Calls for Assembly Reform

Saturday May 18 2024

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was this afternoon described as ‘an annual act of self-sabotage’, as calls were made for the annual gathering to be reformed and made cheaper.

After it was revealed that the estimated cost to the Church of this year’s Assembly is over £800,000 (including staff costs and Commissioners’ expenses), the Rev Dr Alan Hamilton said that it could be done ‘twice as effectively at half the cost’, and that the body had ‘diminishing credibility, effectiveness and status’.

The Assembly voted against Dr Hamilton’s motion, which would have cut the budgets for the 2025 and 2026 meetings to 75% and 50% respectively of this year. However, the convener of the Assembly Business Committee, the Rev Michael Mair, said that the committee had ‘great sympathy for the viewpoint and motion’ and pledged that budgets would be looked at as part of conversations about the future of the General Assembly.

During his speech, Mr Mair warned that ‘a considerable capital sum’ would be required to bring the Assembly Hall up to modern standards, and acknowledged that this would be ‘insensitive’ at a time when many parish churches are being closed. “The Committee will continue to consider all options for this building and we will bring proposals to next year’s General Assembly. I would ask that the Assembly trust us to carry out this process, which requires sensitive conversations and negotiations.”

A special presentation was made to John Williams, who has worked on the audio visual systems of the General Assembly for 50 years. The Moderator, the Rt Rev Dr Shaw Paterson, described it as ‘a huge achievement’ and thanked Mr Williams for his ‘dedication and commitment’.

50 Not Out: an interview with John Williams

The chief executive of the Scottish Bible Society, Elaine Duncan, told the Assembly: “Research is telling us more and more people and particularly younger generations are genuinely interested in Christianity and genuinely interested to explore the Bible. One in five UK teenagers read the Bible at least once a month. This is why we, as the Scottish Bible Society, are sharing the Bible. We want to help people who are looking, searching, have big questions about life. We want them to find the answer we want them to find the Saviour, Jesus Christ.”

The convener of the Legal Questions Committee, the Rev Dr Marjory MacLean, said that the committee had hoped to bring a report on legal issues around the ‘developing phenomenon of Team Ministry’, but that because these were still developing, ‘we are sure that if we had brought something now when the wave of questions has not yet subsided, we would just need to bring something more next year’. She said that the hope is to bring a report to the 2025 Assembly.

The convener of the Ecumenical Relations Committee, the Rev Ross Blackman, built on the Moderator’s theme of ‘building together’ as an analogy for the ecumenical work that is going on in Scotland. While saying the results of much of the work are not yet visible, he pointed to work on the Joint Committee on Doctrine, the St Margaret Declaration of friendship with the Roman Catholic Church, and the new Scottish Christian Forum, as well as ‘existing and new friendships… that are developing behind the scenes’.

Mr Blackman accepted a motion instructing the committee to ‘ensure that it is engaging, or offering to engage, with other churches across Scotland, directly and through the Scottish Christian Forum, and to report to the General Assembly of 2025’.

General Assembly 2024: full coverage

Post Tags: general assembly 2024

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