Back in 1992 a formal Statement of our Christian belief was approved by the General Assembly. This can be found in the Church’s worship book, Common Order, and the intention is that it will be included in the proposed Book of Confessions presently under consideration by Presbyteries following decisions at recent General Assemblies.

The headlines of our 1992 statement of faith are as follows:

• We believe in one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ...

• We praise God the Father: Who created the universe and keeps it in being. ...

• We proclaim Jesus Christ, God the Son: Born of Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, ...

• We trust God the Holy Spirit: ...

• We rejoice in the gift of eternal life: The creedal statements clearly set out our beliefs and the associated highlevel expectations of us as individuals in following Christ that are fully defined in the Old and New Testament. Yet, it would be fair to say, we don’t always treat each other in a way that is consistent with these expectations. When we look to the bible for guidance Romans 12: 1-2 is compelling in stating “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind”.

At a national level we have established a set of values to guide us in our Christian behaviours and I hope that you will see them in all our dealings with each other:

• Grace - acting with humility in all our endeavours

• Integrity – acting with honesty, responsibility and accountability

• Respect – valuing others, ensuring inclusiveness and equality

• Professionalism – demonstrating commitment and striving for excellence

• Collaboration – working together to connect and communicate in an open transparent manner

• Innovation – thinking creatively about building for the future and embracing change These values are becoming ever more embedded in our work, appraisals, coaching of each other, our thinking and our training programmes. However, without action they are just a set of words which is why I felt we should share them with you all. We know we can always do better in our support to the local and we are striving to do so with your feedback and input being a very important part of the journey.

The way meetings are conducted across the Church is a vital part of this and that is why we have also established some rules on meeting etiquette to help with our collective behaviours in this context. This is one of the most obvious ways that we all interact with each other so where better to start in terms of being clear about what we expect from ourselves and each other when we meet together?

Whilst the word kindness doesn’t appear explicitly it is implicit across all the values. It has never been more important for us all to be kind, caring and compassionate towards each other as we navigate these tumultuous times for our Church.

Many folk have asked why we haven’t made living the values a whole church goal. In our presbyterian governance system it isn’t my place to do such a thing but if they work for you, in your place, feel free to both use them and provide feedback to us if you think we can make them better.

As Christians we need to be focused on building a healthy culture that values everyone’s well-being. Ensuring that values are at the centre of what we do will help us to be successful and sustainable in the long run as they are firmly rooted on a set of shared core values – which in our case couldn’t be clearer given that they are grounded in our Christian faith.

Dave Kendall

Chief Officer of the Church of Scotland