Assembly 2025

Thomas Baldwin casts an eye over some of the reports to this month’s General Assembly.

ASSEMBLY BUSINESS COMMITTEE

The Business Committee brings proposals that the General Assembly should become a four-day event, from Friday to Monday, from next year. The proposed model includes a shortened opening ceremony and incorporates Holy Communion into closing worship on Monday afternoon. The Guild’s Big Sing would take place on Saturday night, and the Moderator’s Reception, Beating Retreat and Holyrood Palace reception on Sunday.

The committee predicts that the shortened Assembly will result in financial savings (estimated at £111,000 in 2026) as well as being easier to attend for elders of working age and Commissioners with family commitments.

The former Moderator’s flat at Rothesay Terrace has now been sold. Its replacement, a furlough flat at Inverleith Row, is reported to have been ‘suitable accommodation for the Moderator’s needs’, but is not fully accessible for someone with mobility issues, so the committee says this will be kept under review.

Also under review is the future of the Assembly Hall itself, which is not bringing in enough income to pay for ongoing maintenance costs, and also requires expensive modernisation work. The report says that conversations are ongoing with a party interested in a long-term lease, ‘which would relieve the Church of its financial responsibilities for repair and maintenance and enable the Assembly Hall to be refurbished, whilst ensuring that both the title and the right to use it for the General Assembly are retained’.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GUILD

“The Church of Scotland Guild remains an integral part of the church,” states the Guild’s report. “In these changing and challenging times, we have faith that God continues to work in and through the Guild, enabling us to continue to serve Him in our local communities and in the wider world.”

Elsewhere, the report notes that the Guild has survived since 1887 ‘because of its ability to adapt to change and to reinvent itself to suit the day’. It sees signs of hope in areas where a union of congregations has led to growth in the Guild, in the growth of new branches and in the Young Adult Guild, LIFT. The structure at Presbytery level has changed and from June will move to a more streamlined National Council and smaller network of Guilds Together groups.

This year sees the end of one cycle of projects and the beginning of another. The Guild reports that more than £550,000 has been raised for the six 2021-24 partners. Four partners have been picked for the 2025-27 cycle: Bibles for Bairns (Scottish Bible Society), Build My Church (a church plant and community outreach in Bulgaria), Operation Hope (supporting persecuted Christians in Upper Egypt) and Playful Beginnings (CrossReach).

At last year’s Annual Gathering, the Guild welcomed five guests from the Guild of the Synod of Livingstonia in Malawi, which the report says ‘brought a joy to the day that you could almost touch’. The Malawians were also hosted by Guilds Together groups around the country; and during the course of the year the relationships have grown through regular contact, and are now working towards formal twinning agreements.

The Guild continues its work on genderbased violence, both within the Church’s Integrity Group and as part of the Interfaith Group on Domestic Abuse.

The deliverance encourages Kirk Sessions to support Guilds coming together in a union, and urges presbyteries to involve Guilds Together Groups.

SOCIAL CARE COUNCIL (CROSSREACH BOARD)

The CrossReach report unveils a new five-year strategy, entitled ‘Love from CrossReach’. The board states: “The strategy builds on 155 years of delivering care and support to the people of Scotland, in Christ’s name, and as part of the Church of Scotland. It recognises that the way in which social care is designed and delivered is changing around us, and that we need to adapt and change with it. We have taken the opportunity to refresh our core purpose and set out a number of principles which will help the CrossReach Board to steer a steady course for the future, despite the acute challenges faced by CrossReach and the wider social care sector.

“These principles, which are worked up more fully in the service area plans, are based around the issues which matter most to the people we support, our employees and volunteers, our key supporters and commissioners and those who took time to engage with us from the within the Church. Strong sustainable services which support and empower those both supported by them and working within them is the key premise, with Christian love being the driving force behind it all.”

The full strategy is available through the CrossReach website, www.crossreach.org.uk, and the board’s deliverance ‘strongly encourage(s)’ congregations and presbyteries to engage with it ‘and explore areas of closer collaboration and mutual interest’.

Elsewhere, the report looks back on ‘a year of loving service’, in which over 30,000 people were supported by CrossReach’s various services. Among the successes highlighted are: the achievements of young people at Erskine Waterfront Campus; the repurposing of the Dick Stewart Service to support the early release of prisoners under emergency arrangements in June last year; an extension to the Dornoch Men’s Shed; and the success of the 2024 Learning Disability Forum.

Fifty-one employees gained a new qualification in the past year, and one member of staff was recognised for 40 years’ service to CrossReach and 15 celebrated their 20 or 30 years’ service anniversary.

The board also reports that CrossReach has made ‘significant progress in filling vacancies in some areas’ but warns that ‘recruitment of staff remains an area of high risk on our risk register’. The report again highlights the disparity between pay for social care staff and equivalent NHS staff. It states ‘the already critical situation for social care in Scotland feels set to worsen with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the most vulnerable situations affected’. The Assembly is asked to ‘Express deep frustration about the worsening position of social care in Scotland and the lack of progress on the longer-term reform needed and instruct the Social Care Council, working with the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team, to make resources available which will allow Presbyteries and congregations to raise this issue as a matter of critical concern in the run up to the Scottish Elections in 2026’.

The Board also warns that the aim of a break-even budget by the end of 2026 ‘may continue to be a significant challenge’, and that ‘closure of services cannot be ruled out’. The rise in National Insurance Contributions will add £1.2m to CrossReach operating costs. In an effort to control costs the organisation has ‘identified a number of areas of improvement for services and central support areas which were continuing to cause concern’.

SAFEGUARDING COMMITTEE

The Safeguarding Committee deliverance instructs presbyteries and sessions to ensure they comply with Church law on safeguarding, including the maintenance of accurate electronic safeguarding records.

In early 2025 the committee took part in a learning session considering the recommendation of the Makin Review, commissioned by the Church of England to consider its handling of allegations of abuse. The report states: “It was both a challenging and sobering task made all the more meaningful by the inclusion of examples from our own congregations which had taken place in 2024. These were not historical examples. While it was difficult to have our own vulnerabilities laid before us, it also provided reassurance that we have Safeguarding measures in place to minimise the risk of abuse.” It also warns that ‘one of the biggest risks to the safety and protection of our vulnerable groups is a failure to engage with and implement the Safeguarding Guidance that is in place’. The committee also reports on the result of a review into the processes and procedures underlying its Covenant of Responsibilities Guidance, which governs how people who may pose a risk can be safely accommodated within a church. Among the decisions are that the duration of a Covenant of Responsibility will now be based on individual circumstances following an assessment, except where an offence has occurred within a church setting. In that case the Covenant will be lifelong.

The committee had been asked to reflect on its processes around people who have been found not guilty in criminal proceedings. They have decided that no change should be made in this area, and that “Where authorities continue to have concerns and believe the subject is responsible for harm or abuse ‘on the balance of probabilities’, appropriate and proportionate Safeguarding Measures will be put in place.”

HOUSING AND LOAN FUND

The Housing and Loan Fund reports that in 2024 it gave assistance to five retiring ministers, three who were already retired and four widow(er)s or civil partners, either by providing a house to rent or a loan for a house purchase. As of December 31 it had 171 tenants and 98 borrowers. The house purchase price limit has been increased by £10,000 to £270,000.

In addition to the £9 million agreed to be transferred to the Assembly Trustees last year, a further £650,000 has been given to the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team, mostly for help with housing costs for ministers in training.

Ministers who are within five years of retirement are again encouraged to contact the Fund if they may need assistance, and the Trustees say they welcome initial approaches from those within five to ten years of retirement.

The General Assembly takes place from May 17-22. A webcast of proceedings, along with full reports and publications, will be available on the Church of Scotland website. Life and Work will provide daily updates at www.lifeandwork.org

More reports next month. Pictures of the 2024 General Assembly by Andy O’Brien for the Church of Scotland.