to be consideredwith this in mind and data quality may not be as high as in otheryears.Reports from the Presbyteries showed that as at 31 December 2020:1. The number of children and young people aged 17 years and
under who are involved in the life of the congregation is 33,153;2. The number of people aged 18 years and over, whose names are
not on the Communion Roll, but who are involved in the life ofthe congregations is 12,737 and
3. The number of children who receive Holy Communion in terms ofAct V, 2000, Section 15 is 2,107.
Table 8: Young People and Adherents
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Congregational Statistical Returns – DiversityGA2020 tasked the Faith Impact Forum with investigating theexperiences of people who are of Black, Asian or Minority Ethnicity(BAME)[3]within the Church of Scotland. As part of that work,congregations were asked to report the percentage of theirattenders, and of their leadership, who were of such ethnicity. Theinability to meet for public worship in much of 2020 made thisquestion less easy to answer, but we are grateful to Clerks for theirbest estimates at this time.The following table shows, of those who replied, the percentage ofcongregations in each Presbytery who reported any people of BAME intheir congregations or in their leadership. No responses were obtainedfrom the Presbyteries of Lanark and Lewis nor the InternationalPresbytery.• 26% of Church of Scotland congregations had BAME attenders• Only 7% of Church of Scotland congregations had BAME leaders• A third of presbyteries had no BAME leaders at all.
Table 9: Ethnic diversity In the name of the TrusteesJOHN CHALMERS, Convener
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References[1] Elders figures are calculated
from all congregations. Dueto a large number of unionsand nil returns, the 5%percentile reads 0 elders.
[2] “Adapt and be Flexible - theMission Doesn’t Stop!” TheScottish Church and theCOVID-19 Pandemic. BrendanResearch, 2020. p11.www.brendanresearch.com/projects/sclf-acts-covid19Last accessed 12 April, 2021.
[3.] Whilst the congregationalsurvey uses the BAMEterminology, in light ofrecent work undertaken andgrowing understanding theterm ‘Ethnic Minorities’ willbe used in the future.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................MinutesIndex1. Minute of Ministries Appeal Panel 29 October 2020 .....................1082. Minute of Ministries Appeal Panel 16 December 2020 .................109
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Minute 1MINUTE OF MINISTRIES APPEALPANEL 29 OCTOBER 2020On the twenty ninth day ofOctober 2020 the MinistriesAppeal Panel met via MicrosoftTeams and was duly constitutedwith prayer.Sederunt:
Mr Robin Stimpson(Convener), Rev Catherine Collins, Mr Andrew Gibb, Mrs Isabell Montgomerie
The Appellant was accompanied.For the Faith Nurture Forum: RevAnn Inglis, Presbytery Assessorand Ms Kay Cathcart, Educationand Training SecretaryIn attendance: Rev Dr George JWhyte, Principal Clerk and MsChristine Paterson, Depute ClerkIntroductions were made and theConvener explained the purposeof the hearing.The Ministries Appeal Panel tookup consideration of an Appeal interms of the Selection andTraining for Full-Time Ministry Act(Act X 2004), sections 21 and 22,against a decision of the InterimProbationary Review Panel on 4February 2020 to terminate theAppellant’s candidature for full-time ministry of word andsacrament.Parties were heard.Questions were asked.Parties made closing statements.It was agreed that the Panel’sdecision would be intimated tothe parties by email.The Grace was said.Parties withdrew.
Following deliberation theMinistries Appeal Panel resolvedunanimously to uphold the appealand quash the decision of theInterim Probationary Review Panelto terminate the Appellant’scandidature. The Panel directsthat a further InterimProbationary Review should beheld and that new decision-makers should carry out thisReview on behalf of both thePresbytery and the Faith NurtureForum.The Panel took the view thatthere were irregularities ofprocess in that (i) the Appellanthad been given insufficient time(five days) to consider reportswhich had been provided to himprior to the Review, and (ii)evidence produced by theAppellant at the Review had been“laid on the floor” and notconsidered in detail during theReview, which meant that therehad been no opportunity todiscuss it with the Appellant.These irregularities of processmay also constitute a breach ofthe principles of natural justice.The Panel did not find it provedthat there was any bias on thepart of the Interim ProbationaryReview Panel. The Panel did nottake a decision on whether or notthe decision had been influencedby any incorrect material fact.The hearing was closed.
ROBIN STIMPSON, Convener GEORGE J WHYTE, Clerk
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Minute 2MINUTE OF MINISTRIES APPEALPANEL 16 DECEMBER 2020On the sixteenth day ofDecember 2020 the MinistriesAppeal Panel met via MicrosoftTeams and was duly constitutedwith prayer.Sederunt:
Mr Robin Stimpson(Convener), Mr Andrew Gibb, Rev Leslie Milton, Mrs Isabell Montgomerie
For the Faith Nurture Forum: RevAlastair Duncan, AdmissionsConference Director, and Rev DrLezley Stewart, Recruitment andSupport SecretaryIn attendance: Rev Dr George JWhyte, Principal Clerk and MsChristine Paterson, Depute ClerkIntroductions were made and theConvener explained the purposeof the hearing.The Ministries Appeal Panel tookup consideration of an Appeal interms of the Admission and Re-Admission of Ministers Act (Act IX2002) against a decision of theAdmissions Conference on 6October 2020 not to accept theAppellant as an AdmissionsCandidate for Ministry in theChurch of Scotland.Parties were heard.Questions were asked.Parties made closing statements.It was agreed that the Panel’sdecision would be intimated tothe parties by email.Parties withdrew.Following deliberation theMinistries Appeal Panel resolved
unanimously to dismiss the appealand to uphold the decision of theAdmissions Conference not toaccept the Appellant as anAdmissions Candidate for Ministryin the Church of Scotland.The Ministries Appeal Panel didnot identify any incorrectmaterial fact which influenced thedecision, nor did the MinistriesAppeal Panel identify anyirregularities in the process orbreach of the principles of naturaljustice which affected thedecision reached.The Grace was said.The hearing was closed.
ROBIN STIMPSON, Convener GEORGE J WHYTE, Clerk
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Standing OrdersPlease also see the amendments for the online General Assemblywhich are proposed to these Standing Orders by the Assembly BusinessCommittee, which are to be moved on the first day of the Assembly,a print of which follows at the end at page 117.I. Commissions .............................................................................................. 111
II. Conduct of Business ................................................................................ 112
III. Members not Commissioners ................................................................ 115
IV. Committee Reports and Overtures .................................................... 118
V. Conduct of Cases .................................................................................... 120
VI. Order of Debate ..................................................................................... 125
VII. Committees and their Membership ................................................... 130
VIII. Alteration and Suspension ................................................................. 138
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Standing OrdersI. COMMISSIONS
1. Roll of Presbytery. EachPresbytery Clerk shall, by 15December of each year, transmitto the Clerks of Assembly thenumber of charges, appointmentsand deacons specified in sections2 and 4 of Act III 2000 (asamended) – all as at 30 Novemberimmediately preceding.2. PresbyterialRepresentation. The Clerks ofAssembly will thereafter intimateto Presbyteries what will be theirrepresentation in the ensuingAssembly. Any queries shall besettled by the Assembly BusinessCommittee at the request of theClerks. The decision of theAssembly Business Committeeshall be subject to review by theAssembly on Petition by thePresbytery concerned.3. Question Arising. Shouldthere arise between the month ofDecember and the opening of theAssembly any question regardingrepresentation not provided for inthese Orders, the AssemblyBusiness Committee shall havepower to dispose thereof.4. Transmission of names anddetails of Commissioners. Thenames, in alphabetical order, fullpostal addresses, emailaddresses, charges and types ofcommission (ie minister, deacon orelder) of Commissioners fromPresbyteries, shall be transmittedby Presbytery Clerks to theClerks of Assembly not later than31 January in each year so far asthey have been elected by thattime. In transmitting the names ofCommissioners to the Clerks ofAssembly, the Clerk of each
Presbytery is certifying that tothe best of his or her knowledgethe Elders named therein arebona fide ruling Elders and arecommissioned by the Presbytery.5. Committee onCommissions. The Committee onCommissions shall consist of theClerks and the Convener of theAssembly Business Committee;the Principal Clerk shall beConvener. The Committee shallprepare and circulate a list ofCommissioners for submission tothe Assembly. Along with the saidlist a copy of the Standing Ordersof the General Assembly shall bemade available to each member.The Clerks shall arrange toforward to each Commissioner, atleast one week before theopening day of the Assembly, anelectronic copy (unless a hardcopy has been previouslyrequested) of the volume ofReports and ProposedDeliverances and a copy of allAssembly Papers then available.6. Objections. During thesittings of the Assembly, theCommittee on Commissions shall,if called upon, or if it shall appearto it necessary or expedient so todo, hear any person whoseCommission is objected to insupport of his or her Commission,and also any person or personswho may object to suchCommission, and the Committeeon Commissions shall have powerto settle any such matters.7. Late Commissions. It shallbe competent at any time prior tothe opening of the Assembly tolodge with the Clerks ofAssembly Commissions whichhave not previously beentransmitted to them; and the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Committee on Commissions shallsettle any queries as to whetheror not such Commissions arevalid. Once the Assembly hasopened and the Roll ofCommissioners has been laid onthe table, no further Commissionsmay be received.8. Number not currentlyused.
II. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS(a) OPENING SESSION9. Convening. TheCommissioners elected to servein the Assembly shall convene onthe day and at the hour fixed forthe meeting of the Assembly,and, after prayer by theModerator of the precedingAssembly, the List ofCommissioners shall be laid onthe table.10. Election of Moderator. Theelection of a Moderator shall thenbe made.11. Her Majesty’s Commission.Her Majesty’s Commission to theLord High Commissioner shall thenbe read and ordered to berecorded.12. Her Majesty’s Letter. HerMajesty’s Letter to the Assemblyshall then be read and aCommittee shall be appointed toprepare an answer thereto.13. Standing Orders. TheStanding Orders shall be laid onthe table.14. Committee onCommissions. The Report of theCommittee on Commissions (SO 5)shall be called for and disposedof.15. Order of Business. TheAssembly shall appoint a
Procedure Committee, theConvener and Vice-Convenerthereof normally to be theConvener and Vice-Convenerrespectively of the AssemblyBusiness Committee. TheAssembly Business Committeeshall prepare and submit at theopening session an Order ofBusiness for the first two days.(b) PROCEDURE COMMITTEE16. The Procedure Committeeshall consist of the Convener andVice-Convener, plus theModerator, the Clerks, theProcurator and the Law Agent.17. First Meeting. TheProcedure Committee shall meeton the opening day of theAssembly as intimated andthereafter as business mayrequire. At its first meeting itshall consider the Draft Order ofBusiness which shall have beenprepared by the AssemblyBusiness Committee for thebusiness of the Assemblysubsequent to the first two days,and shall be wholly responsibletherefor.18. Selection Committee.Commissioners to the GeneralAssembly shall be free tonominate other commissioners toserve on the SelectionCommittee. The names of thoseproposed shall be brought beforethe first meeting of theProcedure Committee which, inturn and without being limited tothose names proposed bycommissioners who are notamong its members, shallnominate a Selection Committeeof twenty commissioners,including a Convener and Vice-Convener, whose function it shallbe to select and submit to the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Assembly for their approvalnames of persons to serve on allSpecial Commissions andCommittees appointed during thesittings of the Assembly. Suchpersons need not becommissioners.19. Communications. All lettersaddressed to the Moderator forthe purpose of beingcommunicated to the Assemblyshall, in the first instance, be laidbefore the Procedure Committee,which shall advise the Moderatoras to their disposal.20. Paper through Boxes.Requests for permission todistribute material throughMembers’ boxes should besubmitted to the AssemblyBusiness Committee before thecommencement of the Assembly,and requests received thereaftershall be submitted to theProcedure Committee. Any otherCommittee concerned should beinformed and supplied withcopies, if available, of thematerial to be distributed.(c) DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES21. The Lord’s Supper. TheAssembly shall celebrate theSacrament of the Lord’s Supperat a time appointed by theGeneral Assembly at its openingsession.22. Acts of Worship. TheModerator shall be responsible tothe Assembly for the conduct ofall acts of worship, and shallconsult the Assembly BusinessCommittee or the ProcedureCommittee anent any proposedinnovation in such conduct.(d) MISCELLANEOUS23. Minutes. The minutes ofeach day’s proceedings, if
available, together with theAgenda for the following day ordays, intimations of meetings ofCommittees, and Notices ofMotion, shall be circulated as the“Assembly Papers”, and shall bemade available for all members.The Minutes, being taken as readand full opportunity having beengiven for correction, shall beapproved as available. It shallalways be in order at the close ofany particular item of business tomove that the Minute thereanentbe adjusted and approved. Beforethe dissolution of the Assembly asmall Committee, appointed forthe purpose, shall be authorisedto approve the Minutes notalready approved by theAssembly.24. Quorum. The quorum ofthe Assembly shall be thirty-one,of whom not less than sixteenshall be Ministers. Any Membermay at any time call theattention of the Moderator to thefact that there is not a quorumpresent, and if, on a count beingmade, it is found that such is thecase, it shall be the duty of theModerator to suspend or adjournthe session.25. Tellers. The AssemblyBusiness Committee shall submitfor the approval of the Assemblyat their first session a proposedPanel of Tellers. (See SO 105.)26. Acts of Assembly. TheCommittee on Commissions (SO 5)shall arrange for the text of theActs of Assembly to be finalisedand shall include in the AssemblyPapers of the penultimate day anInterim Report thereon, whichshall be considered on the lastday of the Assembly.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................27. Examination of Records.Minutes of the StandingCommittees of the Assemblyshall be examined by the LegalQuestions Committee. TheCommittee shall reportthereanent to the GeneralAssembly.28. Returns to Overtures.(a) A Committee on Overtures
and Cases, consisting of theClerks, Procurator and LawAgent of the Church (withthe Principal Clerk asConvener) shall advise anyCommittee or individual onthe procedure to be followedin respect of measuresrequiring process under theBarrier Act.
(b) For the avoidance of doubt,measures other than Acts ofAssembly may be referredfor the consideration ofPresbyteries, in which casethey shall be presented tothe General Assembly in theform of an Overture set outas an Act.
(c) For the avoidance of doubt, itis open to the GeneralAssembly to decline toconsider any motion of whichit believes inadequate noticehas been given, consideringthe nature of its content.
(d) Measures remitted toPresbyteries by an Overtureunder the Barrier Act shallbe accompanied by a note ofthe voting figures in theGeneral Assembly, the textof the relevant Report and anote by the Clerks explainingany technical or legalmatters contained in theOverture.
(e) All Presbyteries shall make areturn in respect of everyOverture sent down underthe Barrier Act. The returnshall be made upon theschedule sent electronicallyto the Presbytery Clerk forthe purpose, transmitted tothe Clerks of Assembly, andthen submitted to theCommittee on Overtures andCases. The Committee shallclassify the returns andmake a report to the nextAssembly. It shall be theduty of the Committee toreport not only the numberof Presbyteries for andagainst an Overture, but alsothe numbers voting in thePresbyteries as reported inthe schedule.
(f) The Report of the Committeeshall include the text of suchOvertures as have beenapproved by a majority ofPresbyteries.
(g) The Assembly BusinessCommittee shall ensure thatthe Committee’s Reportclassifying returns is takenby the General Assembly nolater than session 2 thereof,and in any case before anydebate that in the opinion ofthe Committee on Overturesand Cases would moreusefully follow considerationof the Committee’s Report.
(h) The Report of the Committeeshall be given in to theAssembly by the PrincipalClerk, with the reply to thedebate on the merits of themeasure given by therelevant Convener. Bothshould be available to answerquestions, as appropriate.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................29. Special Commissions andCommittees.Special Commissions orCommittees will only beappointed where the GeneralAssembly has no existingStanding Committee to which thematter under consideration can, inall the circumstances, properly beremitted. In normalcircumstances, business proposedby Councils or Committees of theGeneral Assembly or proposed byCommissioners in the course ofdebate shall be remitted to oneor more of the appropriateStanding Committees listed in SO113. When, from time to time, aStanding Committee requires toco-opt relevant expertise in orderto fulfil the work remitted to itby the General Assembly, itshould acknowledge the same inits Report to the GeneralAssembly.30. Closing of Assembly.When the business set down forthe last day of the Assembly hasbeen disposed of, the Assemblyshall be closed by addresses bythe Moderator to the Assemblyand to the Lord HighCommissioner, and by an addressby the Lord High Commissioner tothe Assembly, during an act ofworship, and dissolved accordingto the practice of the Church.
III. MEMBERS NOTCOMMISSIONERS(a) MEMBERS ex officiis31. These are the Moderator ofthe Assembly, on election, andthe immediately precedingModerator, the Clerks, Procurator,and Law Agent, and also theConvener and Vice-Convener ofthe Procedure Committee upontheir election.
They have all the rights andprivileges of Commissioners.(b) CORRESPONDING MEMBERS,DELEGATES AND VISITORS –DEFINITION32. Corresponding Members.Representatives of Departmentsand Standing Committees asstated in SO 33.Delegates from other Churches.Representatives of otherChurches who come in responseto an invitation from the PrincipalClerk sent at the request of theFaith Impact Forum or from theCommittee on EcumenicalRelations to their Church to senda delegate or delegates to theGeneral Assembly and who areduly accredited by the Courts orequivalent authority of theirChurches.Visitors. Visitors from otherChurches who come with a Letterof Introduction from Assembly orPresbytery Clerks or equivalentofficer of their Church.33. Corresponding Members1. (a) Each of the following
bodies shall have theright to appoint for eachday of the GeneralAssembly, one memberor staff-member to actas a CorrespondingMember: Faith NurtureForum, Faith ImpactForum, Social CareCouncil, EcumenicalRelations Committee,General Trustees,Church of ScotlandGuild, Trustees of theHousing and Loan Fund,the Legal QuestionsCommittee, the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Nomination Committee,SafeguardingCommittee, Stewardshipand Finance Department,the Church of ScotlandPension Trustees andthe Theological Forum.
(b) Each such body willadvise the AssemblyBusiness Committee notless than one weekbefore thecommencement of theGeneral Assembly of thename of theCorresponding Memberappointed for each day.The names ofCorresponding Membersappointed under thisStanding Order shall beincluded in the AssemblyPapers.
2. The Chief Officer, the Headof Faith Action, the Heads ofthe Faith Nurture Forum andFaith Impact Forum, theSecretary of the Social CareCouncil, the EcumenicalOfficer, the Editor of Life andWork, the General Treasurer,the Head of HumanResources, the Convener ofthe Nomination Committee,the Scottish Churches’Parliamentary Officer andthe Head of Communicationsshall be CorrespondingMembers when notCommissioners.
3. The Assembly Trustees,(including the Chair of theGeneral Trustees as anAssembly Trustee ex officio),being the Charity Trustees ofthe Unincorporated Councilsand Committees of theGeneral Assembly, shall also
be Corresponding Memberswhen not Commissioners.
34. Status. CorrespondingMembers of Assembly shall beentitled to attend all sessions ofthe same and to speak on anymatter before the Assemblyaffecting the interests of theirCouncil or Committee, whereapplicable, but shall not have theright to vote or make a motion.(c) YOUTH REPRESENTATIVES35. Status(i) One person between the
ages of eighteen and twenty-five on the opening day ofthe General Assembly shall,if possible, be appointed byeach Presbytery to serve asa Youth Representative; eachRepresentative shall beinvolved in the life of acongregation within thebounds of the Presbyteryand be regularly involved inthe life and worship of theChurch of Scotland. Theminister of the congregationshall provide confirmation ofthis involvement if asked bythe Faith Nurture Forum.
(ii) A further ten personsbetween the ages ofeighteen and twenty-five onthe opening day of theGeneral Assembly shall beappointed as YouthRepresentatives to eachAssembly, suchRepresentatives to beselected by the Faith NurtureForum in terms of a processprescribed by that Forum andthe names passed to theClerks of Assembly by 31March each year.
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be entitled to speak andmove motions but not tovote:during debates on Committeereportsduring debates on Overtures
(iv) Youth Representatives shallnot be entitled to speak,move motions or vote:during debates on Petitionsor casesduring debates on mattersaffecting General Assemblyprocedure or Standing Orders
(v) Youth Representatives shallnot be members of theCommission of Assembly.Oversight
(vi) The Faith Nurture Forum shalltake responsibility for YouthRepresentatives and shallextend to them appropriatehospitality.
(d) DELEGATES AND VISITORS36. Reception. Delegates fromother Churches shall be receivedand welcomed by the Moderator.The Assembly BusinessCommittee is authorised, afterconsultation with the Faith ImpactForum and the EcumenicalRelations Committee, torecommend to the Moderator toinvite two specified delegates toconvey greetings briefly after allthe delegates have been receivedand welcomed by the Moderator.
37. Status.(i) Delegates to the Assembly
shall have the right to attendall sessions and to speak onall matters before theAssembly, except when theAssembly are exercisingjudicial functions, but shallnot have the right to vote.
(ii) Visitors shall have theprivilege of seats in theAssembly but without theright to speak or vote. As inthe case of Delegates, theofficials of the Faith ImpactForum, the EcumenicalRelations Committee, orother relevant Council orCommittee shall extendappropriate hospitality toVisitors.
38. Oversight. The officials ofthe Faith Impact Forum, theEcumenical Relations Committee,and other Councils or Committeeswhich may be interested inDelegates, shall see thatInvitations to Assembly functionsare procured for the Delegates,and that the Members ofAssembly shall do everything intheir power to make the visits ofall the Delegates pleasant andprofitable.(e) NON-MEMBERS39. Guest Speakers. Whereany Committee wishes that oneof its members or staff members,not being a Member of Assembly,should have an opportunity ofaddressing the Assembly inconnection with the discussion ofits Report, the Convener shallseek the permission of theModerator; for the avoidance ofdoubt, such permission may besought during a debate. Whereany Committee wishes that a
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................person, not being a Member ofAssembly or member or staffmember of that Committee,should address the Assembly, theConvener shall submit the nameof such person for approval tothe Assembly BusinessCommittee before the Assemblyopens, or to the ProcedureCommittee during the sittings ofthe Assembly, and the decision ofthe Assembly BusinessCommittee or ProcedureCommittee shall be final, unlessthe Assembly themselves shallresolve in terms of SO 129 hereofto dispense with the observanceof Standing Orders in respect ofthat particular matter.40. Conference Sessions. TheAssembly Business Committee, orthe Procedure Committee, inconsultation with other Councilsand Committees as appropriatemay invite the General Assemblyto meet in conference sessionsand arrange for guest speakers toaddress such sessions. Councilsand Committees shall also be freeto invite guests, whom theyconsider to have a particularinterest in the matter underdiscussion, to participate in thedebate. When the GeneralAssembly is meeting inconference no resolutions shall beframed or decisions taken. Expertspeakers invited to address theconference shall be allowed amaximum time of fifteen minutes.All other speeches shall belimited to five minutes.
IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS ANDOVERTURES(a) REPORTS41. Transmission. Reports ofall Committees reporting to theAssembly shall be transmitted to
the Clerks of Assembly not laterthan the first Monday after thethird Tuesday in February eachyear provided that, byarrangement with the Clerk ofAssembly, a Statement andProposed Deliverance on theBudget of the Church, report onCongregational Statistics asreported by Kirk Sessions throughPresbyteries and report onStatistics of Ministry may besubmitted at a later date, but intime to be included and circulatedwith the Reports. All Reportsshall be accompanied by theDeliverance to be proposed tothe Assembly, and when theProposed Deliverance exceedstwo sections each section shall benumbered consecutively.42. Circulation of Reports andProposed Deliverances. It shall bethe duty of the Clerks to arrangefor all such Reports and ProposedDeliverances to be circulated inthe authorised form to eachMember of Assembly at least oneweek before the day of meeting.All Reports so distributed shall beheld as read. Each Committeeshall immediately after the risingof the Assembly furnish thepublisher of the Reports with thenumber required for circulation.43. Oral Reports and Reportsof Sub-Committees. Oral Reportsshall not be received, and no Sub-Committee shall give any Reportto the Assembly.44. In Retentis. Reports shallnot be engrossed in the Minutes,but a copy of each Reportcertified by one of the Clerks asbeing that given to the Assembly,shall be kept in retentis; and theReports thus collected shall bepreserved among the otherRecords of the Assembly.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................45. Questions on Reports.After the Deliverance on theReport of any Committee hasbeen moved and seconded theAssembly, before dealing withany other motions oramendments thereon, shall haveopportunity for asking questionson the Report, this being withoutprejudice to the right of Membersto put questions, with the leaveof the Assembly, at anysubsequent stage.46. Questions requiring Notice.It shall be in order to askquestions of the Convenerregarding any matter in the careof the Committee to which noreference is made in the Reportbut in such cases timeous noticeshall be given to the Convener.47. Deliverance. The finalDeliverance of the Assemblyupon the Report of anyCommittee shall followimmediately after theconsideration of that Report,except in the event of a specialreason for the contrary havingbeen approved by the Assemblyand recorded in the Minutes.48. Late Reports. Reports ofCommittees appointed during thesittings of Assembly, if theypropose any motion not alreadycirculated to Members, shall besubmitted to the Clerks ofAssembly at least one day priorto their being considered, andincluded in the “AssemblyPapers”.(b) OVERTURES49. Transmissions. AllOvertures from Presbyteriespassed on or before 24 April shallbe sent to the Clerks ofAssembly not later than that datein each year. Overtures from
Commissioners shall be lodgedwith the Clerks not later thannoon on the third last day of themeeting of the Assembly, unlessthe Assembly for special reasondecide otherwise.50. Circulation of Overtures.The Clerks shall arrange for thecirculation of Overtures toCommissioners, at the expense (ifany) of those promoting them,either with the papers for Casesor in the “Assembly Papers”.51. Form. Overtures shouldcontain a brief statement of thematter to be brought before theAssembly together with aProposed Deliverance, of whichthe first section shall be “TheGeneral Assembly receive theOverture”.52. When Taken. Overturesrelating to matters under thecare of the Committees of theChurch whose reports are on theAgenda for one of the first twodays of the Assembly shall beassigned by the AssemblyBusiness Committee (unless theCommittee on Overtures andCases decides not to transmit) tothe place in the discussion atwhich they shall be introduced tothe Assembly. In other cases thisshall be done by the ProcedureCommittee. When the ProposedDeliverance of an Overture iscapable of being treated as acounter-motion or amendment tothe Proposed Deliverance of aCommittee, or as a new sectionof such Proposed Deliverance, itshall be so treated.53. Grouping. Overtures on thesame or cognate subjects shall begrouped by the AssemblyBusiness Committee or ProcedureCommittee of the Assembly and
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................only one speaker shall be heardintroducing each group.54. Introduction. An Overturefrom a Presbytery may beintroduced by any member ofthat Presbytery, speciallyappointed for the purpose, at thebar; or by any one of itsCommissioners to the Assemblyin his or her place as aCommissioner.(c) GENERAL55. Matters Relating toStipend. It shall not be competentfor the Assembly, without duenotice of motion in the hands ofCommissioners in proper form(for example as a ProposedDeliverance, Notice of Motion orCrave of a Petition), to debateany proposal which might impactdirectly on or which might bringabout binding changes to theterms and conditions of ministerswhich relate to stipend or stipendscales.56. Proposals with BudgetaryImplications. Prior to making anyproposal, Commissioners shouldgive due consideration as towhether this will incur the use ofadditional resources or affect theincoming resources for theChurch’s work, ie whether theproposal has budgetaryimplications. Advice on anyproposal can be sought from theGeneral Treasurer. A proposalwith budgetary implications mustbe in the hands of Commissionersin proper form (for example, as aProposed Deliverance, Notice ofMotion, or Crave of a Petition).Specifically, to ensure sensiblebudget controls:
(a) Any proposal which involvesnew or additionalexpenditure whether of aone-off or recurring nature,must be accompanied by astatement specifying wherefunding will be found,whether by a reduction ofexisting costs; fundingexternal to the Church or byan increase in the totalamount to be met bycongregations.
(b) Any proposal which results ina potential reduction inincome, including a reductionin the total to be met bycongregations, must beaccompanied by a statementof where replacementfunding will be found orexpenditure reduced tocompensate for thereduction in the income.
The Assembly Trustees shallhave the right to comment uponany proposal in category (a) or (b)before any decision is taken.57. Declaratory or Interim Act.The draft of any proposedDeclaratory or Interim Act, asalso the draft of any Overturewhich it is proposed to transmitto Presbyteries in terms of theBarrier Act (other than anyOverture circulated in the volumeof Reports), shall be circulated toMembers and laid on the table ofthe Assembly at least one daybefore a Motion for the passing ofsuch Declaratory or Interim Act,or for the transmission of suchOverture to Presbyteries, is madein the Assembly.
V. CONDUCT OF CASES58. Commission of Assembly.The rules of procedure for theAppeals Committee of the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Commission of Assembly shall beas set out in Schedule 2 to theAppeals Act (Act I 2014). StandingOrders 59 – 61 apply where amatter is being brought beforethe Commission of Assembly interms of those powers of theCommission of Assembly notbeing exercised by the AppealsCommittee, or before the GeneralAssembly, being a petition, areference or an appeal on amatter of doctrine. In StandingOrders 59 - 61 references to theGeneral Assembly shall be takento refer where appropriate to theCommission of Assembly and allreferences shall be so construedmutatis mutandis.(a) LODGING OF PAPERS59. Appeal; Dissent andComplaint; Petition. The papers inall cases intended to be broughtbefore the Assembly, whetherAppeals or Dissents andComplaints against the judgementof inferior courts, or Petitions,should be lodged with the Clerksof Assembly not later than 24April, and must be lodged not lessthan fourteen days before theopening session of Assembly;except in the case of judgementspronounced within sixteen days ofthe meeting of Assembly, inwhich case they shall be lodgedwithin forty-eight hours of thejudgement being pronounced.60.(a). Reference. In the case of
Reference of a matter froman inferior court for thejudgement of the Assemblythe same limits as to timefor lodging of papers in thecase shall apply as in SO 59.
(b). Reference of MatterPreviously Considered.Where the matter of aReference has previouslybeen under consideration ofthe Assembly, the Referenceshall state the date when thematter was previouslybefore the Assembly andshall narrate the Assembly’sDeliverance thereon.
61. Answers. It shall becompetent for all parties claimingan interest in the subject matterof an Appeal, Dissent andComplaint or Petition to lodgeAnswers thereto complying withthe requirements of this SO 61.Answers may be lodged any timeafter the Appeal, Dissent andComplaint or Petition is receivedby the Clerks, but not later thanseven days before the openingmeeting of Assembly. Answersshall be in the form of articulatenumbered Answers to thenarrative contained in the Appeal,Dissent and Complaint or Petition,indicating in particular matters offact that are admitted and denied,and shall set forth a concisestatement of the Respondent’scase, together with a cravespecifying the action theAssembly are invited to takethereanent.(b) PROVISION OF PAPERS62. Circulation. It shall be theduty of the Clerks on receivingpapers that are to come beforethe Assembly in connection withcases to arrange to have thesecirculated to Members inauthorised form.63. In Private. Papers relatingto business dealt with byPresbyteries in private, or whichthe Committee on Overtures and
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Cases (SOs 70 - 71) considershould be taken in private, shallbe circulated separately and maybe dealt with by the Assembly inprivate.64. Cost of Circulation ofPapers. In cases of disciplinebrought before the Assembly bythe Judicial Commission, byReference from a Presbytery, orby complaint by a minority of theCourt, the expense of circulation(if any) shall be borne by theAssembly Business Committee; inother circumstances by theComplainer or Appellant. In allother cases the expenses ofcirculating papers (if any)for theuse of Commissioners shall beborne by the party havinginterest in the same or desiring aDeliverance from the Assembly.65. In Retentis. A copy ofevery circulated paper shall bekept by the Clerks of Assemblyto be retained among the Recordsof Assembly.(c) CIRCULATION OF PAPERS66. Date of Dispatch. A copyof all papers transmitted to theClerks of Assembly not later than24 April shall be forwarded bythem to each Member ofAssembly at least one weekbefore the opening day of theAssembly.67. In Private. The Clerks ofAssembly shall not issue inadvance to Members the papersin cases which they think requireto be conducted in private, untilspecially instructed by theAssembly so to do; but shallreport such cases to theConvener of the ProcedureCommittee, for the information ofthat Committee, immediatelyafter its appointment.
(d) INTIMATION TO PARTIES68. Appeal; Dissent andComplaint. In all cases comingbefore the Assembly by Appealor Dissent and Complaint it shallbe the duty of the Clerks ofAssembly to inform the partieson both sides as soon as possibleof the time at which such case islikely to be taken by theAssembly. Such intimation shall,unless in a specific case theAssembly determine otherwise,be regarded as sufficient notice.The Clerks shall further be bound,on application made to them forthe purpose, to supply a copy ofall papers circulated in pursuanceof the foregoing Orders to theopposite party or parties in anycase, or to his or her or their dulyaccredited Agents.69. Petition. In every Petition itshall be the duty of the Petitionerto make such intimation of thePetition as may be necessaryhaving regard to the nature ofthe Petition. Such intimation shallbe made not more than sevendays later than the time when thePetition is lodged with the Clerksof Assembly as provided in SO 59above; and along with the Petitionthere shall be lodged a certificatesigned by the Petitioner or his orher Agent setting forth thenames of the parties to whomsuch intimation has been made oris to be made. The Assembly mayrefuse to dispose of any Petitionif in their opinion sufficientintimation thereof has not beenmade.(e) TRANSMISSION TOASSEMBLY70. Committee on Overturesand Cases. All papers lodged withthe Clerks in cases of every sort
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................in terms of the foregoing Ordersshall be laid by them before theCommittee on Overtures andCases, which shall consider thesame and report to the Assembly.71. Decision not to Transmit. Ifthe Committee on Overtures andCases shall decide not to transmitto the Assembly any papers incases duly lodged with the Clerksof Assembly it shall report thesame to the Assembly at theirfirst Session, or at the Sessionnext after such decision, with itsreasons for not transmitting thepapers, and parties shall beentitled to be heard thereon atthe bar of the Assembly.Intimation of a decision not totransmit papers shall be made tothe parties concerned as soon aspossible, and in time to allow oftheir being represented at the barwhen the decision not to transmitis reported to the Assembly.72. In Private. The ProcedureCommittee shall, in its firstReport, specify any case which inits judgement requires to beconducted in private, and anycase which does not appear to itto be of that character althoughthe Clerks of Assembly may havereported it as such. The Assemblyshall thereupon determine by aspecial Deliverance, at what stagein the proceedings the papers insuch a case shall be issued to theCommissioners. In every casewhich the Assembly appoint to beconducted in private theinstruction to issue the papersshall be accompanied by a specialexhortation to the Commissionersto keep them private.73. Proposed Legislation. AllOvertures from Presbyteries orfrom Commissioners whichpropose the introduction of new
or the amendment of existingActs (or Regulations) shall containthe precise terms of thelegislation which they propose;and the Committee on Overturesand Cases shall not transmit tothe Assembly any Overture whichis deficient in this respect,provided always that the Clerksand Procurator shall be availableto assist with the framing of suchproposals(f) HEARING OF CASES74. Announcement. Beforeparties are heard in anycontentious case the Clerk shallread the following announcement,viz – “The Commissioners arereminded that justice requiresthat all the pleadings at the barshould be heard by all those whovote in this case, and that theirjudgement should be made solelyon the basis of the pleadings.”Immediately before a vote istaken in such a case, the Clerkshall read the following furtherannouncement, viz – “TheCommissioners are reminded thatonly those who have heard all thepleadings at the bar are entitledto vote in this case.”75. Appeal; Complaint; OneAppellant. In cases broughtbefore the Assembly by Appeal,where there is only one appellant(or one set of appellantsconcurring in the same reasons ofAppeal) and only one respondent(or one set of respondentsconcurring in the same answers tothe reasons of Appeal) the casefor the appellant (or set ofappellants) shall be stated by himor herself or by his or hercounsel, who at the same timeshall submit such argument uponthe case as he or she shall thinkfit. The party or counsel so
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................stating the Appeal shall befollowed by the respondent or hisor her counsel who likewise shallsubmit such arguments upon thecase as he or she shall think fit.At the close of the statement forthe respondent the appellantshall be entitled to be againheard, and the respondent shallalso be entitled to be heard inanswer to the second speech forthe appellant and if, in his or herfinal answer, the respondent shallstate any fact or submit anyargument not adverted to in hisor her answer to the openingstatement for the appellant, theappellant shall be entitled to areply upon the new matterintroduced in the final answer forthe respondent. With theexception of this right of reply,so limited, more than twospeeches shall not be allowed toany party at the bar.76. Appeal; Complaint; Morethan one Appellant. In such casesas those referred to in SO 75 ifthere is more than one appellant(or set of appellants) insisting onthe Appeal, or more than onerespondent (or set ofrespondents) supporting thejudgement appealed against, (a)on different grounds, or (b) inseparate reasons or answers,each appellant shall be entitled toopen and state his or herseparate case, and eachrespondent shall be entitled tomake his or her separate answer,and the debate shall be closedwith a reply for the severalappellants; provided always thatit shall be competent to theparties, with consent of theAssembly to make anyarrangement for conducting thedebate other than hereinprescribed, if it shall have the
effect of limiting, further than isherein done, the number ofspeeches to be made from thebar.77. Appeal; Complaint; Whomay appear. Any Member of aninferior court whose judgement isbrought under review of theAssembly may appear at the barin support of the judgement; but,when Commissioners have beenspecially appointed by the inferiorcourt to support its judgement,the Assembly shall not hear anyMember of such court other thanthe Commissioners so appointed,unless any Member not soappointed but wishing to be heardcan show a separate and peculiarinterest to support thejudgement; and in all such cases itshall be competent to theAssembly to limit the number ofMembers of an inferior court whoshall be heard in support of thejudgement under review.78. Dissents and Complaints. InSOs 75 to 77, “Appeal” includes“Dissents and Complaints” and“Appellant” includes“Complainer”.79. Petition. In cases broughtbefore the Assembly as the courtof first instance by Petition, theparty promoting the applicationshall be entitled to be heard insupport of the same; and theAssembly shall also hear ananswer from any party at the barclaiming to be heard whom it shallconsider to be a properrespondent, and the debate atthe bar shall be closed with areply from the person promotingthe application.80. Reference. In casesbrought before the Assembly byreference from a Presbytery the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................reference shall be stated to theAssembly by a Member of thereferring court, speciallyappointed for the purpose, at thebar if not a Commissioner, or inhis or her place as aCommissioner if a Commissionerfrom the Presbytery. TheAssembly shall thereafter hearthe parties in the case referred insuch order as the nature of thecase may seem to require,keeping in view the regulations inSOs 74 to 79.81. Readjustment Cases. Incases arising from Act VII, 2003,when a request for determinationfollows a decision of thePartnership DevelopmentCommittee not to concur in thejudgement of a Presbytery, theConvener, or other member ofthe said Committee, shall beheard at the bar if not aCommissioner, or in his or herplace as a Commissioner if aCommissioner, immediately afterthe request for determination hasbeen stated. After the initialstatement and the response bythe said Committee whenapplicable, the General Assemblyshall hear at the bar such partiesin the case as are notrepresented by Commissioners, insuch order as the nature of thecase may seem to require.
VI. ORDER OF DEBATE(a) ORDER OF THE DAY82. When the Assembly haveresolved that a case or otherpiece of business shall be takenup at a certain hour mentioned inthe Order of Business, such caseor other piece of business shallbe taken not later than the hourfixed and the business before theAssembly, if not finished at the
hour named, shall be adjourned,provided that, in the case of anOrder of the Day following theReport of the Faith Impact Forum,such unfinished business shall notbe taken up. If, in the opinion ofthe Moderator, it would be inaccordance with the generalconvenience of the Assembly, theModerator may allow thetransaction of the business thenactually under discussion tocontinue for a period of not morethan fifteen minutes beyond thespecified time, but no freshbusiness shall be commenced.(b) MOTIONS83. TIME-BOUNDOn the motion of the ProcedureCommittee or moved as part ofthe deliverance of the AssemblyBusiness Committee, the GeneralAssembly may resolve that theReport and draft Deliverancerelating to a particular Council orCommittee’s Report be taken in atime-bound process of debate anddecision. Such a motion shall bemoved at least 24 hours inadvance of the presentation ofthe Report concerned.Having so resolved the GeneralAssembly shall operate thefollowing timetable:-(a) Start times shall be allotted
to specified Sections of theReport and to the relatedsections of the draftDeliverance. Discussion ofany Section of the Reportshall not commence laterthan its allotted start time,but may begin earlier ifdebate of the previousSection has been completed.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................(b) If discussion and debate of a
particular Section of theReport has not beenconcluded within its allottedtime, then furtherconsideration of associatedsections of the draftDeliverance shall be sistedand the General Assemblyshall take up the nextSection of the Report.
(c) If, at the close of the debateon the last Section of theReport, there is still timebefore the Order of the Dayrequires to be implementedor business is due toconclude, then the GeneralAssembly shall return forfurther debate of anyoutstanding sections of thedraft Deliverance remainingrelative to each Section ofthe Report.
(d) If the Order of the Day oranticipated close of businessis imminent, then anyoutstanding sections of thedraft Deliverance shall bevoted upon without debate,except that other motionscirculated in the Daily Papersshall also be taken, withoutdebate, the Convener simplyhaving the right to indicatewhether or not the Council orCommittee is willing toaccept the motion.
(e) Where motions appearing inthe Daily Papers do notrelate directly to the Reportand draft Deliveranceproposed by the Council orCommittee, they will betaken either at the end ofthe appropriate Section, ifthere is time availableaccording to the allottedtimetable, or at the end ofthe appropriate Section whenthe procedure leading to theOrder of the Day (or close ofbusiness) is beingimplemented.
84. Right to Move. AnyCommissioner to the Assemblymay make a motion upon anymatter coming regularly beforethe Assembly; and on rising to doso he or she shall read the termsof the motion having previouslyhanded the same in writing on theform provided to the AssemblyOffice or other point of collectionintimated to the GeneralAssembly. It shall be in order tomove a motion regarding anymatter in the care of aCommittee to which no referenceis made in the Report of thatCommittee, provided thatreasonable notice has been givenin writing to the Convener beforepresentation of the Report. Themover of any counter-motion oramendment may reply to thediscussion of his or her motion,immediately before the Convenercloses the debate.85. Withdrawal. When a motionhas been duly seconded it shallnot be competent to withdraw it,or to make any alteration upon it,without the permission of theAssembly.86. Priority of Deliveranceover other motion. The
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Deliverance on the Report of aCommittee shall take precedenceof any other motion on thatsubject.87. Committee Convener. TheConvener of a Committee when aCommissioner, on giving in theReport of that Committee, shallmove the Deliverance proposed interms of SO 41. A Convener,when not a Commissioner, shallbe allowed to submit the Reportof the Committee, and to giveexplanations in the subsequentdiscussion. In such a case thePrincipal Clerk, whom failing, theDepute Clerk, shall formallymove the Deliverance. In all casesthe Convener shall have the rightof replying to the debate.88. Introducer of Overture.The Introducer of an Overture, ifa Commissioner, shall move theDeliverance; and if he or she isnot a Commissioner the PrincipalClerk, whom failing the DeputeClerk, shall formally move theDeliverance. The Introducer,whether a Commissioner or not,may answer questions or giveexplanations in the course of thedebate and, if a Commissioner,may reply to, the discussionimmediately before the relevantConvener closes the debate.89. Notice of Motion.Commissioners are encouraged togive advance Notice of motions.Any Commissioner may, duringthe sittings of the Assembly, giveadvance notice of Motion on anysubject due to come regularlybefore the Assembly, other thana contentious case. Notices ofMotion so given in shall, ifreceived in time to do so, beincluded in the “AssemblyPapers” not later than the day onwhich the business is to be taken.
Such circulated Notice of Motionshall confer no right of priority ofmoving same, the Moderatorbeing the sole judge of the orderin which Members are entitled toaddress the Assembly.(c) THE DEBATE90. The Chair. Every speakershall address the Assemblythrough the Moderator, and thecorrect address is “Moderator”.91. In Support. When a motionor motions have been made andseconded, any Member (includinga formal seconder in terms of SO95) may take part in subsequentdebate.92. Speeches. (1) Except asprovided in SOs 84 and 87, noMember may speak twice on thesame question except inexplanation, and then only byspecial permission of theAssembly. (2) Members shallmake relevant declarations ofinterest where the topic ofdebate makes it appropriate to doso.93. Point of Order. AnyMember may rise to speak to aPoint of Order. A speaker is notto be interrupted unless upon acall to order. When so interruptedhe or she shall cease speaking,and shall resume his or her seatuntil the Point of Order is decided.The Member calling to order shallstate the grounds for so doing;and the speaker who has beeninterrupted may briefly reply inexplanation, to show that he orshe is not out of order, but noother Member may speak to thePoint of Order unless with thepermission or at the request ofthe Moderator, with whom thedecision of the point rests, though
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................the Moderator may put the pointto a vote of the Assembly.94. There shall be no right ofreply to a debate except asprovided for by SOs 84 and 87.95. Limits. All speeches shallbe limited to 5 minutes, with thefollowing exceptions:(i) COMMITTEES Convener giving
in the Report of his or herCommittee and movingthereon (seconding to beformal) 15 minutesConvener responding to aquestion 4 minutes
(ii) OVERTURES Introducing anOverture and when theIntroducer is a Commissioner,moving thereon 10 minutesMover of other Motions inrelation to Overture(seconding to be formal) 10minutes
(iii) PETITIONS Speeches ofPetitioners 10 minutes
96. No Time Limit. The timelimits shall apply, except in thefollowing cases:(a) when the Assembly are
debating specific proposalsfor change under Barrier Actprocedure;
(b) when the Assembly areexercising judicial functions;
(c) in Petitions when, for specialreasons, the Committee onOvertures and Cases reportsthat the circumstancesdemand an extension, andwhen the General Assemblyadopt that opinion;
(d) in any other matter when theAssembly BusinessCommittee (in respect of theOrder of Business for thefirst two days) or theProcedure Committee (inrespect of the Order ofBusiness for the subsequentdays) declares that, in itsopinion, such matter is ofexceptional importance, andwhen the Assembly adoptthat opinion.
(d) DEALING WITH MOTIONS97. Character of Motions.Motions shall be considered asbelonging to one of the followingcategories, and shall be dealt withas prescribed, viz:1. The original Motion.2. Counter-Motions – being
Motions contradictory ornegative of the originalMotion or of a substantialpart of the original Motion.
3. Amendments being Motionsnot substantiallycontradictory of the originalMotion or Counter-Motion,but for making deletions,alterations, or additionsthereto without defeating itsmain object.
4. Amendments of amendmentsalready moved and seconded.
98. Moderator to Judge. TheModerator shall be judge of thecategory to which any Motionsshall be considered to belong, andthe ruling of the Moderator shallbe final.99. Grouping of Amendments.When to any ProposedDeliverance there has been givennotice of amendments whichdiffer from each other only
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................slightly in their general tenor, theModerator shall decide whether ornot to permit more than one ofsuch amendments to be moved.100. Voting on Amendments.When an amendment (Category 3)has been proposed it shall bedisposed of by the Assemblybefore any other counter-motionor amendment is proposed.However, it shall be in order foran amendment of an amendment(Category 4) to be proposed,seconded and debated, afterwhich the Moderator shall take avote “For” or “Against”. When allsuch Category 4 motions havebeen so disposed of, theAssembly shall complete itsconsideration of the originalamendment (Category 3) and theModerator shall take a vote “For”or “Against” the originalamendment amended orunamended as the case may be.For the avoidance of doubt, it isaffirmed that the order of debatefor Category 3 and Category 4motions shall be the same exceptas herein provided and that theprovisions of SO 87 shall apply toboth.101. Voting on Motions. Afterall amendments, if any, have beendisposed of, the Moderator shalltake a vote between all Motionsin Categories (l) and (2), and indoing so shall adopt the followingprocedure. A vote shall be takenin one of the methods providedbelow, between all the Motions inthe order in which they weremade, beginning at the first. EachCommissioner may vote for oneMotion only. If, on the numbersbeing announced, one Motion hasobtained a clear majority ofvotes, all the other Motions shallfall; but if no Motion has obtained
a clear majority, the Motionhaving the smallest number ofvotes shall be struck off and avote taken between theremaining Motions; and theAssembly may determine.102. Voting for Appointments.In the case of voting forappointments to vacant offices inthe Church, where there are morethan two nominations theAssembly shall vote separatelyon all the names proposed, and,unless there be a majority infavour of one over all the otherscombined, the one having thelowest number shall be dropped,and the Assembly shall againvote on those that remain.103. Deliberative Vote. TheModerator or Acting Moderator inthe Chair shall have noDeliberative Vote.104. Casting Vote. If in anydivision there shall be an equalityof votes for two proposals beforethe Assembly, the Moderatorshall have power to give adeciding vote; and if in the courseof the voting as provided in SOs100 and 101 above, there shouldbe an equality of votes for thetwo Motions having fewest votes,the Moderator shall have powerto give a deciding vote and theMotion for which the Moderatorshall vote shall be retained forthe purpose of the next vote ofthe Assembly.(e) TAKING THE VOTE105. The Moderator may, in anycircumstances and at his or hersole discretion, ascertain the mindof the Assembly by asking theCommissioners to stand in theirplaces, and shall intimate to theAssembly on which side there isin his or her opinion a majority.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Unless the opinion of theModerator so intimated is at oncechallenged, it shall become thedecision of the Assembly. If anyCommissioner challenges theopinion of the Moderator, theAssembly shall proceed to takean electronic vote using a systemapproved by the AssemblyBusiness Committee.Alternatively, it shall be open tothe Moderator, again at his or hersole discretion and in anycircumstances, to ascertain themind of the Assembly byrecourse to the use of electronicvoting. After all votes have beencounted the Moderator shallintimate the result of the votingwhich will become the decision ofthe Assembly. In nocircumstances shall a second votebe taken on a matter which hasalready been the subject of avote by electronic voting. TheProcedure Committee shall ensurethat Commissioners are familiarwith the method of electronicvoting and will appoint tellers toassist Commissioners, wherenecessary, with the process ofcasting votes and to assist theAssembly with the process ofvoting by paper ballot which shallbe a competent alternative to thetaking of a vote by electronicmeans in the event of a failure inthe electronic voting system.(f) DISSENTS106. Entering. AnyCommissioner dissatisfied with ajudgement of the Assembly,which has not been unanimous,has the right to enter his or herdissent against it; but no dissentcan be given in until the matterto which it refers has, for thatsession, been disposed of, theMinute adjusted, and the
Assembly is ready to proceed toother business.107. Adhering. When a dissenthas been entered, it is in orderfor any other Commissionerpresent when that judgement waspronounced to adhere to suchdissent. No other’s adherencemay be entered.108. Reasons. A persondissenting may do so with orwithout giving in reasons ofdissent. If he or she dissent forreasons given in at the time, or tobe afterwards given in, suchreasons shall, if received by theAssembly as proper and relevant,and provided they are given inbefore the close of the nextsession (or, when made on thelast day of the Assembly, beforethe close of the same session), berecorded in the Minutes.109. Answers. If the Assemblyappoint a Committee to prepareanswers to reasons of dissent,the Report of the Committeeshall, except on the last day ofthe Assembly, be in the“Assembly Papers”; and, asapproved by the Assembly, shallbe included in the Minutes, if thereasons of dissent have been socirculated.110. Record of Dissents.Reasons of dissent and answersthereto when not entered in theMinutes, shall be kept in aseparate Record of Dissents.
VII. COMMITTEES AND THEIRMEMBERSHIP(a) COMMITTEES111. Committees. TheCommittees of the GeneralAssembly shall be those listed inSO 113 together with such ad hocCommittees as the General
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Assembly may appoint from timeto time. Clerical services for thead hoc Committees shall normallybe provided by the staff of thePrincipal Clerk’s Department.112. Quorum. Save for theJudicial Proceedings Panel andthose bodies where provision isalready made for a quorum, thequorum of Standing Committeesof the General Assembly listed inSO 113 shall be three. When ameeting ceases to be quorate,business must be suspended. Thequorum shall apply also to sub-committees and other bodiesconstituted from the relevantStanding Committees where suchsub-committees and other bodieshave decision-making powers, butnot otherwise.113. Membership. The StandingCommittees of the GeneralAssembly shall have membershipas follows, General Assemblyappointments being made on thenomination of the NominationCommittee except whereotherwise stated.1. Assembly BusinessCommittee..................................
16/17Convener, Vice-Convener, 2members of the LegalQuestions Committee(Convener and anothermember involved more injudicial matters to benominated by the LegalQuestions Committee), afurther 6 members made upof ministers and elders withexperience of the GeneralAssembly, with the followingmembers ex officio: theModerator and the ModeratorDesignate, the PrincipalClerk, the Depute Clerk, the
Solicitor, the Procurator andthe General Treasurer. TheConvener and Vice-Convenerare also to serve asConvener and Vice-Convenerrespectively of theProcedure Committee.
2. AssemblyTrustees....................... 1412 trustees appointed inaccordance with theConstitution and Remitapproved at the GeneralAssembly of 2019 (fromwhich shall be drawn theConvener, Vice-Convener,and Administrative Trustee),plus 2 ex officio members:the Convener of theAssembly BusinessCommittee and the Chair ofthe General Trustees.
3. Audit Committee………...……......…6Convener, who shall not bean Assembly Trustee, threevoting members appointedby the General Assemblythrough the NominationCommittee, all of whom shallbe independent of theUnincorporated Entities andat least one of whom shallhave recent and relevantfinancial experience, and twoadditional voting members beappointed by the AssemblyTrustees. The quorum shallbe three voting members, atleast one of whom is aTrustee member. The ChiefOfficer and the GeneralTreasurer shall attendwithout a right to vote ormake a motion. In addition,other officials, as required bythe Committee, may be inattendance from time totime without a right to vote
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................or make a motion.Representatives of theExternal and InternalAuditors, shall be entitled toattend all meetings butwithout a right to vote ormake a motion.
4. Church of Scotland InvestorsTrustTrustees are appointed asrequired, by the GeneralAssembly on the nominationof the Trust.
5. Church of Scotland TrustTrustees are appointed asrequired, by the GeneralAssembly on the nominationof the Trust.
6. Committee on Chaplains toHM Forces…..……..........................………18Convener, Vice-Convener and16 members appointed bythe General Assembly. Thereare also 2 non-votingmembers: one representativefrom and appointed by eachof the Faith Nurture and FaithImpact Forums.
7. Delegation of the GeneralAssembly……..............................……4The Clerks of Assembly, thePrincipal Clerk as Chairman,the Procurator and theSolicitor of the Church, exofficiis.
8. Ecumenical RelationsCommittee.............................10plus representatives, co-optees and correspondingmembersa) 8 members appointed by
the General Assemblyone to be attached, forthe purposes of
ecumenicalaccompaniment, to eachof the Faith NurtureForum, the Faith ImpactForum, the Social CareCouncil, and theTheological Forum.
b) Convener who will actas a personal supportfor the EcumenicalOfficer (EO) and Vice-Convener, appointed bythe General Assembly.
c) A representative of theRoman Catholic Churchin Scotland appointed bythe Bishops’ Conferenceand 1 representativefrom each of 3 churchesdrawn from among themember churches ofACTS and the BaptistUnion of Scotland, eachto serve for a period of4 years.
d) The Committee shall co-opt Church of Scotlandmembers elected to thecentral bodies ofChurches Together inBritain and Ireland(CTBI), the Conferenceof European Churches(CEC), the World Councilof Churches (WCC), theWorld Communion ofReformed Churches(WCRC) and theCommunity ofProtestant Churches inEurope (CPCE, formerlythe LeuenbergFellowship of Churches).
e) The General Secretaryof ACTS shall be invitedto attend as acorresponding member.
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................f) For the avoidance of
doubt, while only thosepersons appointed underparagraphs a) and b)above shall be entitledto vote, before any voteis taken the views ofmembers representingother churches shall beascertained. TheConvener shall beentitled to call ameeting of the votingmembers.
9. Faith Impact Forum………....………15Convener, Vice-Convener and13 members nominated bythe Nomination Committeeand appointed by the GeneralAssembly.
10. Faith Nurture Forum………...………15Convener, Vice-Convener and13 members nominated bythe Nomination Committeeand appointed by the GeneralAssembly.
11. General TrusteesTrustees are appointed asrequired, by the GeneralAssembly on the nominationof the Trust.
12. Iona CommunityBoard................20Convener and 5 membersappointed by the GeneralAssembly;6 members appointed by andfrom the Iona Community, 2changing each year;The Leader of the IonaCommunity;1 member appointed by andfrom the Presbytery ofArgyll.
In addition the Board willinvite 6 member churches ofChurches Together in Britainand Ireland (CTBI) to appointa representative member tothe Board, such membersbeing eligible to serve for amaximum period of 4 years.
13. Judicial Panel20 people being ministers,elders and deaconsnominated by the NominationCommittee and appointed bythe General Assembly. Allmembers of the JudicialPanel shall be qualified topractise as lawyers or shallbe experienced in the lawand practice of the Church.Notwithstanding SOs 114 and118, the members of theJudicial Panel shall initially beappointed for a term of fouryears, and shall be eligiblefor reappointment forfurther terms of four years.
14. Judicial Proceedings PanelA Panel of ministers, eldersand deacons appointed bythe General Assembly whoare suitably experienced inthe law and practice of theChurch and whose numbershall, in accordance with theDiscipline of Ministry Act(Act III, 2001), section 1(1)(e),be determined, from time totime, by the Legal QuestionsCommittee. NotwithstandingSOs 114 & 118, appointmentsshall be for three years withthe option of furtherconsecutive terms. Incalculating how many Panelmembers may be appointed,no account shall be taken ofany members whose currentterm has expired but whoare deemed to remain as
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................members of the Panel byoperation of the Discipline ofMinistry Act (Act III, 2001),section 1(1)(f).
15. Legal Questions Committee.…….16Convener, Vice-Convener and10 members appointed bythe General Assembly, theClerks of Assembly, theProcurator and the Solicitorof the Church.
16. Life and Work EditorialAdvisoryCommittee……............................….9Convener and 7 memberstogether with the PrincipalClerk as an ex officiomember. The membersshould represent a widerange of theological opinionand perspectives, with aninterest and particular giftsto offer the Committee, forexample journalism,magazine production, formercontributors. The Committeemay co-opt members withparticular gifts orinformation.
17. Ministries Appeal Panel……….....….5Convener, Vice-Convener and3 members appointed by theGeneral Assembly. At least 1member shall be legallyqualified, at least 1 shall be aminister and at least 1 shallbe an elder.
18. NominationCommittee............... 26Convener, Vice-Convener and24 members appointed bythe General Assembly.Notwithstanding SO 118, nomember of the Committee,having served a term of 4
years, shall be eligible for re-election until after a periodof 4 years, except forspecial cause shown. TheConvenership of theCommittee shall be for 3years.
19. Nomination of the ModeratorCommittee ………................…Up to 15Up to 8 ministers anddeacons and up to 7 eldersappointed by the GeneralAssembly, to create aCommittee which isrepresentative of thediversity of the wholeChurch. The Committee is tobe convened by theimmediate past-Moderator ofthe General Assembly, failingwhich by another formerModerator of the GeneralAssembly.
20. Personnel AppealGroup.................88 members appointed by theGeneral Assembly with theSolicitor of the Church asSecretary. Members shall notinclude any former or currentmembers of staff of any ofthe Church’s EmployingAgencies (including the SocialCare Council), nor anycurrent Council or Committeemember.
21. Registration of MinistriesCommittee.….............................…5Convener, Vice-Convener and3 members. 1 member isappointed by the LegalQuestions Committee, 1member by the Faith NurtureForum and 3 members by theGeneral Assembly. TheConvener and Vice-Convener
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................are appointed by the GeneralAssembly from the GeneralAssembly appointees. One orother of the Clerks to theGeneral Assembly and theSecretary to the FaithNurture Forum attend theCommittee ex officiis in anadvisory capacity but are notmembers. The Committee isclerked by a person from theFaith Nurture Forum who isnot a member of theCommittee.
22. Safeguarding AppealPanel…….….6A Panel of 6 personsappointed by the GeneralAssembly, being personswith Safeguarding and otherrelevant experience, andincluding at least twopersons who shall bequalified to practise aslawyers or who areexperienced in the law andpractice of the Church, andat least two ministers. Noneof the Panel shall be acurrent or former employeeof any of the EmployingAgencies or a currentmember of the SafeguardingCommittee.
23. SafeguardingCommittee….........11Convener, Vice-Convener and6 members appointed by theGeneral Assembly, 1representative (votingmember) from and appointedby each of the Faith NurtureForum, the Faith ImpactForum, the Social CareCouncil, the Solicitor of theChurch, the National Adviser(Head of Safeguarding) asSecretary to the Committee,the Chief Officer and up to 4
members co-opted by theCommittee for theirexpertise. For the avoidanceof doubt it is declared thatonly the following personswill be entitled to vote:Convener, Vice-Convener,the six Assembly appointedmembers and the threerepresentatives from each ofthe Faith Nurture Forum, theFaith Impact Forum and theSocial Care Council.
24. Social CareCouncil.......................12Convener, Vice-Convener and9 members appointed by theGeneral Assembly, with theChief Executive Officer ofCrossReach as a non-votingex officio member. At leastone member shall be aChurch of Scotland minister.
25. Theological Forum………...........….13Convener, Vice-Convener and11 members appointed bythe General Assembly, themembership being selectedto provide an appropriatebalance of (a) ministers ofWord and Sacrament, (b)members of academic stafffrom the Divinity Schools (orequivalent) of Institutions ofHigher Education in Scotland,(c) elders and (d) membersdrawn from the widermembership of the Churchchosen for their particularexpertise, experience orprovenance.
26. Trustees of the Housing andLoan Fund …………….....................Up to 11Up to 3 ministers and 1member appointed by theFaith Nurture Forum, who
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................having served a term of 4years shall be eligible for re-appointment for a second 4year term;Up to 4 appointed by theGeneral Assembly on thenomination of the Trustees,who having served a term of4 years shall be eligible forre-appointment for a second4 year term;Up to 3 appointed by theBaird Trust, for a term ofoffice determined by thatTrust.Any Trustee (other than oneappointed by the Baird Trust)may serve for up to afurther two four-year termsif elected also asChairperson or DeputeChairperson.
(b) MEMBERS114. Period of Service. AllMembers of each of the StandingCommittees shall retire afterserving for four years, save forthe Faith Nurture Forum and theFaith Impact Forum where theperiod is three years.115. Representatives. Bodiesentitled to appointrepresentatives shall bepermitted to make changes intheir representation for specialreasons in any year.116. Non-attendance. The nameof a Member shall be removedfrom any Standing or SpecialCommittee which has met threetimes or oftener between 1 Juneand 1 March unless he or she hasattended one-third of themeetings held within that period.Attendance at meetings of Sub-Committees shall for this purposebe reckoned as equivalent to
attendance at the meeting of theCommittee itself.117. Replacement. When aMinister, Elder, or Member of anyStanding or Special Committee isunable to accept theappointment, or where from anycause vacancies occur inCommittees during the year, thatCommittee, after consultationwith the Convener of theNomination Committee, mayappoint a Member to take theplace of the Member whoseretirement has caused thevacancy. All such appointments, iffor a longer period than one year,shall be reported for confirmationthrough the NominationCommittee to the GeneralAssembly.118. Re-election. A Memberretiring from a Council orCommittee by rotation, or havinghis or her name removed for non-attendance, shall not be eligiblefor re-election to that Council orCommittee until the expiry of oneyear thereafter, unless theAssembly are satisfied, on theReport of the NominationCommittee, on informationsubmitted to it by the Council orCommittee concerned, that thereare circumstances which make re-election desirable; but wheremore than one member is due toretire then not more than one-half of the retiring members beso re-elected. No Member shallnormally serve for more than twoconsecutive terms of office. (Ifpossible 20 per cent of theAssembly appointed members ofCouncils or Committees should beunder the age of 35 at the timeof their appointment). A Memberappointed in the room of onedeceased, resigned or removed,
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................or of one appointed as Conveneror Vice-Convener, shall serve forthe remainder of the period forwhich the person was appointedwhose place he or she takes, andon retiral shall be eligible for re-election if he or she has notserved for more than two years.A retiring Convener shall beeligible for re-election as anadditional member of the Councilor Committee concerned to servefor one year only immediatelyfollowing tenure of office asConvener.119. Eligibility. No person shallbe a Member of more than threeCouncils or Committees at thesame time. Appointments exofficio shall not be reckoned inthis number. This rule shall notapply to those for whom theNomination Committee isprepared to give special reasonto the Assembly for theirappointments to more than threeCommittees.The Nomination Committee shallnot nominate for Committees anyof its own number except inspecial circumstances which mustbe stated to the Assembly.120. Secretaries and Deputes. Itshall be the responsibility of theSecretary of each Council andCommittee to attend themeetings thereof, to provideinformation and advice asrequested, and to provide adepute for any meeting that he orshe cannot attend. Members ofstaff shall not have the right tovote at any meeting.121. Expenses. Expensesincurred by Members ofCommittee, consisting of travelcharges and a sum for
maintenance when required shallbe defrayed.(c) CONVENERS AND VICE-CONVENERS122. Appointment. Convenersand Vice-Conveners of Councilsand Committees shall beappointed by the Assembly.Conveners shall hold office fornot more than four consecutiveyears (in the case of theNomination Committee, FaithNurture Forum and Faith ImpactForum, three consecutive years)and Vice-Conveners shall holdoffice for not more than threeconsecutive years, unless theAssembly are satisfied that thereare exceptional circumstanceswhich make the reappointment ofConveners and Vice-Convenersdesirable. The period ofreappointment shall be for oneyear only. If at the time of theirappointment they are alreadymembers of the Council orCommittee another Member shallbe appointed in their room for theremainder of the period of theiroriginal appointment.123. Replacement. In the eventof the death, resignation,consistent non-attendance orsupervening incapacity of theConvener or Vice-Convener ofany Council or Committee, thebody concerned, afterconsultation with the Convener ofthe Nomination Committee, mayappoint an Interim Convener orInterim Vice-Convener, as thecase may be. Such appointmentshall be reported by theCommittee to the GeneralAssembly and the Assembly shallmake such order as the situationmay require.NOMINATION COMMITTEE
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................124. List of Nominations. TheNomination Committee shallinclude in its Report its list ofnominations to be submitted tothe Assembly. The Report, soprepared, shall be included in theVolume of Reports issued toMembers of Assembly.125. Nomination of Conveners.When the Convener or Vice-Convener of a Committee orCouncil is completing his or herterm of office the Council orCommittee shall be invited by theConvener of the NominationCommittee to suggest the nameof one who may be appointed insuccession. The NominationCommittee shall satisfy itselfthat an open and transparentprocess has been followed inidentifying the Convener or Vice-Convener so suggested.126. Conveners to AttendMeeting. Conveners of StandingCommittees shall be entitled tobe present at meetings of theNomination Committee when thecomposition of their respectiveCommittees is underconsideration, but not to vote.127. Amendment to Report. Noamendment to the Report of theNomination Committee shall be inorder of which due notice has notbeen given.All notices of proposedamendments on the Report,including such as propose theomission or insertion of any nameor names, or the addition of aname or names where the fullnumber eligible has not beennominated by the Committee,must be given in to the Clerksbefore midday on the third dayprior to the closing of theAssembly, signed by the Memberor Members giving them.
All such notices of proposedamendment shall, with the namesof those signing them, becirculated in the “AssemblyPapers” issued on the second dayprior to the closing of the GeneralAssembly, and on the morning ofthe day the Report is to be calledfor.
VIII. ALTERATION ANDSUSPENSION128. Alteration. Any proposalfor alteration of Standing Ordersshall be either (a) on the Reportof the Legal Questions Committeeand included in the volume ofReports or (b) by Overture andthe subject of at least one day’snotice in the “Assembly Papers”.This Standing Order shall notapply to SO 113 which may beamended by the Principal Clerk inaccordance with the decisions ofthe General Assembly.129. Suspension. It shall alwaysbe competent for the Assembly,on the Motion of anyCommissioner and on causeshown, summarily to dispensewith the observance of theStanding Orders, or any part ofthem, in any particular case:provided that such Motion shallreceive the support of not lessthan two-thirds of those votingon the question when put fromthe Chair, and that suchsuspension shall not contraveneany Act of Assembly.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TOSTANDING ORDERS FOR THEONLINE GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2021The Standing Orders in theircurrent form shall apply save foramendments as follows whichshall, where there is any conflictwith an existing Standing Order,apply in preference:
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................Generally: references to “laid onthe table” shall be read as“circulated electronically inadvance”.New Standing Order 8 - AssemblyHub: All Commissioners, Membersex officiis, CorrespondingMembers, Delegates, Visitors (ifany) and Youth Representativesshall require to use the AssemblyHub software application (the“Assembly Hub”) to participate inthe General Assembly. All suchpersons shall be supplied inadvance with login details to theAssembly Hub and training on itsuse shall be made available. Inparticular, the Assembly Hub shallbe used throughout the GeneralAssembly to do the following:• to follow the business of the
General Assembly, readsections of deliverance andvote on them;
• to submit notices of motion (toamend an existing section ofdeliverance, to propose acounter-motion to an existingsection of deliverance, or topropose a new motion);
• to second a notice of motion;and
• to indicate a request to speak(ask a question, make acomment or raise a point oforder).
Amendments to specific StandingOrders:Standing Order 5: No hard copy ofthe volume of Assembly Reports,Proposed deliverances orAssembly Papers shall besupplied; these documents will besupplied electronically.Standing Order 15: The Order ofBusiness shall be prepared and
circulated electronically inadvance.Standing Order 20: No materialshall be circulated through boxes.Standing Order 25: No Panel ofTellers shall be appointed.Standing Order 26: The list ofActs of Assembly shall becirculated electronically inadvance.Standing Orders 45 & 46: Anyperson who is entitled to do soand who wishes to ask a questionor to make a comment on aReport is encouraged to giveadvance notice of their intentionby entering a “request to speak”on the Assembly Hub against therelevant section(s) of deliverance.Standing Order 87: Videorecordings of all Conveners’speeches shall be uploaded to theChurch’s website at least oneweek before the opening day ofthe General Assembly and shallbe available to be watched there,with all Assembly attendeesencouraged to watch speeches inadvance of that StandingCommittee’s business slot at theAssembly. The recordings ofConveners’ speeches will not bereplayed during business sessionsof the Assembly. On rising topresent the Report of his or herStanding Committee, a Convenershall state that his or her speechis available to view on theChurch’s website, shall present ashort summary of key pointsfrom his or her Committee’sReport lasting a maximum of twominutes and shall then state thathe or she presents the Reportand moves the deliverance as awhole, (or, if he or she is not aCommissioner, he or she shall askthe Principal Clerk to move the
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Order of Proceedings .............................................................................................................................................................................................................deliverance) with any debate thenfollowing.Standing Order 89:Commissioners, Members andYouth Representatives areencouraged to register a notice ofmotion in advance in theAssembly Hub against a section ofdeliverance and in any eventbefore the start of the relevantStanding Committee’s businessslot, i.e. before debate on therelevant Report starts. For eachStanding Committee’s businessslot, after the Convener haspresented the Report and movedthe deliverance, and afterquestions for elucidation havebeen taken, the Moderator shallstate, as at that time, whichsections of deliverance have nothad any notice of motion orrequest to speak registeredagainst them in terms of thisStanding Order or StandingOrders 45 & 46. The Moderatorshall then allow a short period forany final request to speak to beregistered. After that period, theModerator shall confirm inrespect of which sections ofdeliverance there has been nonotice of motion or request tospeak registered and shallconfirm that such sections ofdeliverance have been agreed toby the Assembly without furtherprocedure. Next the Moderatorshall confirm that where arequest to speak or notice ofmotion has been registeredagainst a section of deliverance,there shall be an opportunity fordebate in the usual manner untilthat section of deliverance isagreed and shall state to whichsections of deliverance thisapplies. Debate shall thenproceed in the usual manneraccording to Standing Orders.
Standing Order 95(i): Conveners’speeches shall be limited to 10minutes in duration.Standing Order 105: The vote oneach section of deliverance whichis debated shall be taken andconclusively determined by usingthe voting mechanism in theAssembly Hub. The result of thevote shall be displayed on thelivestream and announced in eachcase by the Moderator. It shall beat the Moderator’s discretion ineach case to request whether theactual voting figures are minuted.In the event of a failure in thetechnology operating theAssembly Hub, the Assemblyshall vote using Zoom Polls orshall use such other votingmechanism as may be prescribedat the time by the ProcedureCommittee. In no circumstancesshall a second vote be taken on amatter which has already beenthe subject of a vote byelectronic voting.Standing Orders 106 - 110: Adissent shall be entered oradhered to by sending an emailto:[email protected] the subject line stating“Dissent against….[insert name ofStanding Committee and numberof relevant section ofdeliverance]. To be recorded inthe minute, any such email mustbe received by the Clerks by thetime of close of the last sessionof the Assembly.
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